considering Bob Dylan’s history with black women…his shout out to Alicia Keys isn’t weird at all.

that guy who sings like Richard Manual in Counting Crows, Adam durvitz, says “I want to be Bob Dylan” in Mr. Jones. Lately Dylan has been performing his “Black Crow Blues” from “Another side of Bob Dylan” and changing the lyrics to “You most definitely do NOT want to be me, you phony-dreadlocked douchebag.”

Big Audio Dynamite’s song Stone Thames is about Rock Hudson.

And System of a Down sing “Tony Danza cuts in line.”

maybe it’s just because I’ve been up for 9 days on meth but the birds outside keeping singing my name over and over again really fast but I don’t know the name of the song and this isn’t the Byrds with Roger McGuinn or the Birds with Ron Wood, these are real birds, sparrows I guess, or starlings. How do you tell them apart anyway?

And don’t forget that Elton John sang “Hold me close, Tony Danza…”

Spot 1019 mentioned Lovecraft’s Cthulhu in “Dinky Dog the Demon Master.” (One fine night 2 skinheads did approach and say ‘your fine leather jacket will be our’,/but dinky just smiled and said ‘cthulhu come and do my bidding/and destroy these bad men who would harm me”

In his song “God”, John Lennon references Elvis Costello - “I don’t believe in Elvis.”

In Devo’s “Jocko Homo”, they reference the band Devo (We are Devo!” This is called being “self-referential and is a key ingredient of post-modern songwriting technique.

In the Kinks “Lola”, Ray Davies sings “She walked up to me and she asked me to dance/I asked her her name and in a dark brown voice she said ‘Lola Falana’”.

I’m not sure if anyone has heard of these shout outs, but, I’ll post them anyway:

Jawbreaker references Led Zeppelin in the song, “Bad Scene, Everyone’s Fault:” “So we went into the living room/someone was blasting Zeppelin/It sounded good/I felt ashamed/I knew every drum fill.”

Bad Religion kind of references Tommy by the Who in the song, “Along the Way:” “Like Tommy you are free, and you will not follow me.”

And speaking of Bad Religion, they refer to their first album in the song, “Los Angeles is Burning:” “More a question than a curse/how could hell be any worse?”

But here’s my favorite: The Weakerthans reference not only Derrida, but Shackleton in the song, “Our Retired Explorer (Dines With Michael Foucault In Paris, 1961):” “Thank you for the flowers and the book by Derrida…” and “I must say that in the right light, you look like Shackleton.”

In the song “In My Life”,Beatle George Harrison sings: I know I often stop and think about them, especially George Bernard Shaw/In my life, I loved you more.”

ihatemaryland88 | 7/6/2007, 9:43 pm EST

man on the moon by R.E.M. is about andy coffman

Actually his last name is (was) spelled “Cough-man”, ironic as he died, cough cough cough, from lung cancer, hack hack. RIP Andy we luv U!!

ihatemaryland88 | 7/6/2007, 9:43 pm EST

man on the moon by R.E.M. is about andy coffman

Actually his named is (was) spelled “Coughman”, ironic because he died of lung cancer, cough cough cough. RIP Andy!

I reference Brian Wilson in my song “Mr Wilson.

Another one…Dylan says hes “listening to Neil Young” on his song “Highlands” the last track on Time Out of Mind.

Lookin’ Out My Back Door - CCR (Buck Owens)
Sweet Home Alabama - Lynyrd Skynyrd (Neil Young)
Smoke on the Water - Deep Purple (Frank Zappa)
Drift Away - Dobie Gray (The Beach Boys)
It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere - Alan Jackson (Jimmy Buffett)
Thunder Road - Bruce Springsteen (Roy Orbison)
God - Plastic Ono Band (John Lennon’s litany of people he doesn’t believe in !!!)
Glass Onion - The Beatles (Paul McCartney)
Ohio - CSNY (Richard Nixon)
Teenage Dirtbag - Wheatus (Iron Maiden)

Tori Amos references author Neil Gaiman (many times), including the song “Tear In Your Hand”.

Metallica references the same author with “Enter Sandman”.

Tori also gives a shout out to Trent Reznor in the song “Precious Things”: “…with their nine inch nails and little fascist panties…”

Tool references dead comedian Bill Hicks all over the Aenima album…still not sure why.

Dead Kennedys/Jello Biafra references just about everyone who lived in the 80’s.

Weezer references Green Day in a Song from the Pinkerton album:
“I asked you to go to a Green Day concert, you said you never heard of them. How cool is that? So I went to your room, and read your diiiaaarrrryyyy.”

Beastie Boys: If I played guitar I’d be Jimmy Page

Razorlight mention Kings of Leon in Los Angeles Waltz

“When Smokey Sings” — ABC

“Vogue” — Madonna (Bette Davis, etc.)

“Smoke on the Water” - Deep Purple (Frank Zappa)

“Verdi Cries” — 10,000 Maniacs

“Garden Party” — Ricky Nelson (Yoko)

liz phair - stratford on guy name drops Brigit Bardot

Pavement - R.E.M. and Major General William Tecumseh Sherman on “Unseen Power of the Picket Fence”
The Flaming Lips - The White Stripes and Beck on “Thank You Jack White for the Fiber-Optic Jesus that You Gave Me”

Pavement - R.E.M. and Major General William Tecumseh Sherman on “Unseen Power of the Picket Fence”
The Flaming Lips - The White Stripes and Beck on “Thank You Jack White for the Fiber-Optic Jesus that You Gave Me”

The Stills, “Allison Krause”

Amy Winehouse has a bunch in her new CD:

“Next to Sammy you’re my best black Jew.” - From “Me and Mr. Jones.”

Ray Charles and Donny Hathaway in “Rehab.”

There are many more.

“Righteously” by Lucinda Williams off of World Without Tears refrences John Coltrane…”Just play me John Coltrane.”

Donald Fagen namechecks Brubeck on ‘New Frontier’ from The Nightfly album.

Also, on the Dead Milkmen’s hit ‘Punk Rock Girl’, ‘California Dreamin’ was weirdly attributed to the Beach Boys. Minnie Pearl was also mentioned, as in ‘We’ll dress like Minnie Pearl’.

godsmack’s “song for jacques derrida”

oh wait.

that never happened

Jay-Z: “I mean James Dean couldn’t escape the allure. Dying young, leaving a good looking corpse” -Allure.

Taking Back Sunday- ‘180 By Summer’ references Miles Davis
Something Corporate- ‘Konstantine’ references Jimmy Eat World

What kind of fu**ery is this? Amy Winehouse missed the Slick Rick gig.

Fine Artist related references
Natalie Merchant - “Henry Darger”
Barenaked ladies - “if i had a millions dollars” - picasso and garfunkel
Crash Test Dummies - “When I go out with Artists” - David Byrne
U2- Dali’s sueprmarket trolly in “Trying to throw your arms aroundt he world”
Art Brut - Hockney in “Modern Art”
Don Mclean - van gogh
Dar Williams - “mark rothko song”
Teenage Fanclub - “Escher”
Paul Simon - “Rene and Gorgette Magritte with their dog after the war”
Francis Poulenc - “Joan Miro”

Beastie Boys in their internet-only single ‘In a World Gone Mad’ - “George Bush, you’re looking like Zoolander”

Pavement - Getty Lee on Stereo (i think)
Jay-Z refers to Bill O’Reilly on Threat (Black Album) which is weird b/c he’s a rapper from Themarcy Projects and Bill O’Reilly is a right wing pundit on fox news (fair and balanced)

What, no mention of Billy Joel’s “We didn’t start the fire”?

Snow Patrol’s “Eyes Open” (I think that’s the name of it) kind of awkwardly references Sufjan Stevens. I liked it but thought it came out weird.

Red Hot Chilli Peppers: “Meet me at the coffee shop, we can dance like Iggy Pop….”

95% of these name checks aren’t remotely weird.

I think David Bowie refers to Bob Dylan in a song he wrote called “A Song for Bob Dylan.”

One More
Ben Folds: Adelaide No one likes Adelaide not even the people who live there trust me.

Gryscope: Not Dead Nor Dying (Duran Duran)
Tim Rogers: You’ve Been So Good To Me So Far (Joni Mitchell)
Morrissey: Munich Air Disaster 1958 (Manchester United)
Morrissey: Dear God Please Help Me (Sex, Something unusall for him only)
Midnight Oil: Shipyeard of New Zealand (New Zealand Labor Government Policy of Nuclear Free)

in the UGK song “Game Belongs To Me” rapper Pimp C says:

“They call me Mick Jagger ’cause I Roll a lot of Stones”

and of course you’ll get crazy random shoutouts listening to any beastie boys song.

DEEP PURPLE - SMOKE ON THE WATER

FRANK ZAPPA! WTF!?!?

I know there is a house of pain song that references GG Allin, and another that mentions henry rollins,

also, the hidden song on Pearl Jam’s Lost Dogs album that shits on all of the Layne Stanley imitators (thats you Wes Scantlin)

House of Pain: “Like GG Allin I’m crazy ill”

“Drop tha boom-badda like Jake LaMotta”

The Butthole Surfers (I can’t remember the name of the song and I’m pretty sure the line goes…): “Julio Iglesias jacking off in outer spaceous”

And the undisputed king, Mojo Nixon:

Martha Quinn (early MTV VJ for you youngsters) on “Stuffin’ Martha’s Muffin”

Debbie Gibson and Tiffany on “Debbie Gibson is Pregnant With My Two Headed Love Child”

And his best one, from “Debbie Gibson, etc.”: “Rick Astley is a pantywaist/Rub my butt in his face”

Bruce Springsteen’s Caddillac Ranch: “Even Burt Reynolds in the black trans-am, all going down to the Caddillac Ranch”

oh, you mean “put surfanjan Stevens on,/and ill play you favorite song/” on hands open by snow patrol. yeah.

i was baffled by snow patrol’s Sufjan reference on hands open when i first heard it. my ears did a double take.

i was baffled by snow patrol’s Sufjan reference on hands open when i first heard it. my ears did a double take.

Pink Floyd references Vera Lynne on The Wall

Mentions of Marc Bolan/T.Rex:

All the Young Dudes – Mott the Hoople/David Bowie
You Better You Bet – The Who
Wake Up Bomb – REM
Do You Remember Rock n’ Roll Radio – The Ramones
Mr. Danny Boy – Mother Love Bone
4MB – Lloyd Cole

(Chorus)
Children by the million sing for Alex Chilton when he comes ’round
They sing “I’m in love. What’s that song?
I’m in love with that song.”

So we will/Cerebral rape and pillage in a village of his choice.
Invisible man who can sing in a visible voice.
Feeling like a hundred bucks, exchanging good lucks face to face.
Checkin’ his stash by the trash at St. Mark’s place.

Don McLean’s “American Pie” to Buddy Holly and everyone in early rock n’ roll.

