Today is the birthday of two music icons – Jam-Master Jay of rap pioneers Run-D.M.C. and disc jockey Wolfman Jack. Besides their place in their history of rock and roll, both men have another thing in common – they were the subjects of songs. That inspired me to put together today’s playlist – songs named after real people.
I found fifty songs whose titles are actual people. Actually I found more than fifty, but I didn’t want to subject you to Chiddy Bang or Mac Miller. I made a few rules for myself:
1) The title can’t have words besides the person’s name, hence no Kim Carnes’ “Bette Davis Eyes” or Sleater-Kinney’s “I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone.”
2) The title has to be the full name the person is known by, so no “Springsteen” by Eric Church or “Jessica” (about Jessica Simpson) by Adam Green. Allowed are “Galileo,” “Joan of Arc” and “King Tut,” as that is how most people identify Galileo Galilei, Joan d’Arc and Tutankhamun.
3) The song doesn’t have to be about the person after whom it is titled, so “Jack the Ripper” and “Rosa Parks” are in.
4) The track has to be on Spotify. This means I left out Bob Dylan’s “George Jackson” and Hoodie Allen’s “James Franco.”
Amazingly for a playlist based on such a goofy concept, it holds together quite well, if I say so myself.
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Tagged as Adam Green, Air, Alex Chilton, Arcade Fire, Aretha Franklin, Barbra Streisand, Barenaked Ladies, Big Audio Dynamite, Big Star, Blind Willie McTell, Blue Öyster Cult, Bo Diddley, Bob Dylan, Brian Eno, Brian Wilson, Brinkman, Bruce Springsteen, Buddy Holly, Burning Spear, Butthole Surfers, Chicago, Chiddy Bang, Das Racist, David Bowie, Duck Sauce, Eagles, Eric Church, Faithless, Fall Out Boy, Gorillaz, Grateful Dead, Hoodie Allen, Indigo Girls, James Brown, Janelle Monae, Jay-Z, Jessica Simpson, Johnny Cash, Jonathan Richman, Julio Iglesias, Kanye West, Kendrick Lamar, Kim Carnes, King Missile, Lil Wayne, LL Cool J, Mac Miller, Madness, Method Man, MGMT, Michael Jackson, Mickey Avalon, Mika, Nick Lowe, Nirvana, OutKast, Pharrell Williams, R.E.M., Run-D.M.C., Ryan Adams, ScHoolboy Q, Sheryl Crow, Sleater-Kinney, St. Vincent, Steve Martin, The Kinks, The Modern Lovers, The Replacements, They Might Be Giants, Todd Rundgren, Underworld, Weezer, Wesley Willis
