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Namecheck Songs

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The aim of this page is to list songs played by Peel that namecheck people (including bands) or animals, real or fictional, in the title. Peel favourites Half Man Half Biscuit were leading exponents.

Played on release by the DJ, the Special AKA song 'Free Nelson Mandela' has been credited with helping the release of the namechecked South African leader.[79]

List excludes:
- Namechecks of Peel himself (see Peel On Record);
- Name of species of animals (eg, "A Horse With No Name" by America);
- Versions of TV/movie themes (eg, "Peter Gunn" by Duane Eddy);
- Namechecks of people who don't exist outside the song (eg, 'Eleanor Rigby' by the Beatles);
- Artists namechecking themselves (eg, ‘Bo Diddley’ by Bo Diddley);
- Songs with namechecks in lyrics but not the title (eg, ‘I Suck’ by New Bad Things, which nameschecks a blacklist of musicians and others);
- Namechecks of major religious figures such as Jesus and "Rastafari"[1] (too many mentions).

Plays[]

(If name only given in part in title, please add further details as reference note.)

Performing Artist | Song | First Known Play

A[]

B[]

Nick_Cave_Dolls

Nick Cave Dolls

- Bongwater

C[]

D[]

The_Dodgems_-_Lord_Lucan_Is_Missing

The Dodgems - Lord Lucan Is Missing

E[]

F[]

G[]

H[]

Half_Man_Half_Biscuit_-_Bob_Wilson_-_Anchorman_-Official_Audio-

Half Man Half Biscuit - Bob Wilson - Anchorman -Official Audio-

I[]

J[]

K[]

Roger_Milla

Roger Milla

- Pépé Kallé

L[]

M[]

N[]

O[]

P[]

Q[]

R[]

S[]

Smack_-_Edward_Fox_(Official_Audio)

Smack - Edward Fox (Official Audio)

T[]

U[]

V[]

W[]

Wckr_Spgt_-_Francis_Mitterand

Wckr Spgt - Francis Mitterand

X[]

Y[]

Z[]

0-9[]

See Also[]

References[]

