Classic rock songs that mention other classic rock acts

mitosis

Classic rock songs that mention other classic rock acts

Mott the Hoople, mentioned

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=se_DZblXzL8

and here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nvg9DMWdDNM

Of course Smoke on the water is an obvious one.

EchoO

Lynyrd Skynyrd's Sweet Home Alabama

"Well, I heard Mr. Young sing about her
Well, I heard ol' Neil put her down
Well, I hope Neil Young will remember
A Southern man don't need him around anyhow"

in response to Neil Young's Southern man.

aoshea83

American Pie - Don Mclean

An excerpt below courtesy of the following website: http://www.whrc-wi.org/americanpie.htm
Where you can find the full version

[SIZE=+1]Verse 1[/SIZE]
[SIZE=+1]A long, long time ago...[/SIZE]
American Pie was written in 1971 and the time McLean is going to talk about is the 1950's. This seems
like a long time ago 'cause of all the turmoil that occurred in the 60's.
[SIZE=+1]I can still remember how that music used to make me smile.[/SIZE]
McLean's favorite music was that of the 50's.
[SIZE=+1]And I knew if I had my chance, that I could make those people dance, and maybe they'd be happy for a while.[/SIZE]
In the 50's, the major purpose of music was for dancing (sock hops). He wanted to play rock & roll so people could have a good time.
[SIZE=+1]But February made me shiver[/SIZE]
Buddy Holly died on February 3, 1959 in a plane crash in Iowa. He was McLean's hero.
[SIZE=+1]With every paper I'd deliver[/SIZE]
Donny boy's only other job besides songwriting was a paper boy.
[SIZE=+1]Bad news on the doorstep, I couldn't take one more step[/SIZE]
This story was obviously on the frickn' front page and made McLean freeze in his tracks.
[SIZE=+1]I can't remember if I cried[/SIZE]
He can't remember if he cried.
[SIZE=+1]When I read about his widowed bride[/SIZE]
Holly's wife was pregnant when the accident occurred and soon after had a miscarriage.
[SIZE=+1]But something touched me deep inside[/SIZE]
I don't even wanna know!
[SIZE=+1]The day the music died.[/SIZE]
The crash took the lives of three current rock legends: Holly, Richie Valens and the Big Bopper, so now Feb. 3, 1959 is called "The day the music died." The music that died is considered the standard rock & roll songs. The crash was the final blow («--keyword) to this music 'cause these three were that only major artists left. Elvis was drafted, Little Richard (or "Little Dick") turned gospel, and Chuck Berry was arrested for screwin' a prostitute.
[SIZE=+1]Verse 2[/SIZE]
[SIZE=+1]Did you write the book of love?[/SIZE]
"The Book of Love" was a hit in 1968 by the Monotones.
[SIZE=+1]And do you have faith in God above, if the Bible tells you so?[/SIZE]
In 1955, Don Cornell wrote "The Bible Tells Me So" and there is a Sunday School song "Jesus Loves Me," with the line "For the Bible tells me so."
[SIZE=+1]Now do you believe in rock & roll?[/SIZE]
This is from the great song "Do You Believe in Magic?" by the Lovin' Spoonful, written by John Sebastin in 1965. One of the lines is like trying to teach a stranger 'bout rock & roll," and another is "the magic's in the music and the music's in me." The "magic" this Johnny was talking about is the ability of a song to stick in your head. Often times songs bring back memories of the past, this is what the magic is. This magic is especially in rock & roll, 'cause you experience it without thinking about it or trying to analyze the bloody lyrics (like some asshole is right now). Another lyric is "so just blow your mind." (Don't think about it).
[SIZE=+1]Can music save your mortal soul?[/SIZE]
Given all that, can music help you get though life? I'm sorry I can't answer that. All of these questions ask about life and if God exists.
[SIZE=+1]And, can you teach me how to dance real slow?[/SIZE]
Dancing in the 50's wasn't like it is today. If you danced with someone, you then were committed to them.
[SIZE=+1]Now I know that you're in love with him, 'cause I saw you dancing in the gym.[/SIZE]
Like I said, dancing was serious ****. McLean caught his love cheating on him.
[SIZE=+1]You both kicked off your shoes[/SIZE]
Reference to a "sock hop."
[SIZE=+1]Man, I dig those rhythm and blues[/SIZE]
He's depressed, and you listen to that kinda of music. There's a style of music for every feeling.
[SIZE=+1]I was a lonely teenage broncin' buck[/SIZE]
ummmm.....yeah, so was I......
[SIZE=+1]With a pink carnation and a pickup truck[/SIZE]
A pickup truck was a symbol of sexual freedom (and it rhymes with "buck" and "luck"), and Marty Robbins had a hit with "A White sport Coat (And a Pink Carnation) in 1957.
[SIZE=+1]But I knew I was out of luck, the day the music died.[/SIZE]
These old crazy things that worked in the fifty's no longer work, 'cause the 60's brought a new social revolution. Peace Out!

