Tag: samples

  • The Soul Searchers – Ashley’s Roachclip

    The drum break in The Soul Searchers song Ashley’s Roachclip from 1974 was well on it’s way to become just as hugely sampled as the Amen break. But something stopped its triumphant march: it went out of fashion.

    Like many breaks, it was first used in hiphoptracks in the early eighties. A lot of early hip hop sampled the song at the 11-second mark, like Grandmaster Melle Mel and LL Cool J. Some artists, used the drum break, like Michee Mee & L.A. Luv in 1987 in Run For Cover. The first use of the sample that became famous was however was Eric B. & Rakim’s classic sample track Paid In Full from 1987.

    That may well have spurred on it’s sudden popularity, but not just in hiphop, but regular pop and dance music. The relaxed break suddenly popped up as a backing for Milli Vanilli’s 1988 songs Girl You Know It’s True and Baby, Don’t Forget My Number. Ice MC’s 1990 track Easy not only emulated Milli Vanilli, it also used the same sample. Snap!’s 1990 track Oops Up used the sample too. Interesting to note is that remixes of pop songs used it to make it more danceable, like Roxette’s The Look from 1989 and Caron Wheeler’s Livin The Light from 1990.

    The hits then just started to roll in. PM Dawn in 1991 with Set a Drift On Memory Bliss (which combines it with Spandau Ballet’s True), Unbelievable by EMF in 1991, Sweet Thing by Mick Jagger in 1992, Come Undone by Duran Duran in 1993. Even Moby used it in First Cool Hive from 1995.

    But from there it’s use in popular songs (chart hits in this case) kinda ended. Even though it is still often sampled and used in various ways since then. It seems the beat has become associated with those late 80’s/early 90’s hits and become somewhat unpopular with producers. That and the fact that most people used it ‘as is’ and didn’t slice it up, like it was done with Amen break.

  • Isley Brothers – Footsteps in the Dark

    In 1977 the Isley Brothers released the album Go For Your Guns. Track 2 on that album is the very laid back song Footsteps in the Dark. Three songs were released as singles from that album, but Footsteps in the Dark was not one of them. Nevertheless, the song has gained popularity among hiphop and R&B artists as a source for samples.

    The main reason for this is that Ice Cube sampled the laid back riff in his 1993 track It Was a Good Day and the song became a big hit. It describes a good day in South Central without a single incident, sort of hinting that those days are rare, from a gangsta rapper’s point of view. Since then the track has been sampled countless times, too many to mention here (WhoSampled has a good overview).

    But what’s interesting however is that Ice Cube wasn’t actually the first to use it. Fellow West-Coast gangsta rappers Compton’s Most Wanted released their second album Straight Checkn’ Em in 1991. On it is the track Can I Kill It. Even though it starts out leaning on a sample of Teddy Pendergrass track Love T.K.O. from 1980, halfway it switches samples to the now famous sample of the Isley Brothers. So it’s not completely unlikely that the inspiration to use the sample in It was a Good Day actually came from another West-Coast track.

  • Van Halen – Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Love

    Van Halen released Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Love in 1978. It has since been covered often, for instance by Minutemen in 1984, by the Mighty Mighty Bosstones in 1991 and more recently by Die Hunns in 2006. Surely the oddest one out cover is the version by Jazzkantine from 2008.

    Apart from that the song has been sampled usually for the opening guitar lick by Eddie van Halen. The 2 Live Crew used it in their unimaginatively titled Fuck Shop from 1989. Scatterbrain jammed it somewhere in 1990 Down with the Ship song (which features tons of famous guitar songs). The most famous sample usage however is by English dance formation  Apollo 440 in their 1997 track Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Dub. Apollo 440 uses another iconic sample in the song. The opening “Let’s go back to the rock and see it in 440” is from the 1971 film (The Andromeda Strain (IMDb) and fits quite well in the clash of a rock song redone by Apollo 440.

    And since I love the Apollo 440 much more, here’s Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Dub:

  • Bronski Beat – Smalltown Boy


    Bronski Beat – Smalltown Boy

    The year 2006 seems to be the absolute peak for the song Smalltown Boy by Bronski Beat. Not so much the original song, which was released in 1984, but as far as covers and sampling of the song goes.

    One of the first instances for the song to pop up is by the Real McCoy’s song Automatic Lover in 1995. It only briefly uses the replayed riff of the original. In 1997 Legato makes a rather simple dance cover.  In 1999 Brice does a cover called Small Town Boy (Runaway).  O.R.N. does a cover in 2004.

    Around 2006 samples and (half-)covers of the song start piling up. Thomas Cajal releases Runaway in 2005 that borrows the tune and Jimmy sommerville’s vocals. A German rap-group K.I.Z. uses a sample in their 2005 rather rude track Hurensohn (whore’s son).  By 2006 the hits start rolling in. Supermode releases a hit song titled Tell Me Why in 2006 that leans heavily on the original. Swedish singer September releases the song Cry For You in 2005 that becomes a hit in 2006 and it too borrows from the Bronski Beat song. Scream Club releases Life of a Heartbreaker in 2006 which features the same riff but played with old school game computer sounds. By 2007 even Daft Punk catches up an incorporates the riff in their live set. Greek Cypriot singer Mixalis Xatzigiannis subtly uses  the riff in his 2007 song Etsi Se Thelo. In 2007 José González did a cover for the B-side of Down the Line. Sharon Corr (of The Corrs) did a cover.

    For some strange reason, there’s also lots of metal covers for the song. In 1999 metal band Depressive Age does a metal cover. Another metal cover is recorded by Paradise Lost in 2002. Atrocity did a cover version in 2008. Female-fronted metal band Delain did a cover in 2009.

  • The Beatles – Sexy Sadie

    I’ve mentioned Radiohead a few times before. In fact, I’ve mentioned that their biggest hit ‘Creep‘ is loosely based on another song. I’ve also mentioned a clone song taken from Karma Police. Guess what? Karma Police itself might not be so uniquely original itself either.

    I’m certainly not the first to mention this and I certainly won’t be the last, but you can compare The Beatles song Sexy Sadie from 1968 to Karma Police and hear a some familiar hints. Try it yourself:

  • Rozalla – Everybody’s Free

    “Ladies and gentlemen of the class of ’99, wear sunscreen.” You may recognise this line from film director Baz Luhrman’s hit Everybody’s free (to wear sunscreen) from 1999. That hit song however is composed of a number of ‘samples’.

    First off, the ‘speech’ sampled in the song is actually an essay written by Mary Schmich in 1997. That essay in turn is somewhat inspired by the poem Desiderata from 1927. The essay by Schmich was recorded by Baz Luhrmann using a voice actor who reads the essay word for word.

    Half way through the song, some vocals kick in which are borrowed from the song Everybody’s Free (to feel good) sung by Quindon Tarver on the soundtrack of the 1996 film Romeo + Julliet. The film was directed by … Baz Luhrmann. Hence the title of Baz Luhrmann’s song is Everybody’s Free (to wear sunscreen).

    The acapella version sung by Quidon Tarver however is a cover of the 1991 dance hit Everybody’s Free (to feel good) by Rozalla. Baz Luhrmann/Quindon Tarver haven’t been the only ones to ever sample/cover it. The lyrics of Rozalla popped up in Bob Sinclar’s 2007 song Sound of Freedom. According to whosampled.com, Moby also sampled the song, but since the video they link to is down, I can’t verify this. It’s not on the single I own in any case.

    One more important thing about the Rozalla version; it also uses a sample. It uses the classic drum break from the 1972 track Think (About It) by Lyn Collins. But since I could list tons of tracks that sample Think , here’s Rozalla – Everybody’s Free.

