Artists/songs who mention other artists

Bruce Springsteen - Thunder Road (Roy Orbison), Robyn Hitchcock - The Wreck Of The Arthur Lee, Wheatus - Teenage Dirtbag (Iron Maiden)

Big Star -- Thirteen (Rolling Stones' Paint It Black)

Saint Etienne - "Mario's Cafe" (KLF) and "London Belongs to Me" (World of Twist)

"rollin' numbers, rock and rollin', got my Kiss records out"

Some nominations, not all serious (unless you believe in pre- tributes): Verdi Cries (10,000 Maniacs), Genesis (4 Hero, Slade), Beatles Under My Carpet (Aphex Twin), Heatwave (Atari Teenage Riot), Devo (Barmy Army), The Move (Beastie Boys), The Fall (Bomb 20), I Dreamed I Saw Phil Ochs Last Night or Levi Stubbs' Tears (Billy Bragg), Public Enemy #1 (James Brown), The Night Hank Williams Came To Town or A Backstage Pass ("...to a Willie Nelson show")(Johnny Cash), Bo Diddley Is A Communist ("Bo Diddley sends his advisors into Angola")(Eugene Chadbourne), Miracles (Coco Steele & Love Bomb), Bill Drummond said (Julian Cope), Julian Cope Is Dead (Bill Drummond), After The Fall (Elvis Costello), Yngwie J Malmsteen (Cube & Sphere), Psalm Of Bob Marley (Culture), Faithless (D Product), On A Chicory Tip or The Osmonds or Middle Of The Road (Denim), Roxette (Dr Feelgood), Ravi Shankar (Dub Syndicate), Sweet Gene Vincent (Ian Dury), Last Thoughts on Woody Guthrie or Bessie Smith or Blind Willie McTell (Bob Dylan), Wings (Elegia or the Fall), Yes (Elementz of Noize - am I stretching your patience here?), Black Sabbath or Suicide (Alec Empire), Michael Jackson (Fatboy Slim), Dr Feelgood (Aretha Franklin)(yes, I know), Rush (Freakpower), Iron Maiden (Ghostface Killah), Kemistry (Goldie), Kevin Ayers (Gorky's Zygotic Mynci), Bo Diddley's a Gunslinger (Gun Club), Merle's Farewell To Elvis (Merle Haggard) I Don't Mind Keeping Up With the Joneses As Long As the Jones is George (Gary Lee Hale), I Love You Because (You Look Like Jim Reeves)(Half Man Half Biscuit), Joey Ramoney or Does Your Heart Go Boom (which mentions Bush and Atari Teenage Riot)(Helen Love), Kimwildesongtitle (Hitchers), James Brown Is Still Alive! (Holy Noise), The Howlin' Wolf (Lightnin' Hopkins, Muddy Waters), Louise (Howlin' Wolf), Crystals (Humanoid), Mighty Mighty (Spade & Whitey)(Impressions), Aretha, Sing One For Me (George Jackson), The Birdland Story (Eddie Jefferson), Roll Over Beethoven (Chuck Berry etc.), Who's Gonna Fill Their Shoes (George Jones' tribute to lots of old country stars), Elvis on the Radio, Steel Guitar in My Soul or Kylie Said To Jason (KLF), Franz Schubert (Kraftwerk), Blame it on the Stones (Kris Kristofferson - yes, those Stones), Focus (Jonny L), Jimi Hendrix (Christian Marclay), Brilliant Corners (Thelonious Monk), Melodius Thunk (Andrea Parker), Simple Minds (Dag Nasty), Flintlock (Neuro Project), Penetration (Omni Trio), There Goes the Cure (One Dove), Shadows (Orbital), Mr Big (Augustus Pablo), Suicide (Pavlov's Dog), The Real Thing (Peshay), Cole, Cooke and Redding (Wilson Pickett), Faron Young (Prefab Sprout), Charlie Parker (Prince), Claustrophobic Sting (Prodigy), Black Rubber Elvis (Project Dark), Elvis, Gone to Join His Mother (Ralph), Lightnin' Hopkins (REM), Velvet Underground (Jonathan Richman), Billy Eckstein's Shirt Collar (Rip Rig & Panic), Burning Spear (S.O.U.L.), They Died With Their Willie Nelson T-Shirts On (Sewer Zombies), Runaways (Shut Up and Dance), Bambaataa (Shy FX), Tight Fit (Bunny Siegler), Dr Feelgood (Sir Lord Comic), Here Come The Nice (Small Faces), Birdland (Patti Smith), Hearsay (Soul Children), Dubstar (Source Direct), The Mission (SPOOKS), Lee Perry Part One (Spring Heel Jack), Penetration (Stooges), Laibach Session (Stupids), 8th Wonder (Sugarhill Gang), Mad Donna (T. Rex), Deep Purple (Art Tatum does a good version), Neil Jung (Teenage Fanclub), You're Right Ray Charles (Joe Tex), Desmond Dekker Came First (Toots & the Maytals), Squeeze (Total Science), Impressions (Trouble Funk), Faces (Two Unlimited), Therapy (Usual Suspects), Big In Japan (Tom Waits), Jitterbug Boy (Sharing A Curbstone With Chuck E Weiss...)(Waits again), Lulu's Back In Town (Fats Waller), My Bloody Valentine (DJ Wally), Like Frankie Lymon (Weather Prophets), Who (Ben Webster), Oasis (Where's The Beach), Free (Barry White), Sparks (Who), Field Day for the Sundays (Wire), Runaways (XTC), Mantovani's Hits (Yachts), From Hank To Hendrix (Neil Young).

re Neil Young being mentioned on 'Sweet Home Alabama', apparently he's actually played it live a few times. But what does he sing when it gets to his name?

Oh, a VERY stupid example. Billy Bland covers Bobby Bland's (no relation) Little Boy Blue, in which Bobby spells out his first name. You would have thought that adjusting for the cover would have been a modest challenge, but Billy still sings 'B-O-B-B-Y'!

Some artists Mr. Zappa name-dropped at various times (list by no means complete) --

Bobby Sherman; Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young; Elton John; and Roger Daltrey ("Do You Like My New Car?"). Vanilla Fudge ("Mudshark"). Joni Mitchell and Zubin Mehta ("Billy the Mountain"). The Grateful Dead ("Teenage Wind"). Bob Dylan ("Flakes"). Igor Stravinsky ("Titties and Beer"). Punky Meadows and Angel ("Punky's Whips"). Yoko Ono ("A Small Eternity with Yoko Ono"). The Doobie Brothers ("Carolina Hardcore Ecstasy"). Elvis Presley ("Elvis Has Just Left the Building"). Michael, Janet, and Jermaine Jackson ("Why Don't You Like Me?"). Toto ("Fembot in a Wet T-Shirt").

Cornelius on God Only Knows does the Jesus & Mary Chain "just like honey" thing.

Dream Academy's "Life in a Northern Town" - about Drake, mentions Sinatra (in a younger day...)

"Are you ready to be heartbroken?" - Lloyd Cole: "listening to Arthur Lee records..."

"For the singer of REM" - fIREHOSE

Tadeusz you missed Helen Reddy ( Baby Don't Ya Want A Man Like Me?)

Lloyd Cole - "Can't you find me some George Jones on your Radio?" - To the Church

Robert Forster - "Who sings better in the dark? Is it Townes Van Zant or is it Guy Clark?" Dear Black Dream