laros

Deep Purple
Smoke On The Water lyrics

We all came out to Montereax,
On the Lake Geneva shoreline.
To make records with a mobile,
We didn't have much time.
But Frank Zappa and the Mothers,
Were at the best place around,
But some stupid with a flare gun,
Burned the place to the ground.
Smoke on the water and fire in the sky.
Smoke on the water...

Frank Zappa and the Mothers
in Deep Purples "Smoke on the water"

Rothko

The Seeker - The Who

"I asked Bobby Dylan, I asked The Beatles"

quickbeam

Ballrooms of Mars mentions Dylan and Lennon:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X46oHcSa5RA

MACHEAD

Mott The Hoople's 'All The Young Dudes' has a couple of lines referring to other bands

"Oh man I need TV when I got T Rex" and in the next verse "And my brother's back at home with his Beatles and his Stones".

Irish Guitarist

From Hank To Hendrix by Neil Young (the Hank in question is apparently Hank Marvin).

Come Back Beatles by Horslips.

Hats Off to (Roy) Harper by Led Zeppelin.

Bob Dylan Blues by Syd Barrett.

I'm not entirely sure which of those are considered 'classic rock' though.

dr.bollocko

Irish Guitarist wrote: »

From Hank To Hendrix by Neil Young (the Hank in question is apparently Hank Marvin).

Come Back Beatles by Horslips.

Hats Off to (Roy) Harper by Led Zeppelin.

Bob Dylan Blues by Syd Barrett.

I'm not entirely sure which of those are considered 'classic rock' though.

Nobody is so it's all good.

big b

This band blew hot & cold, but I liked quite a lot of their stuff

This song..."kings & queens & presidents, younger than The Stones"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHiOb1toqGc

Rothko

big b wrote: »

This band blew hot & cold, but I liked quite a lot of their stuff

This song..."kings & queens & presidents, younger than The Stones"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHiOb1toqGc

That reminds me of:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5-Uqj8TwZk

"I'm singing this borrowed tune I took from the Rolling Stones"

ootbitb

Suas11 wrote: »

That reminds me of:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5-Uqj8TwZk

"I'm singing this borrowed tune I took from the Rolling Stones"

from the "Rolling Stone", US music mag

ootbitb

Neil Young ,My My, Hey Hey (Out Of The Blue) is this the story of Johnny Rotten

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QeH8s_RAuTI

Rothko

ootbitb wrote: »

from the "Rolling Stone", US music mag

No, it's the Rolling Stones. Borrowed Tune takes it's melody from the Stones' Lady Jane.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yd8X2EnajU

ootbitb

I beg your pardon Suas, thanks for putting me right, nice to know.

Tonight's The Night is a great album.

ootbitb

Neil gets a mention from Dylan in "Highlands".

Couldn't find a yt link.

Well, my heart's in the highlands, wherever I roam
That's where I'll be when I get called home
The wind it whispers to the buck-eyed trees of rhyme
Well, my heart's in the highlands, I can only get there one step at a time.

I'm listening to Neil Young, I gotta turn up the sound
Someone's always yellin', "Turn him down"
Feel like I'm driftin', driftin' from scene to scene
I'm wondering what in the devil could it all possibly mean.

