These one-hit wonders were total ripoffs. Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the top 10 instances where artists who are known for primarily one song, were (perhaps, arguably) caught red-handed with somebody else’s material.
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00:00 Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the top 10 instances where
00:10 artists who are known for primarily one song were, perhaps, arguably, caught red-handed
00:16 with somebody else's material.
00:22 For the record, the rip-off songs in question don't necessarily need to be the big hits,
00:28 and we also realize that some of these artists either have retained critical acclaim or have
00:33 earned chart success in other countries.
00:35 However, their public profile should be primarily connected to one huge hit.
00:42 If you like what you're hearing, be sure to check out the full song at the link below.
00:57 Number 10.
00:58 The Verb - Bittersweet Symphony
01:07 This crossover smash single by England's The Verb hinges upon one very noticeable sample
01:13 within its arrangement.
01:14 A sample that wasn't cleared with enough parties beforehand, and resulted in a major copyright
01:19 lawsuit that destroyed band morale.
01:28 The song in question was Bittersweet Symphony, and it sampled the Rolling Stones.
01:34 But there's a catch.
01:35 The sampled material is actually taken from a cover version of the Stones' song The Last
01:40 Time, performed by the Andrew Oldham Orchestra.
01:50 This otherwise arcane point of reference is probably lost on listeners and fans of The
01:55 Verb, but it most certainly was not lost on former Stones manager, Alan Klein, who was
02:00 successful in his litigation.
02:08 Number 9.
02:09 2 Live Crew - Pretty Woman
02:18 2 Live Crew may be best known for their late 80s hit, Me So Horny.
02:23 But there was another song whose rip-off status may be lesser known to fans.
02:27 In fact, the song was so controversial that a case surrounding it went all the way to
02:32 the US Supreme Court.
02:39 The case Campbell v. Akoff Rose Music Inc. references the 2 Live Crew track Pretty Woman,
02:46 which was a parodic rip-off/retelling of the Roy Orbison classic, Oh Pretty Woman.
02:59 2 Live Crew were turned down by Akoff Rose Music during their initial clearing phase
03:04 for permission, but recorded and released the song anyway.
03:07 The resulting legal victory for 2 Live Crew helped further cement parody as a viable form
03:12 of artistic expression.
03:18 Number 8.
03:19 De La Soul - Transmitting Live From Mars
03:28 The legitimacy of sampling within hip-hop music endured an uphill battle as the genre
03:33 gained popularity in the 80s and 90s.
03:36 As a result, not every artist appreciated having their music used without their authorization
03:41 and attempted to sue for royalties or songwriting credits.
03:50 De La Soul sampled You Showed Me by The Turtles for their song, Transmitting Live From Mars.
04:02 The classic rock group sued for damages and the case was settled out of courts.
04:07 The question remains however, should De La Soul be labeled as rip-offs for stealing The
04:11 Turtles' music without permission, or does the reuse of that music then constitute a
04:16 new form of art unto itself?
04:18 It's a valid discussion that rages to this day.
04:26 Number 7.
04:27 Men At Work - Down Under The moral behind the construction of this
04:35 next song may be, watch from where you steal musical inspiration.
04:40 It may come back to bite you in the butt.
04:49 Greg Hamm and his bandmates from Men At Work found this out the hard way when it came to
04:54 light that Hamm nicked a bit of the Australian children's tune, Kookaburra, for the group's
04:59 smash Down Under.
05:04 It took until the year 2007 for the similarities between the two songs to come to light.
05:09 But that didn't mean that the publishers of Kookaburra weren't out for blood.
05:13 They successfully sued for back royalties to the tune of 5%, dating back to 2002.
05:24 Number 6.
05:25 Gnarls Barkley - Crazy Some of the best sample sources can be taken
05:33 from obscure places.
05:34 Well, at least obscure to the average listener.
05:38 Die-hard fans of Italy's spaghetti-western genre likely knew immediately that Gnarls
05:42 Barkley ripped off a catchy little melody from a film soundtrack.
05:51 The movie in question was Viva Django, aka Django - Prepare a Coffin.
06:10 Crazy is musically indebted to the sort of atmosphere present within these scores.
06:15 And copied so much from Viva Django that composers Jan Piero and Jan Franco Reverberi received
06:21 songwriting credit.