  1. ↑ The religious movement takes its name from the precoronation name of Emperor Haile Selassie, Ras Tafari.[1]
  2. ↑ Charles Baudelaire (1821-1867) was a French poet, said to be the first Modernist. Influenced many singers and songwriters including Marc Almond and the Cure.[2]
  3. ↑ The man who murdered John Lennon.
  4. ↑ Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971), Russian composer and major figure in modern classical music. Influenced Egg, Frank Zappa, many others.[3]
  5. ↑ British man who was charged and convicted of killing Clarke Pearce in Birmingham, England during a fight in 1986. His case had drawn some controversy due to alleged mistreatment by the courts and the British prison system due to his racial background.
  6. ↑ Song title and Clive James's lyrics[4] are a satirical jibe at Marc Bolan and T.Rex
  7. ↑ A play on the words Hansel And Gretel, a German fairy tale.
  8. ↑ Referring to the band, Moody Blues.
  9. ↑ The song tells a fictional story of how Ad-Rock, Mike D, and MCA first met. Ad-Rock describes riding through the desert on a horse named Paul Revere, also the name of a horse in the musical Guys and Dolls, while he is on the run from the police.[5] Other notables of the same name include a US historical figure and a musician played by Peel.[6] [7]
  10. ↑ Call for departure of UK prime minister Margaret Thatcher.
  11. ↑ Referring to John Lennon and his wife, Yoko Ono.
  12. ↑ Referring to the biblical duo of Jonathan and David.
  13. ↑ Nameschecks German classical composer Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827).
  14. ↑ A Racehorse that was later kidnapped and disappeared.
  15. ↑ Namechecks boxers Joe Frazier and Muhammad Ali.
  16. ↑ Superhero characters in comics and later films.
  17. ↑ Archibald "Archie" Bunker is a fictional character from the 1970s American television sitcom ‘All in the Family’.[8]
  18. ↑ Refers to Disney character Mickey Mouse.
  19. ↑ Namechecks Florian Schneider of Kraftwerk.
  20. ↑ "A dark domestic tragedy based, allegedly, on true events occurring in 17th century Scotland. Andrew Lammie is Lord Fyvie’s trumpeter, not of sufficiently high social standing to wed his daughter.[9]"
  21. ↑ Refers to Italian fascist dictator Benito Mussolini.
  22. ↑ Refers to the Everly Brothers.
  23. ↑ Refers to Lee Harvey Oswald, the man who assassinated John F Kennedy.
  24. ↑ Referring to the Beatles and Rolling Stones.
  25. ↑ Reference to Spanish artist Salvador Dali, several of whose artworks involved cars in unusual contexts[10]
  26. ↑ Refers to Mark Twain character Huckleberry Finn.[11]
  27. ↑ Referring to Adolf Hitler.
  28. ↑ Cover version by R.E.M. also played by peel.
  29. ↑ Man Ray (1890-1976), American surrealist visual artist.
  30. ↑ Referring to Queen Victoria.
  31. ↑ Inspired by Cohen's platonic relationship with dancer Suzanne Verdal[12].
  32. ↑ Inspired by Marianne Jensen, born Marianne Ihlen, whom Cohen met on the Greek island of Hydra in 1960[13].
  33. ↑ Satirical reference to white bluesman John Mayall, but title revised for 2020 CD reissue to "A Whiter Shade of Powell" to avoid accusations of racism.
  34. ↑ "Asha" in title is Indian singer Asha Bhosle.
  35. ↑ Early member of Cornershop.
  36. ↑ Referring to Oliver Cromwell.
  37. ↑ Refers to fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics[14].
  38. ↑ Satirical song about President Richard Nixon, taking his nickname as title.
  39. ↑ Flossie refers to Peel's daughter, Florence Ravenscroft.
  40. ↑ Kenny is a cartoon character in South Park.
  41. ↑ Title refers to Bruce Springsteen.
  42. ↑ Scientist Albert Einstein.
  43. ↑ Ronny Zamora was an American murderer who killed his neighbour in 1977.
  44. ↑ Referring to the senior George Bush, who was President of America between 1989 and 1993.
  45. ↑ Written for actress/singer Emmaretta Marks [15]
  46. ↑ Referring to soul singer Geno Washington.
  47. ↑ Victoria Lynn Morgan (August 9, 1952 – July 7, 1983) was the mistress of Alfred S. Bloomingdale, heir to the Bloomingdale's department store fortune. The details of their tumultuous relationship became known after Morgan sued Bloomingdale's estate for palimony in 1982. Morgan was murdered in 1983 by Marvin Pancoast, her roommate and occasional lover who was sentenced to prison.
