Here’s a funny one submitted by Doug Bresler
Have a listen to The Legend of Zelda 3‘s theme song and the Real Time With Bill Maher theme written by Christopher “Kid” Reid. Reid (now 47) might have played a lot of Zelda in his late 20s. I’m not entirely sure when the Maher theme first aired but it looks like maybe 2006.
I now dub this “CatrianiPlay: The Most Used Melody in Pop Music“. Aside from “Pachelbel’s Canon” which is commonly referenced as one of the most re-used progressions in modern music the following songs all resemble a similar melodic structure. They are not necessarily note-for-note duplicates but they sound alike.
In my first post for this soundalike we saw Reuters reporting that Joe Satriani filed a copyright infringement suit against Coldplay claiming that the, “song ‘Viva La Vida’ incorporated ‘substantial original portions’ of his 2004 instrumental ‘If I Could Fly.’” Then just a few months later Cat Stevens publicly stated that “Viva La Vida” has some similarities to his epic 1973 track “Foreigner Suite” stating , ” [Viva La Vida] definitely sounds like it…It has such logical chords and the melody has to be what it is…” In addition Creaky Boards, a local Brooklyn band posted a clip on YouTube of their ironically titled track “The Songs I Didn’t Write” pointing out the similarities of “Viva La Vida” (apparently released long after Creaky Boards had been performing their song live).
Just when I thought I had all of the examples of this melody in modern pop music I was thrown two more by Paradojan followed by one more from Travis (who has recently submitted a whole slew of great songs). We can now add Mireille Mathieu & Patrick Duffy‘s “Together We’re Strong” (1983), Reamonn‘s “Tonight” (2006) AND Enanitos Verdes - “Frances Limon” (2004) (2002).
And now, in chronological order:
I made a video too:
Corrections in video
“Frances Limon” was released in 2002, not 2004.
http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amores_lejanos
“Raemonn” is actually spelled “Reamonn
Submitted by Alexis
What?!!
I guess the guitar shop in “Wayne’s World” should add Dolly Parton to the sign… (video: Wayne’s World “No Stairway to Heaven” scene)
I’m not sure how Dolly Parton got away with using Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven” in her song “We Used To“. For more Led Zeppelin on this site click here
Submitted by Andy
Have listen to up and coming Brooklyn based synth-pop artist Elizabeth Harper (aka “Class Actress“). The bass line in the “Prove Me Wrong” (2011) chorus bears a strong resemblance to the bass line of the classic 1994 Weezer epic “Only In Dreams”.
Submitted by Teru
I’m surprised this one hasn’t been submitted a million times. Here we have The Kinks 1964 single “All Day and All of the Night” with The Doors 1968 track “Hello, I Love You”. I’ve also included The Kinks’ 1981 song “Destroyer” which is borrowed from their own song.
In the liner notes to The Doors Box set, Robby Krieger has denied the allegations that the song’s musical structure was stolen from Ray Davies, where a riff similar to it is featured in the Kinks “All Day and All of the Night”. Instead, he said the song’s vibe was taken from Cream’s song “Sunshine of Your Love”.
- The Doors’ wikipedia page for “Hello, I Love You”
I’m not really sure how “Sunshine of Your Love” is related but here are the other tracks:
Submitted by Simon
I’m surprised there is no mention on this on either artists’ Wikipedia page. Have a listen to The Cranberries‘ “Just My Imagination” next to “Our House” by Madness.
Submitted by Joseph
Check out “Twist of Cain” from Danzig‘s 1988 debut Danzig followed by Led Zeppelin‘s rendition of “In My Time of Dying“. According to the Wikipedia entry the first known recorded version of “In My Time of Dying” can be traced back to 1924 and titled “Jesus Goin’ A-Make Up My Dying Be”.
Submitted by Adam F
Check out Foo Fighters‘ 2009 single “Wheels” and then listen to Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers‘ 1991 “Learning to Fly”. According to Wikipedia before the formation of Foo Fighters “Grohl received offers to work with various artists; he almost accepted a permanent position as drummer in Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.” So I would say he’s definitely a fan.
Submitted by J Penner
The Rapture are back on the scene and have a new album coming out in September. Not only does their first single “How Deep is Your Love” share the name of a well known Bee Gees track, it seems to share the same chorus as Sisqo‘s “Thong Song” from 2000.
Submitted by Christopher
When Steely Dan‘s “Gaucho” was released on 1980 Keith Jarrett sued Donald Fagen and Walter Becker for using the main theme of ”Long As You Know You’re Living Yours” (1974) without giving him credit. Fagen and Becker both claimed that Living Yours inspired the track and they were fans. Jarrett has since been added to the credits. Have a listen:
