The recent Robin Thicke vs. the estate of Marvin Gaye
debacle has left a bad taste with plenty of music fans and reminded plenty of
folks of the blatant similarities—intentional or not—between numerous songs released
over the years. With this list we’re not gonna concentrate on, say, two metal
bands with individual songs that sound suspiciously alike or artists who’ve
based their careers on sounding like another artist, but with artists aping the
sound/style/vibe of another artist as a one-off and not plagiarizing an actual
song. Here we go, in alphabetical order by artist:
1. AMERICA “Horse with No Name”
Man, did these guys get grief for allegedly ripping off Neil
Young back when this song was released as their debut single in 1972. To add
insult to injury, it replaced Young’s “Heart of Gold” atop the charts in the
US. But America have never shunned from admitting the song was indeed inspired
by Young, even though the backlash was quite harsh at the time. Pretty sure the
royalties from this one—it’s their biggest single—helped ease that quite a bit, tho.
2. BEATLES “Two of Us”
Even a highly original act has influential sources they
swear by. According to the late Ian MacDonad in his Beatles chronology
Revolution in the Head, John and Paul spontaneously broke into the Everly
Brothers’ “Bye Bye Love” after running thru this one in the studio.
3. BECK “Debra”
Mr. Hansen has disowned this one in recent years, but his
sonic emulation of a certain purple monarch was reportedly the highlight of
many of his late ‘90s set lists.
4. FOO FIGHTERS “Wheels”
He’s admitted to being a fan, played drums with him on SNL, and
begrudgingly turned him down to join the Heartbreakers to start the Foos, so the fact that Dave Grohl
wrote a song in the same vein as a Tom Petty tune should surprise no one.
5. JELLYFISH “Joining a Fanclub”
The late great San Francisco quartet recorded some classic
yet distinctive power pop on their 1990 debut album. But their influences
really came to the foreground the second time out, especially on this track,
which would not be out of place on a mid-‘70s Queen album.
6. SIMPLE MINDS “Don’t You Forget About Me”
Back in 1985, EVERYONE thought this was Billy Idol when they
first heard the song that broke Simple Minds in the US, courtesy of the John
Hughes teen flick, The Breakfast Club. Truth be told, it was offered to Mr.
Sneer first, who promptly turned it down.
7. THE STROKES “12:51”
Somebody reeeeeaaaaaaally likes that first Cars album, huh?
8. SUGAR “A Good Idea”
Even tho it’s still news to fans of both artists—even at
this late date—it’s a fact that Bob Mould always envisioned what has become, arguably, the most popular track of his post-Hüsker Dü career to be a Pixies tribute. And not just the music and
the arrangement, but the lyrics, too. Of course, Black Francis and co. were big Hüsker Dü fans, so this one brings it around full circle.
9. WEEN “Freedom of ‘76”
Did the boys from New Hope, PA pay tribute to Prince or the
classic Philly ‘70s soul they both grew up with on this track? We’ll let you
decide.
10. WILCO “Heavy Metal Drummer”
According to Ira Robbins’ Trouser Press Guide, "aping Pavement [on this song] is an amusing but worthless parlor trick”. Maybe. Cool tune, tho.
