When I first heard Beck's new song "Nausea", I wasn't listening very closely, and I thought, "Hey, that's cool he's doing a kind of techno-fied cover of an X song." Then I listened more closely and found it's not supposed to be a cover at all. And yet, it's really really similar. Probably not actionably similar, but, then again, if I were John Doe, I might take a shot and see if I could get some of Beck's money in a settlement, if he hasn't spent it all on home gyms for his body thetans and whatever celebrity members of a certain "religion" spend gobs of cash on.
Speaking of derivative, is Keane a crap band or what? While their contemporaries are ripping off real bands like Gang of Four and the Feelies, Keane bites Gilbert O'Sullivan's "Alone Again, Naturally" in their "Somewhere Only We Know". (I think there's another little melodic bit that's stolen from some Wings song, too, but I can't quite place it. Anybody?). I mean, Jesus, couldn't you rip off something that didn't suck horribly the first time?
Which led me to think that the '70's really produced some of the worst pop music of the rock and roll era. I'm obviously not talking about punk rock, and I'm not even talking about Fleetwood Mac or even horrible crap like Yes and Emerson, Lake and Palmer--rather, I'm talking about the top-40, mostly one-hit-wonder singles that clogged the airwaves in that decade. I mean, you listen to something like, oh, I don't know, The Lemon Pipers "Green Tambourine" from the '60's, or Modern English's "I Melt With You" from the '80's, or, oh, I can't think of anything from the '90's just now, but, anyway, even if you don't particularly like them, they're good, solid, melodic pop songs. And then in the '70's you had this rash of unbelievably crappy story-songs, like "Indiana Wants Me" or "Billy Don't Be a Hero" or "Run Joey Run" or what may be the worst song of all time, Harry Chapin's "Taxi". (I know, I know, Mary Chapin Carpenter's "This Shirt" has a serious claim on the worst song of all time title, but I think "Taxi" probably edges it out, and she at least did "Shut Up and Kiss Me" which is pretty decent, whereas Harry Chapin also did "Sequel" and "Cats in the Cradle," which are also serious contenders for Worst Song Ever.)
I mean, I remember being a kid in the '70's, chillin' in the back room of The Honey Tree in Normal, Illinois ("Natural Foods for Normal People!" Hats off to my mom for the best advertising slogan of the decade!), and hearing "Billy Don't Be a Hero" and thinking it was crappy even as a relatively undiscriminating little kid. A kid who only a couple of years later would actually think Billy Joel was cool, if that gives you any indicaton. And then being psyched when "Killer Queen" came on, because it mentioned dynamite with a laser beam, which sounded pretty bitchin' to my six-year-old self.
I just think if you look at the worst of pop music in the '70's, it's way worse than the worst of pop music of any other decade. So for the love of God, derivative bands of today, try to plagiarize elsewhere!
