Ruining old songs

[newtron]

Since I've moved to the UK, one thing that has been driving me crazy is this trend of sampling refrains from older pop tunes and repeating them over and over to a dance beat!  So far, I've heard this done to popular songs from artists like Howard Jones, Hall and Oats, and Yes.  Is this considered to be talent?  I understand remaking a classic song in a slightly different manner, but that means doing the song in its entirety, not just sampling the refrain over and over.  The worst part is that many of the young people these days probably think that these songs are originals. 

[andy hughes]

For music lovers of - ahem! - a certain age, this is a highly annoying trend in popular music. As you and others know well, the skill was in the original song - which is why it was a hit, so picking up the hook line and adding a few beats and a new vocal hardly calls for any talent, other than as an engineer / producer.

It is part of the decreasing impact of music on succeeding generations. years ago, programmes like Whistle Test and Top Of The Pops were compulsive viewing - now music is seen more as a 'background' to films, videos, and so on, rather than a pleasure in itself.

All you can do is carry on as I'm sure you do now - discovering music, as opposed to being exposed to it - there is still plenty of excellent stuff out there, just avoid the mainstreadm channels of exposure and you'll feel a lot better.

[jaydj]

Yeah most originals are best but the one good thing about these new versions is they easier to mix from tune to tune.

[Mattk]

if they were being used for a simpe cover version i do get annoyed ! as it is definitely a case of original is best but when lines are used for dance songs it doesnt bother me so much as the song is appealing to an entirely different genre a recent example i would site being call on me by eric prydz - i think that this is an excellent dance song

[WaldoMcFroog]

Personally, I think the Eric Prydz thing was a classic example of hijacking someone else's talent. When I heard that I just thought 'Wasn't 'Valerie' a good song?'

If it weren't for the video exploiting the (admittedly very enjoyable) attributes of the keep fit ladies, it would have done nothing. It's a triumph of style over substance.

You also wonder what's going to happen in a few years time. Are these people going to be ripping off songs which are already rip offs of someone else's work.

Eminem is a classic example - for me. The only bits of Eminem I ever remember, with the possible exception of 'Stan' is the bits he nicked. So I just think 'Toy Soldiers' - what a great pop chorus. 'Sing for the moment' makes me want to reach for Aerosmith's superior original or even The Mission's cover version.

Even Beyonce's 'Crazy in Love' has it's most memorable part - the horn line - nicked from a Chi-Lites song. It's a good song, but why can't people write original music?

[Johnmof]

I think anyone over the age of 40 gets the hump when an old classic gets butchered. My own particular grievance was the recent rehash of Comfortably Numb (Scissor Sisters?). Pink Floyd should have sued. You'd think the owner of the copyright would want to hear what they were going to do to the song before they gave permission.  

[WaldoMcFroog]

Johnmof - the thing about the Scissor Sisters version of Comfortably Numb was that it was a cover. You can like it or hate it as you please but at least it didn't loop part Gilmour's solo and stick a dance beat and a rap over the top and pretend it was something original.

For what it's worth, I'm not even in my mid-30s yet!

[andy hughes]

Johnmof - I imagine that most artists would insist on hearing a finished version of a song they won before a cover version is released - and that would include Pink Floyd who are notoriously litigious over copyright.

I personally think that the SS version is fabulous, and I speak as a Floyd fanatic of over thirty years, and eight live viewings - but ahgain, it's a matter of personal taste. The issue seems tro come down to the difference between borrowing a hook and making money of it - Eric Prydz, or taking a song and butchering every last ounce of sense and feeling out of it - anything by DJ Sammy, or indeed making something usunusual with a different slant on the original - the Sisters, but it is entirely down to the individual's perception. One man's cover / butchery is another man's art / addition. You takes your choice.