  • Johnny Taylor – What About My Love

    In 2004 the Shapeshifters (or Shape:UK if you live in the US)  scored a modest hit with Lola’s Theme. Before that in 2003 however, it was already circulating as an instrumental only. The version with vocals had its entire instrumentation re-played from the instrumental version that contained a sample. That sample is Johnny Taylor’s 1982 hit What About My Love. So technically speaking the 2004 doesn’t contain a direct sample.

    There’s a second sample in the song and that’s also not direct. The vocals sung by a singer named Cookie were mostly original. The chorus however was directly borrowed and resung from Love Me Tonight by Anthony White from 1994.

  • Gary Moore – Still Got the Blues

    Gary Moore died yesterday so I decided to switch the post I had in mind for today around to make room for this one.

    Gary Moore was undeniably a very creative musician who had good control over his instrument of choice the guitar. And though he wrote quite a bulk of original work, his most famous song of all, Still Got the Blues, seems to borrow very slightly from an older song. Check out the song Nordrach by Jud’s Gallery at around 6:18 and 9:16 (source: whosampled.com). It sounds very identical.

    The leader of the band thought so too and sued Gary Moore in 2008 (why so late?) and won. Gary Moore denied having heard the songs and while the court acknowledged he probably didn’t steal it on purpose he may have heard it on the radio or live back when it was played in 1974, even though the music had never been put on a record. Honestly, even if Gary Moore did hear it, forgot it, but remembered it sub-consciencely when he recorded his song, I think the claim is a bit too far. But such are copyright laws.

    Gary Moore (1952-2011) – Still Got the Blues

  • Primal Scream – Loaded

    In honour of the International Film Festival Rotterdam that’s going on right now, not only a posts about samples from other songs, but also from film!

    In 1990 Primal Scream released the song Loaded. Most prominently, it features a sample from their own song I’m losing more than I’ll ever have from 1989. Whosampled.com says the bass-line is replayed from the Rolling Stones’ Sympathy for the Devil from 1968. You’ll also hear a drumloop taken from the 1989 white label remix of What I Am by Edie Brickell & The New Bohemians. On a side note, you might recognise that song from the version that Tin Tin Out and former Spice Girl Emma Bunton covered in 1999.

    But there’s also some spoken word samples in it. The most striking comes from the the 1966 film The Wild Angels (imdb + trailer). A biker film in which Peter Fonda plays a biker that tells off a preacher and says they want to be free to do what they wanna do …  and they wanna get loaded.

  • Hey Joe (Please don’t go to town)

    Some songs don’t have an original, or it has become impossible to trace who wrote it or performed it first. You’d think this was just the case for any folk song pre-dating 1900, but it even happens for more recent classics. Take Hey Joe. Most people will say that the original (the one they know best) is by Jimi Hendrix, but this is not the case. Jimi Hendrix covered it and gave it his own spin as was usual in those days. But who did he cover it from?

    Hey Joe was a song that emerged in the early sixties and become one of those songs every band covered. Even the WikiPedia article can’t seem to figure out who wrote the original. The earliest know recording of Hey Joe is by the Leaves from 1965. Jimi Hendrix recorded his version in 1966. Some say it was a traditional song. The first copyright on it was claimed by a traveling musician Billy Roberts. He however may have composed the song out of mix of different originals, including Baby, Please Don’t Go To Town from 1955 by (his girlfriend) Niella Miller.

    After the success of the sixties versions, just about every body seems to have done a cover of the song:  Tim Rose (1969), Deep Purple, The Who (1989), Patti Smith (with a really awful solo), The Offspring (1991), Type-O-Negative (1992), Ice-T (1994, with his band Bodycount), Willy Deville, an all-star band, ZZ Top, Seal, Vai, Satriani, May and Walsh, and many many many many many more.  It makes you wonder how rich Billy Roberts actually got from the copyright, whether he did at all.