I’m going to second the suggestion made by “I’m Not a Medium I’m a Petite” in today’s discussion:
“but of course it’s not just movies and TV… there is a musical canon as well.. for instance Frank Zappa and Talking Heads / David Byrne were the source of many many riffs.”
Last week we listed the movies MSTies should see if they hope to get most of the movie references, and that brought up the music MSTies should have heard, so let’s go there this week. INAMIAP took the band I was going to pick (my favorite band of all time, btw): The Talking Heads (“LOOK AT THESE HANDS!” ). So instead I will go in another direction and point out that this topic would also include music the Brains apparently hate, so I’ll name Morrissey…
What music would you add to the list?
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Sessions Presents…from Tormented!
Frank’s Freakout (Hercules against the Moonmen) when he says “See me, Feel me, Touch me.” Which is from the Who’s Tommy. Then Dr. F. calling him Wishbone Ash, which always makes me laugh.
Crow and Tom singing “Heading out to Eden” which is the song the Hippies Sing in “The Way to Eden” from Star Trek (in Hercules Unchained)
I’m trying to remember when Tom sings “Bitter Dregs” which is from the song “Maiden Wine” in “Plato’s Step Children” from Star Trek
– “DON’T PAY THE FERRYMAN! DON’T EVEN FIX A PRICE!”
– Joe Cocker and “What would you do if I sang outta tune” is referenced often, the most hilarious one being in “Prince of Space” when the shambling creature starts to walk.
– TUSK! in “Werewolf” of course, but also “Future War” and maybe more.
OWNER OF A LONELY HEART! This bit sort of drives me nuts, but I do have a VERY worn out copy of the 45 that I got when I was 11. Yes is pretty awesome.
I’m also reminded of the Accidental On-Turning gag referencing Robert Palmer. Although I’m not recommending a person should listen to too much Robert Palmer.
Oh, Sir Mix-a-Lot of course! My anaconda don’t want none unless it’s got buns, hon!
Quite a lot of Grateful Dead references. I think in Cave Dwellers Servo wants to change his name to Sugar Magnolia. Later they make a Stronger than Dirt riff. The Dead Talk Back had the extended jam host segments. Despite what the ACEG says I don’t really think they captured Garcia’s tone all that well. Still sounds like a cheap synthesizer guitar to me. Although Garcia’s guitar tone in his last years wasn’t all that great anyway. But who really cares, it was funny and that’s enough for me. At the beginning of Agent for H.A.R.M. they riff “I get the deadhead van” and then sing a bit of Deal in an imitation Garcia nasally singing voice. And my favorite, from Overdrawn at the Memory Bank, during the part where Fingal is interfaced and floating through electron orgy world: “They juiced Jerry Garcia!” Those are off the top of my head, think there were more.
They also sing the fuzzy dice and bongos part of Zappa’s Uncle Meat quite often.
Also on the Springsteen tip, from Time Chasers: “Bruce Springsteen’s little brother, *Wayne.*”
“Together Forever” (Rick Astley) as sung by Tom Servo in Eegah!
The Mahavishnu Orchestra. I wonder which writer is a fan. They’re one of my favorite 70’s fusion bands. :-D
So….DID Bob Dylan do a cover of “Mr. Tambourine Man”, as Crow constantly quotes?
In spite of what the invention exchange in the clip from “City Limits” would suggest, I do not actually believe that they disliked Morrissey as Sampo suggests, but maybe enjoyed poking fun in a loving way. Morrissey is most commonly known as being sort of a sad sack depresser of teenagers but if you really listen to his lyrics you see that he is quick witted, intelligent and sarcastic which I think perfectly embodies the humor of MST3K. SO, that being said, I doubt that they actually hated him. Or at least one or more of The Brains liked him maybe.
I want to say there were a lot of references to Kraftwerk throughout the years. Someone else mentioned Lou Reed and I just watched “Tormented” recently where there was another reference to him there with the beatnik water taxi driver (who they kept calling a milkman) who blackmails Tom Stewart. So, a lot of Lou Reed/Velvet Underground too.
