YSaC Department of Useless Statistics
Just out of curiosity, I decided to count up all the song references in the titles of our posts up to this point. As it turns out, the Beatles are waaay out in front, but I was somewhat surprised to see how few or how many times certain other artists turned up.
For your edification, here’s the whole list. I am aware that I have been utterly inconsistent about sometimes listing authors and sometimes listing titles for things like musicals and TV themes.
The Beatles-11
Rogers & Hammerstein-4
Talking Heads-4
The Who-4
They Might Be Giants-4
The Police-3
Bow Wow Wow-2
Cole Porter-2
Depeche Mode-2
Duran Duran-2
Evil Dead – The Musical-2
Frankie Yankovic-2
Gershwin-2
Huey Lewis and the News-2
Joe Raposo-2
Led Zeppelin-2
Madonna-2
Marvin Gaye-2
Michael Jackson-2
The Presidents of the United States-2
Right Said Fred-2
Rolling Stones-2
Ru Paul-2
Smokey Robinson-2
Steven Schwartz-2
The Sherman Brothers-2
The Vapors-2
Thomas Dolby-2
Tim Curry-2
Tom Jones-2
Traditional-2
Village People-2
Warren & Brooks-2
321 Contact Theme
ABBA
AC/DC
Alvin Lucier
Andrew Lloyd Webber
Andy Gibb
Antonio Carlos Jobim
Aretha Franklin
Arlo Guthrie
Ashman & Menkin
Barry Manilow
Beach Boys
Bergman and Grusin
Bright Eyes
Billy Idol
Blondie
Bob Marley
Bob Merrill
Bobby Brown
Bobby Day
Bonnie Tyler
Breaking Benjamin
Britney Spears
Burl Ives
Christina Aguilera
Cyndi Lauper
Culture Club
Cutting Crew
DaVinci’s Notebook
Debbie Boone
Destiny’s Child
Dolly Parton
Dora the Explorer
Elton John
Elvis Costello
Ethel Merman
Fats Waller
Flintstones
Flock of Seagulls
Franz Schubert
George Michael
George M. Cohan
Gilbert and Sullivan
Grease
Groucho Marx
Guns & Roses
Gustav Mahler
Hammond & Snell
Harold Arlen
House of Pain
Ian Dury
James Brown
James Pierpont
Janis Joplin
Jethro Tull
Jewel Akens
Jimmie Dodd
Jimmy Webb
Joe Jackson
John Cage
John Paul Young
Julie Brown
Kanye West
KC & The Sunshine Band
Kelis
Kleban & Hamlich
Kurt Schwitters
Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Cohen
Leybourne and Lyle
Lionel Bart
Little Shop of Horrors
Ludwig van Beethoven
Madness
MC Hammer
Meow Mix
Mighty Mouse
Monty Python
Mounds / Almond Joy Commercial
Nancy Sinatra
New Kids On The Block
Oliver Messiaen
Parker & Stone
Parliament / Funkadelic
Paul Hindemith
Paul Williams
Peter Gabriel
Phil Collins
Queen
Raffi
Ray Parker, Jr.
Richard O’Brien
Ricky Martin
Ross & Adler
Rush
Seal
Sherwood Schwartz
Sir Mack Rice
Sir Mix-a-lot
Sisqo
Skid Row
Snoop Dogg
Spongebob Squarepants
Stephen Foster
Stephen Sondheim
Steppenwolf
Steve Miller
Strouse & Adams
Survivor
T. Rex
Tears for Fears
Tennessee Ernie Ford
The Buggles
The Clash
The Dave Clark Five
The Doors
The Fratellis
The Lonely Island
The Love Boat Theme
The McCoys
The Pixies
The Playmates
The Proclaimers
The Sex Pistols
The Sportsmen
The Temptations
Timbuk3
Tom Lehrer
Utah Saints
Van Halen
Weezer
Weird Al Yankovic
Whiting & Mercer
Wright and Forrest
XTC
tl;dr
jk
Now you just have to make all of those into links so that those of us who didn’t get the reference the first time around can learn.
