Pooh or not to Pooh - that is the question...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YL6uJzQQ8Xo

After a few listens, I think I am convinced - but is it really, or is it just what I want to hear?

I offer a $1,000,000 reward to the brave soul who posts this question to Jen, and another $1,000,000 if she lets it get through to Brian. Maybe if you phrase it "Dear Dr. May, I just love the WWWRY musical to death, it's the greatest thing ever (along with orbs and comets, LOL!!!) and think Paul Rodgers is a great choice for Freddie's favourite singer. Did you rip off Pooh's theme for Millionaire Waltz?", you stand a chance a getting a reply.

Love the person who posted "Another similarity I noticed recently is that Brian's solo in "Radio Ga Ga" starts off the same as the one in Natalie Imbruglia's "Torn"..." Hard to rip off something when you pre-date it by 17 or 18 years. BTW, similarities in the Pooh stuff, perhaps influenced Brian, but not a rip off IMHO.

Would't be surprised as Freddie also recited some other music in his songs. For example the Brahms lullaby in Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy, and the intro of Hard life

The waltz melody used in both songs is more traditional than anything else. Technically, both songs are rip offs (if you want to call it that).

It's incredibly hard for ANY artist not to show their influences in their own work.

Pete Townshend OPENLY created the riff for "I Can't Explain" off the back of The Kinks' "You Really Got Me". As long as it's new and fresh, I don't see why anyone should have a problem.

What I do have a problem with is the ENDLESS knocking-out of cover versions that to nothing to develop or enhance the original version......

Impressive. I should compile a list of plagiarisms ;) So far let's see what we've got:

- 'Bites the Dust' bass-riff (apparently)
- 'Waltz' solo
- 'Innuendo' intro compared to Diamond Head's 'Am I Evil?'
- 'Bijou' compared to Jeff Beck's 'Where Were You'
- 'My Fairy King' lyrics (thanks to John for pointing that out)
- 'A Hard Life' intro
- 'Loverboy' doing the lullaby

It seems that nobody can escape from the 'My Sweet Lord' syndrome.

i noticed the other day that the whole of "Love of my life" is a total rip of the Thundercats theme tune.

[QUOTE][QUOTENAME]Boy Thomas Raker wrote: [/QUOTENAME]I offer a $1,000,000 reward to the brave soul who posts this question to Jen, and another $1,000,000 if she lets it get through to Brian. Maybe if you phrase it "Dear Dr. May, I just love the WWWRY musical to death, it's the greatest thing ever (along with orbs and comets, LOL!!!) and think Paul Rodgers is a great choice for Freddie's favourite singer. Did you rip off Pooh's theme for Millionaire Waltz?", you stand a chance a getting a reply.

Love the person who posted "Another similarity I noticed recently is that Brian's solo in "Radio Ga Ga" starts off the same as the one in Natalie Imbruglia's "Torn"..." Hard to rip off something when you pre-date it by 17 or 18 years. BTW, similarities in the Pooh stuff, perhaps influenced Brian, but not a rip off IMHO.[/QUOTE]
I'm actually gonna write the e-mail, even though you won't pay me. ;) I just won't use the words you did. :P

*Edit* Done.

[QUOTE][QUOTENAME]Sebastian wrote: [/QUOTENAME]Impressive. I should compile a list of plagiarisms ;) So far let's see what we've got:

- 'Bites the Dust' bass-riff (apparently)
- 'Waltz' solo
- 'Innuendo' intro compared to Diamond Head's 'Am I Evil?'
- 'Bijou' compared to Jeff Beck's 'Where Were You'
- 'My Fairy King' lyrics (thanks to John for pointing that out)
- 'A Hard Life' intro
- 'Loverboy' doing the lullaby

It seems that nobody can escape from the 'My Sweet Lord' syndrome.[/QUOTE]

Yeah... damn them for having influences.

[QUOTE][QUOTENAME]Boy Thomas Raker wrote: [/QUOTENAME]
Love the person who posted "Another similarity I noticed recently is that Brian's solo in "Radio Ga Ga" starts off the same as the one in Natalie Imbruglia's "Torn"..." Hard to rip off something when you pre-date it by 17 or 18 years. [/QUOTE]

Her version of Torn was a cover actually. Cant remember who had it out before her for the life of me though I dont doubt it came after Radio Ga Ga.

"Being influenced by" is completely different to "copying". 'Bo Rhap' having structural similarities with 'A Day in the Life' (and lyrical as well, in the "head/dead" - "bed/head" rhymes) is an influence. 'Innuendo' intro having exactly the same pattern as the one in 'Am I Evil' is a rip-off.

Torn was released by Ednaswap on their first album in 1995, 11 years after the release of Radio Ga Ga.

Sebastian,

without Metallica covering the song on the Creeping Death single and playing it live a lot of times since then, only a fraction of people would probably ever have heard the song at all. I seriously doubt that the four or five notes of Am I Evil are a straight rip-off. We're talking 1990. Do you think any Queen member would have checked out Metallica's back catalogue this far only because they just had a Grammy with Stone Cold Crazy? I think the Innuendo-Am I Evil connection is a bit far fetched. So you could even say, U2 ripped off Metallica by calling a song "One".

Best wishes

...speaking of which. Would anyone go as far as calling "Action This Day" on the Milton Keynes DVD (second half of the song) a rip-off of Nutbush City Limits?

The melody of the chorus from "We are the champions" is basically Ner Ner N-Ner Ner!... you know, the ner ner you make as a kid when you have something that you little bro, sis or friend wants, and you want to wind them up about it?... Ner Ner N-Ner Ner!! that could be called a rip off... but its genius.. because no one can ever right a more fitting "I'VE WON AND YOU'VE LOST!!!!" song.