  48. ↑ Jürgen Engler is a musician and founder of German band, Die Krupps.
  49. ↑ English footballer who played for Liverpool under Bill Shankly.[16]
  50. ↑ Traditional North Carolina folk song based on the 1866 murder of a woman named Laura Foster in Wilkes County, North Carolina by Tom Dula (whose name in the local dialect was pronounced "Dooley"). Best known in hit version recorded in 1958 by The Kingston Trio, which was a US No. 1 single.[17]
  51. ↑ Traditional American folk song based on the life of a railroad worker living in McDowell County, West Virginia in spring 1893, when he killed a man named Thomas Drews after a drunken dispute during a craps game.[18]
  52. ↑ Written for Linda Lawrence, who Donovan married in 1970[19]
  53. ↑ Song inspired by Donovan's friend and mentor, American folksinger Derroll Adams[20]
  54. ↑ Wikipedia calls this a song "written for a friend of Donovan's who escaped from a mental health centre"; the lyric says Mad John had run away from a Borstal.
  55. ↑ Dedicated to fellow songwriter John Sebastian
  56. ↑ About Celia Hammond, a model who took a stand against animal cruelty (particularly the seal hunts) She also opened several clinics for neutering pets[21].
  57. ↑ Based on a nonsense poem written by Lewis Carroll about the killing of a creature named "the Jabberwock". It was included in his 1871 novel Through the Looking-Glass.
  58. ↑ Song about the murder of Billy Lyons by "Stag" Lee Shelton, in St. Louis, Missouri, at Christmas 1895.[22]
  59. ↑ About imprisonment of boxer Rubin "Hurricane" Carter.
  60. ↑ Song for Dylan hero Woody Guthrie.
  61. ↑ Enrico Caruso (1873-1921), the opera singer.[23]
  62. ↑ Written in memory of blues singer/guitarist Mississippi John Hurt (1892-1966).
  63. ↑ According to Fahey, the title was inspired by a peacock kept by a lady living in his neighbourhood, which escaped and was run over by a car[24].
  64. ↑ Song about Bruce Lacey (31 March 1927 – 18 February 2016), British artist, performer and eccentric.[25]
  65. ↑ The lord of the title was Col. Churchill, created Duke by William of Orange in 1688, after his victory over the rebellious Duke of Monmouth.[26]
  66. ↑ Captain Beefheart song referring to the Beatles and Rolling Stones.
  67. ↑ Refers to title character, a composer, of Thomas Mann's novel Doktor Faustus[27]
  68. ↑ Misspelling of Abel Tendekayi Muzorewa (* 14. April 1925) in former Rhodesia), a Methodist bishop and nationalist leader, was prime minister of the short-lived coalition government in what was called Zimbabwe Rhodesia; he held office for only a few months in 1979.
  69. ↑ Queen Victoria.
  70. ↑ Nicolae Ceaușescu, Romanian communist dictator.
  71. ↑ “The German Lairdie” was King George I, the Hanoverian Prince, who, with the support of the Whigs, ascended the throne of England after the death of Queene Anne in 1714. By now, the Act of Union (1707) and many years of cultural and economic bondage had resulted in deep hostility among the Scots[28]
  72. ↑ Said by co-writer Chris Hillman to refer to David Crosby's girlfriend Christine Hinton, but other Christines have been proposed[29]
  73. ↑ Refers to Alabama governor George Wallace.
  74. ↑ Referring to Peter Gabriel.
  75. ↑ Herbert Richard Wehner (11 July 1906 – 19 January 1990) was a German politician. A former member of the Communist Party, he joined the Social Democrats (SPD) after World War II. He served as Federal Minister of Intra-German Relations from 1966 to 1969 and thereafter as chairman of the SPD parliamentary group in the Bundestag until 1983.
  76. ↑ Jean-Bédel Bokassa (22 February 1921 – 3 November 1996), also known as Bokassa I, was a Central African political and military leader who served as the second president of the Central African Republic (CAR) and as the emperor of its successor state, the Central African Empire(CAE), from the Saint-Sylvestre coup d'état on 1 January 1966 until his overthrow in a subsequent coup in 1979.
  77. ↑ Baseball player.
  78. ↑ Jacques Rivette was a French film director and film critic most commonly associated with the French New Wave and the film magazine Cahiers du Cinéma.
