Many bands over the years have been accused of "stealing" Led Zeppelin guitar riffs for their songs, Heart is one of the ones most frequently tabbed with this charge. However, these accusations on the part of Zeppelin fans are a little bit hypocritical, since LZ (much as I love the band, let's face it) are the all-time master of bold faced plagerism in rock history, brazenly putting their name to songs written by others (and they've been succesfully sued for it many times too). Perhaps the most outrageous case of plagerism by Zep is "Since I've Been Loving You" from LZ III which is the exact same song as Moby Grape's "Never" with only the lyric that provides the title of the song changed!

Steve Miller's "Keep On Rockin' Me"'s opening riff is shamelessly lifted from Free's "All Right Now".

Alice Cooper has candidly admitted that he borrowed the riff from "No More Mr. Nice Guy" from the Who's "Substitute".

The Genesis song "Time Table" from the Foxtrot album has the exact same melody as Yes' "Time And A Word".

The opening Riff for The Rare Breed's "Beg Borrow and Steal" was clearly inspired by "Louie Louie".

On Blue Oyster Cult's Mirrors album, the song "The Vigil" opens with an electric guitar riff played to simulate the sound of a UFO landing. Judas Priest had done the same thing earlier on the "Invader" song from their Stained Class LP.

And then of course there's musicians who borrow from themselves. Pink Floyd's David Gilmour lifted his guitar work for "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" directly from his piece on the "Atom Heart Mother" suite. And the song "Goodbye Cruel World" from The Wall is of course "Careful With That Axe Eugene" recycled.
Bad Company has a tune on their Run With The Pack album called "Simple Man". This song is just "Soldier Boy" from Free's Free At Last album with different lyrics. (Bad Company was mostly made up of ex-Free members).

From the UK's point of view, Oasis are probably the prime melody/riff/lyric bandits of our time, with the Beatles and their remnants their usual victims. The opening of "Don't Look Back in Anger" features very similar piano chords to that of the opening of John Lennon's "Imagine". The guitar riff after the chorus in "Supersonic" bears a striking resemblance to that of George Harrison's in his "My Sweet Lord" (listen again, you'll be as shocked as I was on hearing it again). It's not just the Beatles, though - the guitar solo in "Don't Look Back In Anger" is almost identical to the guitar solo in a Primal Scream track (I can't remember which one, but it was from the album "Screamadelica" which I haven't played in ages). There are also other songs and tunes they have lifted from, ranging from children's TV through FGTH's Holly Johnson and onto Gary Glitter.

Possibly unrelated to this topic, but is it just me, or did the last singles by Rod Stewart and Ronan Keating sound remarkably like "You Get What You Give" by the New Radicals (in terms of backing instruments etc.)?

ZZ top's riff in in that song that goes Da-dum dum dum BADA DUM about the rumor spreadi' roun' that texas town haw-haw, haw-haw, (or hmm-hmm, hmm-hmm) Da-dum dum dum BADA DUM (Gee, aren't titles useful) was stolen from I think Bo Diddley or some blues guy other than BB King. (I know they won in court and never had to pay him a cent, but my ears don't lie.)

That's "La Grange" by ZZ Top. John Lee Hooker successfully sued "The Little Ol' Band From Texas" for stealing the guitar riff from Hooker's song, "Boogie Chillin'".

Missing a big one so far- Vanilla Ice stealing the piano bit from Queen's "Under Pressure."

It's not so much a borrowed riff as an actual sample - bass line and all - but apparently the Ice had at some point confirmed that he did NOT intentionally steal the track sample wholesale. (Though if someone could confirm this... thank you in advance.)

I set up a topic on the sampling of song tracks for the use of others in their songs (personal or otherwise) elsewhere in the Sink - but as I mentioned there, it's a very blurred area.

Yeah, I didn't intend this board to be about sampling, that's a whole different (and much more insidious) category.

I forgot one of the most famous ones - Led Zeppilin's opening riff for "Stairway To Heaven", lifted from Spirit's "Taurus".

Having heard Hooker’s “Boogie Chillun!” recently, I can attest to the fact that he deserved to win the lawsuit. Billy Gibbons, Frank Beard and Dusty Hill almost certainly stole the riff for “La Grange” from John Lee.