That would be too easy!
Link, link a song
Link it snappy
So we don’t get the reference wrong
Don’t worry if it’s a link to porn
We won’t think that it’s wrong
Just link, link a song
What? No Rocky Horror Picture Show?
Yep, there’s three — Richard O’Brien and Tim Curry!
I’d also be interested in the tally of song references in the comments, though I’m not actually asking you (or anybody else!) to do that.
The Beatles may or may not have been bigger than Jesus, but ….
How big was Jesus’ butt?
Probably smaller than mine.
Same here.
Interesting how you sorted the list – took me a while to figure it out. Now where’s my other bunny slipper?
This is perfect for the “YSAC Game”, hitting store shelves next October. Pre-order yours, so you don’t have to wait in line.
Next we need a directory in the fora of all the blogs of regular commenters. 8)
What worries me is that while reading this list, I started trying to remember the actual titles associated with each performer and found more than I expected coming immediately to mind. I am officially addicted to YSaC.
I want to know how many are references to the same song. Or did Right Said Fred really do more than one song that anyone would recognize a reference to?
Which also raises the question of why Cole Porter is listed twice in the singles instead of listed as Cole Porter-2?
And okay, I promise to shut up soon, but it’s breaking another little piece of my heart to see Janis listed as Janice.
To answer both questions — I was reading them off and Dan was typing them, very quickly. I’ll fix both right now.
Erm, there were three questions. No, the Right Said Fred references were to the same (awful) song. (Fun story: I was working at a record store that sold new and used CDs when that album came out. When people would bring that CD to the register, we would tell them, “This album is terrible. If you like the one song, buy the single — because we will NOT buy this CD back from you when you realize you hate it.”)
Thank you, Llamanun. I think Janis is now resting more peacefully. She may even be happy if she has a bottle of SoCo. I understand those kinds of quick mistakes. Believe me, it never even crossed my mind that you two had erred out of ignorance.
I love your Right Said Fred story. I actually have a couple of fond memories of I’m So Sexy. One is of a local DJ singing it in drag in a musical parody of local politics. (He was playing a pregnant Enid Greene for anyone who remembers Utah politics.) And the other is of belly dancing to it in a show dedicated to silliness.
My curiosity about how many references were to the same song extends beyond Right Said Fred, though. It seems like, among the 2s, it should be a little higher rating for the references to be to different songs. I mean, I hate seeing Right Said Fred get the same status as Smokey Robinson and the Rolling Stones or even Madonna. (Although I wouldn’t necessarily enjoy seeing Led Zeppelin lose status if both references are to Stairway to Heaven, which wouldn’t surprise me.)
And then there’s The Beatles. Not that it would be hard to find 11 Beatles songs to refer to, but is it 11 different songs?
Not that you have to answer any of these questions, of course. Statistics always do this to me. I start asking myself questions and can never find the studies that answer them. So then I end up writing off almost everything I hear as propaganda science. At least on YSaC, I have all the information available to answer the questions myself if I’m motivated enough.
I know that at least one Zep reference was to The Immigrant Song. It was the Viking stove post, in which Lola was the cause of my beverage to monitor expulsion.
Thank you, christina. I know the other one was to Stairway to Heaven. I don’t remember where or why, but I do remember the reference (at least my brain thinks it remembers).
Now I’m happy, because the statistics will fit my world view, so I really want to see Right Said Fred get relegated to lower status for having only one song on the list.
“… lies, damn lies, and statistics.”
Too true. Everyone repeat after me: Correlation does not imply causation.
Correlation does not imply causation.
Correlation does not imply causation.
Corridores est no caustico-
Wait, that’s not right.
“Cuiad, estoy llamas aiya!”
Wait, that’s not right.
Dang, it, I had that NIH directive for caustic cleaner use in common corridor hand railings . . .
