Bruce Springsteen’s “New Polished Sound”
Written byPosted on December 1, 2007
Filed Under Music, Plagiarism
Play the two YouTube videos at the same time. See what happens. Thank you, Brendan O’Brien, for making Bruce sound like a corporate goon.
Incidentally, Tommy Heath has no plans on suing.
[RELATED: The "My Sweet Lord"/"He's So Fine" plagiarism suit.]
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Beyond Heaving Bosoms by Sarah Wendell and Candy Tan. The famed writers behind Smart Bitches, Trashy Books have written a very funny and thoughtful volume about romances, both Old Skool and New Skool. Here is a book that any smug and humorless literary manboy beating his flabby passive chest over Banville or Bolano should probably read pronto, if only for the distant possibility that he might get over himself. While the Choose Your Own Adventure segment at the end caused me to have a very disturbing dream involving Shelley Long (don't ask), Sarah and Candy did have me rethinking many of my own misperceptions when I wasn't busy laughing. They're not afraid to take on the New York Times Bok Review or even the groupthink within certain sectors of the romance community.
Alice Fantastic by Maggie Estep. This wild and highly enjoyable narrative involves two sisters (presumably, the third one was still being rented out by Chekhov), a hippie ex-junkie mother who lives with seventeen dogs, a murder, gambling, and libidinous Hollywood actresses who live in Woodstock. But this is the wonderful Maggie Estep we're talking here. And what seems at first like a quirky yarn becomes something unexpectedly moving about connectivity. What I love about Estep's work is the way that she'll juxtapose an extremely astute observation (now that you mention it, why do cab drivers always have somebody to talk with on the phone past midnight?) with an often outrageous story development.
Generosity by Richard Powers. It doesn't come out until September 29th, but Richard Powers's latest will have anyone committed to books reconsidering their literary fervor. I foresee some animosity from the vanilla critics hostile to idea-driven novels, but book bloggers, YouTube chroniclers, and MFAs would do well to plunge into this chance-taking narrative, which introduces vital questions about what the reader's relationship is with media, scientific dissection, and "creative nonfiction." Are we rats fleeing to happy cities? Or can we find the humanism within the purported plague?
Pieces for the Left Hand by J. Robert Lennon. Lennon is one of the most underrated fiction writers working today. Much as On the Night Plain proved that Lennon had a lot more in the toolbox than heartfelt (and often very funny) suburban satire, this slim but fascinating volume juxtaposes 100 small-town anecdotes -- arranged by category -- in a manner that reads, at times, like Nicholson Baker's passions for minutiae and, at other times, Stewart O'Nan's concern for psychological detail. The result is fiction that makes us wonder about whether one person's subjective view of particulars can entirely be trusted. This book never found a publisher in 2005. But thankfully, Graywolf has released it in the United States, along with Lennon's latest novel, The Castle.
Wonderful World by Javier Calvo. This wonderfully raucous volume has been completely ignored by the Washington Post, the New York Times, and the Los Angeles Times. But it's probably one of the most delightful reading experiences I've had this year. Calvo cavalierly mashes up multiple genres and manages to mix up familial subtext with larger-than-life, almost cartoonish characters. (Indeed, one might argue that one mobster's penis is a character of its own in this sprawling novel.). This is not an easy thing to pull off, but Calvo makes it work. And it's helped immeasurably by Mara Faye Lethem's idiom-specific translation. (See longer post.)
The Means of Reproduction, Michelle Goldberg This thoughtful book tackles the complicated (and little discussed) subject of reproductive rights from numerous angles, which includes a number of unpleasant but necessary ones. The upshot is that there isn't a quick fix solution for declining birth rates and fundamentalist abuses. Just about every political faction has contributed to the friction. But you'll want to read this book anyway to refamiliarize yourself with the topic, but also to understand just what's occurred during the past several decades to get us where we are today. (See also podcast interview with Goldberg.)
Contact Ed by email.
Or send materials to:
315 Flatbush Avenue, #231
Brooklyn, NY 11217
Or send materials to:
315 Flatbush Avenue, #231
Brooklyn, NY 11217
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Oh please.Slightly sounds alike.If you listen to enough music almost everything sounds like something else.Early Dylan especially.
Damn, that’s almost as eerie as playing “Dark Side of the Moon” and “The Wizard of Oz” concurrently..
Don’t go hating on Bruce.
Dude, if you could copyright an arpeggiated chord sequence…
See, what George did was lift (subconsciously?) a large chunk of the *melody* of “He’s So Fine”, which is a monumental diff, legally, ethically and aesthetically.
Bruce is cleared of all charges.
(Now let’s compare 4 Non Blondes’ “What’s Going On?” to Bobby McFerrin’s “Don’t Worry Be Happy” and I’ll see you in court)
Similar, but not close enough for anything other than “And Tommy Tutone got it from…”
I could write a song with that same progression in that same key.
But if I did, Ed, copyright infringement would not be what you’d be outraged about. Or anyone else who heard it, for that matter. Fortunately, for the world, there will never be a Jim Winter song that sounds like “867-5309″
My great aunt in Akron (who had that phone # in 1983) would roll over in her grave if I did that.
Hey, in Western music, only twelve notes in the scale, only so many ways to arrange them that’ll get on the radio. Good for Tommy Heath for being cool about it. But I’m the wrong guy to ask; I didn’t think Wayne Coyne needed to pay Yusuf Islam damages for “Fight Test”/”Father and Son” similarities either.
What the h***????? Tommy Heath didn’t even write Jenny. What is it exactly he’s being “cool” about Brian?
Any connection between The Boss and Tommy Tutone (aka Tommy Heath) is completely in the mind of Tommy Heath. It’s his only connection to any kind of “fame” these days.
I read in digg that he has two reports of child abuse filed against him. Is that true? Anybody know? Gives a whole new meaning to his fine, fine work on “Hit Me Baby One More Time”. Doncha think?
Oh. Yeah. Bruce Springsteen has to rip off Tommy Tutone to make a song. Right.
What planet did you say you were from?
Not only is it not considered plagiarism to ’steal’ a chord progression, these progressions aren’t even identical. The first chord in ‘Jenny’ is F# major, while Bruce’s counterchord is F# minor. For those of you who don’t know music theory, this is actually a big difference. (Try playing both chords at the same time if you don’t believe me – it would be very dissonant.) Also, the last chords of the riff are very different: B and E (only one common note between the two).
One song that ACTUALLY uses Tommy’s F#-D-A-B progression would be ‘All Downhill From Here’ by New Found Glory (among others).
Go call THEM plagiarists now, why doncha.
– Reverend ‘Why Do They Let 14-Year-Olds On The Internet?’ Flash