[The Godfather]

While I am checking my theory that Shakira hasn't given proper credit to some other artist of the 80's, let us hear some of your accusations of musicians taking melodies and calling them theirs.

[Dakar]

I don't know whether they're given credit, but No Doubt's "It's My Life" is practically an exact replica of Talk Talk's original version, and I'm not sure many people know that.

Edit: Wow, and Talk Talk' version appears on iTunes shortly after mentioning it.

[Railroader]

Pink Floyd lifted a tune off of Cyndi Lauper.

In my opinion "Lost For Words" has always sounded like "True Colors".

While I am a huge Pink Floyd fan, this little dirty secret has always bothered me. But then, maybe it's just my imagination.

[cjrivera]

YouTube - Vanilla ice - ice ice baby (video)

[Railroader]

Originally Posted by Dakar

I don't know whether they're given credit, but No Doubt's "It's My Life" is practically an exact replica of Talk Talk's original version, and I'm not sure many people know that.

That's simply a cover. I'm sure they were given credit in the album notes or even given royalties.

This is similar to Six Pence None the Richer doing a cover of Crowded House's "Don't Dream it's Over".

EDIT: "basically" has become "simply" for accuracy.

[Dakar]

Originally Posted by Railroader

That's basically a cover. I'm sure they were given credit in the album notes or even given royalties.

This is similar to Six Pence None the Richer doing a cover of Crowded House's "Don't Dream it's Over".

True, but most everyone has heard, "Don't Dream It's Over"

[cjrivera]

Originally Posted by Dakar

True, but most everyone has heard, "Don't Dream It's Over"

See, I would have guessed more people would have known Crowded House and fewer people would have remembered Talk Talk...

[Dakar]

Originally Posted by cjrivera

See, I would have guessed more people would have known Crowded House and fewer people would have remembered Talk Talk...

That's exactly what I'm saying.

[Railroader]

So, covers are only allowable if it's a recent song that everyone already knows?

[Dakar]

Originally Posted by Railroader

So, covers are only allowable if it's a recent song that everyone already knows?

Are you trying to make an argument out of this?

No, that's not what I'm saying at all.

[scottiB]

Originally Posted by Railroader

That's basically a cover. I'm sure they were given credit in the album notes or even given royalties.

Not basically, it IS a cover.

When I think of plagiarism in music, I think of George Harrison's "My Sweet Lord" copying the melody to the Chiffon's "He's So Fine".

[Railroader]

Originally Posted by Dakar

Are you trying to make an argument out of this?

No, that's not what I'm saying at all.

Uh no, it appears you are though.

Let's go through the events as they occured:

1. original poster states "let us hear some of your accusations of musicians taking melodies and calling them theirs."

2. You made a statement saying you weren't sure of something.

3. I stated it was simply a cover and they didn't steal a melody and call it their own. They covered a song.

4. you said something completely unrelated to the topic at hand.

5. You try to foist the blame onto me.

6. I set you straight with this post.

Any questions?

EDITED due to my confusion of who posted what..

[Railroader]

Originally Posted by scottiB

Not basically, it IS a cover.

When I think of plagiarism in music, I think of George Harrison's "My Sweet Lord" copying the melody to the Chiffon's "He's So Fine".

Correct.

I have edited my post to be accurate.

[ort888]

http://www.digitpress.com/dpsoundz/mp3/yars_revenge.mp3

The Yar's Revenge soundtrack and Da Da Da by Trio.

[finboy]

Don't forget Ray Parker Jr. and "Ghostbusters". A complete ripoff of "I Want a New Drug." As demonstrated in court!

[TETENAL]

http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/M...amp;i=66283174

http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/M...&i=1971550

[Dakar]

Originally Posted by Railroader

Uh no, it appears you are though.

Well then it appears I didn't post my thoughts clearly.

Originally Posted by Railroader

Let's go through the events as they occured:

1. original poster states "let us hear some of your accusations of musicians taking melodies and calling them theirs."

2. You made a statement saying you weren't sure of something.

3. I stated it was basically a cover and they didn't steal a melody and call it their own. They covered a song.

4. dakar says something completely unintelligent and you agree with him.

5. You try to foist the blame onto me.

6. I set you straight with this post.

Any questions?

How long did it take you to earn a degree from the Zimphire school of posting?

Are you lonely without Rolling Bones to troll?

Is postage stamp glue really made from toad mucus?

[Dakar]

Originally Posted by ort888

Da Da Da by Trio.

Whoa, what's that a ripoff of?

[Railroader]

Originally Posted by Dakar

Well then it appears I didn't post my thoughts clearly.

