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
You can also add I’m Glad by J-Lo.
And You’re My Yoko off of Ziggy Marley’s new album.
This may be the most used melody in pop music, but rock ‘n’ roll has its own much used melody, or similar melodies anyway. There may be a few repeated notes, but compare Good Golly Miss Molly (1956), written by John Marascalco and Robert ‘Bumps’ Blackwell and performed originally by Little Richard, then others, including Creedence (1968); Jailhouse Rock (1957), written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller and performed by Elvis; Shake a Tail Feather (1963), written by Otha Hayes, Verlie Rice and Andre Williams and originally performed by The Five Du-Tones and Travelling Band by CCR (1970), which caused legal problems for John Fogerty due to the similarity to Good Golly Miss Molly, until Fantasy Records bought the rights. I don’t think it was intentional, after all, you wouldn’t rip off a song you performed a cover of, that would be too obvious to listeners.
http://www.last.fm/music/Little+Richard/_/Good+Golly+Miss+Molly#t=34s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XaKVs5mJ4Bg&feature=kp#t=07s
You can also add Old Time Rock and Roll (1978), written by George Jackson and recorded by Bob Seger before famously appearing in Risky Business, and Blame it On the Love of Rock & Roll by Bon Jovi (1992), which also reminds me of Simply Irresistible by Robert Palmer (1988) and the riff reminds me of Black or White by Michael Jackson (1991). I could suggest Ace of Spades by Motorhead (1980), but that’s all on one note. I guess one of the simplest ways to reference older music is by using a similar melody.
It also appears in Country music, just have a listen to Get Rhythm by Johnny Cash (1956).
And Keep a Knocking, possibly written by Percy Bradford (c1928) and performed by many artists. Here is the Little Richard version.
And Rockin’ Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu.
And Sea Cruise, written by Huey ‘Piano’ Smith and recorded by Frankie Ford (1959), covered by John Fogerty in 1975. The following year he recorded the unreleased Hoodoo Man, which has a similar melody.
And Stop Lookin’ Back by Grand Funk Railroad (1973). It even has a line about the county jail. I can now explain why Rockin’ Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu (1957) and Sea Cruise sound similar, because they were both written by Huey ‘Piano’ Smith
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QR5s1aqE5k
And Man With A Mission by Don Henley (1984). Unfortunately I can’t find the original. As I haven’t included a link to Hoodoo Man (1976), I’ll do that now.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQ6Gcfx-0vU#t=19s
And Don Henley also has Drivin’ With Your Eyes Closed (1984).
t=45s
And (Let’s Have a) Party by Elvis (1957).
And I guess Hippy Hippy Shake by Chan Romero (1959).
Sorry, (Let’s Have a) Party was originally by Wanda Jackson in 1952 and was written by Hillard-Mann.
I don’t know where I got that info from, maybe I was confusing it with the Winifred Atwell ragtime medley of the same name. Let’s Have a Party was written by Jessie Mae Robinson and Wanda Jackson didn’t record it until 1958.
For another Elvis similarity, Return to Sender (1962) sounds kind of like Teenager in Love (1959), written by Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman, performed by Dion and the Belmonts, but part of that in turn sounds like (Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear, written by Kal Mann and Bernie Lowe and performed by Elvis, but this part is mainly on two notes and Bad by Michael Jackson (1987) also sounds like these.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmOiAwtvFxk&feature=kp
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CnTS39cL50
Elvis also recorded Love Me Tender, which has the same tune as Aura Lea and The Eyes Of Texas (written 1903), set to the tune of I’ve Been Working on the Railroad, but he didn’t claim to have written either of them.
That two note melody in (Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear, Teenager in Love and Return to Sender is similar to one found in the stop verses or whatever of old blues songs such as Sweet Home Chicago by Robert Johnson (1936). I do prefer the Blues Brothers version, though.
Bon Jovi’s I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead, off of the same album as Blame it On the Love of Rock ‘n’ Roll, sounds very similar.
And Carmine’s song from Laverne and Shirley Season 8, Episode 20, Do the Carmine (1983).
These?
Hearts by Marty Balin (Jefferson Starship)
http://youtu.be/O0xufWPxX3I
Honesty by Billy Joel
http://youtu.be/SuFScoO4tb0
Also the verse of “Wild world” by Cat Stevens… He ripped himself off…http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHXpnZi9Hzs&feature=kp
I saw the new South Australian tourism ad, and the Catrianiplay melody is also in this. I guess I’ve just heard too much music not to notice these things.
Do you have a link to it online somewhere?
Sorry, I left it too long and so it’s not as current or easy to find. I have an interesting story though: Once at TAFE we came up with a chord progression at random and improvised over it and the Catrianiplay melody came up in one of our solos and no, it wasn’t recorded. But it does show that there is something natural about the Catrianiplay melody.
Ha. That’s pretty interesting!
Hang on, I’ve just found it.
Also, be sure to see my comment on Guns ‘n’ Roses vs Ulrich Schnauss.