Well, it's Friday and you know what that means. Yes, my Oriental manservant Hop-Sing, a certain shady dame and moi are spending a week in Paris, walking cheek by jowl with the Ignoble Frog down the City of Light's historic byways.
It's all very romantic, and we'll be posting all sorts of photos between now and our return, but in the meantime, here's a fun project for you all to contemplate:
Best Post-Elvis Song or Record Which Specifically Quotes Another Song or Record, Lyrically or Musically!!!
BTW, sampling really doesn't count as a quote, at least most of the time (see the Tone Loc entry below). So, for example, that Neneh Cherry song -- "Trout"? -- that uses the actual riff from Steppenwolf's "The Pusher" is right out. Just to be clear -- what we're talking about is somebody playing an instrumental snippet of another song's melody, or working a bit of another song's lyric into the narrative of a new one. Or...well, you get the idea.
Okay, that said, here's my strictly off the top of my head Top Seven:
7. Tom Petty -- Running Down a Dream
"It was a beautiful day, the sun beat down
I had the radio on, I was drivin'...
The trees went by, me and Del were singin
Little Runaway, I was flyin'"....
6. Cream -- Sunshine of Your Love
Clapton starts his solo by playing the opening line of "Blue Moon."
5. Tone Loc -- Funky Cool Medina
"And like Mick Jagger sang 'I can't get no satisfaction'." And that's a sample of Charlie's drums, BTW.
4. The Velvet Undeground -- Sweet Jane
The studio version, from Loaded (and in my opinion, Lou's best vocal performance ever): "Just watch me now!" Obviously, from the Contours "Do You Love Me."
3. The Beatles -- Glass Onion
"The Walrus was Paul."
2. Jimi Hendrix -- Wild Thing
In the version from Jimi Plays Monterey he starts his solo with the opening line of "Strangers in the Night."
And the number one coolest song/record quoting another song/record, it's so fricking obvious I'll smack you if you give me a hard time about this, is --
1. The Beatles -- All You Need is Love
"The Marseillaise," "Greensleeves," "In the Mood"....and then, in the all-time conceptual masterstroke, their own "She Loves You." Post-Modernism begins here.
Awrighty then -- and your choices would be...??????
[Shameless Blogwhore: My parallel Cinema Listomania (theme: cool cult movies) is now up over at Box Office. As always, if you could see your way over there to leave a comment, an angel gets its wings.]
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36 comments:
There are actually several other references to other Beatles songs in Glass Onion, btw. This will be a little challenge, I only have time for three right now, but here at random:
1) Electric Light Orchestra: Shangri-La (A New World Record): References "Hey Jude" in the chorus
2) Led Zeppelin: Rock and Roll (Led Zeppelin IV): References the Monotones' "Book of Love"
3) Johnny Rivers: Summer Rain: References Sgt. Pepper's....
The Pretenders -- Sense of Purpose, the live version of Isle of View.
Chrissie ends it with "Last one outta here -- let's go!"
From Louie Louie.
God, she's the coolest.
Beastie Boys, I think it's somewhere in B-Boy Bouillabaise on Paul's Boutique, say something along the lines of "I shot a man in Brooklyn," then cut to a sample of Johnny Cash "just to watch him die."
The Kinks, "Catch Me Now I'm Fallin'" (or whatever that song's called) which cheerfully steals one of the greatest licks of all time, Richard's guitar riff for Jumpin' Jack Flash.
steve, i think you'll have to smack yourself for omitting, this one, which i thought for sure would top the list-
bruce springsteen- thunder road
('roy orbison singing for the lonely')
From one of my favorite records from last year - Okkervil River's John Allyn Smith Sails. (The Beach Boys Sloop John B)
This is certainly a stretch but I love how the Minutemen had songs like "Bob Dylan Wrote Propoganda Songs" or "Political Song for Michael Jackson to Sing."
Along the same lines, post Minutemen fIrehose did "For the Singer of REM."
Of course, then there is the top of them all, Alex Chilton by the Mats.
Trey
Then of course, Elvis sang "Was it a millionaire who said "Imagine no posessions?"
