Songs That Rip Off Stevie Wonder
Specifically, songs that rip off Stevie Wonder's "Pastime Paradise".
The obvious one, of course, is Coolio's "Gangsta's Paradise," which actually used the melody and backing orchestration (different arrangement) of "Pastime Paradise". I daresay that most people under 30 know "Gangsta's Paradise" better than the original Stevie Wonder song. I have to admit that, until three or four years ago, I didn't know that "Gangsta's Paradise" was based musically on "Pastime Paradise". Thanks goes to my audiophile husband for that enlightenment.
"Gangsta's Paradise", of course, leads us to another song that uses "Pastime Paradise" -- Weird Al's paraody song "Amish Paradise".
And then there's an obscure song by '80s Christian alternative band Adam Again -- "Who Can Hold Us". While this song doesn't copy "Pastime Paradise" exactly, that is definitely the vibe the band was going for.
The other day I was listening to a Dido song, "Do you Have A Little Time," and discovered it had the "Pastime Paradise" vibe going on, too, with its string part.
Oh, and here's more I didn't know about, from Wikipedia: The "Pastime Paradise" sample was also used in a single released in 1991 by French rap group IAM entitled, "Tam-tam de l'Afrique" ("drums of Africa"). Another parody by Paul Shanklin using Gangsta's Paradise is "Algore Paradise," in which Rush Limbaugh mocks the Democratic Party. The Ian Brown song "F.E.A.R." borrows the main riffs from "Gangsta's Paradise". "Pastime Paradise" was sampled again as the basis of "Curtain Falls" by the boy-band Blue on 2004.
Anybody know of other songs that channel (or blatantly rip off) "Pastime Paradise"? Lemme know.
(P.S. -- Yes, grammar police, I know that punctuation really belongs on the inside of the quotation marks, but I think that's silly, so I have adopted the British rule of putting it on the outside.)
The obvious one, of course, is Coolio's "Gangsta's Paradise," which actually used the melody and backing orchestration (different arrangement) of "Pastime Paradise". I daresay that most people under 30 know "Gangsta's Paradise" better than the original Stevie Wonder song. I have to admit that, until three or four years ago, I didn't know that "Gangsta's Paradise" was based musically on "Pastime Paradise". Thanks goes to my audiophile husband for that enlightenment.
"Gangsta's Paradise", of course, leads us to another song that uses "Pastime Paradise" -- Weird Al's paraody song "Amish Paradise".
And then there's an obscure song by '80s Christian alternative band Adam Again -- "Who Can Hold Us". While this song doesn't copy "Pastime Paradise" exactly, that is definitely the vibe the band was going for.
The other day I was listening to a Dido song, "Do you Have A Little Time," and discovered it had the "Pastime Paradise" vibe going on, too, with its string part.
Oh, and here's more I didn't know about, from Wikipedia: The "Pastime Paradise" sample was also used in a single released in 1991 by French rap group IAM entitled, "Tam-tam de l'Afrique" ("drums of Africa"). Another parody by Paul Shanklin using Gangsta's Paradise is "Algore Paradise," in which Rush Limbaugh mocks the Democratic Party. The Ian Brown song "F.E.A.R." borrows the main riffs from "Gangsta's Paradise". "Pastime Paradise" was sampled again as the basis of "Curtain Falls" by the boy-band Blue on 2004.
Anybody know of other songs that channel (or blatantly rip off) "Pastime Paradise"? Lemme know.
(P.S. -- Yes, grammar police, I know that punctuation really belongs on the inside of the quotation marks, but I think that's silly, so I have adopted the British rule of putting it on the outside.)
posted by Anonymous at
11:17 AM
3 Comments:
There's a big difference between what is a blatant rip off and what is creative license and complimentary artistic inspiration. You must be kidding really. This kind of inspired borrowing happens in every genre and has happened since the beginning of musical time. You should stick to topics you understand.
Wow, that's kinda funny. Yes, I was exaggerating in my use of the term "rip-off". I very much enjoy listening to most of the songs I mentioned. More than anything, this post was meant to be a commentary on how many works "Pastime Paradise" seems to have inspired.
But yes, I probably should stick to topics I understand.
-Christy N, B.M.
(Bachelor of Music)
(Did I just feed the troll?)
I was just thinking about that the other day when once again remembering how annoyed Coolio was at Weird Al for doing a parody even though his song is a direct rip off. The one I just discovered is "Don't Worry About a Thing" from Innervisions . . . the "Sex in the City Theme" is SUSPICIOUSLY similar.
What would modern songsters do without Stevie I wonder?
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