"My Baby Thinks She's A Train" was written by Leroy Preston about his girlfriend, who also happened to be one of my cocktail waitresses back when I tended bar in the 80's. Yep, she was a hand full... posted by jim in austin at 12:26 PM on December 14, 2008
C'mon, you can't throw a rock in NYC without hitting someone who was in Walk on the Wild Side. posted by anazgnos at 12:26 PM on December 14, 2008
How about Crazy Chester and Luke and Young Anna Lee? posted by Sailormom at 12:27 PM on December 14, 2008
Rosanna Arquette was of course the inspiration for Toto's Rosanna, also for Peter Gabriel's In Your Eyes. posted by StickyCarpet at 12:46 PM on December 14, 2008
I just started reading Patti Boyd's autobiography and, although it might not be the best written book, it has some great stories and is a nice first hand glimpse into the rock world of the 60's and 70's. posted by Slack-a-gogo at 12:50 PM on December 14, 2008
What a lazy article. Patti Boyd must have been tough to track down.
Man, its a shame he didn't research Kanye West's back catalogue. I'm sure there's a very interesting person (persons?) who inspired most of his songs, but for the life of me, I have no idea who they could be and who like to learn more. posted by Kiablokirk at 1:56 PM on December 14, 2008 [1 favorite]
I never knew that the Holly in "Walk on the Wild Side" was a real person.
In fact, you should see the movie Trash. It's basically a John Waters movie, before John Waters was making John Waters movies (the early movies, pre-Hairspray). Holly Woodlawn is not only absolutely hilarious in it, but she is frankly the closest that the Warhol entourage ever came to producing a sleazy New York version of the Hollywood star system. posted by jonp72 at 3:11 PM on December 14, 2008
They're all real people-- the usual cast of Factory superstar misfits. Little Joe was Joe D'ellasandro. Candy was Candy Darling. Sugar Plum Fairy was Joe Campbell. Jackie was Jackie Curtis. posted by PeterMcDermott at 5:54 PM on December 14, 2008
What, no [ Mick Jagger | Cat Stevens | Warren Beatty | Kris Kristofferson | William Donaldson | James Taylor | Daffy Duck ] and "You're So Vain"?
"You're so vain /
You probably think
this song is about you,
don't you?
Don't you?"
"But the song is about me, isn't it? Otherwise, why are you talking to me via the lyrics?" posted by WCityMike at 8:46 PM on December 14, 2008
It's bad enough that Orinoco Flow is about someone... broadcasting it to all and sundry is just nastiness. posted by pompomtom at 9:05 PM on December 14, 2008
Doh, SisterHavana. Well, mine has video shot in the actual 1960's. posted by Item at 4:23 AM on December 15, 2008
"But the song is about me, isn't it? Otherwise, why are you talking to me via the lyrics?"
That insipid song gets my vote for dumbest lyrics in popular music history. Seriously, Fred Durst or Lenny Kravitz just wish they could write that poorly. posted by Item at 4:27 AM on December 15, 2008
Pendulum: Just happened to stumble upon this one on Wikipedia today -- it's the girl from Ipanema.
Thanks to all those who added more examples above. posted by rongorongo at 4:46 AM on December 15, 2008
That was fun. Thanks for the post rongorongo. posted by caddis at 7:10 AM on December 15, 2008
There's also "Sister Christian", which the Nightranger drummer wrote for his little sister Christy. Christy is now married and reportedly always hated the song. posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:06 AM on December 15, 2008
A friend of mine dated the woman who inspired two Sloan songs (the best two, imo: Underwhelmed and Deeper Than Beauty). They didn't date that long but he wrote about her as well and I know he was disappointed it didn't work out. I met her once and she was pretty cool. posted by Manhasset at 8:56 AM on December 17, 2008
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posted by Faint of Butt at 12:05 PM on December 14, 2008 [4 favorites]