It’s not technically music, but i have to say it cause it’s just so funny:
On the SNL skit lazy sunday, they say “you can call me aaron burr the way i’m dropping hamiltons”

Neil Young’s NO WONDER:

“That song from 9/11 keeps ringing in my head
I’ll always remember something Chris Rock said…”

And Speaking of Neil—Bob Dylan’s HIGHLANDS:

“I’m listening to Neil Young, I gotta turn up the sound
Someone’s always yelling turn it down”

Neil Young’s NO WONDER:

“That song from 9/11 keeps ringing in my head
I’ll always remember something Chris Rock said…”

And Speaking of Neil—Bob Dylan’s HIGHLANDS:

“I’m listening to Neil Young, I gotta turn up the sound
Someone’s always yelling turn it down”

Rage Against the Machine, “steppin’ into the jam and I’m slamming like shaquile” in fistfull of steel

REM - Electrolite: I’m Jimmy Dean, I’m Martin Sheen, I’m Steve McQueen

the “she likes me for me” song

that guy who played in fargo, i think his name is steve

make her laugh just like jim carrey

blah

REM:

something something something something LEONARD BERNSTEIN!

Beastie Boys:

“And I got mad hits like I was Rod Carew!”

oh yeah and…
beastie boys - time to get ill (phyllis diller!)

neil young - my my hey hey (johnny rotten)

my morning jacket - anytime (madonna)

What about Billy Joel’s “We Didn’t Start the Fire”? The whole song is a name-check.

John Mellencamp-You’ve Got to Stand for Something

Rolling Stones,Johnny Rotten, Who Marlon Brando and Stallone

I’m sure someone mentioned The Replacements’ “Alex Chilton” by now, but I don’t care enough to scroll down.

Also, Ryan Adams’ “Cracks in a Photograph.”

If you run into my sister
Tell her Elvis is cool
But the Rolling Stones will sweep her away.

Probably the king of the weird shoutouts was Simon and Garfunkel shouting out to Joe Dimaggio in “Miss Robinson” On hearing the lyric “Where have you gone Joe Dimaggio”, Joe himself reportedly called Paul Simon and asked “What do you mean where have I gone? I haven’t gone anywhere.”

Grandmaster Flash referencing the song “Whiter Shade Of Pale” in “The Message” with the lyrics “skipped the light fandango”

Elvis Costello referencing the Bake-A-Lite in “No Action” “I hold you like I hold that bake-a-lite in my hand”
Pavement bitch-slapping Smashing Pumpkins in “Range Life” “Out on tour with the Smashing Pumpkins/nature kids/they don’t have no function/I don’t understand what they mean/and I don’t really give a fuck”

Counting Crows shouting out to Bob Dylan in “Mr. Jones”

and btw Alobar in “Werewolves Of London” it’s Lon Chaney Jr. not Claude Rains. But his hair was perfect.

“The Walrus was Paul” - from Glass Onion.

For those who don’t get the Tom Petty “Jammin’ Me” mentions of Piscapo, Murphy, and Redgrave - that came from Bob Dylan flipping through a newpaper and finding random articles. That’s where the names were, so they just threw them into the song.

Random references are the Beastie Boys’ turf, ultimately. REM has some good ones, too.

Velvet Underground’s “New Age” - quirkiest namedrop in rock history:

“And when you kissed Robert Mitchum,
Gee,but I thought you’d never catch him…”

Velvet Underground’s “New Age” - quirkiest namedrop in rock history:

“And when you kissed Robert Mitchum,
Gee,but I thought you’d never catch him…”

Barenaked Ladies not only named a (damn perfect) song “Brian Wilson”, as mentioned earlier, but on the same brilliant debut score “Be My Yoko Ono” as well as the diatribe in New Kid on the Block.

Van Halen’s “Top Jimmy” references a somewhat legendary LA R&B outfir Top Jimmy & The Rhythm Pigs (also mentioned by “X” in “Call of the Wrecking Ball”. There’s L.A. for ya.

The Clash-1977-”No Elvis, Beatles or the Rolling Stones”

The Hold Steady’s “Stevie Nix” which oddly enough doesn’t mention Stevie Nicks but it does mention Rod Stewart
i.e. “You remind me of Rod Stewart when he was young/you got passion/you think that you’re sexy/and all the punks think that you’re dumb”

Jay-Z mentioning MCR in “Oh My god” then talking in Beach Chiar about how he is “Friends with Chris and Gwyneth.”

Jay-Z mentioning MCR in “Oh My god” then talking in Beach Chiar about how he is “Friends with Chris and Gwyneth.”

I just wanted to mention my one of my favorites:

Mike D in “Sure Shot”:

‘I got more action than my man John Woo’ (noting that was in ‘92 when nobody know JW and it was way before he arrived USA to shoot films so fantastic like “Face-off”)

Snow Patrol referencing Sufjan Stevens on Hands Open.

“Put Sufjan Stevens on
and we’ll play your favorite song
“Chicago” bursts to life and your
sweet smile remembers you”

Snow Patrol referencing Sufjan Stevens on Hands Open.

“Put Sufjan Stevens on
and we’ll play your favorite song
“Chicago” bursts to life and your
sweet smile remembers you”

further clarification: doolittle all day is a pixies shout out

1) “Its The End of the World As We Know It (and I feel fine)” by R.E.M. All the people with LB names (lenny bruce, Lester bangs, Leonid Brezhnev

2) “You Get What You Give” by new Radicals - “Beck, Hanson, Courtney Love and Mar-i-lyn Manson” - classic

3) “The Seeker” by The Who - Bob Dylan, the Beatles, etc.

