Songs that are clever rewrites of other songs

"Night Time" was a cover, and the original (by The Strangeloves) came out before "Cool Jerk."

 

Good info. Thanks, I didn't realize that.

 

It reminded Cat Stevens too. He successfully sued the group, and now shares royalties on the song.

 

Could "Bali Ha'i" have been the inspiration for that four-note riff of Irving Szathmary's Get Smart theme, then?

 

"In My Lonely Room"-Martha & the Vandellas="The 81"-Candy & the Kisses (they got sued for it!)

Paul McCartney-"Dance Tonight"=Queen-"'39"(Which is similar to "I've Just Seen A Face"...)

"If You Don't Know Me By Now"-Harold Melvin & the Bluenotes>"Take It To The Limit"-Eagles

"Fight Fire"-the Golliwogs (pre-Creedence)="Find Somebody"-Young Rascals (EXACT guitar riff).

You can sequege from the end of Billy Joel's "Innocent Man">Linda Ronstandt's "Blue Bayou"...

RE:"Immigrant Song"/"Bali Ha'i"--David Lee Roth said,in his book,while on tour with VH,he was listening to the South Pacific soundtrack.Valerie Bertinelli heard it and said "hey,they stole that from Zeppelin!!!"

 

...And "More Than A Feeling"="Louie,Louie"

 

B.Dylan:

Desolation Row=El Paso
Like A Rolling Stone=La Bamba (slow it down.....)

 

Exactly.Check out the 5.1 mix on the Anthology DVD for further confirmation....

 

One more:

Don't remember which one,but there's a song on Elton John's Made In England LP which is the same as his own "I Need You To Turn To".

 

I've always thought that Jimi Hendrix might have been plaing around with the opening bars of Prokofiev's 'Montagues & Capulets' when he chanced upon the intro to 'Purple Haze'...anyone else hear a vague similarity?

 

Another "real surprised no one has mentioned it yet" (or maybe it's just me? ) but ....

Neil Diamond-Cherry Cherry-----The Romantics-That's What I Like About You

 

No more lonely nights (McCartney) = Goodbye to love (Carpenters)
They are the same, right down to the searing guitar solos.

 

You've got this one backwards -- the Melvin record was three years ahead of the Eagles.

 

They share a similar tempo, but they have nothing in common in terms of lyrics, melody, chording, or arrangement (except that, yes, they both have a guitar solo).

 

Not quite as blatant as his take off of 'Reeling in the years' on 'So It Goes' but 'I Love The Sound Of Breaking Glass' is very reminicent of Bowie's 'Sound And Vision.'

 

And, "Heart of the City" = "Road Runner," and the second part of "Nutted By Reality" = "Paloma Blanca," etc.

Lowe's never been shy about borrowing sounds that catch his ear -- in fact, he makes a point of owning up to it when he does so.

 

Yep, I like the honesty. Nothing wrong in a friendly bit of occasional swipeing. Goes on all the time.

 

No more lonely nights = Goodbye to love

They have more in common than that.
They start off both acapella, their lyrics and melody may not be the same, but the follow a very similar formula in how they are sung. Plus a guitar solo at the bridge, AND at the fadeout? I'm not saying Paul copied (I don't believe he ever did) but there are many similarities on how both these songs (different musically) play out in the same way.

 

You have the totally wrong ELO song there-- "First Movement" off the same album as 10538 is the track that sounds like "Classical Gas". Both are great!

Does the whole Rutles catalog count?

Joe Jackson has a song that was big on the radio years ago (I don't remember the name of it because I can't stand him), but a lot of it seemed like a rip-off of Badfinger's "Day After Day".

 

Another Nick Lowe "pinch" is "Love So Fine" - so close to "Ruby Ruby" by.... whomever did "Ruby, Ruby".

 

And how could I forget his most memorable homage of all: "Stick it Where the Sun Don't Shine" = "Green River."

 

When we interview Nick, he drunkenly addmitted "I steal everything".

 

It sounds as if you're thinking of "Breaking Us in Two," the follow-up to "Steppin' Out" from the Night and Day album.

 

Huey Lewis & The News "Do You Believe In Love" is a big rip of ELO's "Sweet Talkin' Woman"

The Police's "Every Breath You Take" is a huge steal of Bobby Vee's "More Than I Can Say" (later done by Leo Sayer).

 

Ray Parker admitted "Ghostbusters" was a lift of "I Want a New Drug" but thought they both ripped off M's "Pop Muzik"!