  79. ↑ Warren Harding "Sonny" Sharrock (August 27, 1940 – May 25, 1994) was an American jazz guitarist.
  80. ↑ Karl-Eduard von Schnitzler was a German journalist, communist propagandist and host of the television show Der schwarze Kanal from 1960 to 1989.
  81. ↑ Charles Sealsfield was the pseudonym of Austrian-American journalist Carl Anton Postl (1793-1864), an advocate for a German democracy.
  82. ↑ Amalgamation of George W. Bush and Adolf Hitler.
  83. ↑ Referring to Mahatma Gandhi.
  84. ↑ Title presumably refers to musicians Jerry Dammers (Specials) and Holger Czukay (Can).
  85. ↑ Refers to Rudolph Valentino, sex symbol of 1920s silent films[30]
  86. ↑ American actress and singer resident in Britain in the 1970s and '80s.[31]
  87. ↑ Named after jazz pianist Lennie Tristano (1919-1978)[32]
  88. ↑ Refers to Dr Dre, the hip hop star.
  89. ↑ American railroader who was killed when his passenger train collided with a stalled freight train in Vaughan, Mississippi.
  90. ↑ Composed in memory of singer-guitarist Pat Kilroy (1943-1967)[33]
  91. ↑ About the DJ Rodney Bingenheimer, a character on the Los Angeles "scene" who lasted into the punk era and beyond[34]
  92. ↑ Refers to the British farmer and TV personality[35]
  93. ↑ Welsh actress and narrator, known primarily for her television roles, including her part in the BBC TV series The Liver Birds.
  94. ↑ References Nick Cave.
  95. ↑ References a “ghost” dog who saves its master. [36] [37]
  96. ↑ American astronaut.
  97. ↑ Referring to Peter Gabriel.
  98. ↑ Referring to Margaret Thatcher.
  99. ↑ Neil (or more correctly,Niel) Gow (22 March 1727 – 1 March 1807) was a Scottish fiddler in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.[38]
  100. ↑ Referring to pop star, Kim Wilde.
  101. ↑ Referring to footballer, Gordon Strachan.
  102. ↑ Nickname of T. Dan Smith, controversial leader of Newcastle City Council in the 1960s, " whose desire to modernise Newcastle at all costs led to the destruction of historic landmarks and a jail sentence."[39]
  103. ↑ Title refers to Julia Kneale, who wrote the lyrics. She was band member A. McCluskey's girlfriend at the time.
  104. ↑ referring to Minister for Sport, Colin Moynihan.
  105. ↑ Named after a fictional character in Lewis Carroll's 1865 book Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and its 1871 sequel Through the Looking-Glass.
  106. ↑ Song "can be traced back to 1624 when a charismatic gypsy king by the name of Johnny Faa (a common Romany surname) along with seven of his band were rounded up and brutally executed in Scotland"[40].
  107. ↑ Song about a pig which broke into the kitchen of the farmhouse in Pembrokeshire where the ISB were living and ate all their food
  108. ↑ Refers to, and credits, harmonica player Jim Lieber.
  109. ↑ Named after the character in Lewis Carroll's 1865 book Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.
  110. ↑ Written as a tribute to Guy Burchett, a young messenger employed by John's record label Rocket Records, who was killed in a motorcycle accident.
  111. ↑ About killing of New Zealand teacher Blair Peach during an anti-racism demonstration in 1979.
  112. ↑ Referring to Whitney Houston.
  113. ↑ West Indies cricket captain.[41]
  114. ↑ Also covered by The Jam, played 27 July 1978.
  115. ↑ Queen Victoria.
  116. ↑ Song based on protest chant about UK prime minister Margaret Thatcher.
  117. ↑ Referring to U2, the band.
  118. ↑ Bob Marley
  119. ↑ Tribute to ska pioneer Prince Buster.
  120. ↑ Refers to two characters in Ray Bradbury's 1962 novel Something Wicked This Way Comes[42]
  121. ↑ Dave Sinclair composition with lyrics by Robert Wyatt about his recent breakup with girlfriend Caroline Coon[43]
  122. ↑ American old-timey banjo player and singer(1913-1997)[44]
  123. ↑ Dutch painter (1580-1666).
  124. ↑ American businessman and politician.
  125. ↑ Written for poet and Cream lyricist Pete Brown
  126. ↑ Song takes a critical view of Bob Dylan and uses his original surname in the title[45]
  127. ↑ Refers to Steeleye Span singer Maddy Prior, who sometimes danced during the band's live performances.
