During virtual 2011 over at the Stereogum “The Number Ones” column, a commenter brought up the song “Don’t Wanna Go Home” by Jason Derulo:
Which, of course, bases the ending line of its refrain on “Daylight come and me wan’ go home” in “Day-O,” popularized by Harry Belafonte:
What I was reminded of was the other hit of that year that used parts of “Day-O:”
Lil Wayne’s “6 Foot 7 Foot.”
Which uses the phrase “6 foot, 7 foot, 8 foot bunch” as its chorus.
It also uses a sped-up sample of Belafonte singing “stack banana ’til the” as the backing to the verses:
Months later:
That conversation, has made me think of other songs that have been sampled (or interpolated) in different hits with different parts.
Here are a couple that come to mind:
You might not know the D.O.C.’s gangsta rap classic “It’s Funky Enough.”
But I’m pretty sure you will recognize two lines from the song:
I imagine you’ve probably heard “Y’all ready for this?”
And you were immediately reminded of it being the hook of 2 Unlimited’s Eurodance banger “Get Ready for This.”
Barely a top 40 hit in America, but ubiquitous through sporting events:
And: “One, here comes the two to the three to the four?”
That probably reminded you of J-Kwon’s megahit “Tipsy.”
…which uses the line as the opening to the first verse:
Another example of a song with multiple parts being sampled in different hits:
Jocelyn Brown’s “Love’s Gonna Get You:”
The chorus, “I’m gonna get you baby,” forms the basis for “I’m Gonna Get You” by Bizarre Inc., a worldwide but not American hit:
But the most immortal line from “Love’s Gonna Get You” is:
“I’ve got the power”
Which is of course: the hook of Snap!’s power-rotation tune “The Power:”
I’d love to hear of your examples of songs for which different parts were sampled in different hits!
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I love thinking about samples.
Different parts of the same song? Whodini’s “Friends” has been used for its beat in several songs (including Dr. Octagon’s “Earth People”), while MF Doom also used bits of vocals from the chorus in “Deep Fried Frenz.”
There’s also the notion of sampling a sample, and maybe beyond. Ex-samples include “Think About It” by Lynn Collins and the JBs being sampled by Rob Base & DJ EZ Rock for “It Takes Two,” and then that being sampled by Seduction for their song of the same name. And the background shouts from “Think” and Rob Base’s song pop up everywhere, including Kanye’s “So Appalled.”
Or “Cavern” by Liquid Liquid providing the bass for “White Lines” by Grandmaster Flash, and that sample popping up all kinds of places, like LL’s “Phenomenon” and Kon Kan’s “Harry Houdini.
Or, “The Awakening” by Ahmad Jamal appearing in Gang Starr’s “DJ Premier in Deep Concentration,” and then that repetitive hook he created showing up in Autechre’s “Lowride.”
Question to the group: So many people have sampled the “Fresssh” clip from the outro lyrics to Beside’s “Change the Beat,” but has anyone sampled other parts of the song? Or Herbie’s “Rockit” for that matter? Or do they only care about the sample for scratching purposes?
Answer to my own question: Yes! Brand Nubian sampled the intro drums to “Change the Beat” rather than the outro vox:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4VlqvylF-Q
Sampling a sample is a whole other can of worms.
As Tom mentioned a long time ago, that’s how Alan and Marilyn Bergman are credited on “Nice for What” by Drake.
Funny that you mentioned “Rockit.” I don’t’ think that I’d heard it in at least 15 years, but it popped up on the radio on Sunday.
My three immediate thoughts were:
– That it didn’t hold up a full 100% from it’s heyday. A product of its time, I guess.
– That although you’d expect it would be, I didn’t remember it being sampled anywhere.
– That I can’t listen to it without the Godley and Creme video running concurrently in my head.
Respectfully disagree with points 1 and 3.
100% baby!
Which compels me to ask: what say you, re: “Axel F?”
“Hamster Dance” hits the spot more often than not, but I’ve come to like it. Kurt Schwitters might have really dug it.
I could imagine someone sampling the cooing “ding-dings” it delivers (for instance, at 0:35) as its own hook for a beat.
I wouldn’t be surprised if someone has already done so. If not, I want royalties.
Hmm … Would “Every Breath You Take” count, since Sting himself cops lyrics from the chorus at the end of “Love Is the Seventh Wave,” in addition to the melody and some lyrics being used in “I’ll Be Missing You”?
John Cougar’s intro from “Jack and Diane” is used in both Simply Red’s reprise version of “The Air That I Breathe” (on their album “Blue”) and, more notably, Jessica Simpson’s “I Think I’m in Love With You.”
Simply Red was also involved in another pairing of reused sampling, Daryl Hall and John Oates’ “I Can’t Go for That (No Can Do),” which featured in their AC hit “Sunrise” as well as C Note’s “Wait Till I Get Home.”
ELO not only remade “Roll Over Beethoven” but also nicked the main lyric from the chorus for their “Rock and Roll Is King.”
This is an interesting topic that I am not well versed in. I did not know “The Power” used a sample for the vocal line. I always assumed that it was a live singer, being that all of those early 90s house groups all seemed to have their own powerhouse female belter.
The only thing I can think of to contribute comes from my article yesterday on classical intrusions into pop and rock. Donna Summer’s “Mystery of Love” incorporates the prelude from Prelude and Fugue No. 2 in C minor by J.S. Bach, and Amy Grant’s “Sing Your Praise To The Lord” uses the fugue. That’s if classical interpolations even count in this discussion.