Another famous plagiarism lawsuit was leveled at George Harrison. The copyright owners of “He’s So Fine” sued the Quiet Beatle over his song “My Sweet Lord”. The result, IIRC, was that Harrison subconsciously “borrowed” the tune to the Chiffon’s hit and had to pay up. Then Boy George and Culture Club were sued over “Karma Chameleon.” It was said to be a rip –off of Sam Cooke/James Taylor hit, “Handy Man”.

About Vanilla Ice's (V*Ice as he wants to be called now) "Ice Ice Baby" and Queen and David Bowie's "Under Pressure", Brian May on the Howard Stern denied that Robbie Van Winkle stole the riff from "Under Pressure". May even played the riffs to show the difference (there isn't much). Still, Brian did say that no one was turning down the extra money.

Queen’s “Another Bites the Dust”, however, takes its bass line from The Sugarhill Gang’s “Rapper Delight” (arguably the first rap song). On the other hand, the Sugarhill Gang got that bassline from Chic’s (“Freak out! Le Freak/Le Chic.”) “Good Times”.

Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car” has a riff in it that sounds uncomfortably close to the one in John (Cougar) Mellencamp’s “Jack and Diane”. Anyone else think so?

Todd you mentioned The Who, they’re guilty of two counts (that I know of) of self-plagiarism. Get their album The Who Sell Out and listen to the song “Rael”. Then pull out Tommy. Listen to “Underture”. Notice anything? Also on Tommy is a track variously known as “1921” and “It’s a Boy”. Dig up The Who’s Odds and Sods record. Listen to “Glow Girl”. At the end of “Glow Girl”, you’ll hear Roger sing “It’s a girl Mrs. Walker. It’s a girl.” Exactly as on Tommy. (Except on Tommy “It’s boy, Mrs. Walker.”) (I realize, Todd, the latter example is probably not anywhere what you’ve established this thread to discuss. Still, as long as I’m talking about the Who’s acts of self-plagiarism…)

The Who’s “I Can’t Explain” was modeled, I believe, on the Kinks’ “All Day and All of the Night”.

I forgot to mention a couple of things. First of all, there's Suzi Quatro. Her big hit, of course, was her duet with Chris Norman "Stumblin' In". In the early Eighties she had another fairly big hit called "Lipstick". I didn't realize it at the time, but "Lipstick" is a dead ringer for the song "Gloria" by Them. Van Morrison should've/could've sued. There's very little difference between the two tunes.

Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" is said to have taken its riff from either Blue Oyster Cult's "Godzilla", Boston's "More Than a Feeling" or The Kingsmen's "Louie, Louie". Of course, "More Than a Feeling" is based on the "Louie, Louie" riff. IIRC, there's a lot of songs that are said to have, um, "borrowed" that riff. Unfortunately, I can't recall any other songs off hand. For that matter, I can't remember where I've seen a list of such songs. (May have been Details magazine. God only knows which issue.) So I can't further elaborate on that point.

Huey Lewis sued Ray Parker, Jr. because the music to Ghostbusters was from his I want a New Drug. The case was settled privately. YEARS later, Parker counter-sued Lewis for violating the non-disclosure agreement when Lewis discussed the case on Behind the Music.

I knew the song "Ghostbusters" was accused of being plagiarised from another song. I just couldn't think of which song it was. Thanks Darth. But to me, anyway, "I Want a New Drug" and "Ghostbusters" do not in anyway sound the same. Nor do I remember the Huey Lewis song being cited as the source for the Ray Parker, Jr. song. But I could be wrong. At any rate, I'm willing to take you at your word. Because I definitely don't remember.

Here's another I'd forgotten, Tony Carey's "First Day of Summer" has a little bit of the guitar lick from Derek and the Dominoes' "Layla."

np - Some Tough City - Tony Carey

Nirvana's obvious riff that may be a stolen actual sample is "Come As You Are" which sounds so much like Killing Joke's "Eighties," that there was a lawsuit (It was settled out of court)

How about Corey Hart's "Sunglasses At Night" which has Eurythmics' "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" practically in the background?

Or Berlin's Sex (I'm A) which has the Donna Summer "I Feel Love" riff practically in the background?

And don't forget the borrowed riff (or actual sample?) of "More, More, More" in "Don't Steal My Sunshine" (Both artists' names escape me at this moment. Sorry).

"More, More More" was by Andrea True Connection. "Steal My Sunshine" was by Len. Personally, I consider the Len song to be an example of the use of sampling, rather stealing/borrowing a riff.

I have noticed the "Sunglasses At Night"/"Sweet Dreams" connection recently myself. I tried playing, in my mind, "Sunglasses At Night", but kept getting the Eurythmics' song instead. I thought it was just me.