4) “Precious Things” - Tori Amos - Nine Inch Nails (Trent Reznor later duetted on Past the Mission, I think)

5) “Hey Hey My My” by Neil Young - Johnny Rotten

6) “Sweet Home Alabama” - Skynyrd - Neil Young

7) “Lose Yourself” - Eminem - Mekhi Pfifer.

8) “Shame on You” by Indigo Girls - Amy Ray talks about listening to “Doolittle all day”

9) “Chocolate Cake” by Crowded House namedrops Tammy Faye Bakker Messner

10) “Reminiscing” by the Little River Band (shouts out the Glenn Miller Band) Anyone? ah… maybe not.

tjom yorke “grow my hair I am Jim morrison”

sounds like thom is fed up with rock idols. Anyone know if thats why he said that, or is it a tongue and cheeck thing that thom meant to mean he would mind being a sex symbol hahah.

beastie boys 0 sounds of science references galileo

“and I got mad hits like I was Rod Carew” Beastie Boys “Sure Shot”

The Rolling Stones- Pavlovs dogs Bitch, Goya- Back of my hand, Jesus, Lucifer, Anastasia and The Kennedys-Sympathy For The Devil

tool
fuck l.ron. hubbard

public enemy references elvis in fight the power

Buckets of Rain/duet between Bette Midler and Bob Dylan (!) references Paul Simon (and not in a good way)

Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers “Jammin’ Me” referencing Eddie Murphy, Joe Piscopo, and Vanessa Redgrave.

Lynyrd Skynard
Well, I hope Neil Young will remember
a southern man don’t need him around anyhow.

A Tribe Called Quest name-checked Chicago Bulls Head Coach Scott Skiles in “The Infamous Date Rape”

“Runnin mad games as if your name was Scott Skiles”

rolling stone has turned into THIS?

Cheap Trick - Surrender (”Got my Kiss records out”)
Musical Hair - Hair (”Like the Grateful Dead”)

And the award for most random shout-outs goes to: Ol’ Dirty Bastard “I Can’t Wait”

I want to give a shoutout to them crazy niggas
In parts of the world that I never been too
I want to give a shoutout to the Eskimos
I want to give a shoutout to the submarines
I want to give a shoutout to the army, air force, navy marines
KNow what I’m saying? Y’all playing my music
In the submarines and the boats
Play that shit know what I’m saying?
It’s called travelling music busting ya ass style
Yo Big Baby Jesus
It’s One Love
I give a shout out to all the women
I give a shout out to all the babies
All the munchkins
All across the world playa, God
I want to give a shoutout to all the school teachers
I give a shout out to um,um, myself

Ghostface Killah in “The Champ” says”My swagger is Mick Jagger,Stones is rollin’…

Tori Amos talks about Charles Manson in “Tear in your hand” (”I don’t believe you’re leaving cause me and Charles Manson like the same ice-cream”, a memorable quote, btw).

Catatonia talks about Fox Mulder and Dana Scully (c’mon, you gotta remember those guys!) in… “Mulder and Scully” (d’uh. “Things are getting strange, I’m starting to worry… This could be a case for Mulder and Scully: Things are getting strange, now I can’t sleep alone”).

Cat Power says “Jackon, Jesse I’ve got a son in me and he’s related to you” in “Nude as the news”.

And Spice Girls’ “Lady is a vamp” is soooooooooooo full of famous people that I won’t name them all just because I’m too lazy.

Tori Amos talks about Charles Manson in “Tear in your hand” (”I don’t believe you’re leaving cause me and Charles Manson like the same ice-cream”, a memorable quote, btw).

Catatonia talks about Fox Mulder and Dana Scully (c’mon, you gotta remember those guys!) in… “Mulder and Scully” (d’uh. “Things are getting strange, I’m starting to worry… This could be a case for Mulder and Scully: Things are getting strange, now I can’t sleep alone”).

Cat Power says “Jackon, Jesse I’ve got a son in me and he’s related to you” in “Nude as the news”.

And Spice Girls’ “Lady is a vamp” is soooooooooooo full of famous people that I won’t name them all just because I’m too lazy.

Ok, I didn’t see this one in here, but in the Prince song “Lets Go Crazy” Price screams outs near the end “Rae Dawn Chong…please come….” Only someone with an idea of the 80’s knows who she is.

The Smiths- Some Girls are bigger than others.

‘As Antony said to Cleopatra as he opened a crate of ail’

Bruce Springsteen- Downbound Train.

‘Joe I’ve got to go’

Queen- Bohemian Rhapsody.

‘Beelzebub has a devil put aside for me’

The Ramones- Glad to see you go

‘Go Go Go CHARLES MANSON

The Clash’s The Right Profile characterizes 50s actor Montgomery Clift’s alcoholism (?!), but my favorite is Beastie Boys’ reference of Miss Piggy, “Who? Moi?”

the smiths’ morrissey mentions ‘caligula’ in heaven knows Im miserable now.
and ‘antony & cleapatra’ in some girls are bigger than others

Thom Yorke - harowdown hill about the death of Dr David kelly

Thom Yorke - harowdown hill about the death of Dr David kelly

They Might Be Giants also had a whole song about James K. Polk. It’s so historically accurate and succinct that my dad, a history teacher, uses it in his classroom as part of a mini-unit.

Aquaman, Lee Ann Rimes, Bert Kaempfert, X-Files, Harrison Ford, Sting, Akira Kurosawa, Sailor Moon… all mentioned in Barenaked Ladies “One Week”

They Might Be Giants: Had a whole song about James Ensor.

