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Okay, here's the rules:
(1) The song has to have a female's name in the title, but not necessarily be about a female. In other words, "Lola" by The Kinks is about a male transvestite and "Martha My Dear" by The Beatles is about a sheep dog; neither about a chick, but both qualify.
(2) It has to be the first name. Thus, "Mrs. Robinson" by Simon & Garfunkle doesn't count. Also, it can only have a girl's name, not a boy's; so, "Jack and Diane" by John Cougar wouldn't count.
And, finally (3) This is Retrospace, so we're not looking at songs from the nineties on up to the present (not that any would deserve to be on the list, anyway).
Last thing I'll say is: please don't concentrate on the numerical order (i.e. "WTF? 'Lovely Rita' is before 'Billie Jean'!"). I'm more interested in the one's that I missed. Perhaps there's some oversights that you could shed some light on... please drop a comment if you've got some!
- Eleanor Rigby - The Beatles
- Cecilia - Simon & Garfunkle
- Lola - The Kinks
- Brandy (You're a Fine Girl) - Looking Glass
- Mandy - Barry Manilow
- My Sharona - The Knack
- For Emily, Whenever I May Find Her - Simon & Garfunkle
- Aimee - Pure Prairie League
- Suite Judy Blue Eyes - Crosby, Stills and Nash
- Melissa - The Allman Brothers
- Along Comes Mary - The Association
- Michelle - The Beatles
- Beth - KISS
- Gloria - Them
- Ruby (Don't Take Your Love to Town) - Kenny Rogers
- Billie Jean - Michael Jackson
- Lovely Rita - The Beatles
- Layla - Derek and the Dominos
- Sarah Smile - Hall and Oates
- Sheena is a Punk Rocker - The Ramones
- Rhiannon - Fleetwood Mac
- Josie - Steely Dan
- Help Me, Rhonda - The Beach Boys
- 867-5309/Jenny - Tommy Tutone
- Martha My Dear - The Beatles
- Peg- Steely Dan
- Aubrey - Bread
- Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds - The Beatles
- Come on Eilene - Dexy's Midnight Runners
- The Wind Cries Mary - Jimi Hendrix and the Experience
- Rosanna - Toto
- See Emily Play - Pink Floyd
- Fanny (Be Tender with My Love) - Bee Gees
- Roxanne- The Police
- Matilda's Mother - Pink Floyd
- Sweet Jane - Velvet Underground
- Sweet Caroline - Neil Diamond
- Jennifer Juniper - Donovan
- Darling Nikki - Prince and the Revolution
- Maggie Mae - Rod Stewart
- My Maria - BW Stephenson
- Valerie - The Monkees
- Candida - Tony Orlando and Dawn
- Bernadette - The Four Tops
- Annie's Song - John Denver
And, just for the record, here's a few of my Worst Songs Named After Women:
Sara - StarshipCarrie - Europe
Dirty Diana - Michael Jackson
Luka - Suzanne Vega
Also, I don't think "Sister Christian" by Night Ranger is actually a girl's name, so I didn't include it. I know a lot of people like "Angie" by The Rolling Stones, but I'm not too fond of it. CCR's "Suzie Q" isn't one of my favorites either.
I'll also mention that I think naming a song after a woman has become the biggest music cliche ever; however, it still is good fodder for music lists (it's even parodied on Family Guy). The death knell for the cliche came with Lou Bega, possibly the worst recording artist of all time with possibly one of the worst songs of all time, namely "Mambo Number 5".