  128. ↑ Steve 'Instant' Newman was the bass player for The Sellouts, which was a Creedence Clearwater Revival cover band that also featured Nirvana's Kurt Cobain and Krist Novoselic. The band split after bassist Steve 'Instant' Newman attacked Kurt Cobain with a vacuum cleaner.
  129. ↑ Named after Steve Biko, the South African anti-apartheid activist.
  130. ↑ Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan, both Australian pop singers.
  131. ↑ Inspired by the time Mitchell spent in 1970 living with a "red-haired American", Cary Raditz, in a cave-dwelling hippie community at Matala, on the Greek island of Crete.[46]
  132. ↑ Unidentified serial killer in 19th century London.
  133. ↑ The front cover of the 'Suzanne' single features Suzanna Arundhati Roy, an Indian author.
  134. ↑ Referring to Margaret Thatcher.
  135. ↑ Refers to Eric Dolphy (1928-1964), American jazz multi-instrumentalist and bandleader, who also played in groups led by Charles Mingus and John Coltrane
  136. ↑ See Nelson Mandela.
  137. ↑ Frances Farmer, an American actress.
  138. ↑ Song title refers to US military bomber, named after the pilot's mother, Enola Gay Tibbets, used to drop an A-bomb on Hiroshima in 1945.[47]
  139. ↑ From the 1962 western movie of the same name, starring Lee Marvin as the titular outlaw.
  140. ↑ Kaz Hayashi, a Japanese professional wrestler.
  141. ↑ Subject of a lyrical ballad by the 19th-century English poet Alfred Tennyson[48]
  142. ↑ Referring to a Bulgarian education pioneer, Nedelya Petkova.
  143. ↑ A ballad about the fate of Sir John Franklin, who perished in 1847 on the search for the North West Passage[49].
  144. ↑ Song tells of the life and death of a friend of the singer.[50] According to Ken Garner, first Peel play may be from session repeat, under title 'Ballad' (or 'L' Ballade'[51]), not first broadcast of session on 29 May 1971 (or from the 1971 LP Second Contribution).[52]
  145. ↑ Baseball player.
  146. ↑ Character from Greek mythology, usual spelling Sisyphus[53]
  147. ↑ Alexandre Gustave Eiffel, designer of the Eiffel Tower.
  148. ↑ "MBV" refers to My Bloody Valentine, after Kevin Shields worked on the track. Arkestra were the band of Sun Ra.
  149. ↑ Alexander Bedward (1848-1930), Jamaican preacher.[54] The song expands on the tale of his promise to followers to ascend to heaven after climbing a tree.
  150. ↑ 'Bonzo' was the name of the chimpanzee title character in Bedtime for Bonzo, a 1951 comedy starring future US president, Ronald Reagan. For Bitburg reference see Songs About Places - Ramones.
  151. ↑ Lev Bronstein was the Russian revolutionary better known as Leon Trotsky.
  152. ↑ A Bob Dylan song about the Black Panthers activist.
  153. ↑ Refers to Jack Dyer, a gardener for Keith Richards' country home.
  154. ↑ Namechecks reggae producer Coxsone Dodd
  155. ↑ Algerian-born French philosopher. He developed the philosophy of deconstruction, was popular, if controversial, in academia in the 1980s - and was admired by some writers on New Musical Express[55]
  156. ↑ References TV comedy character Sgt Bilko.[56]
  157. ↑ Referring to Queen Elizabeth II
  158. ↑ The first president of Mozambique.
  159. ↑ Tells the story of Ira Hayes, an Akimel O'odham Indigenous American and a United States Marine during World War II[57]
  160. ↑ Title references British writer Virginia Woolf and 1966 film starring Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, adapted from play.[58][59]
  161. ↑ Anti-monarchist song referring to Queen Elizabeth II.
  162. ↑ Edward Stanley Gibbons, stamp dealer and founder of Stanley Gibbons Ltd.
  163. ↑ Song in memory of Karen Carpenter (of the Carpenters).
  164. ↑ Title references Elvis Presley.
  165. ↑ Main character of book and film 'Breakfast at Tiffany's".[60] Later, British musician played by Peel.[61]
  166. ↑ Referring to J Mascis, singer of Dinosaur Jr.
  167. ↑ Gerry Rafferty's mother.
  168. ↑ American General Zachary Taylor beat the Mexican General Santa Aña at the battle of Molina del Rey (Buena Vista) in February 1847. He later became the 12th President of the United States from March 1849 until his death in July 1850[62]
  169. ↑ Sir Thomas de Ercildoun, better remembered as Thomas the Rhymer (fl. c. 1220 – 1298), also known as Thomas Learmont or True Thomas, was a Scottish laird and reputed prophet from Earlston (then called "Erceldoune") in the Borders[63]
