Rod Stewart vs. Jorge Ben

Another gem submitted by Travis

Rod Stewart on ThatSongSoundsLike.com

Have a listen to Rod Stewart “Do Ya Think I’m Sexy?” (1977) and  Jorge Ben Jor (aka  Jorge Ben)  “Taj Mahal” (1972). It took me a few minutes to track down the original release date for “Taj Mahal” from Ben as it was re-recorded for the 1976 record África Brasil. Ben Jor successfully sued Rod Stewart in what resulted in quite a positive outcome:

Ben Jor may be an urban poet, but he’s certainly no soft touch. In his celebrated spat with Rod Stewart, Ben Jor successfully sued the Scottish crooner after he ‘borrowed’ the melody of the Ben Jor song Taj Mahal for the chorus of his hit Da Ya Think I’m Sexy.

Nowadays Ben Jor seems remarkably sanguine about the affair. He explained how the dispute with Stewart had been settled amicably, with the Scottish singer agreeing to donate the profits from his song to UNICEF. – Expatica.com

Enjoy!

Rod Stewart - "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?" (1977)

Jorge Ben Jor - "Taj Mahal" (1972)

UPDATE #2: Huey Lewis & The News vs. Ray Parker Jr. vs. The Bar-Kays vs. Queen

Huey Lewis & The News vs. Ray Parker Jr. vs. Bar-Kays vs. Queen Ghotbusters Theme

UPDATE 6/21/2017:

Hans pointed out in the comments that “Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground)”  from 1979 by the Jackson 5 needs to be added. He’s right!

The Jackson 5 - Shake Your Body To The Ground

Who you gonna call?! Freddie Mercury?

Here’s an update to  Huey Lewis & The News vs. Ray Parker Jr which was one of the first posts on this site.

[Ahh, Photoshop… the possibilities are endless.
L to R: Huey Lewis, Freddie Mercury, Ben Cauley of the Bar-Kays, Ray Parker, Jr. 
]

Travis pointed out how much Queen‘s 1989 “The Invisible Man” sounds like the Ghostbusters theme as well   (Make sure you check out the video below -it’s totally 80s).  So listen to all four of these tracks. I’ve also updated  “I Want a New Drug” and “Ghostbusters”  to include the verses and intros.

The Bar-Kays - "Soul Finger" (1967)

Huey Lewis & The News - "I Want a New Drug (verse)" (1984)
Huey Lewis & The News - "I Want a New Drug (intro)" (1984)


Ray Parker Jr. - "Ghostbusters Theme (intro)" (1984)

Ray Parker Jr. - "Ghostbusters Theme (verse)" (1984)


Queen - "The Invisible Man" (1989)

 

Here’s some reading from Wikipedia:

I found this on wikipedia regarding the Huey Lewis & The News track “I Want a New Drug” (1984) and Ray Parker Jr.’s theme to the movie Ghostbusters (also 1984). Ever since this song, if  anyone asks me “who I’m gonna call” you know what I’m gonna say.

In 1984, Ray Parker Jr. was signed by the producers of Ghostbusters to develop the film’s title song. Later that year, Huey Lewis and the News sued Parker, citing the similarities between the “Ghostbusters” song and their earlier hit “I Want a New Drug”. According to Huey Lewis and the News, this was especially damaging to them since “Ghostbusters” was so popular, rising to number one on the charts for three weeks. Parker and Lewis later settled out of court. Huey Lewis has stated that his experiences with the producers of Ghostbusters may have been indirectly responsible for getting his band involved with the movie Back to the Future.

In the 2001 Behind the Music special, Huey Lewis stated: “The offensive part was not so much that Ray Parker Jr. had ripped this song off, it was kind of symbolic of an industry that wants something—they wanted our wave, and they wanted to buy it. … [I]t’s not for sale. … In the end, I suppose they were right. I suppose it was for sale, because, basically, they bought it.” As a result of this statement, Parker Jr. filed a suit against Lewis, claiming he violated the settlement’s confidentiality agreement and seeking an unspecified amount of compensatory and punitive damages as well as attorney fees.

An issue of Premiere Magazine would later feature an anniversary article about the movie Ghostbusters. In that article, the filmmakers admit to using the song “I Want A New Drug” as temporary background music in many scenes. They then said that they had made an offer to Huey Lewis and the News to write the main theme, but they declined. The filmmakers then provided Ray Parker Jr film footage—with the Huey Lewis song in the background—to aid Parker in writing the theme song.  – Huey Lewis & The News on Wikipedia

 

The most important question here is will there be a Ghostbusters 3? And if so will Huey Lewis and Ray Parker Jr. co-write a new theme song.
“I Want a New Ghost”
“I Ain’t Afraid of No Drugs”

And now the video for Queen “The Invisible Man”

Queen - The Invisible Man (Official Video Remastered)

—-

MC Hammer “U Can’t Touch This” Samples Rick James “Super Freak”

STOP! Hammer Time! Normally I don’t include sampled music on the site but according to Wikipedia Rick James was not originally credited:

Rick James sued Hammer for infringement of copyright, as the song basically consists of the prominent opening riff of “Super Freak”, which is constantly repeated throughout. The suit was settled out of court when Hammer agreed to credit James as co-composer, effectively cutting James in on the millions of dollars the record was earning. James was accordingly credited as a co-author.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U_Can’t_Touch_This


Submitted by Gretch, who’s been bothered for the last 20 years by it.