The Aerosmith song "Train kept a' Rollin" is almost identical to the Foghat song "Honey Hush". Don't know which one came out first, but SOMEBODY should have been sued over that one. The lyrics are different, but the riff that drives the songs are exactely the same.

Actually, Kail, both songs are older than that. "Honey Hush" was written and recorded by Big Joe Turner in 1953. "Train Kept A-Rollin'" was written and recorded by Tiny Bradshaw between 1950 and 1952. (I can't find the exact date.) Thus it appears that Turner "borrowed" from Tiny Bradshaw.

I should mention that "Train Kept A-Rollin"' was recorded by the Yardbirds years before Aerosmith covered it. Johnny Burnette and His Rock & Roll Trio in 1957 performed both songs on a live album, I believe (Tear It Up).

I've been meaning ask a buddy of mine about this, since he pointed it out to me, but Chuck Berry's "My Ding-a-Ling" is in reality Glenn Miller's "Little Brown Jug". And while we're on the topic of Charles Edward Berry, the Beach Boys stole his "Sweet Little Sixteen" to create "Surfin' U.S.A." Chuck now has a co-writer's credit on the song.

A slight variation on a theme here: In John Lennon's "(Just Like) Starting Over" there's a point where Lennon sings "But when I see you darlin'/It's like we both start falling..." is a ringer for the verse melody of the Beach Boys' "Don't Worry, Baby".

Styx's "Babe" has the keyboard riff from Paul Davis' "I Go Crazy" in it.

I put this in the wrong place:

"Soldier of Fortune," Black Sabbath. Quite obviously ripped from "Stairway to Heaven."

I don't know of any song called "Soldier Of Fortune" by Sabbath, but there is a Deep Purple song of that title that sounds a little like "Stairway" . . . is that the one you meant?

How about Cowboy Junkies' "Sweet Jane"? Am I the only one that hears "Lolly, lolly, lolly get your adverbs here?"

Todd--

Blame the moron I downloaded it from on Kazaa (when I d/l something, I correct it. It's "Baba O'Riley," d*mmit, not "Teenage Wasteland").

Soo...

I remember my brother telling me about a college friend of his who had a mix tape of Rolling Stones hits he made himself. My brother and his other friend were laughing at the label he made for the tape since apparently this guy had tried guessing at the titles of the songs and had gotten nearly every single one wrong when he wrote them on the tape card. For instance he had written "Jumping Jack Flash" down as "It's a Gas" and stuff like that, there were even more hilarious examples but I can't remember them.

Blame the moron I downloaded it from on Kazaa (when I d/l something, I correct
it. It's "Baba O'Riley," d*mmit, not "Teenage Wasteland"). I understand what you're talking about CC. When I think of the time I wasted looking for that on Who albums. For some reason the DJs at the time it came out didn't think it was "cool" to tell you what song title's were. Somehow you were supposed to just know.

I downloaded what was supposed to be "Austin Powers, Goldmember" and got the recent "Scooby Doo" movie instead. I'm a fan of novelty tunes and I've learned that for some reason any humorous song available on the 'net is often attributed to Weird Al Yankovic regardless of who it really is.

BTW, the reason Townsend named the song "Baba O'Riley" was as a tribute to two different people (kinda like the band name Pink Floyd). Eclectic musician Terry O'Riley pioneered the studio techniques which enabled Townsend to create the song's looped opening riff. The Maher Baba was one of those goofball Eastern mystic cult leaders Pete was so fond of.

I forgot about this one - The Strangelove's "I Want Candy" (later covered by Bow Wow Wow) is a swipe of Bo Diddley's "Bo Diddley".

Journey's "Lovin' Touchin' Squeezin'" seems to have lifted the tune almost entirely from the Beach Boys' "Sail On Sailor".

I've been listening to The Buck Dharma Archive disc set (Buck's the lead guitarist for Blue Oyster Cult). One of the tracks is a parody of Suzanne Vega's "Luka"*, called "Loofah". For the guitar solo, Buck plays the solo from the Beatles' "Nowhere Man". Buck's wife Sandy is the lead singer of "Loofah", btw.