Builly Joel, Kenny G. Although I don’t recommend them.
A couple of Johnny Mathis references:
“Chances are I’ll kick your scrawny ass” from The Horror of Party Beach and the thief who looked like Johnny Mathis in the beginning of Mitchell.
When Natalie from Soultaker has the breathing tube attached, Servo’s Frampton comes alive, “aw wanna thank yaou”.
Favorite band of all time, huh Sampo? Then you should drop the “the” as they are just called Talking Heads, not THE Talking Heads. :-P
In #521 SANTA CLAUS, during the opening when a bunch of African kids are playing some African beats, Crow quips: “I bet David Bryne stole this music.” I always loved that one.
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Rush, Hawkwind, YES, King Crimson, Frank Zappa, The Mothers of Invention, ? and the Mysterions, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Monkees, Bob Dylan, Morrissey, Bruce Springsteen, Lisa Loeb, Hank Williams, Jr, Randy Newman, Johnny Cash, Ennio Morricone, Curtis Mayfield, Issac Hayes, Cory Hart (Wear my sunglasses at Night), Elvis Costello, Woody Guthrie, Roger Whitaker, AND Arch Hall, Jr, naturally. Oh, and Man or Astro-Man? of course.
Kind of a decent shuffle for the iPod, except for the Loeb and Morrissey (as I’ve always disliked Morrissey, but I love Mike’s impersonation of him. Classic)
:music:
Sister Golden Hair (America) reference in Touch of Satan.
Geddy Lee reference in Secret Agent, Super Dragon.
How about the Band that Played California Lady? Great band, I just can’t remember what song they’re famous for…
I’m sure I glossed over a Pink Floyd mention-in ‘Projected Man’ as they sing from ‘Animals’ while the camera pans the Battersea Power Station
Peter Gabriel, for his video of “Sledgehammer” in particular.
Whitesnake: “Here’s the lyrics to that Whitesnake song”
EricJ @ 60. Assuming that you are being serious: He didn’t really ‘cover’ it. He wrote it, and recorded it, but the Byrds version was released earlier.
Heart, as in their infamous mid 1980’s period. They are used as a riff in “Cave Dwellers”. When we see a bunch of people go through a fog scene on horseback Joel says, “It looks like they are in a Heart video”. Of course one of the bots makes a reference on how Ann Wilson was shot from a distance due to her weight gain issues.
Was, Not Was! There! I made a meaningless pop culture reference!
Also recall references to England Dan and John Ford Cooley and Hamilton, Joe Frank and Reynolds.
While I have no bloody clue who Morrisey is (I’m not kidding), the only one I can think of at the moment is the big slams the Mads do on Foghat and Foreigner in “Pod People.”
For the record, every time I hear Crow slam The Eagles in “Track of the Moon Beast”, I want to pull a Joel and rip one of Crow’s arms off. I like that band.
No love for The Who? Only a couple have mentioned it. But Tommy, especially, is referenced again and again. The most obvious is in Pod People, of course, when anytime someone is looking for the boy and yells, “Tommy?” you hear “Can you hear me? Can you feel me near you?”
Also in Double 007, when Neil Connery is pretending to be blind and blending in with the blind men, Joel (I think) asks, “So…any one here sure play a mean pinball?” [Pinball Wizard].
Or, again, in The Attack of the [the] Eye Creatures, in a scene with the cranky old guy (“Smoochers on my property!” ), Tom quotes Baba O’Reilly: “They’re all wasted!”.
I’m sure there are more.
I also second the commenters that point out that someone loves themselves some Prog Rock. Tull, Yes, Rush, etc.
ZE-WANGO-ZE TANGO. WILD REBELS
Man or Astroman?….purely for their cover of the MST3K theme song.
Some of my favorite musical references on the show for which some familiarity with their music definitely helps with getting the jokes:
The Who, Jethro Tull, Ennio Morricone, Prokofiev, Bob Dylan, Rimsky-Korsakov, Robert Fripp, King Crimson, Spinal Tap.
And hey, I actually own a Bonzo Dog Band CD.
My brain is telling me that they’re been a couple of Devo rifts, but for the life of me I can’t recall anything specific.
Incidentally, the episode where Lisa Loeb was in the hexfield was my first MST3K episode. Crow’s line “Lisa Loeb? I thought that was Courtney Hole!” had me on the floor.
I’m sitting here watching “Progress Island USA” and lo and behold, “feel the glory of the Royal Scam”
Prince, (“The Home Economics Story,” “Agent for H.A.R.M.,” and, of course, “PRINCE of SPACE”
hellokittee @61. good call on Kraftwerk.. just watching Stranded in Space for next week and there is a big Kraftwerk rif over the subject-film closing credits. I too am sure there have been others..
Has anyone suggested REM? I’m remembering Metaluna, the “Michael Steif’s Head” planet…
In the begining of Laserblast they mention Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails fame….
Love the Yes synth riffs terrorising Mike and the bots.
A great B-52 riff in Phantom Planet: Motion in the ocean. The air hose broken.
I don’t know why I like it when they all start humming in unison whenever a certain word is said , e.g.: “Frankenstein” will elicit the jam from the Edgar Winter Group; I think that happens when “Barracuda” is said as well (only with the Heart song.)
During the run of the show, I would have highly recommended listening to some P-Funk featuring Bootsy Collins, and then sending some CDs the way of Gramercy Pictures’s producers.
They make a lot of David Bowie references (“I’m Ziggy Stardust!” from Operation Double 007 among many others), but as far as his songs go I’d say Fashion which they reference every time someone pushes a button in Overdrawn at the Memory Bank.
I do like in The Thing That Wouldn’t Die, whenever anyone calls the m=name of the character Jessica, Kevin starts singing the Allman Brothers “Da doo da do doo…” (I don’t know how to type out the tune, you’ll just have to figure it out.)
Two words: “Soooouuul Train!”
Thank you very much, Clarissa…
I’m surprised nobody has brought up the obvious one: “Satellite of Love” by Lou Reed.
Also I recall Joel once making a reference on the show that he felt like he had just spent two hours listening to Reed’s “Metal Machine” album.
In addition to the R.E.M. riffs mentioned above, they mention several song titles in RACKET GIRLS when one of the gangsters is on screen. The first reference they get wrong. Tom sings “Let’s go back to Rockville!” when the song is actually “Don’t go back to Rockville.”
There have been several mentions of Lou Reed as pointed out above. I can’t recall any riffs to actual songs/lyrics, just characters who physically resemble Lou. Can anyone recall any quoted Lou Reed songs or Velvet Underground lyrics?
Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon was referenced in Mitchell and Overdrawn. I think the song ‘Another Brick in the Wall’ was referenced at some point. The Who has been mentioned already but I’ll throw in a line from Gorgo: ‘Paid for by exorbitant taxes on Rod Stewart and Pete Townshend’.
Another Heart riff: In “Revenge of the Creature” Mike begins to mimic the famous guitar riff to Heart’s “Barracuda” when a Barracuda swims by on screen. Tom Servo also does some mimicking in “Manos”. When the family is lost Mike (the on screen father) mentions the crossroads. Just then Servo begins to mimic the bass line to Cream’s version of that song from “Wheels of Fire”.
“The Screaming Skull”: When Mickey the Gardener is seen peeking through a window someone riffs “Clapton!”.
One band all should know, which has been added to the list of available Quote shirts thanks to me, Blue Öyster Cult.
“It’s a cult.”
“They worship blue oysters.”
Bearded guys were usually an opportunity to make a Michael McDonald crack. And they also riffed on Chicago (Transit Authority) a few times.
And I think there were some Paul Williams impressions too.
Sun Ra (“Look! It’s the guys from Sun Ra’s band!” / “Look back there – he’s got a Sun Ra poster!” / and, of course, “Cambot! Gimme Rocket Number Nine!”).
From Gunslinger- A reference to Chase (Get it on) and Naked Eyes (Always something there to remind me) and Girls Town- Pete Townshend (Rough Boys)
Gary Numan. And endless references to classical music and musical notation.