06:22 It's the sort of earworm that you won't be able to ignore once you hear it.
06:26 And we hope that, somewhere, a Gnarls Barkley fan was inspired to check out some of these
06:30 badass old westerns.
06:39 Number 5.
06:40 Terry Jacks - Seasons in the Sun Some of the best songs go through multiple
06:48 hands before they become hits.
06:50 Seasons in the Sun was actually written and performed multiple times, including by Jacques
06:54 Brel, who adapted the Belgian song "Les Moribos" for his version in 1961.
07:08 Years later, Terry Jacks would take this hand-me-down "Seasons in the Sun" all the way to the bank
07:13 in 1974 for his career-defining hit.
07:19 Fans of the Canadian singer-songwriter probably have no idea that this version was also recorded,
07:24 but initially unreleased, by the Beach Boys as well.
07:31 Not too bad for a Belgian song that became a French song that then travelled to America
07:36 and Canada for chart success.
07:43 Number 4.
07:44 Baja Men - Who Let the Dogs Out You might not think that a one-hit wonder
07:53 as innocuous as Who Let the Dogs Out could possess such a convoluted and complex backstory,
07:59 but here we are.
08:00 In fact, there's been an entire documentary made about how Who Let the Dogs Out doesn't
08:05 belong to Baja Men, or anybody else really.
08:13 What is known is that the copyright ownership is ridiculously convoluted, with many agreeing
08:18 that the hook dates somewhere back to 1959.
08:24 Fingers are pointed and hands are raised as to who exactly is responsible for that call-and-response
08:29 refrain everyone recognizes.
08:32 But one thing's for sure, the most famous version is certainly not an OG.
08:42 Number 3.
08:43 Ray Parker Jr - Ghostbusters Let's get one thing out of the way.
08:54 Ray Parker Jr has most definitely achieved chart success away from his smash title theme
08:59 to Ghostbusters.
09:00 However, his public profile is almost indelibly connected to this tune, with many laypersons
09:06 on the street probably struggling to name one of these aforementioned hits.
09:18 One person who just might have a beef with Parker Jr, however, is Huey Lewis, who was
09:24 initially contacted to write a theme back in 1984.
09:33 Lewis claimed that Parker Jr utilized the arrangement of "I Want A New Drug" for
09:38 Ghostbusters and sued.
09:46 The pair settled out of court, but Parker Jr would later sue Lewis for breach of confidentiality.
09:52 It's all a mess, but we want to know, do you hear the similarity?
09:59 Number 2.
10:00 Robin Thicke - Blurred Lines You may know about the lyrical controversy
10:08 behind Robin Thicke's Blurred Lines, but did you also know that there were some alleged
10:13 musical shenanigans going on behind the scenes as well?
10:20 It all depends on how you look at it, because Thicke knowingly admitted to being inspired
10:24 by Marvin Gaye's "Gotta Give It Up" when writing Blurred Lines.
10:35 The Gaye family successfully sued for royalties, but it brings up a deeper question.
10:40 Does musical inspiration count as theft?
10:43 Every artist is influenced by someone, yet it's up to the songwriters in question to
10:47 differentiate themselves enough to justify the new material's existence.
10:51 Or maybe the courts just got the decision wrong with this one.
10:55 You decide.
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11:18 Number 1.
11:19 Vanilla Ice – Ice Ice Baby It's true, a lot of people might know the
11:27 story behind Vanilla Ice's Ice Ice Baby.
11:30 But you could be hearing it for the first time if you're not a 90's baby.
11:38 It's pretty much become common knowledge by now that Ice heavily adapted Queen and
11:44 David Bowie's "Under Pressure" for this hip-hop hit.
11:53 Specifically it's John Deacon's iconic bass line from this aforementioned Queen song
11:57 that gets manipulated for Ice's big moment in the sun, albeit given an extra ting here
12:03 and there.
12:08 That said, youthful fans of Vanilla Ice might have been unaware that this Queen jam was
12:13 heisted for Ice Ice Baby.
12:15 That is, until they grew up and realized they'd been bamboozled all along.
12:26 Feel like debating sample viability or one-hit wonder status?
12:29 Hit us up in those comments below.
12:32 Pitchforks and torches optional.
12:52 Thanks for watching.