There's a 70's Deodato track ("Super Strut") that has similar riffs which
Jay Kay and the crew have "borrowed"... there's a Marvin Gaye track from
"Here My Dear" which uses the phrase "light years" and a very similar feel
to the song by Marvin ("A Funky Space Reincarnation") Then there
similarities to KC & The Sunshine Band's guitar riff in "Lifted" and
Jamiroquai's "Alright".... and I sensed a weird Stevie Wonder similarity
(other than the vocals;... Jay Kay has been repeatedly "accused" of
emulating Stevie) on one of the later tracks on their latest album.
I don't consider it plagiarizing. They admittedly borrow from that era
which Idris, Deodato, Stevie, and KC belonged to. And Jay Kay has
reluctantly acknowledged the Stevie similarities in past interviews. Some
of the stuff is questionable and you can argue the morality of it all, but
unfortunately no one's going to pay attention long enough, because there's
probably no money in pursuing it.
Unrelated to the plagiarizing issue is the fact that Jamiroquai have never
recaptured that feel from the first album and though they enjoyed most of
their commercial success (via MTV) with "Travelling w/o Moving," their
sound has kind of stagnated and you get the feeling that they struggle to
duplicate the quality of their first work through formula, rather than
trying to grow as a band (which is moot now that the original bassman has
left the band). I think the perceived and documented arrogance of Jay Kay
and this stagnation has made them an easier target for such criticism (of
"borrowing/plagiarizing", in a nutshell they have slowly lost a lot of
respect from many....
Peace!
DJ SUN
Soular Grooves
KPFT 90.1, Sat 9pm-midnight Central
http://kpft.splitrock.net
> Is it me or does Jamiroquai's Alright sound the same as Could Heaven Ever
Be
> Like This by Muhammad ?
> Looks like some kind of plagiarism to me...
> I was also wondering if someone has Vernon Burch's "Get Up" in mp3 ?
>
> Julien
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Sat Oct 14 2000 - 16:49:39 MET DST