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Recognizing samples (after the fact)


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Not once but [i]twice[/i], recently, I've heard some older song that I wasn't very familiar with, and suddenly realized that a certain section had been sampled for a newer hit. I mean, nothing new about that phenomenon, of course. But the interesting thing in both of these cases was that I was much more cognizant of the new song than I was of the original one that'd had, respectively, a horn line and a rhythm section lifted. In the same way that a person could conceivably discover the music of the old blues masters by listening to Led Zeppelin and Eric Clapton, or go back and read Nabokov after having heard his name referenced in a Police tune, I wonder if any of the original composers of these tunes have enjoyed any level of resurgence after their song samples were used in newer hits. Your thoughts? - Jeff
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I bet you're right, Jeff. I'd be surprised if the originals didn't enjoy some added interest due to the exposure - but then most people here are probably listening more actively than the average audience. As a side note, Fatboy Slim (Norman Cook) took this one step further, and actually had a CD released of a selection of the original songs that he sampled for his hits. I thought that was cool.
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Your sub-topic is worth noting too - things we learned about from music - Matthew Sweet introduced me to Margaret MDH Keane, who did the painting that appeared on his "In Reverse" album cover. Some songs have taught me french phrases over the years (Ne de jamais jamais). I didn't know about Pinochet until Sting sang about him. The list goes on...
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[quote]Originally posted by Cymbals: [b]Your sub-topic is worth noting too - things we learned about from music[/b][/quote]Definitely a cool process. I've discovered a whole slew of non-musical things -- literature, history, philosophy and more -- as a result of having heard a reference in a song that I liked. It's another one of those almost indefinably powers of creativity that some artists take more advantage of than others. - Jeff
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[quote]Originally posted by Hank The Cave Peanut: [b]So where did the horn line from "Rico Suave" come from?[/b][/quote]That wasn't it. The truth is much more embarassing. In fact, I found out where the horn stab from 2 Live Crew's "Me So Horny" came from. So there. - Jeff
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[quote]Originally posted by Hank The Cave Peanut: [b]The intro of MSH is from Full Metal Jacket, isn't it? I could be wrong -- I've never seen Full Metal Jacket. [/b][/quote]Yeah it is. I'm not much of a fan of war movies, but I think that Full Metal Jacket is very good.

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[quote]Originally posted by felix: [b]As a side note, Fatboy Slim (Norman Cook) took this one step further, and actually had a CD released of a selection of the original songs that he sampled for his hits. I thought that was cool.[/b][/quote]What is the title of that CD? It does sound interesting. Thievery Corporation also did something like this. They compiled a CD collection of '60s bossa nova and jazz on Verve. It's not a collection of sampled source material, but more like a tribute to their influences.
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YES! Thievery Corporation are excellent! I actually saw them live several years back opening or United Future Organization, and they put on a great live show. But as to the subject of this thread, there are so many examples where this has happened I wouldn't even know where to start. Anyone remember when the Ton-Loc CD first came out? Back then there wasn't any precedent set for sample clearance yet, and they (Dust Brothers, among others) sampled like crazy on that only to find later that they had to compensate all the artists...ouch :eek: When US3 had their hits I believe Blue Note also released a CD of the jazz tunes that they had sampled from. Whatever happened those guys?
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As far as revived careers, most notably it's done a bit to help Aerosmith, though they're not a usual source for samples. It's also done a little to help keep George Clinton & the PFunk thang in the public ear. I'm sure there are other examples, those guys are just my favorites. An interesting side-issue might be how sampling builds a "history" of itself; many samples have been used as references not only to the original artist or record they're taken from but also as an ongoing series of commentaries/answers to the later records that included them.
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