Ouch. Damn funny though.
That was in the Other Side Of Summer.
Trey
Oswego:
I left out "Thunder Road."
Truly, I am senile.
:-)
Because by the Beatles is the Moonlight Sonata played backards.
Trey
Neil Young in "Long May You Run":
"Maybe the Beach Boys have got you now, with those waves singing 'Caroline' (oh Caroline no)
Lynyrd Skynyrd returns the favor, referencing "Southern Man" in "Sweet Home Alabama".
In "New Orleans Wins the War," Randy Newman interpolates Fats Domino's "Blue Monday".
There's lots of these. Fun stuff. Il est magnifique!
Great one with "Long May You Run" Noam.
Trey
I always loved the "Meanwhile, I'm still thinkin'" at the end of "Bang a Gong" by T.Rex (quoting Chuck Berry's "Little Queenie").
THANK YOU!! I always thought that Clapton was playing Blue Moon on that solo. I was wondering if other people heard that.
Ah damn! I figured that'd be the topic but didn't have a chance to comment.
Two I just thought of:
"And the jukebox kept on playin'
Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band"
Summer Rain - Johnny Rivers
"And the radio played that forgotten song
Brenda Lee's Comin' On Strong"
Radar Love - Golden Earring
In the early 90s Neil Young would end Cinnamon Girl with the sitar melody from Norwegian Wood, which I think was on the Arc/Weld live album. F'in great.
And is it in It's Too Bad where Paul Weller plays the "yeah, yeah, yeah" melody from She Loves You as the main lick?
The Who: “You Better You Bet” – “But I drunk myself blind to the sound of old T-Rex/MmmmTo the sound of old T-Rex oh, and Who's Next. (Admittedly it's an album as opposed to a song, but it's still pretty specific...so is 'old T Rex." He definitely didn't mean Tanx.)
Snow Patrol: “Hands Open” – "Put Sufjan Stevens on/And we'll play your favorite song/"Chicago" bursts to life…"
Crowded House: “Weather With You”-- “Walking round the room singing “Stormy Weather”
Steve’s beloved Boss: “...while the band played “Night of the Johnstown Flood”
Radio Birdman - The solo on "Aloha Steve and Danno" that quotes the Hawaii 5-0 theme.
"Where's Capt. Kirk?" - SpizzEnergi (quotes Star Trek Theme)
"Sweet Jane" also referenced the March of the Wooden Soldiers, though it's not specifically a pop tune.
And the Beatles took a page from Charles Ives' notebook with that collusion on "All You Need."
From "He Do The Police In Different Voices", the opening track of the first Loud Family album, Plants and Birds and Rocks and Things
What were you believing--that I might do okay?
(Do we end up owing something?)
What were you conceiving?
Maybe just that plants and birds and rocks and things could justify my day
He know he got to be good lookin'
He got the crystal blue persuasion
He know the thing that's gonna please ya
He is un chien Andalusian
He got the friend from many stages
He do the police in different voices
References "Horse With No Name", "Come Together", "Crystal Blue Persuasion", as well as Bunuel, Dickens, and T.S. Eliot.
John Lennon references "Sgt. Pepper," "Yesterday" and "Another Day" in "How Do You Sleep" and all of Western culture in "God."
And in "Sign Language" Bob Dylan (by way of Clapton) tips his hat to Link Wray in the line "Link Wray was playin' on the jukebox I was payin'."
The Tubes' "Slipped My Disco" ends up with a great twisted guitar solo based on "I Could Have Danced All Night".
...of course, Elvis sang "Was it a millionaire who said "Imagine no posessions?"
"A poor little school boy who said 'we don't need no lessons'?" (referring to Roger Waters and Pink Floyd's "Another Brick in the Wall")
And Dylan refers to "Positively 4th Street" at the end of "Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window"...
"When The Band Was Singin' (Shakin All Over) by the Guess Who.
Polar said...
"When The Band Was Singin' (Shakin All Over) by the Guess Who.
Ohmigod. Totally forgot that one, despite being on a huge Guess Who binge this week (ordered four Canadian reissues from Amazon).
