Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Bite This! Cover Versions


Almost immediately after Jay-Z's Blueprint 3 album cover was leaked online, people started saying it was a combo bite of a few different album covers, one being Secret Machines - Now Here Is Nowhere





and the other being U2- No Line on the Horizon



I don't know the real deal, but I DO know that people love to talk about biting. They'd much rather choose to believe artists are ripping off each others work than give the benefit of the doubt and chalk these instances up to being mere coincidence. Sometimes it's a combination of both, other times people are subconsciously inspired by an idea they've seen. Whatever the case, biting in hip hop is amusing to many, so I wanted to put this stretch of a post together.


Here's some of the lesser known hip hop album cover "bites" :


Let's start with MC Breeze's It Ain't New York / Discombobulatorbulator / Another Sad Song 12" label



For awhile I was thinking this drawing looked real familiar. Then I remembered a poster I used to always see at a local shop as a youngster:




Perhaps MC Breeze was inspired by Robert Crumb's 1971 Stoned Agin! poster? They don't look identical, but I already said this is a stretch of a post, so give me a break here. Here's some audio from the 12":



MC Breeze- It Ain't New York-



MC Breeze- Discombobulatorbulator-

*Racism Alert*... Yikes-



MC Breeze- Another Sad Song-


For a little backstory on MC Breeze, check out THIS post at Unkut.com



Next up, we have the Planet Patrol Planet Patrol LP. Check it out



Looks pretty inconspicuous right? Look closer



No, closer


Wait a sec. Aren't those just a bunch of C-3PO action figures? Tisk tisk, George Lucas is getting swagger jacked. Is that an appropriate time to use that phrase? Is there ever an appropriate time to use that phrase? Yuck, even me making fun of the term seems overdone.


Planet Patrol- Play At Your Own Risk (Remix)-



Not gonna lie, this remix kind of creeps me out. It sounds like they're singing my name at the beginning.


"Willlllll, willlll, willllll"


In all honesty, Arthur Baker is a legend, and anything he had a hand in is usually quality. This is no exception.


Finally, we have the legendary cover to Clarence Reid's album, Nobody But You Babe.




I'm going to be honest, I'm pretty sure Tayster just put Clarence Reid's face on top of the below moon landing photo.



Notice the hand positioning is exactly the same. On another note, apparently Clarence Reid is the sex comedian Blowfly ??! Who woulda thought? Thanks again for another assist, wikipedia.

Clarence Reid- Nobody But You Babe-


In conclusion, if you haven't noticed, I mainly put this post together to share some audio from the aforementioned records. I just recently picked up a copy of that MC Breeze 12" in New Hampshire. My wild consumer imagination gave birth to relating this post of new audio to biting. Go easy on us artists. We like to steal shit... is that so bad?



Uh oh...


Bonus Round: Road Warriors (Legion of Doom) Vs. Demolition


Apparently, Vince McMahon assembled the tag team Demolition (Ax / Smash... and later, Crush!) to have his own version of the Road Warriors. At least, that's what wikipedia told me. Fucking biters.





When the Road Warriors came to the WWF in 1990 (as Legion of Doom), Demolition's popularity soon dwindled. That doesn't stop wrestling fans from STILL being pissed at Demolition for biting, just look at some of the youtube comments below this video.



"ugh road warrior rip offs so fucking gay"


You said it, coka 5841.

No comments:

Post a Comment