The Beatles‘ impact on the music world can be measured in many different ways. One low-key way: the number of times other major artists mentioned the Fab Four in songs of their own.
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Occasionally, these artists were trying to honor the group with the name-drops. In other cases, it was a case of trying to undercut what the band symbolized. No matter the method utilized, these five examples prove that The Beatles were always on their minds.
“I Dig Rock and Roll Music” by Peter, Paul and Mary (1967)
By 1967, Peter, Paul and Mary had endured a long commercial slump. Their brand of earnest folk music had fallen out of favor, with raucous rock and roll taking its place. (Even their old buddy Bob Dylan had moved in that direction.) Their return to the charts came with a bouncy song that referenced many of the acts that were all the rage. Donovan and The Mamas & the Papas also get name-dropped in the course of this track. As for The Beatles, They’ve got a word “love” to sell you and They mean exactly what they say.
“All the Young Dudes” by Mott the Hoople (1972)
The legend goes the British glam rockers Mott the Hoople were just about to call it a day in the early ‘70s, their career momentum having stalled. But David Bowie was a huge fan, so he donated his original song “All the Young Dudes” to keep them afloat. It worked, as it became a worldwide hit. Bowie’s lyrics suggested a schism was developing between a certain kind of outsider fan and those who loved classic rock: And my brother’s back at home with his Beatles and his Stones / We never got it off on that revolution stuff.
“Shooting Star” by Bad Company (1975)
Bad Company just received a well-earned nomination to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. The British band were signed to Led Zeppelin’s vanity label and immediately carved out a niche as purveyors of crunching blues-flavored rock. “Shooting Star,” found on their second album, has become one of their most well-known songs, even though it wasn’t a single. Lead single Paul Rodgers tells the tale of a rock star who flies too close to the sun, although he starts innocently enough: Johnny was a schoolboy when he heard his first Beatles song / ”Love Me Do,” I think it was, and from there, it didn’t take him long.
“Shangri-La” by Electric Light Orchestra (1976)
Jeff Lynne has never been shy about how much his band’s output owed to The Beatles and their musical adventurousness. He’d eventually work with and produce members of the Fab Four. Back in 1976, as Electric Light Orchestra reached a peak with the hit-filled album A New World Record, all Lynne could do to show his gratitude was to mention them in a song. The closing track, “Shangri-La,” is a lush lament for lost love that includes the following simile: My Shangri-La has gone away / Fading like The Beatles on “Hey Jude.”
“London Calling” by The Clash (1979)
If you asked The Clash after the fact, they’d probably tell you how much they respected The Beatles. A song like “Train in Vain” sounds like a direct homage to the group’s melodic tendencies. But a vital part of the punk ethos was the need to tear down the heroes of music past. On the incendiary title track to their 1979 masterpiece album London Calling, Joe Strummer spits out the following lines as if exhuming demons: London calling, now don’t look to us / Phony Beatlemania has bitten the dust.
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