*"Luka" may have been parodied as often as The Knack's "My Sharona". I know of three other parodies of Ms. Vega's hit: "My Name Is Oprah", "My Name Is Meacham" (after the then governor of Arizona. It was a slam against his anti-Martin Luther King Day stance.) And then there was Bud LeTour"s "Puka". ("My name is Puka/I had something bad to eat/I don't know if it's canned or fried/It might be something new I tried. If you hear something late at night/Some kind of heave/Some kind of [vomit sound]/Just don't me what I ate/Just don't ask me what I ate.") It was classic.

n.p. - Cosmic Thing - The B52s

Wow! I never thought I'd see a Bud LaTour reference here! I worked for Bud in Chicago the year he put his record out, with the single "People are still having sex." I still have a cassette of that somewhere. I seem to remember hearing an early mix of "Puka" as well. He also played with the Squids, who had great songs such as "The counselor at the church" ("the counselor at the church knows everything...except about sports. She does'nt know a f%&king thing about sports.") and "The Greatest Film Actress in the World."

Hey D, if you listeneed to Dr. Demento enough in the late Eighties, you're bound to run across something by LaTour. I just wish I could get a copy of "Puka" again. Seems like he also did "I Want Your Socks", a parody of George Michael's "I Want Your Sex", and "La Isla Gilligan", a jab at Madonna's "La Isla Bonita".

Peter Tork of the Monkees and James Lee Stanley have covered Martin Briley's "Milkshake". During the instrumental break they insert a little of the riff from the Knack's "My Sharona". This was more pronounced when I saw them in concert a few years back.

np - Two Man Band - Peter Tork and James Lee Stanley (Happy birthday Peter Tork!)

Anyone else think that Pink Floyd's "Point Me At The Sky" sounds a wee bit like the Beatles' "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds"? Maybe it's just the prominence of the word "sky" in the chorus of both songs that makes me think that. Great lyrics, though. Actually, I think this is one Floyd song that is unfortunately no longer availible anywhere on CD, since the box set Shine On (which contained a bonus disc of rarities including "Sky") no longer seems to be in print.

Just found it on WinMX. I'm gonna downnload it and let you know what I think.

Took me awhile to download it, because I had to break my connection to make a couple of phone calls. Then the people I would be downloading it from would break their connection. Plus I had about two or three other songs I was downloading ("Smack My B|tch Up" by Prodigy and "The Last of the Famous International Playboys" by Morrissey). And even now I only got 99% of the song before my recent source cut out on me.

But, yeah, I'd have to agree Todd. It is an awful lot like the Beatles' "Lucy". At first I just thought it might be the ambience of the song. But it is structured in a very similar way to the Beatles tune. The major difference is that it sounds distinctly like what it is - a Pink Floyd song.

BTW, a search on AMG reveals two other sources for the song. One is on a Pink Floyd bootleg. The other is a cover version by an act called Melting Euphoria.

Oh and thanks, for pointing the song out, Todd. Until now, I thought "When the Tigers Broke Free" was the great lost Pink Floyd track. At least "Tigers" is on the album, "Echoes".

np - Do Your Duty - Bessie Smith

I forgot about this one: Danielle Dax's cover of the Beatles "Tomorrow Never Knows" has a few bass thumps and keyboards effect from Talking Heads' "Once In a Lifetime" near the end of it. This may be more sampling, than "borrowing" a riff, though.

np - Blast the Human Flower - Danielle Dax (What do you think prompted this post?)

T. Rex's Marc Bolan swiped the music for "Cosmic Dancer" from his pal David Bowie's "Space Oddity".

Fleetwood Mac's new single "Peacekeeper" sounds like it borrows heavily from Paul Simon's "Kodachrome".

The chorus in particular. I just downloaded it and yeah, I kept expecting to hear Lyndsay Buckingham and Stevie Nicks sing, "Momma don't take my Kodachrome^TM away." Overall, not one of the Mac's better efforts, if you ask me.

np - Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me - the Cure

While listening to the Green Jello Sux e.p., I'm reminded that their song, "Electric Harley House (of Love)" uses for its guitar solo/instrumental break the guitar solo/instrumental break found in Metallica's "Enter Sandman". As a matter of fact, the Green Jello/Jelly song even mentions Metallica in the next verse.

