I saw Oz the Great and Powerful when it was in theaters. Heck, I even watched it in 3D. I wanted to like it, but those hopes fell asleep in the poppy field.
It was an attempt – but not enough of an attempt. It seemed to try – but not try hard enough.
Here may be the official reason why – it’s a remake retread ripoff of Sam Raimi’s Army of Darkness. Take a peak:
My job is getting easier and lazier easier. Since officially declaring my mission to be the champion of originality, I thought:
To illustrate how musical acts steal, er, liberally borrow from others, is there no better way than for me to liberally borrow previously produced mash-ups to illustrate my point?
This was stumbled upon one night while driving to the bar with friends. The Alan Parsons Project’s Eye in the Sky came on the radio – somehow – and we noticed a striking similarity to Lady Antebellum’s Need You Now. Here’s the work of another:
As for this one, I read about it on the TripleDoubleU, but I’d be a very sad panda if I didn’t include any mention of how Justin Bieber’s Love Me liberally borrowed the chorus from The Cardigans’ Lovefool:
Fortunately (for him), my arch-enemy Dr. Luke had nothing to do with either of these songs… Although DJ Frank E (what is it with all these tools and their stupid names) produced Bieber’s tune, and he once worked with Dr. Luke to produce Flo Rida’s highly original Right Round (which also introduced the world to Ke$ha)… Hmmm…
I'll get you next time, Dr. Luke... Next time!
(Original songs after the jump) Read More
"Beans are indeed the musical fruit. Where's the nearest restroom?"
My quest to expose copycats in Hollywood is reaching a fever pitch. We’ve always known that these types of practices went on, but I feel like I’m becoming a champion for originality, even in the slightest of degrees.
And my attack is not always just against the producers of the recycled entertainment, sometimes the hungry audience is of equal blame. But what should I expect from a public that lives off fast food.
Probably unclear diatribe over. But for some examples of my past battles, you can check here, here, here, here, here, here, and here. (There are probably more that I can’t recall at this moment.)
I recently wrote about producer Dr. Luke, and guess what? I’m/he’s at it again. This time, I believe he’s ripped off his own previous writing partner, Max Martin.
Max Martin and Pink co-wrote the song, Fuckin’ Perfect, which was released December 14, 2010. Y’know… just in fuckin’ time for Christmas.
Dr. Luke and Brit pop-star, Jessie J, co-wrote the song, Price Tag, which was released January 25, 2011. Y’know… one month after– forget it.
Listen to Pink’s chorus at about the 0:48 minute mark:
Now listen to Jessie J’s chorus at about the 1:01 minute mark:
For rhythmic comparison, Fuckin’ Perfect lyrics:
Pretty pretty please, don’t you ever ever feel
Like you’re less than f*ckin’ perfect
Pretty pretty please, if you ever ever feel like you’re nothing
You’re f*ckin’ perfect to me!
And Price Tag’s lyrics:
It’s not about the money, money, money
We don’t need your money, money, money
We just wanna make the world dance,
Forget about the Price Tag
AM I CRAZY?!? It’s the same, right?
So rather than go on with this rigmarole, I’ve decided to think of this new style of music as a 70’s animation cheat. The technique is referred to as the wraparound background, and it was quite often deployed in the old Hanna-Barbera cartoons.
Here it is on display in Scooby-Doo. Watch the two hallways loop while Scooby and Shaggy flee:
Ladies and gentlemen… your modern music!
Dr. Luke, Daydreaming New Ideas
You may not have ever heard of Lukasz Gottwald, a.k.a. Dr. Luke, a.k.a. DJ Douche (not really), but you’ve certainly heard his work.
But I’m not here to celebrate him (if you can already tell), but to tell-all and make you aware of the source of his “artistry” as a writer and producer.
The latest is a minor tussle over whether Britney Spears’ new song, Hold It Against Me, rips off The Bellamy Brothers’ If I Said You Had a Beautiful Body. In this case, I say no (as do others), but it’s not the first time good ol’ Dr. Luke’s skillz have been called into question.
If you skip to the 1:04 mark, you’ll notice the chorus is awfully similar to this. Read more about this one here.
He’s not even above ripping himself off. And Justin and Jessica Q. Public still lap it up.
Sure, there’s plenty more originals in his repertoire than copies – even a few that I like – but something has to be done to stop this mad man. Never forget he allowed THIS to happen.
IN CLOSING:
I realize that Dr. Luke’s not going anywhere anytime soon. Let’s just call him disappearing from the music scene my Teenage Dream. He is who he is, and We R Who We R. Not even Magic nor Dynamite could get rid of him. We could go Right Round in circles as the hours Tik Tok away, but ultimately I guess he’s here For Your Entertainment, and not mine.
It’s not like I’m Your Daddy or anything, but I want you to know that I’ll Keep Holding On to the notion that I know what’s best for you. Who Knew any of this would be such a big deal? Behind These Hazel Eyes (they really are hazel) is a man who respects the arts and thinks that stealing (“liberally borrowing“) without acknowledging it is wrong.
I just fear that one day, when Dr. Luke is no longer practicing his medicine, I won’t find myself saying, “Since U Been Gone, My Life Would Suck Without You.” Or something akin to that. Does that come across as fickle? A little con then pro, nay then yay, Hot N Cold? Maybe. But if I finally admit today that his music’s not all that bad, Feels Like Tonight might be the night I finally say, “I Kissed a Girl.”
And hopefully that same girl won’t notice my toupée and say, “Take It Off…”
What do you call a rip-off that doesn’t even try?
Or how about Turkey’s E.T. rip-off called Badi. You can tell the film’s called Badi because Badi keeps saying “Badi” just like how E.T. used to keep saying “E.T.”
Am I right or am I right or am I right?
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