Well-known songs that name other groups/artists in the lyrics

bermuda

Drummerworld Pro Drummer - Administrator
Staff member
Just pondering this, which songs have another band or artist name somewhere in their lyrics? Nothing obscure (like Weird Al mentioning The Who in "Another One Rides the Bus") but well-known radio hits. I've got:

"Sweet Home Alabama" (mentions Neil Young)

"I Dig Rock & Roll Music" (Mamas & Papas)

"Hey Soul Sister" (Mister Mister)

"Smoke on the Water" (Frank Zappa & the Mothers)

"All The Young Dudes" (A three-fer! Beatles, Stones, & T.Rex)

"When Smokey Sings"

"Don't Call Us We'll Call You" (John, Paul & George)

"Rock & Roll Heaven" (Jimi, Janis, Otis, Jim [Morrison], Jim [Croce], Bobby [Darin])

More? :)

Bermuda
 
Re: Songs that name other groups/artists in the lyrics

There is a southern/country rock tune from the late 70s/early 80s that mentions a whole slew of the same genre bands with references like "the Tucker boys are playing..." Can't remember more than that because I never really liked it. When I first heard it I thought "Well there's a neat marketing ploy".

There's also the Who's "You Better You Bet" which mentions "to the sound of old T.Rex",
 
Re: Songs that name other groups/artists in the lyrics

The Commodores - Nightshift (Marvin Gaye among others)

Maroon 5 - Moves like Jagger

CCR - Lookin' out my back door (Buck Owens)

Golden Earring - Radar Love (Brenda Lee)

There's a few off the top of my head.
 
Re: Songs that name other groups/artists in the lyrics

Devin Townsend's "Planet of the Apes" namedrops Meshuggah as the creators of the 'djent' tone (which they are) and mentions how everybody rips them off, even Devin. Ironically, Devin acknowledged in a commentary that the riff behind that section isn't super Meshuggah-y.
 
The Beastie Boys namedrop Buddy Rich in "Sabotage"...
 
The Alarm mentions the Beatles in the line "A sign stands over a door, it says
'Four lads who shook the world'" in the song Spirit of '76, and has the line "No Elvis, Beatles or The Rolling Stones" in the song Moments in Time.

Rock and Roll Radio by The Ramones has a bunch of name drops

"Do you remember Hullabaloo,
Upbeat, Shinding and Ed Sullivan too?"
"Do you remember Murray the K,
Alan Freed, and high energy?"
"Will you remember Jerry Lee,
John Lennon, T. Rex and OI Moulty?"

On that note, I'm pretty sure Mötorhead's R.A.M.O.N.E.S. counts too.
 
Van the Man's, Cleaning Windows: Jimmy Rogers, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Sonny Terry, Brownie McGhee and Muddy Waters.

U2. Angel Of Harlem: Billie Holiday (Lady Day)

Rock Show by McCartney: Jimmy Page.

Old Man Sam by Aussie band Spiderbait: Elvis and Johnny Cash.

The Chili Peppers' Mellowship Slinky: Billie sings and Basie swings. And Californication makes mention of Kurt Cobain.
 
Rock in the USA by mellencamp mentions Frankie lymon bobby fuller Mitch ryder little rascals Martha reeves and James brown!
 
Rolling Stones also get a shout in "Smoke on the Water"....but with the Rolling truck Stones thing just outside....

For the longest time I thought he said Rolling drunk Stones.


We Didn't Start the Fire - Liberace, Elvis Presley, Rock Around the Clock (Chuck Berry), Buddy Holly, Chubby Checker, (Bob) Dylan, British Beatlemania, Woodstock, punk rock, and heavy metal.
 
Rolling Stones also get a shout in "Smoke on the Water"....but with the Rolling truck Stones thing just outside....

For the longest time I thought he said Rolling drunk Stones.

For years, I thought it was "Rolling drunk Stones" too. It was actually a reference to a mobile studio used to record the Montreux show. It was mentioned again in the lyric "to make records with a mobile".

However, I believe the Stones did own the studio.
 
Elton John "Empty Garden"—John Lennon

Reunion "Life Is a Rock"—B.B. Bumble and the Stingers, Mott the Hoople, Ray Charles, Deep Purple, Sam Cooke, Lesley Gore, Ritchie Valens, the Archies, Righteous Brothers, Harry Nilsson, Fats Domino, Ronnie Spector, Carly Simon, Rolling Stones, Johnny Cash, Johnny Rivers, Mungo Jerry, Peter, Paul & Mary, Doris Day, Smokey and the Miracles, Wilson Pickett, John Denver, Donny Osmond, ZZ Top, David Bowie, Steely Dan, Edgar Winter, Joanie Sommers, the Osmond Brothers, Eric Clapton, Stephen Foster, Beach Boys

The Who "The Seeker"—Bob Dylan, The Beatles

The Mamas and the Papas "Creeque Alley"—The Lovin' Spoonful, The Mugwumps
 
Springsteen's "Thunder Road" references Roy Orbison

Don McLean's "American Pie" has the death of Buddy Holly as its subject, and lyrical references to other bands/artists too.

In Money for Nothing, Sting sings "I Want My MTV", using the melody from the Police song "Don't Stand So Close To Me".

And every other Sting song seems to reference every other Sting song!

In the closing bars of "Love Is All You Need" by the Beatles you can hear the chorus from "She Loves You".
 
However, I believe the Stones did own the studio.

Yep. The "mighty mobile" as they called it. An awesome bit of kit for its day. Used by many bands of the era so that they could record outside of the confines of traditional recording studios. Aside from Deep Purple's Machine Head, The Stones obviously used it on albums like Exile On Main Street and Zepp used it on a few albums too. The famous When The Levee Breaks beat was tracked, thanks in part, to the mobile unit.
 
"Sweet Soul Music" by Arthur Conley names Wilson Picket, James Brown, Otis Redding and Sam & Dave.
 
My Vagina - NOFX (Donnie and Marie Osmond)

Bloodhound Gang - Mope (Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Journey, Luciano, Pavorotti, King Kong, Pac-Man)
 
The first song off of 'Mother's Milk' by the Chilli Peppers references loads of bands I loved from the 90's including fIREHOSE whom I love.
 
Reunion "Life Is a Rock

DOH! Of course!

And I should have know ROCK in the USA, I play it regularly (I just don't sing it...)

Some great answers, some pretty obscure though.

Bermuda
 
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