Oh,
intercourseTV the Penguin!“Correlation does not imply causation.”
And its corrolary,
“The plural of anecdote is not data.”
Of course you know, Dan, this means I’m going to have to reference one of the big names that wasn’t on this list — someone who happens to like making lists. You brought this on yourself.
Sherman Brothers, Bobby Day, Tim Curry, Marvin Gaye
Thomas Dolby, Bonnie Tyler, Barry Manilow
Flock of Seagulls, Cutting Crew, Huey Lewis and the News
Michael Jackson, Joe Jackson, Elvis Costello
Bow Wow Wow, Ru Paul, Steven Schwartz, George Michael
ABBA, Weezer, Arlo Guthrie, and The Dave Clarke Five,
Gustav Mahler, Skid Row, Kanye West and Sisqo
Monty Python, Leonard Cohen, Ricky Martin, Burl Ives
We didn’t start the music
It was always playing
Since we’ve been purveying
We didn’t start the music
No, we didn’t write it
But we did highlight it
Janis Joplin, XTC, Culture Club, Bob Marley
Guns & Roses, Bobby Brown, Joe Raposo
Bob Merrill, Love Boat Theme, MC Hammer, Blondie, Queen
Cole Porter, Mighty Mouse, and The Rolling Stones
Flintstones, Gershwin, Jimmie Dodd, Led Zeppelin
Jewel Akens, Evil Dead, AC/DC
Meow Mix, Talking Heads, Stephen Sondheim, Right Said Fred
Lonely Island, Stephen Foster, Seal, TMBG
We didn’t start the music
It was always playing
Since we’ve been purveying
We didn’t start the music
No, we didn’t write it
But we did highlight it
Rogers & Hammerstein, Pixies, Leonard Bernstein
Rush, Madness, Phil Collins, and The Beach Boys
Cindi Lauper, Kelis, Grease, Dolly Parton, The Police
Village People, Depeche Mode, and The McCoys
Ian Dury, Sportsmen, belting Ethel Merman
Groucho Marx, Debbie Boone, Smokey Robinson
Andy Gibb, Utah Saints, John Cage, House of Pain
Ross & Adler, T. Rex, I love The Temptations
We didn’t start the music
It was always playing
Since we’ve been purveying
We didn’t start the music
No, we didn’t write it
But we did highlight it
Dora the Explorer, Little Shop of Horrors
Christina Aguliera, Raffi, Harold Arlen
Alvin Lucier, Tears for Fears, Elton John, Britney Spears
Paul Williams, Steppenwolf, Buggles and Van Halen
Franz Schubert, Sex Pistols, Doors, Peter Gabriel
Billy Idol, Proclaimers, Schubert, Parker & Stone
We didn’t start the music
It was always playing
Since we’ve been purveying
We didn’t start the music
No, we didn’t write it
But we did highlight it
Jimmy Webb, Aretha Franklin, Gilbert and Sullivan
Strouse & Adams, Steve Miller, Warren & Brooks
Bergman and Grusin, Beatles, Breaking Benjamin
Playmates, Tom Jones, and DaVinci’s Notebooks
Kurt Schwitters, Jethro Tull, Bight Eyes, Hammond & Snell
Ludwig van Beethoven, my brain is becoming sore
James Brown, Julie Brown, Almond Joy, chocolate Mounds
Tennessee Ernie Ford, I can’t fit in any more!
We didn’t start the music
It was always playing
Since we’ve been purveying
We didn’t start the music
No, we didn’t write it
But we did highlight it
We didn’t start the music
It was always playing
Since we’ve been purveying
We didn’t start the music
No, we didn’t write it
But we did highlight it…
The Worst Pop Singer Ever
♫ Und das Mikrofon riecht wie ein Bier ♪
Ah. I’ve had several people tell me how they can’t stand Billy but never really understood why. I find most of his stuff insipid but only a few things genuinely impossible to listen to and there are a few songs that I rather like (Pressure, for one, is fun to work out to).
