# Artists who followed up a big hit with a very similar sounding song. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 23, 2007, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-followed-up-a-big-hit-with-a-very-similar-sounding-song/397164 "2007-03-23T13:52:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![5\_time\_champ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/5/278dde/32.png) [@5\_time\_champ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/5_time_champ)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2007, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-followed-up-a-big-hit-with-a-very-similar-sounding-song/397164/41 "2007-03-23T21:19:15Z")
**Queen’s** \* Somebody to Love\* is a slightly less ambitious version of _Bohemian Rhapsody_. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2007, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-followed-up-a-big-hit-with-a-very-similar-sounding-song/397164/42 "2007-03-23T21:21:24Z")
**The Royal Guardsmen** –Snoopy vs. the Red Baron, The Return of hte Red Baron, Snoopy’s Christmas. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2007, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-followed-up-a-big-hit-with-a-very-similar-sounding-song/397164/43 "2007-03-23T21:23:19Z")
[QUOTE=Uvula Donor] Pick any two by Boston and you’ve got it nailed. [/QUOTE] Rats! You gave my answer! ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Mikemike2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikemike2/32/305_2.png) [@Mikemike2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mikemike2)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2007, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-followed-up-a-big-hit-with-a-very-similar-sounding-song/397164/44 "2007-03-23T21:24:01Z")
I saw two comedians on TV singing two of \*\*Brittney Spear’s \*\* songs at the same time. It was clear that both songs had the same melody. One was **Baby, one more time** or such and I’m not sure what the other was. ---
**Author:** ![mr.jp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/48db29/32.png) [@mr.jp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mr.jp)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2007, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-followed-up-a-big-hit-with-a-very-similar-sounding-song/397164/45 "2007-03-23T22:14:05Z")
Since Im the self-appointed not-alike police anyway: > [@](#): > > The Ronettes followed “Be My Baby” with 'Baby I Love You." Not alike. And Be My Baby is much better. [QUOTE=5 time champ] **Queen’s** \* Somebody to Love\* is a slightly less ambitious version of _Bohemian Rhapsody_. [/QUOTE] I don’t hear it. Bohemian is opera inspired, somebody to love is gospel inspired. They have several people singing in both of them, but that’s pretty much it. ---
**Author:** ![VanillaGorilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f9ae1b/32.png) [@VanillaGorilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VanillaGorilla)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2007, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-followed-up-a-big-hit-with-a-very-similar-sounding-song/397164/46 "2007-03-23T22:25:52Z")
**Red Hot Chili Peppers** , of course! All their songs sound the same. Hate that band. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2007, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-followed-up-a-big-hit-with-a-very-similar-sounding-song/397164/47 "2007-03-23T22:50:30Z")
[QUOTE=Exapno Mapcase] Brian Wilson was a master of this, even though he wrote all his own songs. He followed “Surfin’ Safari” with "Surfin’ U.S.A.; “Shut Down” with “Little Deuce Coupe;” “Fun, Fun, Fun” with “I Get Around;” “Dance, Dance, Dance” with “Do You Wanna Dance” (a rare cover); “Good Vibrations” with “Heroes and Villains.” [/QUOTE] Nitpick: _Surfin’ U. S. A._ is a different set of lyrics to Chuck Berry’s _Sweet Little Sixteen_. ---
**Author:** ![mr.jp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/48db29/32.png) [@mr.jp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mr.jp)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2007, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-followed-up-a-big-hit-with-a-very-similar-sounding-song/397164/48 "2007-03-23T23:07:56Z")
[QUOTE=Etumretniw] **Red Hot Chili Peppers** , of course! All their songs sound the same. Hate that band. 🙂 [/QUOTE] Jungle Man, I Could’ve Lied, Dani California. Doesn’t get much more varied than that. ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2007, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-followed-up-a-big-hit-with-a-very-similar-sounding-song/397164/49 "2007-03-23T23:32:42Z")
It always amused me that two-hit-wonders EMF followed up “Unbelievable” with the contradictory yet very similar “I Believe”. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2007, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-followed-up-a-big-hit-with-a-very-similar-sounding-song/397164/50 "2007-03-23T23:41:39Z")
**Quarterflash**. Unless you are a fan, every song is “Harden My Heart.” ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2007, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-followed-up-a-big-hit-with-a-very-similar-sounding-song/397164/51 "2007-03-24T00:09:01Z")
[QUOTE=Biffy the Elephant Shrew] I almost mentioned this, specifically in order to say that I don’t understand why people think the two songs are so similar. They do both have slow tempos and mysterious lyrics, plus the same vocal sound, of course, but I think they have pretty different sounds, especially with one being centered around the organ and the other being centered around the piano. “Whiter Shade” has a heavy soul music vibe (derivative of “When a Man Loves a Woman”); “Homburg” has a more classical feel. But perhaps I’m just too big a Procol fan to hear it the way more casual listeners do. [/QUOTE] You said it yourself: same tempo, lyrics, and vocal sound. Nothing on Procul Harum’s debut album (a masterpiece) sounds as much like “Whiter Shade.” ---