Dangerdoom: Mentions Father Guido Sarducci/Don Novello in a tune on The Mouse and the Mask

the clash - montgomery clift

Beatles, ’she said she said’ is written about what Peter Fonda kept telling John while tripping on acid..”i know what its like to be dead”

…and if this suggestion doesnt make the list i will never read this magazine or go to this site ever again:

John Lennon bashing his Chums evoking primal scream therapy on ‘God’ from plastic ono band:
“i dont believe in Zimmerman, (dylan) i dont believe in Elvis, I dont believe in Kings, I dont believe in Beatles, I just believe in me”

The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Californication

Kurt Cobain, directly. It’s somewhat possible albums by Bowie (station to station) and Courtney Love (celebrity skin) are referenced too

……..

Pay your surgeon very well
To break the spell of aging
Celebrity skin is this your chin
Or is that war your waging
…
…
Space may be the final frontier
But it’s made in a Hollywood basement
Cobain can you hear the spheres
Singing songs off station to station
And Alderon’s not far away
It’s Californication

U2 — in the name of love (about Martin Luther King)

JT — cry me a river (or how bout his live version of ‘crazy’

Karly Simon and whoever ‘your so vain’ is about

Modest Mouse –bukowski

Ben Folds — ‘late’ for Elliott Smith

Oh, and Avril Lavigne’s shout out to those clowns from the 70s with “girlfriend”….oh, wait. she just sotle their song.

Tears For Fears’ “Sowing The Seeds Of Love” refers to Paul Weller: “Kick Out The Style(Council)/Bring Back The Jam!”

Camera Obscura’s “Llyod, I’m Ready To Be Heartbroken” refers to Llyod Cole, specifically the song “Are You Ready To Be Heartbroken?”

Didn’t Clint Black do a song where all the lyrics were just the names of his contemporaries at a SuperBowl in the 90s?

Sir Walter Raleigh from I’m So Tired - The Beatles

Topic is unlikely shoot-outs, not benign name checks

Nick Lowe

Do you remember Rick Astley?
He had a big fat hit that was ghastly.
He said I’m never gonna give you up or let you down.
Well I’m here to tell ya that Dick’s a clown
Though he was just a boy when he made that vow.
I’d bet it all that he knows by now.

The Beastie Boys are the kings of the totally random shout out. Among the ones I can think of off the top of my head: Abe Vigoda, Lorne Green, Dylan, Geraldo Rivera …

Petty explained that when he was on tour with Dylan they got those names from the most recent issue of (ironically enough) Rolling Stone.

Surprised nobody’s mentioned Weezer’s “In the Garage”: “I’ve got posters on the wall / My favorite rock group Kiss / I’ve got Ace Frehley and I’ve got Peter Criss…” (cool that he mentions the “other members” of the band). He also shouts out to Kitty Pride and Nightcrawler from the X-Men.

Joe mentioned the Dali reference in U2’s “Tryin’ to Throw Your Arms Around the World.” In the same song, the line “Every woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle” is an allusion to a Gloria Steinem quote, a shout out of sorts.

how could anyone forget Stereo by Pavement, with this totally off the wall Rush reference:

What about the voice of geddy lee
How did it get so high?
I wonder if he speaks like an ordinary guy?
(I know him and he does!)

What Madonna said really helped… she said boy you better learn to express yourself…

My Morning Jacket- Anytime

how about the shout that morrissey gave to pier paolo pasolini in “you have killed me” from his album “ringleader of the tormentors”

Roger Waters “Pros and Cons of Hitchhiking” mentions Yoko Ono–”jump said Yoko Ono was all in vain?”

Tom Petty oddly mentioning Eddie Murphy, Vanessa Rudgrave and Joe Piscapo in Jammin’ Me……made no damn sense at all!

Another Steely Dan… “Everything You Did”: “Turn up The Eagles; the neighbors are listening”

People really seem to be missing the “weird” part. Listen folks, MENTIONING THE BEATLES, JIMI HENDRIX, JIMMY PAGE, BOB DYLAN OR ANY OLD R&B GUY IN A ROCK/POP SONG IS NOT WEIRD!
That said,
“Givin’ head to Steve McQueen” in the Stones’ “Starfucker” (which the record company forced them to call “Star Star”) has always been one of my favorites

Steely Dan referenced Aretha Franklin in their tune “Hey 19.”

Hoyt Axton’s “Never Been To Spain” mentions the Beatles.

“Legend of a Mind” by the Moody Blues is about Timothy leary.

Stevie Wonder disses Nixon on the tunes “He’s a Mista Knowitall” and “Big Brother.”

“Like Frankie said I did it my way” is a line from Bon Jovi’s “It’s My Life.”

lyrnd skynrd (whatever) shout out Neil Young on sweet home alabama.

(And how about all of Joni’s confessionals to an array of music and in Cary’s case, hollywood talent.)

man on the moon by R.E.M. is about andy coffman

Whoops! My bad it is “Purple Stain” isn’t it…Hey how about Counting Crows references to Picasso and Bob Dylan in Mr. Jones?

neil young references johnny rotten in “hey hey, my my”
“is this the story of johnny rotten?”