Rothko

ootbitb wrote: »

I beg your pardon Suas, thanks for putting me right, nice to know.

Tonight's The Night is a great album.

No problem and yeah, Tonight's The Night is a fantastic album.

Irish Guitarist

Song For Bob Dylan by David Bowie.

Thunder Road by Bruce Springsteen ("Roy Orbison singing for the lonely").

ootbitb

and Neil gives Bob a mention in "Bandit"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-9nlETnSUI

about 5:40 in

Dublin Spur

RAMONES by Motorhead

mitosis

"Me and Dell were singin' Little Runaway"

Tom Petty name-checks Dell Shannon on Running Down a Dream.

EchoO

John Lennon wrote "Norwegian Wood" as a homage to Bob Dylan. In response Dylan wrote the very caustic "4thTime Around". The final line being...

"I never asked for your crutch
Now don't ask for mine."

Jake the dog

The Scorpions song Speedys coming on Fly to the Rainbow album has the lines

You like Alice Cooper
You like Ringo Starr
You like David Bowie
And friends in the Royal Albert Hall

That seems like a good night out!

OldRio

Song for Bob Dylan by David Bowie

Oh, hear this Robert Zimmerman
I wrote a song for you
About a strange young man called Dylan
With a voice like sand and glue

Carawaystick

Censorsh1t by the ramones has the line "Ask Ozzy Zappa or me"

iT l BoNzO[IRL]

this one namechecks a fair few acts in it

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GMkmoww1VU

Rothko

iT l BoNzO[IRL] wrote: »

this one namechecks a fair few acts in it

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GMkmoww1VU

That reminds me of this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jhh3V7t9T4

9959

EchoO wrote: »

John Lennon wrote "Norwegian Wood" as a homage to Bob Dylan. In response Dylan wrote the very caustic "4thTime Around". The final line being...

"I never asked for your crutch
Now don't ask for mine."

'Norwegian Wood' is said by some to have been influenced by Dylan's songwriting style, this may well be true, it's certainly not one of Lennon's stronger melodies. But a homage?
Notwithstanding that, where's the namecheck?

My nomination is Paul Simon namechecking Julio Iglesias in 'Me and Julio Down By The Schoolyard' from his 1972 album 'Paul Simon'.

kunst nugget

9959 wrote: »

'Norwegian Wood' is said by some to have been influenced by Dylan's songwriting style, this may well be true, it's certainly not one of Lennon's stronger melodies. But a homage?
Notwithstanding that, where's the namecheck?

My nomination is Paul Simon namechecking Julio Iglesias in 'Me and Julio Down By The Schoolyard' from his 1972 album 'Paul Simon'.

Which doesn't namecheck Julio Iglesias either.

9959

kunst nugget wrote: »

Which doesn't namecheck Julio Iglesias either.

Look, it' quite obviously a paen or 'homage' to the suave, sophisticated Spanish crooner. Perhaps the writer had some scansion difficulties with the swarthy lothario's surname!

kunst nugget

9959 wrote: »

Look, it' quite obviously a paen or 'homage' to the suave, sophisticated Spanish crooner. Perhaps the writer had some scansion difficulties with the swarthy lothario's surname!

I'm going to presume you're taking the piss and I walked right into it.

9959

kunst nugget wrote: »

I'm going to presume you're taking the piss and I walked right into it.

I'm afraid you did, but thanks for playing.
I've stepped in the 'do do' myself on many occasions, good luck to you!

Stained Class

The Who. You Better You Bet.

'I got your body right now on my mind & I drunk myself blind to the sound of old T-Rex.
To the sound of old T-Rex

---

& Whos Next.'

Lines from their '81 hit namechecking T-Rex & their own '71 album, Whos Next.

RINO87

Steely Dan mention themselves on Showbiz Kids!!