**Author:** ![lawoot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/35a633/32.png) [@lawoot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lawoot)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2007, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-followed-up-a-big-hit-with-a-very-similar-sounding-song/397164/52 "2007-03-24T00:17:10Z")
I’ve always thought Golden Earring’s _Radar Love_ and _Twilight Zone_ were stylistically similiar. ---
**Author:** ![Layla01](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/layla01/32/15552_2.png) [@Layla01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Layla01)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2007, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-followed-up-a-big-hit-with-a-very-similar-sounding-song/397164/53 "2007-03-24T02:03:52Z")
The Jackson 5’s “I Want You Back” and “ABC” - “ABC” is based on the chorus of “I Want You Back”. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2007, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-followed-up-a-big-hit-with-a-very-similar-sounding-song/397164/54 "2007-03-24T02:14:28Z")
[QUOTE=RealityChuck] Nothing on Procul Harum’s debut album (a masterpiece) sounds as much like “Whiter Shade.” [/QUOTE] I dunno about that. I’d say “Cerdes,” “A Christmas Camel,” “Repent Walpurgis,” maybe even “Something Following Me” have about as much in common with AWSOP as “Homburg” does. Come to think of it, “Homburg” sounds more like “Salad Days (Are Here Again)” than like AWSOP. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2007, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-followed-up-a-big-hit-with-a-very-similar-sounding-song/397164/55 "2007-03-24T02:28:55Z")
People disagreeing on when rock songs sound alike. You could knock me over with a tsunami. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![fishbicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aeb1de/32.png) [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2007, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-followed-up-a-big-hit-with-a-very-similar-sounding-song/397164/56 "2007-03-24T03:37:54Z")
A place where you can really hear this phenomenon at work is on any record label’s box set. Particularly labels like Cameo-Parkway and Motown, where they had staff writers and a staff band. One of their groups hits with a song, so the next batch of records to come out on the label are aping the style or content of that song, trying for a carbon-copy hit. Nowhere is it more evident than on any of the albums by the groups on Cameo-Parkway and Motown. Holland-Dozier-Holland would write a dozen variations on a theme, get The Temptations to sing them, and maybe one would hit. The Supremes sang dozens and dozens of the most bland filler songs that try to sound like their other hits. This was such a common practice…I have the album by Steam, with “Na Na Hey Hey (Kiss Him Goodbye).” All of the other songs on it have some variation of “Na Na Hey Hey” in them somewhere, and for that reason they fail for being obvious dreck riding the coattails of a decent hook. ---
**Author:** ![kezami](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eb8c5e/32.png) [@kezami](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kezami)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2007, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-followed-up-a-big-hit-with-a-very-similar-sounding-song/397164/57 "2007-03-24T03:53:22Z")
Anybody mention Christopher Cross, his stuff put me to sleep. His first single _Sailing_ and then later _Arthur’ Theme_. ---
**Author:** ![whitetho](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whitetho/32/1059_2.png) [@whitetho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whitetho)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2007, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-followed-up-a-big-hit-with-a-very-similar-sounding-song/397164/58 "2007-03-24T11:18:50Z")
[QUOTE=Wee Bairn] I just heard for the first time “Saturday Night at the Movies” by the Drifters and thought ‘wow- that sounds almost exactly like Under the Boardwalk, both musically and lyrically’, and then found that it was released a few months after “Boardwalk”. Does anyone have other examples of this? In another thread I was asked \*\*why \*\* I wanted to know the question I asked, so to prevent that here I will say I find the idea interesting and would like to hear other examples. [/QUOTE] “Saturday Night at the Movies” was the second single released after “Under the Boardwalk” (all this took place in 1964). The single released immediately after “Boardwalk” was an even closer match, as “I’ve Still Got Sand in My Shoes” continued the beach theme, and even repeated the line “down by the sea” from the earlier song, just to remind you which group this was. ---
**Author:** ![Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2007, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-followed-up-a-big-hit-with-a-very-similar-sounding-song/397164/59 "2007-03-24T13:14:30Z")
All **Travis** songs sound virtually identical. ---
**Author:** ![Burrido](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@Burrido](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Burrido)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2007, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-followed-up-a-big-hit-with-a-very-similar-sounding-song/397164/60 "2007-03-24T15:45:45Z")
Pearl Jam’s “Jeremy” followed by “Daughter”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-followed-up-a-big-hit-with-a-very-similar-sounding-song/397164.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-followed-up-a-big-hit-with-a-very-similar-sounding-song/397164.md?page=4)