This article gels it well. Thanks!
Never been a Billy Joel fan myself, but as with Moira there are a couple that I like, Pressure being one of them. But you make a list like this, you can’t expect anything other than seeing it rolled into a song like that, so like I said: Your fault. 🙂
I can’t even quite remember how Pressure goes. Under Pressure, which is a truly excellent song, keeps crowding it right out of my head, for which I’m grateful. I do like several of the songs that the article lambasted, but the article made me laugh uncontrollably, anyway. I can only agree with the whole “unearned contempt” theory.
You have to learn to pace yourself (Pressure)
You’re just like everybody else (Pressure)
…erm…
something something something…
And you will come to a place
Where all you feel
Are loaded guns in your face
And you can not handle
Pressure
I love Billy Joel and I don’t care who knows it. He’s awesome. He’s just not cool.
See Chuck Klosterman’s take from his book Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Puffs.
I’m with you!
Nomination for worst anything singer: Bobby Vinton
And I would have nominated William Hung for She Bangs.
Oh, how quickly we forget.
😉
1) I love Billy Joel. I don’t care.
2) I keep a running list of people who should write songs and not sing them:
Neil Young
Bob Dylan
Kris Kristofferson (I don’t care what you say, he can’t sing)
Tom Waits
Bruce Springsteen
Willie Nelson (I can listen to two songs in a row and then I want to puncture my eardrums)
William Hung and many, many, many other American Idol hopefuls
I’ll think of some more…
Nice job keeping it in meter and rhyme!!!
Thanks. 🙂 I figured with such a large volume of bands there must be a bunch that rhyme, or at least mostly do so.
I do love the parody, Mindfield. And I don’t love Cyndi the way I love Janis. But now that we’re propagating the error, I have to get out my nitpicker hat (yes, I know, again) and say that it’s Cyndi Lauper, not Cindi.
Oh, okay, I give in to my urges:
Ethel Merman needs a little love, too, for not being a type of alcohol.
But I’ll leave it to all of you to decide how much love Christina Aguilera deserves.
Fixed. I even spelled Cyndi Lauper (correctly, mind you) for him. Sigh.
Crap, didn’t notice that. My propagating it was because of how I constructed the song. I copypasta’d the entire list into Notepad and then went through grouping together names that rhymed using C&P, and then began constructing the song using cut ‘n paste (rather than copy) to eliminate it from the copied list so I didn’t duplicate anything. It easier to manage such a huge list than typing and then going back and erasing it from the list manually.
Quite understandable. Just as the original errors were. But props for fixing Ethel using this method!
Heh, that was one of the few that I did type, mainly because I had the entirety of that particular line in my head so it was faster typing. As a result, I actually didn’t even notice it was spelled wrong in the list until you pointed it out.
I fix your post as far as Janis, Mindee, but didn’t catch the rest. 8) When we put it in the fora, we can fix all the things!
Sooooo, does this mean we are done with the redux weekends? Not that I mind those! Really, they can be quite fun and entertaining.
This was just us wasting time yesterday, and we thought it would be fun to include as today’s post.
Wow the Beatles have a 7 reference lead. Also why do I always want to put an extra r in reference?
It makes sense to want an extra r in reference, kelli. After all, referred is correct.
It’s the whole not doubling the l quandary that always messes me up. Traveled, not travelled, leveled, not levelled, canceled, not cancelled. Especially because the Brits do double the l.
I’m usually with the Brits on that one, but then I get the little red underlines.
I tend to rely on those squiggly red lines for the l problem. Once I was editing a proposal for a travel agency (and although I’ve edited documents for British companies or other international companies that had standardized on British spelling, this was an American company), and my MS Word dictionary had somehow gotten switched to British English. This led to all sorts of travellers who were travelling or had travelled to various places. It was one of the more embarrassing professional gaffs of my career.
How do you get the Word spellchecker to default to British English? We can’t get it to do that in Britain!
