A particular song by Bob James, Nautilus, has been sampled by dozens of hiphop (and other) artists. Since this post would be too long if I went into the entire list, there’s another song I want to focus on: Sing of the Times from 1981.

It first re-appeared as a sampled in the 1991 De La Soul track Keepin’ the Faith. A few years after in 1994 it probably made it’s most famous appearance in Regulate by Warren G. and Nate Dogg. That track also samples Michael McDonald’s 1982 track I keep forgetting and borrows the ‘Let Me Ride‘ lyric from Parliament’s Mothership Connection (1975).

In 1995 the sample pops up again in Menelik & No Sé’s track Quelle Aventure, which also uses a sample from Pino D’Angio’s 1980 track Ma Quale Idea (did I hear anyone say Don’t call me baby?).

Finally in 1998 Buzzy Bus also takes on Bob James and puts it in their track Jump. This tracks also samples the Jungle Brother’s I’ll House You with it’s lyric “jump, jump, a little higher” (and I may need to devote a post to that track as well some time in the future). You may know the Buzzy Bus guys (Koen Groeneveld & Addy van der Zwan) under their various release names: The Klubbheads, The Ultimate Seduction, their remixes for the Turn Up The Bass compilations and a dozen more names.

But forget about G-Funk and Club House for now, here’s Bob James – Sign of the Times: