Songs that mention other Songs and Performers

[Skellington]

"I said to Hank Williams 'How lonely does it get?'
Hank Williams hasn't answered yet
But I hear him coughing all night long
A hundred floors above me
In the tower of song."
Leonard Cohen, Tower Of Song. Obvious one, really.

Hank Williams is also namechecked in the great Johnny Cash song On The Night Hank Williams Came To Town.

 

[Andrew_Kearley]

Well, there's the tremendous Dexys Midnight Runners:
Geno is all about Geno Washington
Plan B includes the refrain "Bill Withers was good for me, pretend I'm Bill and lean on me"
Come on Eileen begins "Poor old Johnny Ray, sounded sad upon the radio, he moved a million hearts in mono"
Reminisce part 2 mentions the songs "The Wedding Bell Blues"; "Leaving on a Jet Plane"; "Lola" by the Kinks and "I'll Say Forever My Love" by Jimmy Ruffin

They also covered the Van Morrison song Jackie Wilson said (I'm in Heaven When You Smile)

Speaking of which, Van's probably the greatest for paying dues to his muscial heroes and predecessors in his songs - for instance:
Summertime in England has the line "The voice of Mahalia Jackson came through the ether"
Hard Nose the Highway includes "Ain't that some inspiration, when Sinatra sings against Nelson Riddle Strings, then takes a vacation"
Real Real Gone has the line "And Sam Cooke is on the radio", and ends with this fantastic litany: "Wilson Pickett said - In the midnight hour, that's when my love comes tumbling down, Solomon Burke said - If you need me, why don't you call me, James Brown said - When you're tired of what you got, try me, Gene Chandler said - There's a rainbow in my soul"
In the Days Before Rock 'n' Roll mentions Elvis, Fats Waller, Sonny Boy Williamson, Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, Ray Charles, Jerry Lee Lewis and Little Richard
The Eternal Kansas City mentions Count Basie, Charlie Parker, Jimmy Witherspoon, Jay McShann, Billie Holiday

There are loads more where those came from.

 

[Star Wolf]

Daddy's just like Coltrane, baby's just like Miles...

Michael Franks, The Lady Wants To Know

Better than four sets of Dizzy
Better than Count Basie's band
Better than Rollins and Coltrane
Better than being on the stand
Better than Ella Fitzgerald
Better than Miles' latest news
Better than Bill Evans' ballads
Better than Joe Williams' blues
Better than hearing Lady Day
Or checking in at Monterey
Better than anything except being in love
Do you know, being in love

Al Jarreau's Better Than Anything

 

[Alidar Jarok]

Another Weezer Song - Heart Songs. Features at least 13 different artists. Lyrics

There are a few more I know of, just can't remember them.

Ooh, I forgot about that one.

LCD Soundsystem wrote a song called "Daft Punk is Playing at My House." Although I can't say it has much to do with Daft Punk

 

[auntiehill]

ABC's "When Smokey Sings," is obviously about Smokey Robinson, and mentions several others:
Luther croons (Luther Vandross)
Sly’s the original originator (Sly and the Family Stone)
James screams (James Brown)
Marvin was the only innovator (Marvin Gaye)
But nothing can compare
Nothing can compare
When Smokey sings.

"Rocket" by Def Leppardmentions several songs by Bowie, Queen, The Beatles, Elton John, etc.:

White lights, strange city, mad music
(All around)
Midnight, street magic, (ah) crazy people
(Crazy sound)
Jack Flash, Rocket man
Sergeant Pepper and the band
Ziggy, Benny and the Jets
Ah, take a rocket

...Guitar, drums, load up, stun!
Jet Black Johnny B
Ah Jean Genie, Killer Queen
Dizzy Lizzy, Major Tom
So c'mon..

 

[PlainSimpleJoel]

Another Weezer Song - Heart Songs. Features at least 13 different artists. Lyrics

There are a few more I know of, just can't remember them.

Ooh, I forgot about that one.

Just remembered another Weezer one - Buddy Holly

Check this page, as there is a huge list here. It was done in 2001.

Also just remembered several songs by Australian band, TISM (This is Serious Mum), as they were popular in the mid 1990's, including:-

(He'll Never Be An) Old Man River, Thou Shall Not Britney Spears, Fat Boy Slim Dusty, Honk if you love Fred Durst, BFW and several others.

