Plagiarism on disco

[Nano]

I'm still surprised from time to time about how some new dance songs rip off shamelessly old disco and soul records. I'm not talking about rap -that's a given and most of them quote the original credit- but direct stealing of melodies.
For example, I remember hearing Modjo's "Lady" and thinking "I know this". Some time later, I bought a Chic CD and found the main theme of the "Soup for one" movie... exactly the same melody, the same guitars, GRRRR!!! :evil:

Back in the day, I remember hearing Stevie Wonder's "Part time lover" and thinking how this guy could fall so low to steal bassline, rhythm and arrangement from Hall & Oates' "Maneater". Worst of all, Stevie's song was horseshit compared to his 70's stuff.

Do you have other examples to share?

[K-Bee]

Well - The whole disco house movement is build on samples from old disco records. Without these samples the style simply wouldn't exist. No Modjo, Spiller, Bob Sinclar, Dimitri from Paris then... :-?

Two tracks come to mind as being especially gruesome when it comes to ripping off old disco records.

Paul Johnson - Get get down. a specific mix named "Dancefloor Dub". it's little else than a looping of George Duke's 1979 song "Look What You Find"
Also
Class A - Streetlife. You guessed it. Looping of the crusaders classic with a drum machine on top

I never thought of the Hall & Oates / Stevie Wonder connection though. But you're right - it's the same bassline.
It seems unlikely that Stevie would have to turn to stealing but since "maneater" came first I guess he did.

[BrunoRepublic]

Of the stuff I've heard, Jam & Spoon have done some shameless stealing -- paricularly their Trip-o-matic 2002 album, which blatantly steals from Richard Wahnfried, The Alan Parsons Project, and Art Of Noise.

[Giovanni]

We already discussed this.......
.....like it or not, sampling has become legal, and all well recognizable samples are credited (Modjo etc..).

More we would discuss about all those records with mini- and pluri- samples that are not credited

[BrunoRepublic]

Trip-o-matic 2002 doesn't use samples of the original tracks. They simply copied the songs, and didn't give credit.

Not cool.

[Leatherman]

Chic "Soup for One" is a pretty lame track, far from their best. Modjo took a little bit of the music, wrote a catchy song over the top and made a massive hit out of it. What's the problem? Everyone made money out of it.

If it is just a case of looping round a big bit of a familiar record and adding nothing, then yes, that is pointless and uncreative. However, when a small section of an average track is used as the basis of something far better, then that is good re-cycling of old ****.

Anyone heard "The Rock" by East Coast?

[sirius]

Dear Leatherman!
Yes I have the 12" of "The Rock" from EAST COAST and
I mentioned it before, that it has been samples for
SUPERMAN LOVERS"Starlight" from 2002.
Cosmic Love & Kisses From SIRIUS & DARKTUNES

[Leatherman]

If you have heard "The Rock" I'm sure you'll agree, it is a very mundane record. "Starlight" is a far more memourable song and a good use of old rubbish!

[DJ-Pir]

A nice example is also David Guetta - Love don't let go, the long version shamelessly starts with copied parts of Deodato's Nightcruiser.
Funny enough, some of the younger dj's i know like the track the most for this intro......... :lol:

[Giovanni]

Again about sampling

Who sampled FRONT PAGE "Love insurance" recently?
Thinking for about one week now and my brains smoking

[Leatherman]

Again about sampling

Who sampled FRONT PAGE "Love insurance" recently?
Thinking for about one week now and my brains smoking

I'll listen to Front Page and see if it jogs my memory.

[Rab]

There seems to be a severe lack of talent in the music industry, particularly with the hip hop/rap crap. Today, it's all about MONEY, not putting out a quality product. I had to really laugh when I heard the theme from the Price Is Right being used in song...unbelievable. Today, the kids don't know any better because they have been fed nothing but "**** music".

Listen to the music in songs such as Forbidden Love by Madleen Kane and Love Insurance by Front Page for example. You can hear a whole symphony, in reality maybe these artists used synthesizers but the quality and talent are still outstanding.

I can remember years ago there was a big controversy about George Harrison's song "My Sweet Love" being taken from "One Fine Day" by the Chiffons.

[Com King]

As said before, house music comes from sampling. 90% of house realeases have samples in it.

Sometimes it's really well used, using short parts of disco tracks to make bit hits, or use a really slow track to make a dancefloor killer ( I'm thinking about Wake up by Kut'n'paste, which uses wake up everybody by Harold Melvin and The Bluenotes)

But there are sometimes real plagias, and the worse is the original song is sometimes not quoted. I'm thinking about the last Bob Sinclar LP " Champs Elysées " : It is supposed to have only one song sampled ( Feel for U sampling Look for Love by Cerrone ), but I noticed recently that Champs Elysées repeats EXACTLY one of the violins arrangement of Amant - Hazy Shade of Love. And now I know what Bob Sinclar did : He has made played this part by an orchestra, so it's not sampling anymore, and the name of the original track is not even mentioned on the Bob Sinclar LP : and this is legal.

Here are few examples of HOUSE Big Hits using sampling:

Spiller - Groovejet ( Carol Williams - Love is you )
Roger Sanchez - I want your love ( Chic - I want your love )
Tom Jones feat Mousse T - Sexbomb ( Sister Sledge - All american girls )
Armand Van Helden - U don't know me ( Carrie Lucas - Dance with you)
Milk and Sugar - Salsoul Nugget ( Double exposure - Everyman )
Paul Johnson - Get get down ( Hamilton Bohannon - Me and the gang )
Pete Heller - Big Love ( Stargard - Wear it Out)
David Morales - Needin U ( Chi Lites - My first mistake, Rare Pleasure - Let me down easy )
Demon - You are my high ( Gap Band - You are my high )
Eddie Amador - House Music ( exodus - Together Forever )
Stardust - Music sounds better with you ( Chaka Khan - Fate, but what a great work here )
Gusto - disco's revenge ( Harvey Mson - Groovin U )

Etc etc ... the list has no end ... I keep the best for the last ... Candi sampled with no respect by Paul Johnson

Paul Johnson - Doo Doo Wap ( Candi Staton - Victim )

[Nano]

I like "Soup for one" and don't think Modjo transformed the song a lot. Mainly they sped it up and that's all. I don't call that "make the song better".
I don't know if the sample is credited (is it really a sample?) and frankly didn't bother to buy the Modjo CD to check it out. But I can tell you in the near 500 times I heard that song on the radio, I never, repeat, NEVER heard someone mentioning the Chic song.

Sometimes, even if you're aware there is a sample, you never know how equal the song is to the original because you just don't know the track (my case with the Stardust song, which I like). I remember some years ago playing Stevie Wonder's "Songs in the key of life" to some friends. Suddenly there were heads turning all around -they couldn't believe how Coolio had ripped off shamelessly Stevie's "Pastime Paradise" for his only one hit. I know it's credited, but it's SOOOO EQUAL!!!! All people in the room agreed there was no creativity in Coolio, other than provide some rapping on a song already created.

I know many people in this forum hate rap, but I have to say there are artists in the genre which use samples in ways far more creative. The Beastie Boys are a perfect example. Maybe they are the minority, but proof that it can be done and not all sampling is ripping.
That's exactly why I was so :evil: with Coolio and Modjo when I heard them songs, yo punters!

[Robbie]

I thought the melodies of Patti Brooks' "After Dark" and Erotic Drum Band's "Plug Me To Death" were exactly the same. I hope I'm right with the EDB song because I know there was a disco track with the same melody as Patti's song.