Hah!
"Street Fighting Man" by the Rolling Stones and "Racing in the Streets" by Bruce Springsteen both reference "Dancing in the Streets."
References "Horse With No Name", "Come Together", "Crystal Blue Persuasion", as well as Bunuel, Dickens, and T.S. Eliot.
I'm a big fan of Scott Miller, but man, what a showoff!
Now that I think about it, "The New World" by X also references "Dancing in the Streets." Any more DITS references out there?
"No More Dancing In The Streets" by John Hiatt, on Slug Line
Aargh, another easy one I totally forgot: "Jackie Wilson Said" by Van Morrison.
Kinks’ Paranoia the Destroyer references both Lola & the riff from All Day & All of the Night.
In Yer Blues, Lennon references Dylan’s Mr. Jones.
mary lou lord - some jingle jangle morning
-- aside from 'mr. tambourine man,' the opening lines reference nirvana's 'about a girl' and their cover of 'jesus doesn't want me for a sunbeam.'
mary lou's 'western union desperate' references dinosaur jr's 'freak scene' in the line 'when i need a friend it's still you.'
drive-by truckers - ronnie and neil
-- mentions neil's 'southern man' and 'alabama' and skynyrd's famous answer song to them.
the clash - white man in hammersmith palais
-- the reason i own delroy wilson's 'cool operator.'
the raspberries - overnight sensation
-- the snippet of 'go all the way' at the end is a neat little stunt.
kirsty maccoll - he thinks i still care
-- the guitar solo *is* the melody to 'blue moon'
sir mix-a-lot - one time's got no case
-- ok, so maybe this one is sampling, but the use of stevie wonder's 'you ain't done nothin' riff throughout the song is brilliant.
flight of the conchords - 'bowie' -- a ringer?
Hoodoo Gurus "Why" I'm drinkin' mothers ruin and groovin out to You Am I.
Sugarloaf's "Don't Call Us (We'll Call You)" ...Hey, it sounds like John, Paul & George followed by a riff from Day Tripper.
The Silos "Evangeline" Evangeline... listens to nothing but Pavement.
They Might Be Giants' "Twistin'' She doesn't need to have her Young Fresh Fellows tape back and She doesn't need to have her dB's records back now.
Warren Zevon's "Play It All Night Long" Sweet home Alabama, play that dead band's song
and my fave Nick Lowe referencing the odious pop hit of Rick Astley He had a big, fat hit, it was nasty. He said I'm never gonna give you up or let you down...
Almost forgot the ultimate ("You Were Right" by Built to Spill):
You were wrong when you said
Everything's gonna be alright
You were wrong when you said
Everything's gonna be alright
You were right when you said
All that glitters isn't gold
You were right when you said
All we are is dust in the wind
You were right when you said
We are all just bricks in the wall
And when you said manic depression's a frustrating mess
...
You were right when you said
You can't always get what you want
You were right when you said
It's a hard rain's gonna fall
You were right when you said
We're still running against the wind
And life goes on long after the thrill of living is gone
You were right when you said
This is the end
Do you ever think about it?
Do you ever think about it?
Do you ever think about it?
Do you ever think about it?
Another one popped up on my iPod as I was driving home tonight: Roxy Music's "Re-Make/Re-Model" has each instrument alternating two-bar solos at the end. One of the bass solos is "Ticket to Ride", one of the sax solos is "Ride of the Valkyries", and one of the guitar solos is "Summertime Blues".
I also thank my iPod for this one by Yo La Tengo:
"Maybe just like you some day I will forget
Every hit song America ever had
Like this is for all the Lonely People,
and Oz never gave nothing to the Tin Man,
and I've been to a desert on a horse without a name"
travis- writing to reach you ('radio keeps playing all the usual / what's a wonderwall for anyway')
and proof that we are all senile. we forgot these two pogues classics-
a pair of brown eyes ('while ray and philomena sang of "my elusive dream"')
fairy tale of new york ('the boys from the nypd choir were singing "galway bay"'). doubles as greatest christmas song of all time, too.
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