 

[Kirby]

Journey has a absolutely horrible song called Raised on Radio which pretty much only references other songs:

Stagger Lee, can you Do The Locomotion
Lucille I hear you knocking but you can't come in
Rockin' Robin, C.C Rider,
A Rama Lama Ding Dong
Let the Good Times Roll
My Sweet Sixteen
My Maybelline

The Great Pretender
Returned To Sender
I wonder Why Fools Fall in Love
Yeah, Louie, Louie, loves drive-in movies.
Johnny Angel Rocks Around the Clock

Mister D.J. make a dedication
Cause I'm All Shook Up over Peggy Sue
I'm Mister Blue,
The hits keep rockin' station to station
In the Midnight Hour in the Sea of Love
My Turtle Dove.
When I Found my Thrill, On Blue Berry Hill,
We wrote Love Letters in the Sand.
Be Bop a Lu La,
She Loved Me Tender.
Jungle Lion Sleeps Tonight

... and then they repeat the word 'radio' about 50 times.

 

[Star Wolf]

Elvis was a hero to most
But he never meant shit to me you see
Straight up racist that sucker was
Simple and plain
Mother fuck him and John Wayne
Cause I'm Black and I'm proud

Public Enemy's Fight The Power

 

[RogerWaters]

A couple of Queen songs: Life is Real (Song for Lennon) is about and mentions John Lennon. While I go Crazy mentions both The Rolling Stones & Queen themselves.

 

[the G-man]

Hank Williams is also namechecked in the great Johnny Cash song On The Night Hank Williams Came To Town.

And Hank Williams, Jr., name-checks his famous father in about half (or more) of his own songs (dude has serious daddy issues).

And David Allen Coe (who mentioned the ghost of Hank Sr in "the Ride") name-checks both Hank Jr and Hank Jr in "I Aint Going to Call Hank Williams Jr Junior anymore" (which mentions about a dozen other country singers too).

In fact, I'd say that country singers name-check each other on a constant basis.

 

[Rincewiend]

Mentions Bob Marley and CCR:
[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbP1K-bQB6g[/yt]

[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ch84fmOa414[/yt]

Talk about name-drops:
[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chQGbDq0x9E[/yt]

 

[shivkala]

"Believe," by Dirty Heads is a song about their musical influences, as you would expect from a song that begins, "Well ya never quite forget the first tape you bought, mine was Naughty by Nature back when "O.P.P." was hot."

They go on to reference:

• The Beastie Boys
• Sublime
• Stevie Ray Vaughn
• B.B. King (and Lucille)
• Bob Marley
• Jimi Hendrix
• The Police

[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yyGCMROtZR0[/yt]

 

[gblews]

Arthur Conley's "Sweet Soul Music".

The song's melody was almost a straight cop of an old Sam Cooke song. The lyrics were rife with references to R&B stars:

Spotlight on Lou Rawls y'all
Ah don't he look tall y'all
Singin' loves a hurtin' thing now
Oh yeah, oh yeah

Spotlight on Sam and Dave now
Ah don't they look boss y'all
Singin' hold on I'm comin'
Oh yeah, oh yeah

Spotlight on Wilson Pickett
That wicked picket Pickett
Singin Mustang Sally
Oh yeah, oh yeah

Spotlight on Otis Redding now
Singing fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa
Fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa
Oh yeah, oh yeah

Spotlight on James Brown now
He's the king of them all, yeah
He's the king of them all, yeah
Oh yeah, oh yeah

 

[Star Wolf]

You know I love spirituals and rock
Sarah Vaughn, Johann Sebastian Bach
Shakespeare, Maya Angelou
And Nikki Giovanni just to name a few

From Teena Marie's rap on Square Biz

 

[Marten]

Siguerny Weaver by John Grant mentions actors and films, at least.

 

[chardman]

Fannish band "Ookla the Mok" has a song about Cher, called "P.M Prima Donna", where the P.M. stands for "Pre-Madonna".


