Aug 112012
 

In what may be our shortest Last Man Standing contest ever, I present the following: Songs that reference real-life newspapers OTHER THAN The New York Times.

I’ve got “Letter to the New York Post” by Public Enemy, and that’s it.  Oh, I thought of one more, but that’s for you to list.

Of course, I imagine days of discussion over whether it’s “I read the news today oh boy” or “I read the News today oh boy.”

As always, for those of you playing along from home, please limit yourself to one entry per post.

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  44 Responses to “Last Man Standing: Songs That Reference Real-Life Newspapers Other Than The New York Times

  1. Whichever Pretenders song it is where Chrissie sings “… and the News of the Wor-or-old.” Chain Gang?

  2. bostonhistorian

    The Jayhawks, “The Baltimore Sun”

  3. Slim Jade

    “His son is working for The Daily Mail, it’s a steady job, but he wants to be a ….”

  4. THAT’S the other one Rick had in mind. I warned him, however, that the collective wisdom of the Hall would put to shame his goal of achieving the Shortest Last Man Standing ever.

  5. Cringing, I add Billy Joel, New York State of Mind (“the Daily News”), inevitably off the ‘live’ version for whatever reason.

    Ugh.

  6. Slim Jade

    “Hark, THE HERALD angels sing!”

  7. mockcarr

    How about the London Times? There’s Mr Clean by the Jam. “you miss page 3, but the Times is right for you”. I’ll allow that the obtuse reference to the girly pictures in the Sun wouldn’t count.

  8. mockcarr

    Or Tom Lehrer’s “Hark the Herald-Tribune sings” line in his Christmas Carol.

  9. hrrundivbakshi

    “News Of the World,” the Jam

  10. That’s a 2-minute minor for you, HVB. Off to the penalty bench! That song doesn’t cite a specific newspaper.

  11. The branded RTH barf bag should feature Joel’s face on it.

  12. ladymisskirroyale

    But points for the use of “obtuse.”

    You could put Joe Jackson’s “Sunday Papers” in the same camp.

  13. misterioso

    Um. That would be “News of the World.”

  14. misterioso

    Simon & Garfunkel, “Save the Life of My Child”: The woman from the supermarket ran to call the cops / He must be high on something, someone said / Though it never made The New York Times, in The Daily News the caption read / Save the life of my child!

  15. hrrundivbakshi

    Ex-ACT-ly.

  16. misterioso

    Points off for “London Times,” though. Any Brit worth his tea will tell you it is simply “The Times”. Pince-nez duly flaunted and put back in case.

  17. Great Plains, ‘Columbus Dispatch’. Mentions the (Cleveland) Plain Dealer also.

  18. bostonhistorian

    New Musical Express in the Sex Pistols “Anarchy in the U.K.”

    How many ways to get what you want
    I use the best I use the rest
    I use the N.M.E.
    I use anarchy
    ‘Cause I wanna be anarchy,

  19. mockcarr

    Ain’t easy to just say it’s published in “The”, dude.

  20. ladymisskirroyale

    Judges ruling, please. NME is a magazine, I believe.

  21. mockcarr

    What about Chickenfrank’s first entry?

  22. mockcarr

    I agree, I was thinking of that Kinks song about song publishing.

  23. bostonhistorian

    Nope, for the longest time it was a weekly newspaper, printed on newsprint. I think they’ve gone glossy now.

  24. bostonhistorian

    The New Musical Express, popularly known by the initialism NME, is a music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles chart, in the 14 November 1952 edition. In the 1970s it became the best-selling British music newspaper. During the period 1972 to 1976 it was particularly associated with gonzo journalism, then became closely associated with punk rock through the writing of Tony Parsons and Julie Burchill. (Wikipedia)

  25. OK, so that is a tabloid paper. Are the lyrics printed on that Jam album? Is “News of the World” a proper noun when shown in print? If so, that’s a 5-minute major for ME. The refs will look the other way if HVB wants to give me a shove while I skate off the ice.

  26. The reference in “Back on the Chain Gang” is clearly a reference to the proper noun newspaper title. She sings “THE News of the World.” You can practically hear the capital letters. Again, I’ll take my punishment if I screwed up on the Jam’s song, but don’t pile on unnecessarily.

  27. Good one, jeffw – and welcome to the show!

  28. Agreed, ladymiss. Thanks for sharing the load with me. The fact that you, too, mockcarr are willing to do more than try to nab only me on additional penalties means a lot.

  29. I’m sincerely impressed that you can cite a Tom Lehrer song. That shows a degree of sophistication and class that I will never attain.

  30. OK, Historian, but before you think you’ve got us, the ground rules are looking for “real-life” newspapers. Every responsible parent knows music isn’t real life. (“Mr. Moderator…2 minutes for blowharding!”)

  31. H. Munster

    Roger Miller — “Kansas City Star”

  32. Geez; I’m impressed but not surprised.

  33. John Cooper Clarke, “You’ll Never See A Nipple In The Daily Express.”

    Last man erect!

  34. cherguevara

    The Smiths also mention the Daily Mail in “The Queen Is Dead,”

    “…to appear on the front of the Daily Mail
    dressed in your mother’s bridal veil…”

  35. mockcarr

    I just meant I thought Chick had already taken it, not that it wasn’t allowed.

  36. mockcarr

    If we allow the music rags, there’s that song the dB’s did for New York Rocker. It’s pretty annoying but it sticks with you like a commercial song should.

  37. bostonhistorian

    Damian Marley “More Justice”

    Stary, stary X-News and Gleaner
    Foot might be dirty but his heart is much cleaner
    Than those politicians fightin’ down sensimillia
    Get up every day dem want fi run this arena

    The Gleaner is the daily paper in Kingston, Jamaica….

  38. I don’t know if this counts because it’s a nickname for a real-life paper, but Elvis Costello’s “Fish and Chips Paper” makes reference to “News of the Screws.” I looked it up, and it’s actually a nickname for News of the World.

  39. LA Weekly in Re-hab by Stew:

    “next she’s in a band called Star of David Brinkleys
    they were ropers one and all but they loved them at the Weekly”

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wgn2SG-NgU

  40. misterioso

    George Harrison’s lovely ode to the tabloids, “Here Comes The Sun.”

  41. The original (?) version of Tom Robinson’s “Glad To Be Gay” (periodically revisited by Tom and its lyrics updated) has a verse about newspapers:

    “Pictures of naked young women are fun
    In Titbits and Playboy, page 3 of the Sun”…

    Later he updated this to

    “Pictures of naked young women are best
    In the News of the Screws and the popular press”

    and this then became

    “The liars of Wapping are really the pits
    With pages of trivia, bingo and tits.”

    There are probably a good many other versions too…

  42. John Wesley Harding’s “The People’s Drug” has “you can’t read the news in USA Today”.
    LMS, 2 days late. Sorry, this is the 1st I’ve seen this thread.

  43. “Late” is usually not a state associated with Last Man Standing threads. You are presently Last Man Standing. Enjoy the view!

  44. Tom Paxton – Daily News

    “Seven little pennies in the newsboy’s hand
    And you ride right along to never, never land”

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