I knew it was destined to happen sooner or later. I was able to listen to Uptown Funk on three different stations at the same time this morning. Like all great songs, the radio stations will beat this one to death until it becomes an annoyance for all time. I switched to the classic rock station and was able to listen to some timeless Aerosmith before I arrived at the office.
At the risk of sounding menopausal, I have to comment on today’s pop music. Don’t get me wrong. I actually like a lot of the music that’s played on the radio. But I find that more and more today’s pop stars are just stealing from the music of my generation and calling it “sampling.” My daughter doesn’t believe me when I explain that a certain riff came directly from music I listened to in college. And Uptown Funk? Uh, the reason we like it so much is that it has elements of Prince, James Brown, and Little Richard.
Now Fall Out Boy has a new and overplayed song that steals from that great hit -the I Dream of Jeannie theme song. Suzanne Vega “sampled” it first with “Tom’s Diner” and rap stars seem to gravitate towards it recently. I think we could have just laid that one to rest with the TV show.
I recently learned of a few beloved songs that have “sampled” TV theme songs. Bob Marley’s “Buffalo Soldier” borrowed from the Banana Splits theme song. And one of my desert island songs Deee-Lite’s “Groove is in the Heart” sampled some bars from the Green Acres theme song. I guess musicians have been borrowing from each other for a long time.