songs that mention other groups

OK, here's a twist that came to me. La De Dah, Billy & Lilly, mentions song titles, not artists. Let me give it a whirl. You're "My Special Angel" (Bobby Helms), My "Be Bop Baby" (Rick Nelson), my "Little Bitty Pretty Pet" (Bobby Day, Thurston Harris, Clyde McPhatter; "You Send Me" (Sam Cooke) with your "Lotta Loving" (Gene Vincent) "Lips Of Wine" (Andy Williams) "Just Born" (Perry Como) baby to be your "Silhouette" (Rays). "Tonite, Tonite" (MelloKings), we're gonna go, to the XYZ's of Love, NE; "ABC's of Love" (Frankie Lymon) it's true cause me got you, La De Dah, "Oh Boy" (Crickets), "Let's Go" (Routers) "Cha Cha Cha", (Bobby Rydell) Whew, how did I do?

Steely Dan..Hey Nineteen..mentions Aretha and the Soul Survivors..

In Paul McCartney & Wings' 1976 hit Let 'Em In, Paul mentions "Phil and Don," a reference to the Everly Brothers.

Barbara Mandrell's live recording of I Was Country When Country Wasn't Cool has a line about "turning down George Jones" so others wouldn't know she was listening to country radio. And lo and behold, ol' George then comes out and finishes the song with her!

Mariah Carey mentioned Trey Lorenz when introducing him to sing the bridge in her hit "I'll Be There."

If introductions are going to count, then how about George Michael's live 1991 version of Elton John's Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me? As Elton comes out to finish the song with him, George says, "Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Elton John!"

And in the 1975 Waylon Jennings/Willie Nelson duet of Waylon's 1972 hit, Good Hearted Woman, Waylon sings a verse and then, just before Nelson starts singing, announces "Willie!"

Not to revive another dead thread or anything, but Little Richard's "Short Fat Fanny" names a whole bunch of titles, some his own, and some from others.

Silkie said:

Not to revive another dead thread or anything, but Little Richard's "Short Fat Fanny" names a whole bunch of titles, some his own, and some from others.

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I think you meant Larry Williams.

No, I meant the Little Richard cover.

Silkie said:

No, I meant the Little Richard cover.

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O.K. Sorry. Larry Williams wrote the song so I just assumed you wanted to use that reference.

Shawn Mullins' "Lullaby" name-checks Bob Seger and Sonny and Cher.

And you leave Little Richard's Short Fat Fanny outa this!

Creedence Clearwater's "Lookin' Out My Back Door" mentions Buck Owens, and Steely Dan's "FM" namedrops Elvis. ("Nothin' but news and Elvis and somebody else's favorite song."

In his 1961 hit, "Quarter to Three," Gary U.S. Bonds mentions both the title ("A Night with Daddy 'G'") and the artist ("The Church Street Five") of an instrumental that, incidentally, became Hy Lit's theme song.

Without naming The Beatles, Johnny Rivers included a reference to "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" in "Summer Rain."

Of course, there are numerous references in Don McLean's "American Pie," and, in turn, allusions to Don McLean in Roberta Flack's "Killing Me Softly with His Song."

Joe Diffie's country hit "Bigger Than The Beatles" mentions not only the Beatles but the Rolling Stones and Eagles.

In Paul Anka and Odia Coates' "I Don't Like To Sleep Alone," there's a line, sung by Anka, that goes "Like the man said in his song, help me make it through the night." The unnamed "man" is Kris Kristofferson.

Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Sweet Home Alabama" takes a shot back at Neil Young's "Southern Man".

>> Sweet Home Alabama

Lynyrd Skynyrd is not directly mentioned but Warren Zevon's Play It all Night Long:
"Sweet Home Alabama/play that dead band's song/ Turn the speakers up full blast/Play it all night long"

The Story of a Rock and Roll Band by Randy Newman:
They were some fine English boys, who knew each other in Birmingham...
Somehow they needed a name/ Someone said how bout the Renegades
Johnny said well I don't know/I prefer ELO
I love their Mr Blue Sky/ Almost my favorite is Turn to Stone/And how bout Telephone Line
I love that ELO

Cledus T. Judd "No Relation", the Weird Al Yankovic of Country, spoofed the Joe Diffie hit with
"She's Got a Butt Bigger Than The Beatles"

Alan Jackson: Don't rock the jukebox, I wanna hear George Jones
Cause my heart ain't ready for the Rolling Stones

Eric Church had a country hit called Springsteen

Hell Yeah by Montgomery Gentry:
And he's the product of the Haggard generation...
He yells out Johnny Cash
And the band starts to play...
She yells out to the band
Know any Bruce Springsteen
Then she jumps up on the bar
And she, and she starts to scream

Going backward, some band names were inspired by song lyrics
so in a way you hear them mentioned in the original song..


"Oh you pretty thing"--Bo Diddley (The Pretty Things)
"Death cab for cutie, someone's gonna make you pay your fare"--Bonzo Dog Band (Death Cab for Cutie)

Rick Springfield, "Bruce," about being confused with you-know-who:

He said, "I thought Born To Run was one of your best"
Awww wait a minute man, who do you think I am?
He answered, "Mr. Springsteen, you're a famous man."

Waterboys "Has Anybody Here Seen Hank?" (Williams)
Allan Sherman "Crazy Downtown" mentions Petula Clark

The Monkees' Randy Scouse Git mentions "The four kings of EMI," aka The Beatles. The song was about a party that the Fab Four threw for the Prefab Four when they were in London in 1967. Ironically, the Monkees' producer Chip Douglas played bass on this song. Douglas had been with the Turtles for a couple of years previously. The Beatles -- especially John Lennon -- weren't exactly hospitable to them when they got together.

Then there's Kid Rock's All Summer Long, which not only rips off Lynyrd Skynyrd's Sweet Home Alabama (as well as Warren Zevon's Werewolves Of London), but Skynyrd's song is a significant part of the lyrics.