The Laughing Gnome" was frequently cited in the comic strip Great Pop Things, where it was described satirically as a "mod anthem". Whenever Bowie would be featured in the strip there would always be some reference to the song, usually in the form of a pun.
Roger Taylor of Queen referenced the song in the opening lyrics of "No More Fun" from his album Electric Fire: "From the Stairway to Heaven to The Laughing Gnome, it's a mighty long way down Rock 'n' Roll... We got no more fun."
On BBC Radio 4 show 'And the Winner Is...', the song was recommended by Dave Schneider for the award of the 'Worst Song by an Otherwise Reputable Artist'.
It has appeared at #146 in Rolling Stone's "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time". Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic called the song "incredibly infectious" and "memorable".
"Brass in Pocket" was used in the background of several commercials as part of an advertising campaign by National City Bank during the late 1990s-early 2000s. The Pretenders lead singer Chrissie Hynde is a native of Akron, Ohio, while National City was based in nearby Cleveland.
In Australia around 2006, "Brass in Pocket" was used to inspire an advertisement for Kellogg Company's Special K. The song has a distinctive "call and response" bridge where Chrissie Hynde sings "I'm special (so special)/I gotta have some of your attention give it to me."
"Brass in Pocket" is used in a 2011 TV commercial for the Blackberry PlayBook.
"Where is My Mind?" was voted in at number 29 in the "Hottest 100 of All Time" music poll conducted by Australian radio station Triple J.[3] Over half a million votes were cast in the poll.
On Tuesday, April 13, 2004, NASA used "Where is My Mind?" to wake up the team working on the Mars rover Spirit in honor of its software transplant.[4]
In an interview on the VH1 special 100 Greatest Songs of the '80s, Mike Score said that he resents the song, but plays it live because people enjoy it. "I Ran" was listed at #55 on the countdown. In VH1's 100 Greatest One-Hit Wonders of the 80s, the song was listed at #2, with Mike Score's interview played again.
Although considered an '80s New Wave classic, the song experienced somewhat of a revival in 2002 as the signature theme for the video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City; being played during the game's television commercials and during gameplay as one of the songs in the playlist for radio station Wave 103.
Along with the Bowling for Soup cover, it was also used as the theme song for the English dub of the anime series Knights of the Zodiac which was later removed from the air during its first season.
The song briefly featured in the Dead Zone Season 2 episode 'Playing God', heard during a party scene. It can also be heard during a nightclub scene in the 2005 Nick Love film The Business.
The master recording is available as a playable song in Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s as well as the rebooted version of Karaoke Revolution. The song was from the TV show Everybody Hates Chris entitled Everybody Hates the Last Day
It was performed by the Ska Rangers in the film The Hangover: Part II during the closing scene.
Also, Fez sung a verse in That 70's Show during one of the "Circles" in the fourth season's opener.