I actually used to work in a office where the toolbar at the bottom of the screen claimed the computer’s default language was Welsh. True story.
And the Wellllsh don’t have an lllllll probllllem, they think we do. 8)
This article might help. However, I’m not positive, but I think individual templates can override the default dictionary, so you have to look out for documents that were created from templates on other users’ machines where the default dictionary may have been set to another language. You might have to change the dictionary for those docs individually.
Seriously, Welsh? I mean, if it was the computer’s default language, you’d think it would at least have said Cymraeg.
The people of Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch agree. Furthermore, the Welsh people in general would like to thank everyone for your donations to the Welsh Vowel Fund International, but would like to remind you that there is still great need, so please keep on giving.
Oh, thank goodness. I thought my L-doubling problem was simply a random aberration or an odd inability to learn that particular spelling rule.
Now, I can just blame it on British English… Like adding a U to Honour and Colour and such.
At least the Brits can make up their minds in such matters! I mean why on earth do we Americans organize and advertise, but not even realize how insane we really are?
I’ve always wondered about certain grammatical inconsistencies in American English. For example, Houston St. in New York is pronounced HOUSE-ton, yet Houston, TX is pronounced HEW-ston.
It’s my theory that New Yorkers did that on purpose so they’d have more opportunities to sneer at tourists.
Paraphrasing H Beam Piper (again)
Edited to add: A quick google search to try to find this quote reveals that many, many people seem to like and reference this quote… and get it wrong. So I have no idea if this is accurate.
Well, the folks in and around Harris Co, Texas seem to all elide the “h” and render it as either “OOS-tahn” or “EEUW-Sten” (with subset that prefers “WHOOST’n”.
None of which applies within Harris Co, then they are from Memorial, Clear Lake, Tomball, Humble (almost invariably “Uhm-Bul”)or the like.
Once more than about 15-20 miles away, the location de-specifies to “Houston” and encompasses locations as disparate and distant as Cleveland, Channelview, Plantersville, Katy, League City (most of half-way to Galveston). Channelview to Katy is a mere 45 miles or so.
I believe I read somewhere that doubling the L happens in American English when the stress is on the last syllable — enrolled, enrolling; traveled, traveling. Don’t ask me for a reference because I can’t remember…
A mean sneaky fun thing to do with an unattended computer is to set the keyboard to map to a different language, say, French. Then when the user presses a letter key it may come out as that actual letter, or perhaps it’ll be one letter over. Muhahahaha!!!!
I remember how to spell “reference” by saying it reFERence. Also, almost every other letter is E, which is just fun.
Ok, I now have a bit of din in my head–the Spam song, the Fish-slapping dance music, and the Philosopher’s song are dueking it out.
Debating Charlie Daniels or George Thoroughgood to erase that . . .
Charlie!
Jack!
Wait, is there a missed TMBG listing? Was there not a reference to a Burnring Ball of Hydrogen?
Oops, never mind the above–missed it near the top of the listings.
Just to let everyone know. I’ll be back on Tuesday. The Taco fam headed out to visit the elder Tacos for a week, so my conspicuous absence can be blamed on that. I introduced TacoSis to the site while I was over there, and she tells me that she has made numerous submissions already. Won’t be long until I get her snarking in our lounge methinks.
Until Tuesday!
*Wavies*
Will the snark lounge have enough corners?
*looks for the measuring tape that HamCan was last seen playing with*
Maybe we should dust out Taco’s Special Corner. Make it looked like we missed him.
Um……ew? I don’t think I’m up for that.
*brings in the industrial pressure washer* I got this one!
You can borrow this t-shirt I bought a few months ago. It’s used to cleaning up some rather “seedy” messes.
CoffDrop, here is a complete Punchity Punch Punch!
G’Night, Hit Parade!
Two for the Evil Dead musical? I’m new to this blog, but I think I’m in love with you.
In hell, we dance our own special way!
Let’s show him how we dance while our bodies decay!