RockViolin

I was going to say something similar. Doesn't every instrument have that which it lends itself to more easily, and conversely that which it doesn't? That said I think the sax could have worked. It just should have been the side of applesauce to Dusty's pork chop, not a pork chop shaped pancake.

Well, I'll try. But if I hear that Alvin and the Chipmunks have gone the full auto-tune robotic for "Here Comes Santa Claus"...there will be no stopping me from Scroogin hard.

Seems to me from what I've seen and heard that Elvis always had some serious crew. Well oiled from the flicks and Vegas gigs I'd suppose.

I agree with Notes. In addition I'd add that the sax gives me the impression it's trying to do something that's difficult for the instrument to do. Maybe it's the player, I dunno. I know nothing about playing the saxophone. But it seems that by the time the instrument speaks it's quite loud. So the scoops really don't work and neither does the attempt at smooth breathiness. So it comes across as clumsy attempt to parrot Dusty. It might have even been better to turn the sax loose and let it lay into it and sing it out more legato... not going crazy, but not trying to be like Dusty. Or put some, maybe quite a bit of reverb/delay on it and put it around the corner and down the street, hauntingly. The trumpets should have been tossed altogether. Ouch.

Me too! Yes, my ear has been here and there as well. It's perhaps a fine line between a quote that tips towards a wee bit of a borrow which just 'accidentally' strays into pilfering that then waltzes right into full on robbery. But, I'm confident I can tell the difference. And as I said earlier, there's a difference between an homage quote and theft...or the complete bastardization of an entire lengthy melody as with "Never Gonna Fall In Love Again". "the copyright should not go in favor of the person doing the quoting." Not sure I follow. Do you perhaps mean it should not go in favor of the quoted? Anyway, it's more about the pretense that an idea was conjured up honestly and the taking of credit for it than who made or lost money...to me. And the $ determined by the court to be paid by the perp is more punishment than it is compensation for $ presumably lost by the plaintiff...to me. Rachmaninoff didn't lose any money either. That doesn't change one bit the degree to which his music was stolen. Piles of money should have gone to his descendants though the crime didn't rob them directly, just because, just to punish the artist, management, record company that took part in creating that abomination. If Rachmaninoff had at least been credited and thanked for the use of HIS beautiful melody, well, maybe I wouldn't be such a big meanie about it.

(That would be the 'ol incite right there.) Or don't. Just admit to yourself that you got nuthin and get out of the way. Go mow lawns or something. Go steal from Ms. Perry. You just have to do a better job of it than her team of *ace* songwriters did. Pbbb. That's what's surprising to me actually. They could have changed a few more notes in that keyboard line, maybe use a clearly different sound, add another word to the shout and place it a measure earlier/later, change up the kick a little bit more and it wouldn't have made a hill o' beans difference to the success of the track. We just wouldn't be having this conversation in a thread with her name attached to it. But please do refrain from marring great pieces of music for years to come. If you can't steal and disguise it with some degree of aplomb don't steal at all. And maybe someday Eric Carmen will be long forgotten and Rachmaninoff can be enjoyed clean and free of the taint.

"Oh Bwunhilde, you're so wuvwee". This is what comes to me when I listen to Tannhauser. Forever etched. And of course, "Kill Da Wabbit". It is funny. And perhaps Wagner and the whole German mysticism thing had it coming. But there's just no going back once something like that has been done. I wouldn't say that it's ruined it for me, but there's no getting around checking in with that bit of lampooning at first, then I can for the most part put it aside. Maybe 'serious music' is taken too seriously. Maybe nothing is sacred when comedy, or $ signs, or hubris are on the prowl. A stain is a stain though.