The vocalist on "Electric Harley House", incidentally, sounds like Cheap Trick's Robin Zander.

np - Kinky - the Hoodoo Gurus

The Monkees' "A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You" is a dead ringer for Neil Diamond's "Cherry, Cherry". Of course, Neil Diamond wrote both songs...

np - 2001: Live In Las Vegas! - Micky Dolenz, Davy Jones and Peter Tork (the Monkees)

If anyone's got the Nuggets II box set, try playing Kaleidoscope's "Flight From Ashiya" and The Bee Gees "New York Mining Disaster 1941" back to back and see if you can tell the difference (of course, just about every song on The Bee Gees' first album could trace their roots to someone else's song as well)

np - Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere - Neil Young

I have Nuggets II, but not the Bee Gees' song! What's interesting about Kaleidoscope is that there were TWO completely different bands by the same name who existed around the same time period and played the same type of music. They are often confused with each other.

I noticed this years ago when I first bought the album, but haven't thought about til now - now that I'm listening to the CD. But on Sheena Easton's A Private Heaven, there's a song called "Swear". It has a guitar riff that sounds suspiciously like the one from Michael Jacksons's "Beat It".

How about the Beatles swiping from themselves? The opening of "Sun King" seems exactly like "Don't Let Me Down".

Also, if anyone here was conned into one of those CDs of The Beatles backing Tony Sheridan, listen to the cover of "When The Saints Come Marching In": aside from the vocals, it's identical to "I Saw Her Standing There".

Truth to tell, I've been wanting the Tony Sheridan album. Yeah, I know it's total cr4p, but still, I'm a completist. I'm an idiot.

Dont feel bad. Even though I've only listened to mine once (and the only good songs are on The Anthology), I'd still never get rid of it

np- The Best Of - The Animals

"...(and the only good songs are on The Anthology)..." - Blitz


Yeah, my best friend, who's a Beatles fan, has told me the same thing. I still want it just for its historical value. Just like I'd like to get a hold of Live at the Hollywood Bowl. I know the sound quality will be pitiful, but still. Besides, can it be as bad as the sound quality of my two copies of Live In Hamburg? Can it?

np - The Beatles Anthology Volume 1 - the Beatles

"It's all one song." - Neil Young

I can't believe that we let the mention of "Train Kept A'Rollin'" go by without anyone mentioning that The yarbirds reused the riff and mellody EXACTLY for the song "Stroll On". They were being filmed for an appearence in a film called Blow Up (no, I've never seen it either) and the director wanted them to play "Train Kept A'Rollin'", but there was legal trouble involved, so they just wrote new words for it.

For an even weirder tale, check out "Take A Heart" by The Sorrows: "Indian Reservation" by The Raiders is a blatant rip-off. The funny part is the that writter of "Indian Reservation", Don Fardon, was actually the vocalist of The Sorrows at the time; so it's kinda sorta self-plagarism. (speaking of self plagarism, I heard a song on the local oldies station once a while ago that featured the same keyboardist as "Indian Reservation", and they both have the exact same ending!)

Finally, I just noticed that The Monkees' "Last Train To Clarksville" bears a strong resemblance to "Western Union" by The Five Americans.

np - Some Lyres - The Lyres

The entire melody of the single by the aptly-named band 4-Non-Blondes, "What's Up?" bears a notable resemblance to that of Bobby McFerrin's "Don't Worry, Be Happy".

I mentioned this elsewhere but it seems Eric Carmen borrowed the melody from the second movement of Rachmaninov's 2nd Piano Concerto for use in his single "All By Myself". He even admitted this himself somewhere and credited the Russian composer in that song.

I just remembered that on "Baby, Please Don't Go" by The Amboy Dukes, Ted Nugent works the riff to "Third Stone From The Sun" into the solo.

np - Anthology - The Screaming Trees

"The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite" by R.E.M. opens with the "Dee dee dee dee"s from the Tokens' "The Lion Sleeps Tonight".

np - Holywood (In the Valley of the Shadow of Death) - Marilyn Manson

"It's all one song." - Neil Young

Warren Zevon's "Mutineer" filches the melody from Dylan's "Buckets of Rain".

This is more of an homage, but has anyone heard Kid Rock's new one - "You Never Met a Motherf***ker Quite Like Me"? Great song. Except for that annoying duet he did with Sheryl Crow, "Picture" (sorry Adam), I think I like this guy. Anyway. In the middle of the song is a bit of Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Free Bird".

np - The Confessor - Joe Walsh

"It's all one song." - Neil Young

About Oasis:

"I don't see the point in writing your own tunes when you can pinch someone else's."
--Liam Gallagher on VH1

In the self-plagarism department: The Status Quo attempted to follow up on their flower-power classic "Pictures of Matchstick Men" with the failed single "Black Veils of Melancholy". This song has the exact same tune as "Matchstick Men", except that the signature fuzz guitar riff which characterized that song is played backwards!

