"There's a time in life for Hoagy Carmichael. There's a time in life for Claude Debussy. There's a time in life for Jerry Lee Lewis. There's a time in life for Destiny's Child. All these things have their moment." ~Elvis Costello
A judge has dismissed a copyright case against Taylor Swift for her popular song “Shake It Off,” saying the lyrics within were too banal to be copyrighted. Ouch.
The BBC reports that the suit was brought last year by songwriters Sean Hall and Nathan Butler, who alleged Swift stole her chorus for the hit from their song for girl band 3LW titled “Playas Gon’ Play.” That song asserts “playas, they gonna play, and haters, they gonna hate,” while “Shake It Off” insists “the players gonna play, play, play, play, play and the haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate.” You can see the similarities for yourself…
It’s probably the most recognisable sound in popular music.
“This is the one chord that everyone around the world knows,” says Randy Bachman, a rock star in his own right from The Guess Who and Bachman Turner Overdrive.
It dates to July 1964 — the height of Beatlemania. The band was about to release its third album.
For the first time, it was all original music. Plus, the Beatles were shifting away from their rock ‘n’ roll roots to a more poppy sound, and this album was to be the soundtrack for their first feature film.
They needed to make a statement…
They’re images you’ve seen a thousand times, but what do they mean, and how did they end up on the cover of your favourite ever albums?
We rounded up 50 of the most iconic pieces of album artwork from indie releases from Joy Division, David Bowie, Amy Winehouse, Nirvana, The Smiths, Strokes, Killers and more and dived into their back stories. Some of the tales of these covers’ creation are as interesting as the albums themselves…
“Bruce Springsteen is a bold new talent with more than a mouthful to say,” raved Lester Bangs in his Rolling Stonereview of Springsteen’s 1973 debut, Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. “He’s been influenced a lot by the Band, his arrangements tend to take on a Van Morrison tinge every now and then, and he sort of catarrh-mumbles his ditties in a disgruntled mushmouth sorta like Robbie Robertson on Quaaludes with Dylan barfing down the back of his neck. It’s a tuff combination, but it’s only the beginning. Because what makes Bruce totally unique and cosmically surfeiting is his words. Hot damn, what a passel o’ verbiage!”
Ray was the man who played what is certainly one of rock’s most iconic flute solos on the classic “Nights in White Satin”.
But as a founding member of the Moodies (only drummer Graeme Edge now remains from the original Denny Laine-fronted lineup) he predated even acclaimed writer, singer and face of the band Justin Hayward, and was also a respected writer and singer in his own right.
Thomas, who released two solo albums in the 70’s during a hiatus by the band, retired from the Moody Blues in 2002 due to health issue and had revealed a prostate cancer diagnosis in 2013.
In their heyday of 1967-72 the Moody Blues benefitted from having five bona fide contributing songwriters within the band, and Thomas’ writing output and flute defined both the band’s sound and artistic direction perhaps as much as any member except Hayward.
With bassist John Lodge’s energy, guitarist Justin Hayward’s soaring melodies, Thomas’ lilting, reflective ballads, keyboardist Mike Pindar’s existential ponderings, and drummer Edge’s trippy poetry, the band released one psychedelic classic album after another during this span. And being five writers deep, each album from 1967’s Days of Future Passed to 1972’s Seventh Sojourn was a trove of musical delights, wondrously reflected (both on the band’s albums and Thomas’ solo LPs) by the lush cover artwork of Phil Travers.
Thomas’ absence from the band has been keenly felt over the past decade and a half.
We’d like to share a small sample of the man’s work with the band. Enjoy…