And "Never Gonna Fall In Love Again" is taken from Rachmaninoff's 2nd Symphony 2nd mvt. - lock, stock, and barrel. All but ruined here. I say "all but" because I've performed those works and at such times Rachmaninoff won. It still is a bit of work not to *go there* though. Talk about damage. Ya know, I don't think anything speaks better for humanity than the music of the great composers. It is in my humble opinion the highest of arts. And someone can put a mustache on the Mona Lisa - and the next time I see the real thing it won't be a problem. But music, and words, they stick. Top 40 in the 70's = arc welder. Stealing great, classic, masterpiece level music and putting words to it...as if it needed them... has got to be the greatest crime of all (mentioned in discussions of this sort). Not to mention the sheer pomposity and unmitigated gall. "A Fifth Of Beethoven" doesn't rise to the level, for me. There's a difference between paying homage with a quote or the thorough reworking of a motif and outright theft and defacement. At least there was some imagination involved. It's a shame. Someone should have stopped him, or them. No doubt the eyes were rolling with the $ signs. And I kinda liked The Raspberries at first. I was about 8 I think and one of their albums was the first my older brother let me borrow. (I guess that's saying something). Even then Eric struck me as kinda drippy. But I think that section in "Go All The Way" where the guitars rock out and he gets some grit in his voice might have been the first time I rocked out...a bit. Rant over.

Piano Concerto #2. And suing, were it possible, would not suffice. Rachmaninoff's living relatives should be taken care of for centuries. And there should be a special place in hell as well.

I struggle a bit not to see some just desserts here. Not for Ms. Perry necessarily, but for a determinedly imitative and moribund pop music industry. Maybe it's about time if not long past...to start trying to be really unique again and to celebrate some differences. Real differences - not little tiny happenstance differences.

Hi everyone. The keyboard line is 1 note different, though in a different key. The shout is the same and in practically the same spot. Those things along with the similar kick do carry some weight, particularly with such minimal content, and I can see how the jury might have been convinced. I agree with Beato for the most part though...15%. Maybe 17.235%. That said, it's all too easy to take the foundation or essence of a song and then get *creative and place upon said foundation an entirely different edifice. And if questions arise, it's not hard to point out at least a dozen differences. Wasn't the Vanilla Ice song much the same? The same bass line as "Under Pressure" but one note different, or less or more? Did the rest of his song bear any resemblance? Anyway, it maybe was a bit of a knick. I dunno. That or there's an odd synchronicity that seems to occur sometimes, I think. I've got some programming that I did 2-3 months before Britney released "Toxic" and my verse is a lot like her chorus... motion/groove-wise. Synchronicity, or a service tech managed to get the mangled box it was in to play it a few weeks before said release and said to himself, "That's hot! I'm sending it to Britney right now!" I know which I prefer to believe. My particular effort in that regard ceased and desisted upon first hearing "Toxic". Don't need no trouble now see...

I do too. My comment perhaps did not get the tail onto the donkey. I guess, having been through it, I find the entire system suspect. And I have less faith than you about some additional awareness from Prince's death making any difference. The awareness was/is there. It says watch out for the counterfeit stuff as much as anything else. And I can't imagine there are many that don't know by now that opiates are addictive. I saw some news program, it might have been 20/20. The first half was about what happened to Prince, and the second half was about some guy who had some kind of pill press and was making pills of all kinds out of his garage, including opioid pills laced with fentanyl. The situation may improve. I hope it does. And it certainly would be desirable for Prince's untimely death to count for something more than a windfall for somebody.

Good 'ol Joe. I always liked his approach to playin guitar. Depending on how one time signatures it, he pretty much never plays any subdivision smaller/faster than an 8th note. 2 16ths pickups once in a while, and I know the spots. Anyway he's the real slow hand if you ask me. So What was the 4th album that came into my possession about 40 years ago. Great album, and I think it speaks well for Joe that he included a selection by Maurice Ravel. In English, Pavanne For A Dead Infant.

It was a sight for sore eyes when I saw the record bins at Barnes and Noble a couple of years ago. The cover of [I]Houses Of The Holy [/I]caught my eye right away. And I was reminded of a really cool record store I frequented in Sioux City, IA. They took an old stock yards building and turned it into a mall of shops. The record store was easily the coolest of them all as far as a 14 -15 year old was concerned. They sold incense and paraphernalia too, and the guy behind the counter looked a lot like Robert Plant.

I played their show as a member of the orchestra 3, maybe 4 times. Same exact show each time as I recall - every note, every word. They'd be singing, "I'm just a singer in a rock and roll band." I'd be playing and saying to myself, " Yeah well, I'm just a violinist behind a plexiglass screen."