# Which hit single was most dependent on a sample? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 19, 2019, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-hit-single-was-most-dependent-on-a-sample/835745 "2019-06-19T15:32:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2019, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-hit-single-was-most-dependent-on-a-sample/835745/1 "2019-06-19T15:32:51Z")
A month or two ago a decades old legal row was resolved when [Mick Jagger and Keith Richards signed over all their publishing for Bitter Sweet Symphony to Richard Ashcroft](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-48380600). Up until that point the song was credited to Jagger/Richards for use of a sample from Andrew Oldham Orchestra’s version of The Last Time in a song which was otherwise created by Ashcroft/The Verve. [Bittersweet Symphony](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnRw8bXVbPI) - The Verve [The Last Time](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKC5cdGBY04) - Andrew Oldham Orchestra (sampled) Whatever the rights and wrongs of the situation, there is no doubt that the sample is a significant part of the song. Which got me thinking - which hit single (or for that matter, I guess, non-hit) was most dependent on a sample? This is the other example that springs immediately to my mind: [Rockafeller Skank](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMrIy9zm7QY) - Fatboy Slim [Sliced Tomatoes](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yPcvjq5EVg) - The Just Brothers (sampled) So: what others do we have? (A link to song and sample for each example would be nice.) j (Utterly irrelevant aside: when Trep junior was a youth footballer, he played against a Brighton side that was sponsored by Fatboy Slim, and featured his logo on their kit. So hats off to the fella for supporting sport for kids in the community!) ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2019, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-hit-single-was-most-dependent-on-a-sample/835745/2 "2019-06-19T15:37:29Z")
Ice, Ice Baby. ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2019, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-hit-single-was-most-dependent-on-a-sample/835745/3 "2019-06-19T15:48:12Z")
I was going to come in here to mention “Bittersweet Symphony”, only to see that OP already took care of it. So I’ll go with: [Gangsta’s Paradise](https://youtu.be/fPO76Jlnz6c) - Coolio [Pastime Paradise](https://youtu.be/_H3Sv2zad6s) - Stevie Wonder (sample) ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2019, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-hit-single-was-most-dependent-on-a-sample/835745/4 "2019-06-19T15:56:23Z")
Two that come to mind: [_Forget-Me-Nots_/_Men in Black_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RlaKNE3cOHY). [_Pure Energy_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijAYN9zVnwg). (Clip of Spock.) ---
**Author:** ![Helmut\_Doork](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e8c25b/32.png) [@Helmut\_Doork](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helmut_Doork)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2019, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-hit-single-was-most-dependent-on-a-sample/835745/5 "2019-06-19T16:00:04Z")
Personally, I don’t think Bittersweet Symphony would be an example, it is lyrically a very well written song that would have been a hit if acapella, or with totally different music, ala Gary Jules’ Mad World. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2019, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-hit-single-was-most-dependent-on-a-sample/835745/6 "2019-06-19T16:00:30Z")
[All Summer Long](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSkFygPCTwE) - Kid Rock [Werewolves of London](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIPvljWfH00) - Warren Zevon [Sweet Home Alabama](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DA0z9EcefOU) - Lynyrd Skynyrd ---
**Author:** ![Helmut\_Doork](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e8c25b/32.png) [@Helmut\_Doork](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helmut_Doork)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2019, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-hit-single-was-most-dependent-on-a-sample/835745/7 "2019-06-19T16:15:27Z")
I would say a 100-way tie with almost every one-off rap song in the 80’s and 90’s? It Takes Two- Rob Base, Knockin’ Boots- Candyman, Cantaloop- Us3, Rebirth of Slick- Digable Planets, etc. etc. and dozens of others that take a well known quality song and hook and pair it with limp lyrics- like taking the Mona Lisa, adding some houses in the background and calling it your own. Maybe the best example would be Pump up the Volume By MARRS, which I believe has no original content at all and like 100 samples, but at least there is creativity at work here. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2019, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-hit-single-was-most-dependent-on-a-sample/835745/8 "2019-06-19T16:31:50Z")
[“Rapper’s Delight”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKTUAESacQM), which sampled Chic’s [“Good Times”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Er9xGRolrT4). ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2019, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-hit-single-was-most-dependent-on-a-sample/835745/9 "2019-06-19T16:35:19Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > Ice, Ice Baby. Wasn’t that closer to a straight ripoff, not a sample? The hook from “Under Pressure” wasn’t taken directly from the original recording, and her tried to add a note or something to claim it wasn’t the same. “Can’t Touch This” is my vote. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2019, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-hit-single-was-most-dependent-on-a-sample/835745/10 "2019-06-19T16:36:43Z")
I’m just astonished that dude from Verve won a songwriting award. Man, what will they think of next? ---
**Author:** ![Helmut\_Doork](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e8c25b/32.png) [@Helmut\_Doork](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helmut_Doork)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2019, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-hit-single-was-most-dependent-on-a-sample/835745/11 "2019-06-19T16:36:58Z")
> [@garygnu](#): > > Wasn’t that closer to a straight ripoff, not a sample? Is there a difference?😉 ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2019, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-hit-single-was-most-dependent-on-a-sample/835745/12 "2019-06-19T16:39:54Z")
> [@garygnu](#): > > Wasn’t that closer to a straight ripoff, not a sample? The hook from “Under Pressure” wasn’t taken directly from the original recording, and her tried to add a note or something to claim it wasn’t the same. > > “Can’t Touch This” is my vote. “Can’t Touch This” would be my second choice. ---