How long did it take you to earn a degree from the Zimphire school of posting?

Are you lonely without Rolling Bones to troll?

Is postage stamp glue really made from toad mucus?

WOW!!! Insecure?

[Dakar]

Originally Posted by Railroader

WOW!!! Insecure?

Well, you did ask for questions. You didn't specify sincerity.

[Railroader]

Originally Posted by Dakar

Well, you did ask for questions. You didn't specify sincerity.

I see, you're someone who likes to take things out of context. Noted.

[Dakar]

Originally Posted by Railroader

I see, you're someone who likes to take things out of context. Noted.

Me thinks you took my first post out of context.

[Railroader]

Originally Posted by Dakar

Me thinks you took my first post out of context.

The problem was I didn't realize someone would post something off topic in the very first reply to a thread.

[Dakar]

Originally Posted by Railroader

The problem was I didn't realize someone would post something off topic in the very first reply to a thread.

Yep, still not reading it correctly.

[cjrivera]

Originally Posted by Dakar

That's exactly what I'm saying.

Oops. I just misread what you had said.

[Dakar]

Originally Posted by cjrivera

Oops. I just misread what you had said.

No problem.

[Dark Helmet]

Originally Posted by Dakar

I don't know whether they're given credit, but No Doubt's "It's My Life" is practically an exact replica of Talk Talk's original version, and I'm not sure many people know that.

I'm guessing that was a joke.

[Dr. Wahnsinn]

How about Jimmy Page's work?

Yardbirds/Led Zeppelin's Dubious Recording History

[ShortcutToMoncton]

Yeah I would've said Led Zep's penchant for doing Page/Plant-credited "covers" as well.

Or the new Chili Peppers ripoff of Tom Petty?

Or Sum41's ripoff of Coldplay a couple years ago?

greg

[waxcrash]

Ryan Adam's 29

Grateful Dead's Truckin'

[analogika]

Originally Posted by Railroader

Pink Floyd lifted a tune off of Cyndi Lauper.

In my opinion "Lost For Words" has always sounded like "True Colors".

While I am a huge Pink Floyd fan, this little dirty secret has always bothered me. But then, maybe it's just my imagination.

I don't really see it.

I find the obvious (and of course intentional) resemblance to "Wish You Were Here" rather more annoying. (Don't go off on me: I absolutely love the older Pink Floyd stuff...)

[ghporter]

Originally Posted by finboy

Don't forget Ray Parker Jr. and "Ghostbusters". A complete ripoff of "I Want a New Drug." As demonstrated in court!

HUH!?!?!

Unless you're joking, please post a link to this, or explain it or something! I can't see any similarity between the two songs...

[analogika]

Originally Posted by ort888

http://www.digitpress.com/dpsoundz/mp3/yars_revenge.mp3

The Yar's Revenge soundtrack and Da Da Da by Trio.

Those are not copied off each other.

They just happen to use the same rhythm preset ("Rock 1") from the Casio VL-1 toy calculator/synthesizer.

By the same token, any song that used an Ace Tone preset rhythm machine in the early 70s would be stealing from another.

[finboy]

Originally Posted by ghporter

HUH!?!?!

Unless you're joking, please post a link to this, or explain it or something! I can't see any similarity between the two songs...

Oh, yeah! Huey was approached by the movie's producers and asked for the rights to use the song, and wouldn't do it (his mistake). So they hired RPJ to write something that "sounds like it." He admitted to using "I Want A New Drug" as his inspiration, and the whole thing was settled out of court (post-discovery) in 1995 or so. In 2001, Huey got in trouble for talking about this on VH1 because the settlement specifically forbade him from talking about it.

You may be thinking of a different Huey song -- I thought the similarity was obvious.

Citation? Don't have one. I'll look at Straight Dope and see if it's there. I know it's at Wiki, but you can't go by that anymore.

Here's a linky at VH1 on the SECOND go-round:

VH1.com : Huey Lewis : Ray Parker Jr. Sues Huey Lewis Over 'Ghostbusters' Comment - Urge Music Downloads

[Dr. Wahnsinn]

Originally posted by ghporter:

HUH!?!?!

Unless you're joking, please post a link to this, or explain it or something! I can't see any similarity between the two songs...

You never noticed that? Wow! First time I heard "Ghostbusters" I thought he was ripping off Huey Lewis.

Years later I found out that Huey Lewis was contacted by the movie studio releasing Ghostbusters. They wanted to use "I Want A New Drug" and Huey Lewis told them it wasn't for sale. Enter Ray Parker, Jr. They wanted him to write a song like the Huey Lewis number and he delivered.

