Songs named after or containing lyrics about old movie stars? (4 Viewers)

[PatrickL]

"Ugly Little Dreams" by Everything But The Girl is about Frances Farmer
"Car Song" by Elastica rhymes Honda with Peter Fonda
"Shade of Scarlet Conquering" by Joni Mitchell: "the ghosts of Gable and Flynn"
"Get Up and Get Out" by Iggy Pop mentions Bette Davis

Would Le Tigre's "What's Yr Take On Cassavettes?" count?

 

[BrionL]

Madonna-Vogue
Misfits-Bullet, Return of the Fly, and the song about Marilyn Monroe.

 

[GlennH]

The Bangles' "Manic Monday" opening lines:

Six o'clock already
I was just in the middle of a dream
I was kissin' Valentino
By a crystal blue Italian stream

 

[Yee-Ming]

Catatonia did a song in the 90s called "Mulder and Scully", where the catchline was "This could be a case for Mulder and Scully"

 

[Sue_New]

[off-topic cheer] Yay for Mulder and Scully! [/off-topic cheer]

 

[Matthew Brown]

The Misfits also had the song Vampira.
The Damned had Plan 9, Channel 7.
5,6,7,8's - I walk Like Jayne Mansfield.

Didn't Bananarama have a song a about Robert Dinero?

Matt

 

[Colin Jacobson]

Yeah, but that was about Joey Valentino, Prince's motorcycle mechanic...

 

[GlennH]

Indeed, even as Danny pointed out above in post #18, second line. (BTW, it's DeNiro)

more:

Aimee Mann song "Mr. Harris" line: "He looks like jimmy stewart in his younger days.."

Rocky Horror has a song "Fay Wray"

Diana Krall's "I Love Being Here with You" mentions Cary Grant.

Here's a webpage listing songs with Bogart in them. Al Stewart's "Year of the Cat" also mentions Peter Lorre.

 

[Will_B]

"Los Rancheros" by Adam and the Ants, from their album Kings Of The Wild Frontier, is an ode to (and has a chorus of) "Clint Eastwood"

 

[Mike<R]

Priest's Heroes End-James Dean

 

[Eric Peterson]

I've started a spreadsheet of all the ideas so far, and I only have a small number of these. I've gotten my self in over my head!

TCM used a song over their year end tribute this year that had a chorus "Goodbye Hollywood Blvd", and I don't know what the name of the song is or who sings it. Would anybody here know? I really liked the song and would like to track it down.

 

[Will_B]

Peter Murphy: "Marlene Dietrich's Favorite Poem"

 

[Jon_Are]

This song's playing on my CD player as I type this.

Weird.

Jon

 

[Jon_Are]

How about John Mellencamp's "Jack & Diane":

Jackie sits back reflects his thoughts for a moment
Scratches his head and does his best James Dean

Jon

 

[RobertW]

actually, the Rocky Horror picture Show has quite a few songs. if my memory serves, Fay Wray is mentioned at the beginning of Don't Dream It, and Science Fiction/Double Feature namechecks, off the top of my head, Michael Rennie, Claude Rains, Leo G. Carroll, Anne Francis, Fay Wray again, George Pal, and several others.

I also seem to recall Steve Reeves mentioned in Sweet Transvestite.

that movie soundtrack is a virtual tribute to bad old science fiction/sword and sorcery films, and b-movie actors.

 

[MatthewA]

Also one of the most famous mentions:

"American Pie" (Don McLean): James Dean

 

[Henry Gale]

Which does NOT list Jerry Lee Lewis doing “Jack Daniel’s Old No. 7”

In addition to praising TENNESSEE Sour Mash Whiskey it goes on at length about Bogart and “all the parts he played.”

 

[Tommy G]

Bruce Cockburn also does a song where one of the lines is "I feel like Fay Wray face to face with King Kong." Forget the title though. EDIT - The song by Bruce Cockburn is "Mama Just Wants to Barrelhouse All Night Long".

 

[Kevin Leonard]

Nick Lowe's "Marie Provost" - it's about the obscure silent film actress Marie Prevost.

In addition to being one of Lowe's catchiest tunes, it also has a gruesomely funny line about Prevost's ultimate fate: "She was a winner / Who became the doggie's dinner."

 

[Will_B]

David Bowie "I'm feeling tragic, like I'm Marlon Brando..." from the song CHINA GIRL on the album LETS DANCE.