**Author:** ![The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_wind_of_my_soul)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2019, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-hit-single-was-most-dependent-on-a-sample/835745/13 "2019-06-19T16:41:24Z")
> [@Helmut\_Doork](#): > > Personally, I don’t think Bittersweet Symphony would be an example, it is lyrically a very well written song that would have been a hit if acapella, or with totally different music, ala Gary Jules’ Mad World. Personal opinion #1: I disagree, I think the sampling makes the song. Personal opinion #2: I’m having so much fun learning new things in this thread that I kinda wish the question asked was not “which hit single was most dependent on a sample?” but simply “which hit single used which sample?”. Maybe the thread will go that way anyways. ---
**Author:** ![LC\_Strawhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e19adc/32.png) [@LC\_Strawhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LC_Strawhouse)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2019, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-hit-single-was-most-dependent-on-a-sample/835745/14 "2019-06-19T16:46:04Z")
How soon we forget Jive Bunny and the Mastermixers: [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/aoi5sVsJqCY/hqdefault.jpg?sqp=-oaymwEmCOADEOgC8quKqQMa8AEB-AG-AoAC8AGKAgwIABABGGUgYShWMA8=&rs=AOn4CLBCbzqZOLS3PHsz2tg4uno_BWEhMg "Jive bunny - The Album - 01 - Swing the Mood") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoi5sVsJqCY) ---
**Author:** ![Helmut\_Doork](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e8c25b/32.png) [@Helmut\_Doork](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helmut_Doork)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2019, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-hit-single-was-most-dependent-on-a-sample/835745/15 "2019-06-19T16:50:57Z")
> [@The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](#): > > Personal opinion #1: I disagree, I think the sampling makes the song. > > Personal opinion #2: I’m having so much fun learning new things in this thread that I kinda wish the question asked was not “which hit single was most dependent on a sample?” but simply “which hit single used which sample?”. Maybe the thread will go that way anyways. The orchestral backing is definitely a huge part of the song, but I think with a little work they could have come up with a similar track that would have been almost as good, and not gotten 100% (!) of their royalties taking away for twenty years:eek: BTW, youtube is of course an excellent source for everything, but especially for this- tons of best samples, worst samples, songs you didn’t know were samples, etc. One of my fav rarities, the famous opening from Bust a Move is from the song Found A Child from the criminally unknown band Ballin’ Jack: [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/a2sQ5AReoVg/hqdefault.jpg?sqp=-oaymwEmCOADEOgC8quKqQMa8AEB-AHOBYAC4AOKAgwIABABGHIgSygtMA8=&rs=AOn4CLB6Hww-hHuw1YX-Ptkrc3nDhvDbNA "Ballin' Jack - Found A Child") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2sQ5AReoVg) ---
**Author:** ![Sparky812](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Sparky812](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparky812)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2019, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-hit-single-was-most-dependent-on-a-sample/835745/16 "2019-06-19T16:55:17Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > [All Summer Long](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSkFygPCTwE) - Kid Rock > [Werewolves of London](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIPvljWfH00) - Warren Zevon > [Sweet Home Alabama](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DA0z9EcefOU) - Lynyrd Skynyrd You missed the obvious Kid Rock sing though… [“American Bad Ass” - Kid Rock](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mt84J7U75e0) [“Sad but True” - Metallica](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_4OfD-wmGs) He basically just raps over the Metallica riffs and song structure. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2019, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-hit-single-was-most-dependent-on-a-sample/835745/17 "2019-06-19T16:55:26Z")
You can (or better, could, nobody except superstars like Kanye West today have the means to clear all their samples) be so very creative using samples (just listen to the Beastie Boys’ and the Dust Brother’s “Paul’s Boutique”, an album consisting of hundreds of samples so cleverly compiled and composed into something new that it has a natural flow). But when someone just uses the whole instrumental backing of a song and lays over new lyrics/rapping, that’s just lazy. Prominent examples: [I’ll Be Missing You](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKMtZm2YuBE) - Puff Daddy (the Police’s Every Breath You Take) [Come With Me](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrSyrOaoAug) - Puff Daddy (Led Zep’s Kashmir) ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2019, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-hit-single-was-most-dependent-on-a-sample/835745/18 "2019-06-19T17:11:47Z")
House of Pain’s “[Jump Around](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jump_Around)” is built around three samples: - The opening horn fanfare is sampled from Bob & Earl’s “Harlem Shuffle” - The melody is built around a sample of Chubby Checker’s “Popeye the Hitchhiker” - The squealing horn in the verses is likely a sample, though from where is subject to debate. The most likely sources appear to be either Junior Walker & the All Stars’ “Shoot Your Shot,” or Prince’s “Gett Off,” and members of House of Pain appear to have given conflicting answers to the question. (If the source is Prince, it’s not a horn at all, but Prince’s voice.) [Jump Around](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XhzpxjuwZy0) [Harlem Shuffle](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3FvAYnDxro) [Popeye the Hitchhiker](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hn0rihraUiA) [Shoot your Shot](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CV27DtGUhnc) [Gett Off](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6f4BwQFF-Os) ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2019, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-hit-single-was-most-dependent-on-a-sample/835745/19 "2019-06-19T17:19:50Z")
> [@Sparky812](#): > > He basically just raps over the Metallica riffs and song structure. Was that a hit, though? ---
**Author:** ![actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e79b87/32.png) [@actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/actualliberalnotoneofthose)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2019, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-hit-single-was-most-dependent-on-a-sample/835745/20 "2019-06-19T17:48:17Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > Was that a hit, though? While American Badass was only a minor rock radio hit, it was the lead (only new?) single from the 2 million selling Kid Rock compilation release and pretty much inescapable if you listened to rock music circa 2000. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-hit-single-was-most-dependent-on-a-sample/835745.md?page=2)