The Stone Roses - “Going Down”
“yeah she looks like a painting
Jackson Pollock’s Number 5″

Bob Dylan and Timothy Leary in “The Seeker” by The Who

Mr Jones (A Character from the Bob Dylan song “Ballad Of A Thin Man”) in “Yer Blues” by The Beatles

Morrissey - Claude Brasseur is mentioned in “At Last I Am Born”
Bob Dylan - Charles Darwin in “Highwater”
Bruce - “Roy Orbison Singin’ for the lonely…”

Devendra Banheart-”The Beatles”
“Paul mccartney and ringo starr are the only two beatles in the world” Only weird because Devendra Banheart’s so frickin weird.

Kanye West references Beck in “Get ‘Em High” -
“My teacher said I’m a loser/ I told her why don’t you kill me…”

In the song “Swingin’” Tom Petty mentions Benny Goodman, Glenn Miller, Tommy Dorsey, Sammy Davis, and Sonny Liston

The Bonzo Dog Band’s “The Intro and The Outro” not only is a great shout-out but features an orchestra that includes Adolf Hitler on vibes, Eric Clapton on ukelele, Garner Ted Armstrong on percussion, Roy Rogers on Trigger and J. Arthur Rank on gong.

Fountains of Wayne, “New Routine”:
“Two men sit at a table in a diner
Both of them look quite a bit like Carl Reiner”

bunny, its rhcp’s “purple stain” not “around the world” (their both off the same album, “californication”) where they mention frusciante. someone may have said this, but in rhcp’s “magic johnson”, they mention a bunch of LA Lakers

In “Borrowed Tune”, Neil Young acknowledges that “I’m singin’ this borrowed tune
I took from the Rolling Stones,
Alone in this empty room
Too wasted to write my own.”
Also, Alan Jackson, “Don’t Rock The Jukebox”

John references me in “God” (along with a bunch of other no-talents).

L Ron Hubbard is ‘mentioned’ in Aenima by Tool.

Tool also cites Albert Hofmann in 10000 days but in a slightly more positive light.

Edwyn Collins saying that Guns and Roses suck on the Gorgeous George album!

Neil Young references John Lennon in “Devil’s Sidewalk”. And if you don’t have Young’s “Greendale” album, get it! Some of his best works.

Calexico - ‘Not Even Stevie Nicks’

Prince - Joni Mitchell in ‘The Ballad of Dorothy Parker’

“The Right Profile” by The Clash mentions Montgomery Clift.

Rufus Wainwright’s “My Phone’s On Vibrate For You” references Britney Spears

notorious b.i.g. shouts out bruce springsteen in a song from the born again album, in reference to being “endowed”. “got my (bleep) large, like bruce springsteen” i think is the line.

the beach boys on ramones’ “7-11″

Ol’ Dirty Bastard (RIP) in the song “I Can’t Wait” off his second album, “Nigga Please,” says, “I wanna give a shout out to niggas in all the parts of the world I never beento. I wanna give a shout out to the eskimos, I wanna give a shout out to the submarines. I wanna give a shout out to … Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines…”

Joe Piscopo, Vanessa Redgrave, and Eddie Murphy are refernced in the song “Jammin’ Me” by Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers

lily allen mentions kate moss in everythings wonderful

Paul McCartney mentions Jimmy Page in “Venus and Mars”. David Bowie’s Beatles and Stones in “All the Young Dudes”.

what about in RHCP’s song “Around the World” when they say “celluloid love’s got a John Frusciante” what the hell is that all about?

Dylanfan, that song is pure genius. “Desolation Row” might just be the one.

U2’s Dali reference in “Trying to Throw Your Arms Around the World”

“Dreamed that I saw Dali/With a supermarket trolley.”

modest mouse- bukowski

take take take- rita hayworth- the white stripes

cristopher walken reference in hackensack by fountains of wayne

It’s not all that weird, but in “Get By” by Talib Kweli he says he can “Paint a picture with a pen like Norman Mailer.” One of my favorite lines from a great record.

They’re selling postcards of the hanging
They’re painting the passports brown
The beauty parlor is filled with sailors
The circus is in town
Here comes the blind commissioner
They’ve got him in a trance
One hand is tied to the tight-rope walker
The other is in his pants
And the riot squad they’re restless
They need somewhere to go
As Lady and I look out tonight
From Desolation Row

Cinderella, she seems so easy
“It takes one to know one,” she smiles
And puts her hands in her back pockets
Bette Davis style
And in comes Romeo, he’s moaning
“You Belong to Me I Believe”
And someone says,” You’re in the wrong place, my friend
You better leave”
And the only sound that’s left
After the ambulances go
Is Cinderella sweeping up
On Desolation Row

Now the moon is almost hidden
The stars are beginning to hide
The fortunetelling lady
Has even taken all her things inside
All except for Cain and Abel
And the hunchback of Notre Dame
Everybody is making love
Or else expecting rain
And the Good Samaritan, he’s dressing
He’s getting ready for the show
He’s going to the carnival tonight
On Desolation Row

Now Ophelia, she’s ‘neath the window
For her I feel so afraid
On her twenty-second birthday
She already is an old maid

To her, death is quite romantic
She wears an iron vest
Her profession’s her religion
Her sin is her lifelessness
And though her eyes are fixed upon
Noah’s great rainbow
She spends her time peeking
Into Desolation Row

Einstein, disguised as Robin Hood
With his memories in a trunk
Passed this way an hour ago
With his friend, a jealous monk
He looked so immaculately frightful
As he bummed a cigarette
Then he went off sniffing drainpipes
And reciting the alphabet
Now you would not think to look at him
But he was famous long ago
For playing the electric violin
On Desolation Row