  170. ↑ Referring to Little Saint Hugh of Lincoln.
  171. ↑ "'Maggie May' was more or less a true story, about the first woman I had sex with, at the Beaulieu Jazz Festival." - Rod Stewart, Jan. 2007
  172. ↑ Song based on murder of a gay friend of Stewart and the Faces[64]
  173. ↑ Refers to revolutionary leader Che Guevara.
  174. ↑ References musicians David Bowie and Iggy Pop and singer and TV presenter Dinah Shore[65].
  175. ↑ Name of British chieftain who opposed the Romans, flourished a.d. c50.
  176. ↑ Refers to singer/actor Frank Sinatra.
  177. ↑ The King of Rome was a racing pigeon that in 1913 won a 1,001-mile (1,611 km) race from Rome, Italy to England.[66]
  178. ↑ John Godfrey Parry-Thomas (6 April 1884 – 3 March 1927) was a Welsh engineer and motor-racing driver who at one time held the land speed record.[67]
  179. ↑ A play on the names of Neil Young, the rock musician and Carl Gustav Jung, psychologist.
  180. ↑ Jacques Tati was a French mime, filmmaker, actor and screenwriter.
  181. ↑ A play on the name of Chester Burnett, who goes by the name of 'Howlin' Wolf', the Blues musician.
  182. ↑ An English composer.
  183. ↑ Referring to Karl Marx's wife.
  184. ↑ A villain in the 1963 American splatter movie, Blood Feast.
  185. ↑ The song's protagonist is John Barleycorn, a personification of barley and of the alcoholic beverages made from it: beer and whisky.[68]
  186. ↑ Roy Cazaly (1893-1963), an Australian rules footballer.
  187. ↑ Atahualpa, also Atawallpa (Quechua), 'Atabalica, Atahuallpa, Atabalipa (c.1502 – July 1533), was the last effective Incan emperor before his capture and execution during the Spanish conquest.[69]
  188. ↑ Reference to biblical figure Judas Iscariot.[70]
  189. ↑ About deceased US black leader Martin Luther King.
  190. ↑ "According to A.L. Lloyd, this ‘tall tale’ owes its origin to the ‘Old Tup’ midwinter luck-visit custom that is still to be found in certain parts of Britain today. The ‘Old Tup’ is a man masked as sheep, who carries a pair of ram’s horns mounted on a stick. Nowadays a comic ‘butcher’ and ‘little boy’ accompany the beast on its perambulations...[71]"
  191. ↑ Irish tenor, popular in the 1940s and '50s.[72]
  192. ↑ Refers to longest-serving French president (b.1916-d.1996) but spells his first name incorrectly[73]
  193. ↑ Referring to John F Kennedy, President Of The USA, who was assassinated in 1963.
  194. ↑ Song and title mentions William Shatner, the Star Trek actor.
  195. ↑ Unidentified serial killer in 19th century London.
  196. ↑ Believed to refer to Jim Kinane (or Jim Kinnane), who was a major figure in the Memphis underworld at the time. Jim Kinane ran nightclubs in Memphis, including the Monarch Club on Beale Street.[74]
  197. ↑ Referring to Midas in Greek mythology.
  198. ↑ Unidentified serial killer in 19th century London.
  199. ↑ South African anti-apartheid activist.
  200. ↑ Chinese communist dictator.
  201. ↑ Hamza Al Gahnem, an Iraqi boy affected by the Gulf War.
  202. ↑ Bridget St John / Daevid Allen and Gilli Smyth of Gong.
  203. ↑ The song is inspired by Hernán Cortés' conquest of the Aztec Empire under Moctezuma II in the 16th century.[75]
  204. ↑ Pocahontas (born Amonute, also known as Matoaka and Rebecca Rolfe; c. 1596 – March 1617) was a Native American woman belonging to the Powhatan people, notable for her association with the colonial settlement at Jamestown, Virginia. She was the daughter of Powhatan, the paramount chief of a network of tributary tribes in the Tsenacommacah, encompassing the Tidewater region of what is today the U.S. state of Virginia.
  205. ↑ Reference to Peel's favourite footballer Kenny Dalglish.
  206. ↑ Manuel Laureano Rodríguez Sánchez (4 July 1917 – 29 August 1947), known as Manolete, was a Spanish bullfighter. His death inspired a book with the same title as this song[76]
  207. ↑ Refers to Italian artist and writer Giorgio de Chirico (1888-1978)[77]
  208. ↑ Jacques Cousteau was a French oceanographer and TV documentary maker.[78]
  209. ↑ Rolling Stones song about Jack Dyer, a gardener for Keith Richards' country home.
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