Pop has eaten itself, and borne its own child

The future of pop music is upon us. We should glory in its excess, and marvel at its brilliance, and most importantly we should be upon the dance floor. This is the wonder known as the mash-up. Most of what follows has to do with the notion this is an unheralded event. Quite the contrary...

In his book Will Pop Eat Itself? by Jeremy J. Beadle (available on Amazon.com), the argument was posited that by using samples, music was being recycled into new and intriguing forms. The theory, from there, can be brought forward that this process has been going on for a while, in differing forms and formats, for centuries.

Johann Sebastian Bach, for example: clearer heads than that of this author have examined his works, and found that several of his fugues can be played backwards: meaning that the manuscript can be flipped upside down and played from end to beginning, and the music itself (in its performance) would sound exactly the same.

With all of the fol-de-rol and hoopla about "fair use" and "artists rights" (when both terms have become nothing more than a thinly veiled doublespeak for "profits for the industry" and not the artists themselves), a brief look back can be most entertaining.

Throughout the years, there have been various forms of music presented that "sample" the works of others. John Williams' score for Star Wars is a perfect example. In the original liner notes of the double-vinyl release, Williams himself noted that in writing the score, he turned to the works of Gustav Holst, in particular, The Planets.

This, of course, is called an homage. No one sued John Williams.

More to the point were novelty recordings: of particular interest here would be one called The Flying Saucer, released in 1956. In this piece, a sample from another song, Yakety Yak was used, and Dickie Goodman, who had released The Flying Saucer, was sued.

The artist has a page on Wikipedia, and from that article:

In June 1956, Goodman thought, “What if a seemingly normal record was interrupted by a report of flying saucers landing?” His first record, "The Flying Saucer," was co-written with partner Bill Buchanan, featured a four-minute rewriting of Orson Welles’ famous “War of the Worlds" radio show.^[2] While Goodman asked questions of pedestrians, scientists, and even the Martian himself, their responses were "snipped" from lyrics of popular songs of the day, such as:

• "The Great Pretender" by The Platters
• "Heartbreak Hotel" by Elvis Presley
• "Earth Angel" by The Penguins
• "Tutti Frutti" by Little Richard
• "Maybellene" by Chuck Berry^[3]

Although "The Flying Saucer" became a major hit, it also landed Goodman in court for copyright infringement - e.g. the songs he used to create his "break-in" records.

Now: Here is the interesting part:

The lawsuits were later settled out of court when the judge ruled that Goodman's records were burlesques and parodies, and were original creations in and of themselves.