Dr. Filth, he keeps his world
Inside of a leather cup
But all his sexless patients
They’re trying to blow it up
Now his nurse, some local loser
She’s in charge of the cyanide hole
And she also keeps the cards that read
“Have Mercy on His Soul”
They all play on penny whistles
You can hear them blow
If you lean your head out far enough
From Desolation Row

Across the street they’ve nailed the curtains
They’re getting ready for the feast
The Phantom of the Opera
A perfect image of a priest
They’re spoonfeeding Casanova
To get him to feel more assured
Then they’ll kill him with self-confidence
After poisoning him with words

And the Phantom’s shouting to skinny girls
“Get Outa Here If You Don’t Know
Casanova is just being punished for going
To Desolation Row”

Now at midnight all the agents
And the superhuman crew
Come out and round up everyone
That knows more than they do
Then they bring them to the factory
Where the heart-attack machine
Is strapped across their shoulders
And then the kerosene
Is brought down from the castles
By insurance men who go
Check to see that nobody is escaping
To Desolation Row

Praise be to Nero’s Neptune
The Titanic sails at dawn
And everybody’s shouting
“Which Side Are You On?”
And Ezra Pound and T. S. Eliot
Fighting in the captain’s tower
While calypso singers laugh at them
And fishermen hold flowers
Between the windows of the sea
Where lovely mermaids flow
And nobody has to think too much
About Desolation Row

Yes, I received your letter yesterday
(About the time the door knob broke)
When you asked how I was doing
Was that some kind of joke?
All these people that you mention
Yes, I know them, they’re quite lame
I had to rearrange their faces
And give them all another name
Right now I can’t read too good
Don’t send me no more letters no
Not unless you mail them
From Desolation Row

Early Who (”The Seeker”): “I asked Bobby Dylan, I asked the Beatles, I asked Timothy Leary, but he couldn’t help me either…”

Glad to see RS updated the column to correct the spelling o’ Chris Reeve. Now if we can only get Marshall to do the same…

My Morning Jacket- madonna in “Anytime”

Neil Young mentions Marlon Brando in “Pocahontis”

House of Pain - “Jump Around”
“I’ll serve your ass like John Macenroe if your girl steps up I’m smackin a ho.”

The Modern Lovers’ “Pablo Picasso” is one bizarre shout-out to the guy, while The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band’s “The Intro and The Outro” is just a series of increasingly odd references, including “Adolph Hitler on vibes.”

A few from REM (that aren’t in It’s the End Of The World….):

In “Ebow the Letter”: There’s a name check for Maria Calas (opera star)

In “Electrolite”: There’s a line that goes… “I’m Martin Sheen, I’m Jimmy Dean, I’m Steve McQueen…

I´m not sure how interesting this topic is…and there must be a ton of these. But OK, I´ll play along.
In Lambchop´s “Something´s going on” Kurt Wagner sings “…the picture of Michael and Bubbles…”
of course meaning Mr Jackson and his chimp.
And speaking of Lloyd Cole; I can´t remember the name of the song right now, and I´m too lazy to look it up, but in it he sings “…she looks like Eva Marie Saint in On The Waterfront…”
Not as weird as the Lambchop quote though.

Local H has a tribute song called P.J. Soles. Great, great song. They also have an off-album song called Ray Milland (how’s that for obscure?).

Nirvana - Frances Farmer, Leonard Cohen

Sweet Home Alabama by Lynyrd Skynyrd calls out Neil Young. A good shout-out in good fun between mutual admirers.

System of a Down references “Tony Danza and Frankie Avalon” in Old School Hollywood

I believe Rage Against the Machine gave a shout out to Shaq in the song Fistfull of Steel.

Ironically, Shaq alsoplayed in the terrible film called Steel.

Neil Young mentions Chris Rock in “No Wonder”:

“That song from 9/11 keeps ringin in my head
I’ll always remember somethin’ Chris Rock said”

‘i am damo suzuki’- the fall song refs the singer of can.

Rita Hayworth in Take, Take, Take by the White Stripes

Rita Hayworth in Take, Take, Take by the White Stripes

Rita Hayworth in Take, Take, Take by the White Stripes

Like Frankie said I did it my way
Bon Jovi-It’s My Life

tool: “fuck l. ron hubbard and fuck all his clones” from aenema

Neil Young: “Even Richard Nixon has got soul”

Neil Young: “Even Richard Nixon has got soul”

Tool - Rosetta Stoned

“Y’all sound like Peanuts parents?”

Or all of Tool’s references to Bill Hicks

Cathy Berberian via Steely Dan.

I got mad hits like I was Rod Carew-The Beastie Boys

You tear men down like Roger Moore-Amy Winehouse

libertines - bill bones - time for heroes

chilli peppers - magic johnson

“…that book by Nabokov”. Sting reference to the book Lolita, written by Nabokov. Very catchy.

Grateful Dead in Don Henley’s “Boys of Summer” (Dead-head sticker on a Cadillac…)

my hero neil young sings “Jimi’s playing on the back room, led zeppelin on stage” in Downtown. Jimi es, of course, Jimi Hendrix.

Bowling For Soup’s 1985 is a potpourri of weird shoutouts, even if they all basically talk about the era in reference (with a few modern-day ones sprinkled in) – Whitesnake, Madonna, Bruce Springsteen, Duran Duran, Nirvana, U2, Blondie, Wham!, Limp Bizkit, Motley Crue, Ozzy, and Van Halen, as well as the Brat Pack movies “The Breakfast Club”, “Pretty In Pink”, and “St. Elmo’s Fire”.

