00:00 Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the top 10 instances where
00:10 artists who are known for primarily one song were, perhaps, arguably, caught red-handed
00:16 with somebody else's material.
00:22 For the record, the rip-off songs in question don't necessarily need to be the big hits,
00:28 and we also realize that some of these artists either have retained critical acclaim or have
00:33 earned chart success in other countries.
00:35 However, their public profile should be primarily connected to one huge hit.
00:42 If you like what you're hearing, be sure to check out the full song at the link below.
00:57 Number 10.
00:58 The Verb - Bittersweet Symphony
01:07 This crossover smash single by England's The Verb hinges upon one very noticeable sample
01:13 within its arrangement.
01:14 A sample that wasn't cleared with enough parties beforehand, and resulted in a major copyright
01:19 lawsuit that destroyed band morale.
01:28 The song in question was Bittersweet Symphony, and it sampled the Rolling Stones.
01:34 But there's a catch.
01:35 The sampled material is actually taken from a cover version of the Stones' song The Last
01:40 Time, performed by the Andrew Oldham Orchestra.
01:50 This otherwise arcane point of reference is probably lost on listeners and fans of The
01:55 Verb, but it most certainly was not lost on former Stones manager, Alan Klein, who was
02:00 successful in his litigation.
02:08 Number 9.
02:09 2 Live Crew - Pretty Woman
02:18 2 Live Crew may be best known for their late 80s hit, Me So Horny.
02:23 But there was another song whose rip-off status may be lesser known to fans.
02:27 In fact, the song was so controversial that a case surrounding it went all the way to
02:32 the US Supreme Court.
02:39 The case Campbell v. Akoff Rose Music Inc. references the 2 Live Crew track Pretty Woman,
02:46 which was a parodic rip-off/retelling of the Roy Orbison classic, Oh Pretty Woman.
02:59 2 Live Crew were turned down by Akoff Rose Music during their initial clearing phase
03:04 for permission, but recorded and released the song anyway.
03:07 The resulting legal victory for 2 Live Crew helped further cement parody as a viable form
03:12 of artistic expression.
03:18 Number 8.
03:19 De La Soul - Transmitting Live From Mars
03:28 The legitimacy of sampling within hip-hop music endured an uphill battle as the genre
03:33 gained popularity in the 80s and 90s.
03:36 As a result, not every artist appreciated having their music used without their authorization
03:41 and attempted to sue for royalties or songwriting credits.
03:50 De La Soul sampled You Showed Me by The Turtles for their song, Transmitting Live From Mars.
04:02 The classic rock group sued for damages and the case was settled out of courts.
04:07 The question remains however, should De La Soul be labeled as rip-offs for stealing The
04:11 Turtles' music without permission, or does the reuse of that music then constitute a
04:16 new form of art unto itself?
04:18 It's a valid discussion that rages to this day.
04:26 Number 7.
04:27 Men At Work - Down Under The moral behind the construction of this
04:35 next song may be, watch from where you steal musical inspiration.
04:40 It may come back to bite you in the butt.
04:49 Greg Hamm and his bandmates from Men At Work found this out the hard way when it came to
04:54 light that Hamm nicked a bit of the Australian children's tune, Kookaburra, for the group's
04:59 smash Down Under.
05:04 It took until the year 2007 for the similarities between the two songs to come to light.
05:09 But that didn't mean that the publishers of Kookaburra weren't out for blood.
05:13 They successfully sued for back royalties to the tune of 5%, dating back to 2002.
05:24 Number 6.
05:25 Gnarls Barkley - Crazy Some of the best sample sources can be taken
05:33 from obscure places.
05:34 Well, at least obscure to the average listener.
05:38 Die-hard fans of Italy's spaghetti-western genre likely knew immediately that Gnarls
05:42 Barkley ripped off a catchy little melody from a film soundtrack.
05:51 The movie in question was Viva Django, aka Django - Prepare a Coffin.
06:10 Crazy is musically indebted to the sort of atmosphere present within these scores.
06:15 And copied so much from Viva Django that composers Jan Piero and Jan Franco Reverberi received
06:21 songwriting credit.
06:22 It's the sort of earworm that you won't be able to ignore once you hear it.