The early Association single "Forty Miles" rips off the melody of the Beatles' "Another Girl".

Sorry, the correct title of the Association song is "Forty Times", not "Forty Miles".

>Truth to tell, I've been wanting the Tony >Sheridan album. Yeah, I know it's total cr4p, >but still, I'm a completist. I'm an idiot.

Hey, Benn, are you still looking for a copy of the Beatles w/ Tony Sheridan album? A used record store here has a couple of copies of the CD, cheap, that don't look as if they've ever been opened. If you want I could pick up one for you. Write me offline at tpence@hotmail.com if interested and we'll work out the details

Sounds interesting, Todd. I'll drop you a line here in a few.

np - Have a Nice Day, Volume 7 - various artists

"Music is a world within itself and a language we all understand." - Stevie Wonder

I forgot to list one of the more blatant plagerisms in rock history - James Taylor's "Steamroller", a pretty obvious rip off of Jimmy Moore's blues standard "I'm a King Bee".

Journey's "Spaceman" sounds an awful lot like Elton John's "Rocket Man". The song is definitely done in John's style, anyway.

Klaatu's "Hope" borrows the melody from the Fab Four's "Something In The Way She Moves".

Is it me, or does U2's "Vertigo" sound like "You Keep Me Hanging On"

Actually, parts of it remind me of "Dirty Boots" by Sonic Youth.

np - "Vertigo" - U2

"Music is a world within itself and a language we all understand."

I mentioned here earlier the similarity between the late Warren Zevon's "Mutineer" and Bob Dylan's "Buckets Of Rain". Well, there's a new Warren Zevon tribute album that was recently released, and ironically enough Dylan performs "Mutineer" on it.

The opener to Bruce Springsteen's Tunnel of Love album, "Ain't Got You", is essentially the exact same as the old Clarence Carter blues swing number, even though Springsteen comes up with his own lyrics. Apparently Springsteen takes full credit for the song since there is no attempt to credit Carter for any of its compsition. Blue Oyster Cult also covered the song on one of their live albums.

B.Ö.C called their version, based on the Yardbirds' version, of the song, "Maserati GT (I Ain't Got You)". The song's title was change out of deference to manager Sandy Perleman's fantasy car of the day. It should be noted that around the same time, Aerosmith was covering the song in their stage shows. A 1973 recording of the song was used on their l.p. Live Bootleg. (All information was culled from Martin Popoff's excellent book, Blue Öyster Cult Secrets Revealed!)

np - No Tellin' Lies - Zebra

"Music is forever." - Paul Simon

U2s vertigo sounds like a mixture of "Keep me hanging on" and "KIds in America".

Does Bono have a couple of Kim Wilde albums on the shelf.

Most Scissor Sisters stuff sounds like it comes from Elton John - just done a whole lot better!

Thanks, Rich, glad to see someone else agrees with my Nov 23 2004 post.

I'm going to assume this is coincidece and not outright lifting, but Queen's 'Under Pressure' is exactly from the final movement Handel's Dixit Dominus.

You can hear a clip of it here:
http://www.naxos.com/mainsite/default.asp?pn=Composers&char=H&ComposerID=453
then click on the 'Gloria/Dixit Dominus' CD.
I don't know if you have to make an account to hear the free clips or not.

Deep Purple's "Child In Time" is blatantly ripped off from the instrumental "Bombay Calling" by the band It's A Beautiful Day. IABD even considered suing Purp, but decided not to as the record company would just get all the money out of it. It's probably for the same reason that Led Zeppelin wasn't sued over "Stairway to Heaven" and "Since I've Been Loving You."

all songs are inspired by other songs. many times the artist is intentionaly paying tribute to some riff or working off anothers melody. it is flattering (or should be). the legal ownership of a song acording to the copywrite office in DC is just the lead melody and lyrics. and in terms of how much of that lyric you can steal it is very liberal (like 8 notes in a row...or something, just change the 9th). You can not copywrite cord progressions (which is why the Beach Boys sould like either Chuck Berry or Buddy Holly, cord for cord). the blatant ones you are listing (4 non blonds, Harrison's My Sweet Lord, and Gost busters and I want a new drug), were so blatant they had to be legally worked out because of the money they were making.

So it's only been 15 years...

Nobody came up with the blatant one by Kid Rock.

All Summer Long pretty much directly lifts the riff from Warren Zevon's Werewolves of London.