They got the house on the corner
With the rug inside
They got the booze they need
All that money can buy
They got the shapely bods
They got the steely dan t-shirt
And for the coup-de-gras
They're outrageous

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dwBGvn23zg&feature=related 2.28

cecilmaxwell

What about Chris Spedding - Guitar Jambouree (namechecks Paul Kossoff and others) or Dire Straits - Romeo & Juliet (name checks Bad Company by Bad Company)

Royale with Cheese

Rolling Stones - Star Star. Jimmy Page gets a mention.

delbertgrady

"When I woke up, Mom and Dad are rolling on the couch.
Rolling numbers, rock and rollin', got my Kiss records out".

from Cheap Trick: Surrender

"Ain't going to go to see the Rolling Stones no more. No more.
Don't wanna go to see Queen no more. No more".

from Queen: I Go Crazy

Also, while not Classic Rock, the line, "Looking like a born again, living like a heretic, Listening to Arthur Lee records..." appears in Lloyd Cole and the Commotions' Are You Ready to be Heartbroken?, a song which was, in turn, answered by "Lloyd, I'm Ready to be Heartbroken", by Camera Obscura.

Amerika

Do You Remember Rock'n'roll Radio
The Ramones

"Will you remember Jerry Lee? John Lennon, T. Rex and Ol' Moulty"

- - - - -

Hair
The Cowsills

"Like the Grateful Dead"

cack_handed

Saw this thread and just had to give a shout out to Joe Strummer whose title track to his brilliant 2002 album, Global a Go Go, is a homage to some of the greats of rock n roll, inspired by a stint as a BBC World Service DJ. Worth a listen anyway

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kx9fCxwyVws

9959

In the David Bowie song 'All The Young Dudes', the thin white duke namechecks the influential art/rock New York band 'Television':

And my brother's back at home
With his Beatles and his Stones
We never got it off on that revolution stuff
What a drag
Too many snags
Oh the TELEVISION man is crazy
Saying we're juvenile delinquent wrecks

rubadub

cecilmaxwell wrote: »

Dire Straits - Romeo & Juliet (name checks Bad Company by Bad Company)

Did they ever say this is the case? I never thought it was and still don't.

9959 wrote: »

In the David Bowie song 'All The Young Dudes', the thin white duke namechecks the influential art/rock New York band 'Television':

Same here, did he ever say this? I always thought the television man was just some TV commentator/presenter giving out about the youth.

But also this says television formed in late 1973 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Television_(band)
while all the young dudes was released in 72, not sure when written
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_the_Young_Dudes

Warren Zevon's 'Play It All Night Long' references Lynyrd Skynyrd with the lines:

"Sweet home Alabama,
Play that dead band's song,
Turn those speakers up full blast,
Play it all night long"

delbertgrady

Which reminds me... The Wallflowers' substituted Zevon's line in Lawyers, Guns and Money - "Dad, get me out of this" - for "Warren, get me out of this", on the Zevon tribute album, Enjoy Every Sandwich.

9959

rubadub wrote: »

Did they ever say this is the case? I never thought it was and still don't.

Same here, did he ever say this? I always thought the television man was just some TV commentator/presenter giving out about the youth.

But also this says television formed in late 1973 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Television_(band)
while all the young dudes was released in 72, not sure when written
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_the_Young_Dudes

Oh, damn and blast!

Fishyfreak

Little Lover - AC/DC

You had my picture
On your bedroom wall
(Next to Gary Glitter)
I was standing on the stage
Playing rock 'n' roll
(I was a guitar picker)
Never had a record
Never had a hit
Oh baby
You didn't mind a bit




RIP Bon Scott.

9959

In the David Bowie song 'All The Young Dudes' the thin white duke namechecks the influential Liverpool beat combo 'The Beatles':

And my brother's back at home with his Beatles and his Stones

AlfaZen

Maybe not a classic or well known rock song but Live's song "People like you" on their album V mentions themselves as well as a host of other acts.

[HTML][/HTML]"whatever its gonna take good luck, keep it real where (are) the boys in LIVE?
they're pissin' in the mainstream open up your cage focus
all your rage the world needs people like you

in a dream i had i was on a stage with queen michael stipe
and elton john bono and springsteen singin hallejuhah, rock and roll is king"[HTML][/HTML]