Speaking of “Tipsy,” Daveed Diggs recently covered it, D.O.C. lyric sample and all:
https://www.stereogum.com/2252608/clipping-tipsy-j-kwon-cover/music/
Heard that on the Save Stereogum album years ago. I believe it was one of the few rap tracks on there, if not the only one.
I’m guessing “Soul Makossa” wouldn’t count, since Rihanna’s “Don’t Stop the Music” and Michael Jackson’s “Wanna Be Startin’ Something” are covering the same element??
Serendipitously, I learned today that the percussion for “Venus As A Boy” by Bjork, a song I love, comes from “Music for Sho and Harp” by Mayumi Miyata. I suspect it hasn’t been sampled much because it doesn’t seem to have much of a beat, but a good producer can splice anything into a groove.
https://youtu.be/nEqXyLtMKaM
Wow, I did not know that was a sample. How cool is that?
There are so many great sounds happening on that song. The fact that this was in rotation on MTV and I think got some alternative radio airplay tells you all you need to know about how broad and far reaching the music scene was in the early 90s. It was a special time.
It’s a bit of a cop-out for me to mention one of the most-sampled songs of all time, but from “La Di Da Di”:
• “Hit it!” sampled on Beastie Boys’ “Hold It Now, Hit It”
• “Ricky Ricky Ricky, can’t you see…” interpolated on Biggie’s “Hypnotize”
• Title drop sampled on Miley Cyrus’s “We Can’t Stop”
• and many, many more I can’t recall off the top of my head
And then “I Wanna Sex You Up” used one of the ending lines as its backbone, but of course it was just a rephrase of a “Rapper’s Delight” line anyway.
Someone made a beat from the beatboxing and the “you know what?” but I can’t think of who it is.
Edit: It was Black Sheep, for “To Whom It May Concern.”
Got to mention Loleatta Holloway. Love Sensation was sampled without permission by Black Box for Ride On Time, using her vocal without crediting her – 6 weeks at UK #1. Her voice was very popular in house and Dance music from the late 80s and going by this still is.
According to wiki Love Sensation has been sampled in;
“I Wanna Have Some Fun” (1988) by Samantha Fox
“I Don’t Know Anybody Else” (1989) by Black Box/Martha Wash.
“Grand Piano” (1989) by Mixmaster
“Just Like A Queen” (1989) by Ellis-D
“Dance 2 Trance” (1990) by Dance 2 Trance
“We All Feel Better in the Dark” (1990) by the Pet Shop Boys
“Take Me Away” (1990) by 2 in a Room (using the same sample as Cappella)
“Take Me Away” (1991) by Cappella
“Good Vibrations” (1991) by Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch[11]
“Move” (1993) by Moby
“(You Got Me) Burnin’ Up” (1998) by Cevin Fisher feat. Loleatta Holloway
“Yappie Feet” (2000) by Deavid Soul
“Semisation” (2004) by Technical Itch
“Love Sensation” (2006) by Eddie Thoneick & Kurd Maverick
“Take Me Away” (2008) by Chase & Status
“Burning Up” (2009) by Skream
“Sweep The Floor” (2009) by Joris Voorn
“Still Speedin'” (2011) by Sway
“Blind Faith” (2011) by Chase & Status
“Bootleg Fireworks (Burning Up)” (2012) by Dillon Francis
“Soul Train” (2012) by Geck-e
“Devil In Me” (2012) by Alexandra Burke
“Semisation 2013” (2013) by Technical Itch vs. The Panacea
“Overtime” (2013) by Cash Cash
“Day and Night” feat. Will Miller & Carter Lang (2014) by A Billion Young
“Good Vibration” (2015) by Majk Spirit & DJ Mad Skill
“Good Vibes” (2015) by Kryder & The Wulf
“Temptation” (2015) by Still Young, Simon de Jano & Madwill
“Gud Vibrations” (2015) by Nghtmre & SLANDER
“Natural Power” (2015) by Ruiz Cunha
“So Nice!” (2016) by Diserpier
“World of Our Love” (2016) by Client Liaison
“Disco Sensation” (2016) by Funkatron
“Let Me Tell You” (2017) by ANOTR
“Ketamine Dreams” (2017) by Partiboi69
“Sensational” (2017) by Sam Feldt
“Sweet Sensation” (2018) by Flo-Rida
“Summer Love” (2018) by Liam Berkeley
“You Get Down” (2019) by Todd Terry
“Seat Belt” (2019) by ROBPM
“You Little Beauty” (2019) by Fisher
“This Is Oh!” (2019) by Elio Riso and Muter & Muter
“Camba” (2019) by Fer BR
“Feeling Good” (2019) by Brokenears
Holy crap.
I’d heard that Sting’s “Shape Of My Heart” had been sampled a lot, so I looked… 51 songs? That’s crazy
Ok TNOCS friends, if you want your mind blown, then re-blown, consider the video below, where a YouTuber called Nickster imagines what if Daft Punk’s “Face to Face” were created with newer samples? (My son shared this with me yesterday — the kids are alright.)
https://youtu.be/RgXZNvMg0-U?si=bky0rt_OZGn7BwNP
Here’s a sample breakdown of the original for context:
https://youtu.be/etPs5ddm7j8?si=LJ6nKgXlJ0jade63
Honestly: mind blown
Never would guessed that Oneohtrix Point Never and Sufjan were parts of that mix.