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5 years 2 months ago
- Posts: 709
| retroguy78 wrote: Don't forget "I Want A New Drug" vs. "Ghostbusters", though I like both songs a lot.
Oh yeah, although you may also want to drop in both songs' comparisons to that of M's 1979 #1 hit "Pop Muzik" and that of Kool & the Gang's 1981 #1, "Celebration." (EDIT 6-10-2012: The 1967 hit "Soul Finger" by the Bar-Kays is also added to this comparison list.)
Although this may not be too much of a rip-off, Richard Ashcroft, singer of the British band the Verve, initially took up negotiations with ABKCO Music (ABKCO meaning Allen & Betty Klein and Company; its founder Allen Klein had passed away from Alzheimer's disease this past July at age 77; also the same age that the last senior Kennedy son, Ted, died at the month after), for their song "Bittersweet Symphony," to sample part of the Rolling Stones' 1965 hit "The Last Time" (in the case of the Verve, the recording used was that of the Andrew Oldham Orchestra version). Klein managed the Stones from 1965-70.
But after hearing the finished song and its supposed success in sales, however, Klein argued that too much of the sample was used, with all the publishing rights going back to his label and the songwriting credits to the song's originators, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards (when the song was nominated for a Grammy Award, said members were named nominees of the song and not the Verve). Said fellow Verve member Simon Jones: "We were told it was going to be a 50/50 split, and then they noticed how well the record was doing. They rung up and said 'we want 100% or pull it off the record shelves,' you don't have much choice." Andrew Oldham himself, who'd also managed the Stones (from 1963-67), also asked for royalties from EMI (the Verve's record label) over the song.
Since losing status as the song's writer, Ashcroft had said: "This is the best song Jagger and Richards have written in 20 years." (sic). Sorry, Mr. Ashcroft: the best song Jagger and Richards have written in 32 years." (1965 + 32 = 1997) NOTE: Actually, Ashcroft meant the "20 years" thing to take note that "Bittersweet" was the biggest hit the Stones had since the 1971 hit "Brown Sugar," but you still get the gist of it, right?
Another noted roundup: George Harrison's "My Sweet Lord" (1970) vs. The Chiffons' "He's So Fine" (1963). This was another Allen Klein involvement, although he hadn't been Harrison's manager at the time when he sued the former Beatles guitarist over copyright infringement over his song sounding like the other one in 1976. The Chiffons ended up covering "My Sweet Lord" in response to the controversy.
In his own defense, George Harrison wrote a song that same year called "This Song," its lyrics reminding the listener, "This tune has nothing Bright about it." The lyrics also reference other '60s songs such as "I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch)" and "Rescue Me." Its video, first shown on the 11/20/76 episode of Saturday Night Live, features Eric Idle (singing the "Rescue Me" falsetto), Ron Wood (a Pepperpot character) and Jim Keltner (the Judge).
After having noticed during the onset of the lawsuit that Klein bought out Bright Tunes (the original publisher of the Chiffons' tune), Harrison later had countersued him and, as a result of breach of trust, was awarded the copyright for the 1963 song and didn't have to pay the $6 million Klein had wanted over it. It's ironic Harrison now owned the rights to both songs.
~Ben
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