We love Gorillaz, so we couldn’t help but be a bit disappointed by the recent rumor of the group’s uncredited music stealing borrowing. (Seriously, is there something in the water?) Reggae artist Eddy Grant claims the electronic keyboard riffs from his song “Time Warp,” were used in the new Gorillaz song, “Stylo,” without any due credit. Although both Grant and the Gorillaz are signed with EMI Publishing, the label refuses to get involved and is letting the artists settle this dispute themselves.
Grant recently told NME:
In a properly configured relationship I would have gotten a call from EMI to say, ‘Damon wants to use ‘Time Warp.’ What arrangement can you guys come to? Would you claim 100% would you claim 60%, or 70% of whatever it is?’ That phone call never came.
Although nothing has been resolved, we’re curious to hear your take on songs that borrow. After the jump, compare Grant’s “Time Warp” to Gorillaz “Stylo,” and check out our roundup of other musical “homages.”
1. Eddy Grant “Time Warp” (at 0:20) vs. Gorillaz “Stylo” (opening)
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2. Gang Gang Dance “House Jam” (at 1:00) vs. Florence and the Machine “Rabbit Heart (Raise it Up)” (opening)
3. Manu Dibango “Soul Makossa” (at 0:08) vs. Michael Jackson “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin”’ (at 4:45) vs. Rihanna “Don’t Stop the Music” (at 2:50)
4. James Brown “Hot (I Need to be Loved Loved Loved Loved)” (at 0:17) vs. David Bowie “Fame” (at 0:13)
5. Queen “Under Pressure” (opening) vs. Vanilla Ice “Ice, Ice, Baby” (opening)
6. Orchestral Cover of The Rolling Stones “The Last Time” (at 0:14) vs. The Verve “Bittersweet Symphony” (at 0:12)
7. Rick James “Super Freak” (opening) vs. M.C. Hammer “U Can’t Touch This” (opening)
8. Joe Satriani “If I Could Fly” (0:48) vs. Coldplay “Viva La Vida” (at 0:40)
9. The Chiffons “He’s So Fine” (at 0:20) vs. George Harrison “My Sweet Lord” (at 0:23)
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10. John Lee Hooker “Boogie Chillen” (opening) vs. ZZ Top “La Grange” (opening)
Comments (5)
These LaLa players are terrible for this feature. They don’t mark the progress of the songs, just the length. Ugh.
I think the band is the Verve not the Verve Pipe. The Verve Pipe sang “The Freshman”
I just slowed Time Warp down to match the beat of Stylo on my computer, to compare the two songs (I suggest others do the same, it is easy to do). They are similar, but not the same. Eddy Grant has no case.
You shouldn’t have used Lala players for this. How the hell am I supposed to go to 1:00 in House Jam? Somebody didn’t think this through correctly.
Some of these are hardly “musical ripoffs.” Did you guys even read the story behind The Verve and The Rolling Stones. I highly doubt any research was conducted or else you wouldn’t have included it here. The Verve got the rights to use the sample, but the Stones decided that he used it too much (he reversed an orchestral recording of a Stones song) and so they decided to take 100% of the songwriting credits and the royalties. You guys fail.
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