Mock the Rock #1: Rockers Imitate Their Peers Through the Years!

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, "they" say. But, how about parody and satire? We answer to no one here, so please feel free to be the judge! Is it funny? Respectful? Spot-on accurate?

Inspired by an idea by

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of Deplatformable Newsletter. He also recommended this Burton Cummings song (MCA Records, 1996, Canada and U.S. only), that will kick us off…as he impersonates the late Gordon Lightfoot doing a popular Rod Stewart song:

Cummings, of course, nails Lightfoot’s tone, timbre, and cadence, and it’s hilarious (not to mention rare) to hear an accomplished pop’n’rock star do what many of us have attempted in school or at parties: Imitate (or try to) our favorite singers!

So, now, with that as a premise, I did some digging to see if there may be other recorded instances of one rock star aping another! Sometimes, there’s a fine line between impersonating an artist, and merely “covering” somebody’s song.

We’ll try to be suitably discerning.

Well, of course, our first stop has to be with the Clown Princes of Rock, The Turtles’ Flo & Eddie, who also played with Zappa, and provided the helium-high harmonies on T. Rex’s “Get It On (Bang a Gong),” and so many others!

Here, they plow relentlessly (and mercilessly) through a small army of rockers, including Joni Mitchell, Yoko Ono, Led Zeppelin, and George Harrison, all sandwiched between refrains of their “Nikki Hoi”!

(l-r) Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan doing their impersonation of The Phlorescent Leech and Eddie aka Flo (Mark) & Eddie (Howard).

This clip is from the short-lived Martin Mull Show in 1976 (that’s Marty’s V.O. introducing them):

Speaking of Martin (and in fine Tune Tag-like fashion!), he appeared on The Tom and Dick Smothers Brothers Special II in 1980, explaining to fellow guest, Glen Campbell (who sings and plays guitar alongside), just how he learned to play guitar so well! Why, it was just from learning “Licks Off of Records”! Hear a couple of those familiar licks toward the end of the song, here:

From his Martin Mull and His Fabulous Furniture in Your Living Room album in 1973 (recorded before a live audience), Marty adds a couple more famous licks at the end that he didn’t above…can you name the songs?

1972: From the Good Ole Boy/Good Sport Dept., Merle Haggard demonstrates his country-impersonation dexterity, as he and Glen pick’n’sing their way through Marty Robbins, Hank Snow, Buck Owens, and The Man in Black:

From Nashville, It’s “New York, and Step on It, Driver!”

Known for his clever and musical SNL comedy schtick from 2002-2013, Fred Armisen is a longtime multi-instrumentalist, having learned drums at an early age, and later, picked up piano and guitar. Fred was bandleader and frequent drummer with the Late Night with Seth Meyers house-8G Band from 2014-2024, and he received a Grammy nomination for Best Comedy Album for his Standup for Drummers in 2019:

Here, for Jimmy Fallon in late 2021, he combines his rock history knowledge with his voice-mimicking talents and guitar prowess, and wows the crowd with his impersonations of punk and alt/indie styles from 1970 on…guess each artist he’s aping!

Nickin’ the Mick Has Been All the Rage

Paddling back to the mainstream, we have Billy Joel doing his best Mick Jagger, for “Start Me Up,” in a bit he’s included in his concerts for at least the past decade:

Following Billy, we have a multi-star “Mick-Off,” featuring speaking and singing impersonations of those who have grooves like (and for) Jagger, including actor, Simon Baker, Dr. Phil, the late Richard Belzer, David Bowie, and more:

For more “Mock the Rock,” click here for “Mock the Rock #2”!

But, ya gotta finish this one, first!👇

Very Manilow: “Tryin’ to Get the Feeling’s Not Right Again”

BarRay Manilow: A mainstream "concept album"? Not content with simply aping Barry's song-form, Ray Stevens even directed the art director to all but "Mandy-fy" his album cover (top right), as well as making his single's picture sleeve duplicate the vibe of Barry's 2nd album, audaciously titled, "Barry Manilow II"! "I Cite the Wrongs," indeed!

Special mention and kudos to Ray Stevens for eschewing the mere impersonation of Barry Manilow’s voice and/or mannerisms, and going right to the actual song structure and production of the “Mandy” man!

In fact, the musical comedian who hit the charts with “The Streak,” that naked celebration of the clothes-less fad in 1974 that lasted all of 5 minutes (the fad, not the song), “Gitarzan,” and “Everything is Beautiful,” followed Barry’s 1976 Top Ten smash, “Tryin’ to Get the Feeling” (written by David Pomeranz) with his fabulous faux-Barry fizz, “The Feeling’s Not Right Again.”

Pomeranz (who also landed his Buddy Kaye co-write, “The Old Songs,” with Manilow, which got to #15 in 1981), co-wrote a song with FR&B’s exclusive contributor, Stephen Michael Schwartz in the late-’70s. Hear the rare, fully-produced (and not commercially available) “Right Foot, Left Foot” demo, and discover how the collab came together (in Stephen’s own words), here:

Stephen Michael Schwartz, Off the Clef #4: The Late '70s Collab Sessions, "Right Foot, Left Foot" w/David Pomeranz SONG DEMO

The Feeling’s Not Right Again was the title of Ray’s 1979 album that housed his cheeky Barely-Manilow carbon copy, “I Need Your Help, Barry Manilow” (which cracked the Top 50 with the #49 slot) and perfectly echoes Barry’s stereotypical lyrical long-suffering:

I need your help, Barry Manilow,
I’m miserable and I don’t know what to do;
Sing me a song, sing it sad and low,
No one knows how to suffer quite like you.

Songwriter: comic actor/keyboardist, Dale Gonyea

When I first laid eyes on Ray’s album cover in ‘79, I immediately recognized the resemblance to Barry’s similarly-titled hit and album from 3 years before! Figuring he couldn’t stop there, I wondered what aural treat he had in store for us! He couldn’t possibly have Barry-ed himself in an entire album of Manilow-fi treats, could he?

Alas, no; the lead-off track, though, was a musical monument to Barry’s singular recording style, right down to the schmaltzy strings, spot-on double-tracking of the lead voice on the chorus, celestial choral backing, and it wouldn’t be Barry without the requisite end-of-song modulation with a clarion trumpet signaling the obvious triumph of sonic, climactic melodrama!

Barry Does Barry (aka Manilow in the Mirror, With a Grin): “I Really Do Write the Songs”:

A Dry Eddie? Nah. The Wetter the Better Vedder

Bruce Springsteen is another veteran artist whose decades-long, one-of-a-kind recorded output, like Manilow’s, can be easily lampooned in the hands of a skilled writer/producer, and, of course, a singer with a good ear (and innate love for the “target”).

Eddie Vedder’s Boss, here, is agonizingly brief, but plants the seed for wondering what he could do if this unique talent was corralled into a Bruce-like song form. See whatcha think:

Tellingly and impressively, in 2009, Vedder honors his hero with a favorite Springsteen song, in his presence at The Kennedy Center Honors:

I bet we didn’t gather all of them that are out there! If you’ve got a rocker mocking a rocker song and/or video, please tell us about it, and leave a link in the Comments!