RHCP mentioning Capote and Buckowski in Apache Rose Peacock.
It’s not that weird, but it’s interesting.

The Mars Volta’s “Tetragrammaton” has the lyric, “The kiosk in my temporal lobe is shaped like Rosalyn Carter.” Talk about a weird shout out.

Buck Owens in “Lookin’ Out My Back Door” by Creedence Clearwater Revival

“James Dean” by the Eagles. Duh.

Most of these aren’t “weird” shoutouts. They’re to be expected. Case in point: Van Morrisson referencing Jackie Wilson is hardly weird (Van’s a huge fan of 50’s R&B). Nor is it weird to list historical figures when it’s the framework of the song (”We Didn’t Start the Fire,” “It’s the End of the World as We Know It…,” etc.).

For weird, I agree with all of the people who mentioned “Paul’s Boutique,” but why stop there? The Beasties were doing that stuff on “Licensed to Ill”: “I’ve got more rhymes than Phyllis Diller,” “You know I’ve got rhymes like Abe Vagoda,” or “I’ve got more rhymes than Picasso got paint,” just to name a few.

“Candle In The Wind” by Elton John (Marilyn Monroe)

Even Izzys bashing Axl Rose
Weezer-Suzanne

Even Izzys bashing Axl Rose
Weezer-Suzanne

The Pretenders refence Howard the Duck in “Precious”…..Geez! I’m Bored……

this topic is lame

Van The Man’s “Jackie Wilson Says”.

Tom Waits’ tune “Jitterbug Boy”, off Small Change, references Louis Armstrong, along with Mickey Mantle, Marilyn Monroe, the Brooklyn Dodgers, Minnesota Fats, and Rokcy Marciano.

Also, Billy Joel’s “We Didn’t Start the Fire” references everything.

All the Young Dudes includes a shout to T-REX.

Who knew Bob Dylan had a hard-on for Alicia Keyes (and who can blame him!).

On the song ‘Surrender’, Cheap Trick says,”got my KISS records out”. It’s a little reference to the awesome KISS !!

paul’s boutique! Take your pic from thousands.

van the man referencing the shooting of ray charles in “these dreams of you” on moondance. i still dont get it…

The Joe Piscopo/Eddie Murphy/Vanessa Redgrave namecheck in Tom Petty’s “Jammin’ Me” (also co-written by Dylan) is classic, and just look what a boost it gave to Piscopo’s career.

But as far as pop music shout-outs go, it probably doesn’t get any more famous than Kim Carnes’ “Bette Davis Eyes”.

The Commodores’ also paid tribute to then-recently-deceased R&B legends Marvin Gaye and Jackie Wilson in “Nightshift”, their only major hit after Lionel Richie left the group (though both artists were mentioned by first name only).

I’m sure there is a reason for it, but I don’t understand what the song is about. Anyways, Rage Against the Machine has a song on Evil Empire that says:

“I wanna be… Jackie Onasis. I wanna wear a pair of dark sunglasses. I wanna be… Jackie O-O-Oh please don’t DIE!”

I always thought that was “weird”.

This topic is very broad..rappers make references all the time…

Rollingstone, ae you guys really that bored?

what ever

In the song Keep It Up by the Boomtown Rats they mention Agathia Christie.

The Sublime tribute to KRS-One is pretty good (creatively titled “KRS-One”).

Also any of the couple dozen examples on the Beastie Boys album “Paul’s Boutique.”

Zevon’s Werewolves of London and Claude Raines (and the queen?)

“Take back Eddie Murphy, Take back Joe Piscopo. Give ‘em all some place to go. You’re jammin’ me.” Tom Petty.
To which Eddie Murphy responded, “Someone told me about this, I hadn’t heard it, black people don’t listen to Tom Petty.”

Brian Wilson - Barenaked Ladies

Maybe Joe DiMaggio in “Mrs. Robinson” by Simon and Garfunkel . . . this topic is too obscure.

THIS IS A VERY GOOD ONE: Eminem talkes about marilyn manson on his song “The Way I Am” really! Also, Weezer Mentions a Green Day convert in the lead songle “El Schoro” off their `96 album pinkerton.

Fatboy Slim - Wonderful Night

“Groovin’ outta’ the question; won’t disrespect ‘em, but:

Our style’s f**kin’ Posh like Dave Beckham, C’mon!

Leonard Bernstein, Leonid Brezhnev, Lenny Bruce, and Lester
Bangs in “It’s the End of the World as We Know It” by R.E.M.

Re: Eminem–A pet peeve I have with his “Christopher Reeves” references is that “Reeves” isn’t even the man’s name. It’s just Reeve. George Reeves was the 50’s TV Superman, so I get how the mistake is made.

My personal favorite reference in rap/hip-hop is the Beastie Boys’ “I got more hits than Sadaharu Oh” in “Hey Ladies”.

Paul Mcartney and Wings namecheck “Jimmy Page” in “Rockshow” from Venus and Mars.

The Beatles “Chairman Mao” in Revolution…

This magazine is the worst.

I have a good feeling that this list will feature a ton of rappers using the same formula as the Eminem reference above.

Btw, that formula is so weak and a perfect example of why rap/hip hop is so painful to listen to these days.

david bowie sings “i’m feelin’ tragic like i’m marlon brando…” in china girl
but i don’t think that’s totally random.

Wow, we’re really stretching it for a conversation with this topic, huh?

We’ll let you slide cause it’s Friday.

The Hold Steady on repeat? This is a music magazine right?

Cypress Hill threatening to “Take their asses out like Pete Rose did Ray Fosse.”