It would be interesting to compile a list of pop songs that 'borrowed' from classical music. It would be a very long list. Here are a couple that occur to me at this moment:
Procul Harem: Whiter shade of Pale
Sting: Russians
Queen: Let us cling together
There was that really bad Barry Manilow song which still sounded bad even though it was a classical music ripoff.
E.L.O.: 10538 Overture
The theme from the Lone Ranger
Flight of the Bumblebee was synthesised and used as a theme song for a bad t.v. show The Green Hornet
The Roches: Hallelujah Chorus
Popular movie soundtracks from A Clockwork Orange to Liquid Sky are disguised with more modern instrumentation but are almost entirely classical.
Joke or no, the overlap between pop and classical is undeniably there and you don't have to see an encore by the Kronos Quartet to realize how pervasive it is.
