Namecheck, the playlist: Songs with shameless name-drops

When you write a song, you want people to hear it. But for some artists, that’s not good enough. You want them to know who played it. Today on World Cafe, we dig into songs that name-drop the artist or band in the lyrics.

It’s a namecheck edition of World Cafe! It’s a storied tradition throughout hip hop, blues and rock ‘n’ roll. You’ll find songs from across the spectrum, like “Everybody Have Fun Tonight” by Wang Chung, “Bob Dylan’s Blues,” Bad Company’s song of the same name — not to mention “Hey Bo Diddley,” which shouts out his name 31 times! A genius move to let you know who’s singing the song when, you know, there was no internet. It’s a full playlist of shameless name-droppers. Enjoy!