Marvin Gaye
Ed Sheeran Going to Trial Over Marvin Gaye Copyright Claims
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: Joseph Okpako / Getty A federal judge has refused to dismiss the case against Ed Sheeran for allegedly lifting elements from Marvin Gaye’s iconic, “Let’s Get It On,” for his 2014 hit, “Thinking Out Loud.” According to Billboard, Judge Louis Stanton said there is “no bright-line rule” for deciding if the combination of simple elements that Sheeran allegedly stole were not unique enough to be covered by the copyright of the iconic Gaye hit. The decision sets Sheeran up to face a jury in the case which was filed by an entity that owns a partial stake in the Gaye hit. Related Stories The case was filed by a company called Structured Asset Sales which owns a one-third stake in the copyrights of Ed Townsend who co-wrote the hit song. David Pullman w...
Ed Sheeran Must Face Trial Over Accusation That He Copied Marvin Gaye Song
A federal judge says Ed Sheeran must face a jury trial over whether he stole key pieces of his “Thinking Out Loud” from Marvin Gaye‘s iconic “Let’s Get It On,” rejecting the British singer-songwriter’s efforts to toss out the long-running copyright case. Sheeran’s attorneys argued that the lawsuit – filed by an entity that owns a partial stake in Gaye’s famous 1973 song – was invalid because the combination of simple elements the singer allegedly stole was not unique enough to be covered by a copyright in the first place. But in a ruling on Thursday, Judge Louis Stanton said there was “no bright-line rule” for deciding such questions and that the pop star would need to make his arguments before a jury of his peers. The decision sets the stage for a blockbuster trial at a Manhattan federal ...
The 50 Best Albums of 1982
Looking back at 1982 in music, the headline is obvious: Thriller Sells A Bajillion Copies, Becomes World’s Biggest Album. But is it the year’s best album? Funny enough, Michael Jackson‘s sixth LP hardly even affected the charts that year — it snuck out in late November, just as Men at Work’s 1981 blockbuster, Business as Usual, began its commercial stranglehold in the U.S. Only one record on our list, Fleetwood Mac‘s chart-targeted Tusk follow-up, Mirage, hit No. 1 on the Billboard 200. (Doesn’t it seem weird, looking back, that Prince‘s 1999 peaked at No. 9?) Lots of fascinating shit was happening in 1982, and you didn’t always find it on the radio. On our list, we included everything from early hip-hop (Grandmaster Flash) to horror-punk (Misfits) to lo-fi synth-pop (Solid Space). Revisit...
10 Chart-Toppers That Sample or Pull From Past No. 1s
“First Class,” the second single from Kentucky rapper Jack Harlow’s album Come Home The Kids Miss You, is one of the biggest songs of 2022 so far, reaching No. 1 on the Hot 100 twice since its April release. One reason for the quick ascent: the familiarity of the chorus, which samples Fergie’s vocals from “Glamorous,” which also topped the Hot 100 back in 2007. Since Billboard began publishing the Hot 100 in 1958, nine songs have topped the chart more than once by different artists, like Little Eva’s 1962 original “The Loco-Motion” and Grand Funk Railroad’s 1974 cover. But as hip-hop began to take over the charts in the 1990s, sampling old hits has become the most notable method of reviving pop’s past. And in recent years, interpolations with replayed elements of old hits have kicked up a ...
The 50 Best Live Albums of the 1970s
The concert industry exploded in the 1970s, and the live album, a stopgap project once reserved for only the biggest artists, became a compulsory ritual and a pivotal moment for many artists. Live albums captured legendarily loud bands like The Who and The Ramones in their natural element. Once obscure regional acts like Bob Seger, KISS and Cheap Trick exploded into the mainstream with live albums. The Band, The Stooges, and Velvet Underground put their final gigs on vinyl. Jimi Hendrix, Neil Young (as his ongoing archive series shows), and Jackson Browne recorded entire sets of new songs onstage. The Grateful Dead released several official live albums (and continue to do so) that only made fans want to bootleg shows on their own more. With the 50th anniversary of a landmark live album, Th...
Judge Rejects ARTY’s Copyright Lawsuit Against Marshmello Over “Happier”
After two years, a judge has finally put an end to the lengthy legal battle between dance music producers ARTY and Marshmello. The copyright suit was filed in May 2019 after ARTY claimed that Mello had stolen the melody of his 2014 remix of OneRepublic‘s “I Lived,” subsequently recycling it for the 2018 hit single “Happier” with Bastille. Dan Smith, the British band’s frontman, was also named in the copyright suit along with producer Steve Mac. The decision came down on Thursday in favor of Marshmello, Smith and Mac, with California US District Judge Philip S. Gutierrez ruling that ARTY had no grounds to sue under the terms of his “I Lived” contract with OneRepublic. “I acknowledge and agree that ...
A Poetic Tribute to Marvin Gaye
In honor of Black History Month, poet Vievee Francis remembered Marvin Gaye with two poems. MARVIN GAYE: MERCY Take Marvin Gaye. His father had no mercy. Paranoia does that. Mercy is spat like spinach between the teeth. It slips out in a pee stream. Those without, never had it or lost it by adulthood. A flatline. Mercy replaced by a thin-lipped smile of rage. But Marvin wanted mercy so badly from a man who didn’t have it to give, as if all he once had now rested in Marvin. Who wouldn’t be jealous? To see your better self. To hear all that beauty wafting out of every car window sweet as cigarette smoke. I don’t trust those who don’t like the smell. Orthodoxy. That was the gun in his daddy’s hand. It said, don’t this and don’t that and the only goodness is to wither on your own vine. But how...
The 50 Best Albums of 1971
It’s become a cliché, even for post-Baby Boomers, to look back wistfully on the early ’70s as some kind of untouchable golden age for popular music. But when you survey all the era’s best albums in list form, it’s hard not to trust that instinct. I mean…holy shit. In 1971, the psychedelic era hadn’t completely wilted; prog was nearing its popularity apex; Motown was still a revolutionizing soul music; the folk-rock movement was in full flight. The possibilities were limitless. You know it’s a banner year when 50 albums don’t begin to scratch the surface — when both John Lennon and Paul McCartney release definitive LPs and neither make the top 10. Was 1971 the greatest album year ever? We’ll save that debate for another time (or maybe another list). For now, we present 50 stone-cold cl...
Robyn Released a New Playlist Inspired by This Year’s Met Gala Theme
After the COVID-19 pandemic forced the Met Gala to be indefinitely postponed, a digital event will be filling the void left in the fashion community’s collective heart. In honor of the event, iconic singer Robyn has released a playlist called “About Time: Fashion and Duration,” which is inspired by its theme. The carefully curated collection crosses genres while finding a perfect mix of downtempo classics and infectiously danceable heaters. Included in her medley of timeless hits is music from Prince, Marvin Gaye, Kraftwerk, Missy Elliott, and many more. Last month, like many of her fellow dance music artists, Robyn asked fans to “make a dance floor” with a special livestreamed performance from her virtual streaming destination dubbed &...
