21 February 2008

Vervecroft songs that sound like other songs and possible inspirations

Are You Ready (Richard Ashcroft)

The Rolling Stones "Sympathy for the Devil"




Music is Power (Richard Ashcroft)

Walter Jackson "It's All Over"




Make it 'til Monday

The Rolling Stones "Moonlight Mile"




C'mon People (We're Making it Now)

The Four Tops' 1966 hit "Reach Out I'll Be There" may have been the inspiration for the several verses of "C'mon People (We're Making it Now)."




This Is Music

Randy California's Downer, released in 1972, may have been the inspiration for the line "been on the shelf too long" in "This Is Music."




Dance On Your Bones

In 1973, British singer/songwriter David Essex released "Rock On," a soulful, slow-tempo, and bass-driven tune about the early days of rock 'n' roll. The tune was a major hit in the United Kingdom and even reached No. 5 on the American charts in 1974.

The Verve connection came along in June 1995 on the release of On Your Own (single) with b-side "Dance On Your Bones." The b-side bears a striking resemblance to the driving melody found in Essex's "Rock On" however, Verve's version (lyrically) shows a much darker image of the band with specific references to guns, the devil, and drugs.





The Rolling People

The similarities here are close (note the beginning of Funkadelic's track below).   
Funkadelic "I Got a Thing, You Got a Thing, Everybody's Got a Thing."





Aphrodite's Child - "The Four Horsemen" (note bass, and also the ending)




On March 6, 2008, a Verve fan sent in the following email:
I read your article about the intro to 'The Rolling People' sounding almost identical to that Funkadelic song. I read an earlier guitar magazine article on another site that McCabe does in fact state he is a big fan of the guitarist of Funkadelic.

Here's a little of what I read:

NM: "When I was 14 or so I listened to a lot of Joy Division, I loved the textures of their records, but now it's more John Martyn, his '70s albums in particular; that's where my textured guitar playing comes from, honestly. I had Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd forced on me when I was younger, and although I tend not to listen to that sort of thing now, I guess it's lodged in my brain. I won't say that bands like the Cocteau Twins were not an influence, but that's not the sort of stuff I really like. I like Vini Reilly (from The Durutti Column) because he could be flashy, but he was really simple about it. I also like Funkadelic's Eddie Hazel who, to me, condensed the best bits of Jimi Hendrix. You can probably hear all my influences in what I play, whether it's recent stuff or old blues."
Last updated 6/17/2018