06:26 And we hope that, somewhere, a Gnarls Barkley fan was inspired to check out some of these
06:30 badass old westerns.
06:39 Number 5.
06:40 Terry Jacks - Seasons in the Sun Some of the best songs go through multiple
06:48 hands before they become hits.
06:50 Seasons in the Sun was actually written and performed multiple times, including by Jacques
06:54 Brel, who adapted the Belgian song "Les Moribos" for his version in 1961.
07:08 Years later, Terry Jacks would take this hand-me-down "Seasons in the Sun" all the way to the bank
07:13 in 1974 for his career-defining hit.
07:19 Fans of the Canadian singer-songwriter probably have no idea that this version was also recorded,
07:24 but initially unreleased, by the Beach Boys as well.
07:31 Not too bad for a Belgian song that became a French song that then travelled to America
07:36 and Canada for chart success.
07:43 Number 4.
07:44 Baja Men - Who Let the Dogs Out You might not think that a one-hit wonder
07:53 as innocuous as Who Let the Dogs Out could possess such a convoluted and complex backstory,
07:59 but here we are.
08:00 In fact, there's been an entire documentary made about how Who Let the Dogs Out doesn't
08:05 belong to Baja Men, or anybody else really.
08:13 What is known is that the copyright ownership is ridiculously convoluted, with many agreeing
08:18 that the hook dates somewhere back to 1959.
08:24 Fingers are pointed and hands are raised as to who exactly is responsible for that call-and-response
08:29 refrain everyone recognizes.
08:32 But one thing's for sure, the most famous version is certainly not an OG.
08:42 Number 3.
08:43 Ray Parker Jr - Ghostbusters Let's get one thing out of the way.
08:54 Ray Parker Jr has most definitely achieved chart success away from his smash title theme
08:59 to Ghostbusters.
09:00 However, his public profile is almost indelibly connected to this tune, with many laypersons
09:06 on the street probably struggling to name one of these aforementioned hits.
09:18 One person who just might have a beef with Parker Jr, however, is Huey Lewis, who was
09:24 initially contacted to write a theme back in 1984.
09:33 Lewis claimed that Parker Jr utilized the arrangement of "I Want A New Drug" for
09:38 Ghostbusters and sued.
09:46 The pair settled out of court, but Parker Jr would later sue Lewis for breach of confidentiality.
09:52 It's all a mess, but we want to know, do you hear the similarity?
09:59 Number 2.
10:00 Robin Thicke - Blurred Lines You may know about the lyrical controversy
10:08 behind Robin Thicke's Blurred Lines, but did you also know that there were some alleged
10:13 musical shenanigans going on behind the scenes as well?
10:20 It all depends on how you look at it, because Thicke knowingly admitted to being inspired
10:24 by Marvin Gaye's "Gotta Give It Up" when writing Blurred Lines.
10:35 The Gaye family successfully sued for royalties, but it brings up a deeper question.
10:40 Does musical inspiration count as theft?
10:43 Every artist is influenced by someone, yet it's up to the songwriters in question to
10:47 differentiate themselves enough to justify the new material's existence.
10:51 Or maybe the courts just got the decision wrong with this one.
10:55 You decide.
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11:18 Number 1.
11:19 Vanilla Ice – Ice Ice Baby It's true, a lot of people might know the
11:27 story behind Vanilla Ice's Ice Ice Baby.
11:30 But you could be hearing it for the first time if you're not a 90's baby.
11:38 It's pretty much become common knowledge by now that Ice heavily adapted Queen and
11:44 David Bowie's "Under Pressure" for this hip-hop hit.
11:53 Specifically it's John Deacon's iconic bass line from this aforementioned Queen song
11:57 that gets manipulated for Ice's big moment in the sun, albeit given an extra ting here
12:03 and there.
12:08 That said, youthful fans of Vanilla Ice might have been unaware that this Queen jam was
12:13 heisted for Ice Ice Baby.
12:15 That is, until they grew up and realized they'd been bamboozled all along.
12:26 Feel like debating sample viability or one-hit wonder status?
12:29 Hit us up in those comments below.
12:32 Pitchforks and torches optional.
12:52 Thanks for watching.
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