When new bands are trying to think of what to call themselves, they'll often turn to song titles of bands they like for inspiration. However, these twelve artists did just the opposite: use another artist's name in a song title.
1. The Replacements - "Alex Chilton" (1987)
The Replacements were just one of many alternative rock bands to be influenced by Alex Chilton of Big Star, and though Chilton didn't make a guest appearance on the song named after him, he did show up to play guitar for the Replacements' classic single "Can't Hardly Wait."
2. MGMT - "Brian Eno" (2010)
Brian Eno is a hero to pretty much any musician interested in experimental music, and psych-pop duo MGMT paid tribute to him in this track off of its second album Congratulations.
3. Devendra Banhart - "The Beatles" (2004)
Only the first ten seconds of this song are actually about the Beatles. Afterwards, it suddenly shifts into a South American-inspired folk song with lyrics about Donovan, Marc Bolan, and Six Organs of Admittance.
4. Sleater-Kinney - "I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone" (1996)
This song isn't exactly about Joey Ramone, but rather about idol worship in rock music, with Corin Tucker singing, "I wanna be your Joey Ramone/Pictures of me on your bedroom door." The song also name-checks Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore in the second chorus.
5. LCD Soundsystem - "Daft Punk Is Playing At My House" (2005)
More than any other band in the last decade, LCD Soundsystem both embraced and skewered indie culture through its music, and this song from the band's eponymous debut album is one of the silliest and most fun in its entire catalogue.
6. Television Personalities - "I Know Where Syd Barrett Lives" (1981)
In the '70s, former Pink Floyd frontman Syd Barrett basically vanished from the public eye and never again emerged, eventually passing away in 2006. This song by the Television Personalities was written in 1981, back when it seemed like Barrett could still possibly resurface.
7. Guided By Voices - "The Unsinkable Fats Domino" (2012)
Robert Pollard's lyrics are usually filled with surreal and nonsensical imagery, so his inclusion of Fats Domino in "The Unsinkable Fats Domino" was likely borne out of free associative dream logic, rather than a desire to sing about Fats Domino.
8. The Fall - "I Am Damo Suzuki" (1985)
Krautrock music was integral to the fabric of post-punk bands like the Fall, and this song from 1985 pays tribute to one of krautrock's most singular figures: Damo Suzuki, lead vocalist of Can.
9. Drive-By Truckers - "The Night GG Allin Came To Town" (1999)
Anyone familiar with the antics of the late GG Allin should realize what a horrifying prospect it is for him to come to town, and this song by alt-country band Drive-By Truckers recounts the nauseating events of a 1991 Allin show in Memphis.
10. Chuck Berry - "Roll Over Beethoven" (1956)
Was it wrong for Chuck Berry to have just assumed that Beethoven and Tchaikovsky knew each other? They didn't speak the same language and, most importantly, weren't even alive at the same time, so there really wasn't any way Beethoven could "tell Tchaikovsky the news."
11. The Brian Jonestown Massacre - "(David Bowie I Love You) Since I Was Six (1996)
This song doesn't directly address David Bowie in its lyrics, but swiping the chord progression and melody from Bowie's "Space Oddity" more than makes up for it.
12. Led Zeppelin - "Hats Off To (Roy) Harper" (1970)
For the last song on its third album, Led Zeppelin chose to record medley of traditional acoustic blues and name it in honor of English folk singer Roy Harper, a close friend who occasionally opened for the band.
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