Lyrics for P.M Prima Donna

Let’s talk about Cher
She went to the Oscar’s in her underwear
Everybody was looking but she didn’t care
That’s why she was there
Way back then, no one else would dare
To go almost completely bare

Although it’s fair to say that everybody does that nowadays
She was the first 'cause she was a Pre-Madonna prima donna
She’s a diva from back in the day
Before J. Lo cracked down in a way low-backed gown
At the MTV Music Awards
Cher’d been there, she’d done that before

D’ja see that video where
She humps an aircraft carrier?
I could see her derrière sticking in the air
It was just hanging out there
Cherilyn Sarkisian La Pierre
No wonder she choose a nom de guerre

I think we’re all aware that everybody does that these days, too
But she’s the original only true Pre-Madonna prima donna
She’s a diva from back in the day
Before Bjork, Enya, Brandy and more one-name bandits
Like Jewel, Sade, Dido, and Pink
Prince, Bono and Sting
They’re aware, Cher’s done everything

Everybody does it nowadays
But she was the first 'cause she was a Pre-Madonna prima donna
She’s a diva from back in the day
Cher’s the rare beyond compare
Millionaire hair care heir
I declare: Cher’s got flair to spare!

She can win another Oscar but she don't wanna
She's a pre-Madonna prima donna
She was married to Congressman Sonny Bono
She's a pre-Madonna prima donna
They were married in a bathroom in Tijuana
She's a pre-Madonna prima donna
She’s opposed to medicinal marijuana
She’s a pre-Madonna prima donna
She wrote a song about that guy from Nirvana
She's a pre-Madonna prima donna

 

[M'Sharak]

Steely Dan's "Parker's Band" is, of course, about the immortal Bird, Charlie Parker.

The Bird is also referenced, along with many others, in Manhattan Transfer's version of "Birdland." MT's "Body and Soul" is about Coleman Hawkins and also namechecks Eddie Jefferson and others.

The title of the Joe Zawinul/Weather Report tune which Manhattan Transfer recorded alludes to a 52nd Street NYC nightclub where Parker headlined for a time and which took its name from him. George Shearing wrote another tune about the same club called "Lullaby of Birdland" which has been performed and recorded by many artists, including Sarah Vaughan.

The Lambert, Hendricks & Ross song "Twisted" contains a reference of another sort: Annie Ross' words are sung to the melody of an earlier tune written by Wardell Gray.

 

[Skellington]

The Bird is also referenced, along with many others, in Manhattan Transfer's version of "Birdland."

This is somewhat off-topic, though in the spirit of the thread: Watchmen's Doctor Manhattan can teleport people, and another character refers to it as the "Manhattan Transfer".

 

[Star Wolf]

Steely Dan's "Parker's Band" is, of course, about the immortal Bird, Charlie Parker.

The Bird is also referenced, along with many others, in Manhattan Transfer's version of "Birdland." MT's "Body and Soul" is about Coleman Hawkins and also namechecks Eddie Jefferson and others.

The title of the Joe Zawinul/Weather Report tune which Manhattan Transfer recorded alludes to a 52nd Street NYC nightclub where Parker headlined for a time and which took its name from him. George Shearing wrote another tune about the same club called "Lullaby of Birdland" which has been performed and recorded by many artists, including Sarah Vaughan.

The Lambert, Hendricks & Ross song "Twisted" contains a reference of another sort: Annie Ross' words are sung to the melody of an earlier tune written by Wardell Gray.

But The Manhattan Transfers lyrics tells you the club was named after Bird.

Bird named it, Bird made it
Bird heard it, then played it
Well stated Birdland
It happened down in Birdland....

In the middle of that hub
I remember one jazz club
Where we went to pat feet
Down on 52nd Street
Everybody heard that word
That they named it after Bird
Where the rythym swooped and swirled
The jazz corner of the world
And the cats they gigged in there
Were beyond compare


Bird would cook, Max would look
Where? Down in Birdland
Miles came through, trane came too there
Down in Birdland
Basie blew, Blakey too
Where? Down in Birdland
Cannonball played that hall there

So we have Charlie Parker, Max Roach, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Count Basie, Art Blakey and The Jazz Messengers, and finally Cannonball Adderley

 

[The Lensman]

Screeching Weasel's front man Ben Weasel is mentioned a few times by The Queers. He's mentioned in "Tamara Is A Punk" (which also name drops several other bands like Black Flag and The Ramones) as well as writing a whole song about him called "Ben Weasel".

They also did a song called "Danny Vapid" about former their former bass player by the same name. I believe they reference Green Day in the same song. They name drop The Ramones quite a few times over the years as well.

The Atari's named dropped The Queers in one of their songs...." I'm going east to say the least, to see The Queers"....sadly Joe Queer couldn't stand The Atari's last I heard.

NOFX ragged on Iron Maiden in a song called "Whatever Happened to Eddie, Bruce and Paul", also mention Judas Priest in same song. Mention Sara and Tegan in a song called "Creeping Out Sara".