I had heard of this one many times, but I fail to hear any resemblance between the two. Never understood those who did, although apparently there was a huge lawsuit back in the day over it.
Anyway, my contribution to this thread, after reading a Bathroom Reader, is that George Harrison once got sued because his “My Sweet Lord” apparently ripped off (note by note) “He’s So Fine” by The Chiffons.
The Blues Magoos and We Aint Got Nothin’ Yet vs Deep Purple and Black Night. Suspiciously similar, and the intros are virtually identical.
eta And they both owe money to Rick Nelson’s take on Summertime
Similarly to the OP, I used to think Jessica Simpson’s I Think I’m In Love With You was John Mellencamp’s Jack & Diane from the opening.
I hated last summer when all of a sudden they stated playing Werewolves of London on the radio again, only it was that stupid Kid Rock song which also stole from my most hated song, Sweet Home Alabama.
First it sounds like it’s gonna be a good song and then it turns into that fucking song I hate! Blah! And no, I don’t remember the name of the stupid song. I seem to have blocked it from my memory.
Every time I hear Edge of Seventeen, I’m all excited that they decided to bring Eye of the Tiger back from radio exile. Then I’m disappointed.
The beginning of Chicago’s “Colour My World” is nearly indistinguishable from Al Green’s version of “How Can You Mend a Broken Heart.” The latter is in a slightly lower key and has more percussion.
My favorite musical copyright case is when John Fogerty got sued for plagiarizing himself.
What’s the song that steals the chords to Sting’s “Shape of my heart?” Except that it just repeats the first line Over and Over and Over again and never lets the music actually progress?
Makes me want to rip somebody’s eyeballs out. Blech.
Practically everything by Will Smith or Smashmouth includes a sample from an old-ish song. I used to drive my ex nuts by figurating them out - he’s older than me by more than a decade, and has worked in radio for several decades, but I always placed the sample before he did.
The bass line from Queen’s “Another One Bites the Dust” was inspired by, but not stolen from, Chic.
I know there is another song with a similar opening to this one because I am always disappointed when I hear it and it’s not Melody, but I cannot remember the other song right now.
It’s only the same up until the lyrics start - can anyone get a different song from the opening?
Stevie Wonder’s Superstition and Will Smith’s Wild Wild West.
David Bowie and Carlos Alomar performing “Footstompin”
David Bowie and John Lennon using Carlos’ riff for “Fame”
Carlos Alomar and Jame’s Brown using Carlos’ riff for “Hot”
I don’t know who is ripping off whom here. But I’ll side with Bowie till my dying breath. Come on, it’s Bowie and Lennon. Together.
Since I can’t edit, James Brown used Carlos Alomar’s riff without his or Bowie’s permission, but they showed compassion. I guess like Bowie showed for Vanilla Ice.
I’m actually one to defend a lot of the “soundalikes,” but those are pretty darned similar. Would I say it’s a “ripoff”? Not necessarily, but “Ghostbusters” was heavily influenced by “I Want A New Drug,” whether purposely or subconsciously.
I would tend to agree.
Are we including mashups in this thread? Or just outright sampling?
“Footstompin” was originally by the The Flames but Carlos added his own riff.
As much as I appreciate Lennon, he didn’t contribute much to “Fame.” Bowie took his version of “Footstompin” and wrote new lyrics for it.
In a nutshell, Huey Lewis was asked to use his music for Ghostbusters. He didn’t agree so they hired Ray Parker, Jr. to do a knock off of “I Want a New Drug.” Huey noticed the similarity to his song and sued.
I was going to mention Werewolves of London/Sweet Home Alabama. They are essentially the same song. I think of Kid Rock’s song as sort of an homage to both.