See here;
VH1.com : Huey Lewis : Ray Parker Jr. Sues Huey Lewis Over 'Ghostbusters' Comment - Urge Music Downloads
Ray Parker Jr. - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Classic Tracks-Ray Parker Jr.'s "Ghostbusters"
Ray Parker Jr.: Information From Answers.com

That last one has something interesting. It suggested that the original Huey Lewis number sounds a bit like the old M song "Pop Musik". I never noticed that before, but I do see what they mean.

Edit: [shakes fist at finboy] :-)

[andi*pandi]

Originally Posted by ghporter

HUH!?!?!

Unless you're joking, please post a link to this, or explain it or something! I can't see any similarity between the two songs...

Huey Lewis & the News - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I now remember this, vaguely...

Edit: shakes fist at finboy and dr whatson who type faster than me...

[ghporter]

I have never connected the two songs. Their rhythms, rhyme patterns, orchestrations are so different that it never occurred to me. Of course the part of "Ghostbusters" that sticks in the mind is the part where everybody and his brother (in the movie) says "ghostbusters!" so the bridging music kind of fades into the background-it is remarkably similar to parts of the Lewis song. Of course both share a link to jazzy, brass-based songs that came before them too, so maybe I just subconsciously chalked any similarity I heard to that.

To quote Mal, "Huh."

[Briareus]

This one's pretty well known:

Music of the Night from Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera.

vs.

Quello Che Tacete from Puccini's La Fanciulla del West.

[PER3]

Neil Diamond pinching the main theme of his "Song Sung Blue" from the slow movement of a Mozart piano concerto.

Any advice on which one? I just can't place it now...

Got it—the slow movement from Piano Concerto 21, otherwise familiar from the film "Elvira Madigan".

Let's not even get into Brian Epstein, the Beatles, and Johannes Brahms. Fuc king brilliant.

What was it Picasso said about stealing?

“Good artists copy; great artists steal.”

PS How do you link those iTunes site here?

[macroy]

Walk to Remember - Mandy Moore

When I look to the sky - Train

Two sappy songs.. and they sound very much the same.

[Briareus]

to PER3: iTunes links... right-click (or ctrl-click) on a song in the iTunes store and select "Copy iTunes Store URL". Enclose in url tags as explained in the forum FAQ.

I'm reminded of a quote I heard a radio DJ say once: "it might not be your favorite song, but it's got a lot of the same notes!"

[olePigeon]

Is it possible to plagiarize yourself? Cuz nearly every Tool song sounds like every other Tool song. They f*cking suck.

[KeriVit]

Vanilla Ice didn't plagiarize, he sucked. No really when sampling is paid for it's one thing. Wait, did he pay for it? Queen's Under Pressure is a classic.

[- - e r i k - -]

He didn't. He argued that his bassline ended a half-not up or down and that it was completely different from the Queen one

[KeriVit]

dumb arse K-Fed

[PER3]

Originally Posted by Briareus

to PER3: iTunes links... right-click (or ctrl-click) on a song in the iTunes store and select "Copy iTunes Store URL". Enclose in url tags as explained in the forum FAQ.

I'm reminded of a quote I heard a radio DJ say once: "it might not be your favorite song, but it's got a lot of the same notes!"

Thanks for that.

[Face Ache]

The piano and backing singers on Alicia Keys "You Don't Know My Name" are pinched (directly) from Main Ingredient's "Let Me Prove My Love To You".

[frates]

Soul Makossa - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[ghporter]

Using a melodic line from a non-copyrighted tune is hardly "plaigarism," particularly in cases like "Song Sung Blue" or other similar pieces. And Webber used Puccini's melody ON PURPOSE-you know, "Phantom of the OPERA" stressing that the Phantom was an OPERA singer who would certainly phrase his songs in OPERA idioms. It makes perfect sense. It's not like Webber has never come up with his own music...

There's a particularly good short story about this issue. It's called Melancholy Elephants by Spider Robinson. Won a Hugo, too. It's about a proposition to allow copyright control forever, and why that would be bad. There are truly only a limited number of combinations of notes that constitute melodies (though that number is very, very large), so it is inevitable that composers will independently come up with certain melodies over and over again. John Lennon and Paul McCartney used a LOT of older melodies, combining their elements in new ways and using new beats or faster rhythms to make THEIR songs.

[turtle777]

Originally Posted by Railroader

So, covers are only allowable if it's a recent song that everyone already knows?

Cover songs need to give proper credits and pay royalties. If they don't, it's plagiarism.

-t