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aaronk
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| Posted: 19 March 2008 at 1:19am | IP Logged
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I'm wondering if anyone knows the complete story on both "The Power" by Snap! and "Strike It Up" by Black Box. Both of those songs were subject to lawsuits over illegally used samples.
I know that Snap! originally recorded "The Power" illegally using samples from Chill Rob G's "Let The Words Flow" and "Love's Gonna Get You" by Jocelyn Brown. After it became a #1 hit across Europe, they had to re-record the rap vocals because of the illegal samples. Turbo B does the rap on the Snap! version, although the Chill Rob G sample "it's gettin' kinda hectic" was left in the song.
Also, I remember seeing a 20/20 (or some other investigative report) story on illegally used samples that talked about "Strike It Up." The news story even featured the rapper who performs the part "If I had the line and you had the bass..." His acapella vocals were illegally sampled for the song. Does anyone know who he was or what the song was called? I believe if you compare the rap part on the LP version to the various remixes and single version, you'll hear that some of the lyrics were changed and it's a different rapper. I don't have my Dreamland CD handy to compare, though.
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Loveland
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| Posted: 22 April 2013 at 8:52am | IP Logged
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aaronk wrote:
Also, I remember seeing a 20/20 (or some other investigative report) story on illegally used samples that talked about "Strike It Up." The news story even featured the rapper who performs the part "If I had
the line and you had the bass..." His acapella vocals were illegally sampled for the song. Does anyone know who he was or what the song was called? I believe if you compare the rap part on the LP version to the various
remixes and single version, you'll hear that some of the lyrics were changed and it's a different rapper. I don't have my Dreamland CD handy to compare, though. |
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I am massive Black Box fan. I think "Dreamland" is the best dance album of the 90s. Certainly the best italohouse album of the 90s. "Dreamland" was filled with samples, including "Strike It Up".
"Strike It Up" illegally samples Nelshouse featuring FFWD "Acid House" (released as a double-A side single, "House Jam (On My Block) / Acid House", on Nelson Cruz's own label, Cruzin' Nelson Records (which was a sub-label of
MicMac Records). One thing that I hated about dance music was the producers' narcissism and their need to be credited as an artist. In this case, the producer is crediting/featuring himself:
Nelson Cruz = Nelshouse = FFWW = Nelson "FFWD" Cruz. Talk about ego!
MicMac Records never ever printed the year of release on their vinyl maxi singles (!). I'd say that this single was released around 1989 (considering that "Dreamland" was first released in 1990). The "rapper" on "Acid
House" is actually Oscar Pabon. IIRC, he was the one featured on the 20/20 piece; I think he was really angry. I would guess that a deal was worked out, as "Strike It Up" remained on the album.
For the single version, the song was heavily reworked though. It was remixed by Black Box's Daniele "DJ Lelewel" Davoli. Additionally, Black Box brought in Lee Bennett aka Stepz to re-record the rap verses. IMHO, Stepz is
a proper rapper, unlike Oscar Pabone. Stepz wrote his own raps, which are completely different from Oscar's raps, other than opening line "If I have the line and you have the bass". I really enjoy Stepz's raps and I even
like how he name-checks Black Box / Groove Groove Melody ("...Roll up the groove, melody is essential...").
The "proper" single version is the "DJ Lelewel Radio Edit", which clocks at 3:25 (it's an edit of the full DJ Lelewel Mix which clocks at 5:05). This is the version featured on the music video as well. For whatever
reason, RCA Records U.S. felt the need to edit it even further (!). According to the promo CD, the edits were done by Eric "Moe" Rosenberg. This is the hit single version that most radio stations played.
Do most radio stations get rid of their promos a year or so later after their initial release? I only ask because I have noticed that when radio stations would play older songs, they would usually play the album version,
especially when the single version is not widely available. In Miami and New York, for example, the radio stations would always play the album version from the mid-90s to the present time.
RCA U.S. actually re-edited almost all of Black Box singles for the American market, even though there was no need to.
Useless trivia: All of "Dreamland" singles, including "The Total Mix", hit the U.K.'s Top 10, except "Everybody Everybody" and "Strike It Up". Both singles were Black Box's only U.S. Top 10 hits. In the U.K., both singles
peaked at No. 16; in the U.S., both singles peaked at No. 8 (8 + 8 = 16).
http://www.discogs.com/Nelshouse-Featuring-FFWD-House-Jam-On -My-Block-Acid-House/release/3173471
The only place to find the single version on CD format is on Spain's Max Mix series:
http://www.discogs.com/Various-Max-Mix-11/release/2803798
Edited by Loveland on 22 April 2013 at 11:05am
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crapfromthepast
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| Posted: 22 April 2013 at 10:20am | IP Logged
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Loveland wrote:
Do most radio stations get rid of their
promos a year or so later after their initial release? I
only asked because I have noticed that when radio
stations would play older songs, they would usually play
the album version, especially when the single version is
not widely available. In Miami and New York, for
example, the radio stations would always play the album
version from the mid-90s to the present time. |
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Great info, Loveland!
Back in the early '90s, when I worked at top 40 radio, we played the current tracks directly from the promo CD singles. We had three Denon CD players that were designed to work basically like cart decks: During the chart run of a song, the promo CD would live in its own individual housing. The housings were sort of like the mechanical housing from old floppy disks, where a little window would open when the housing was inserted in the CD player. There was a little label on the spine telling which track number to play (usually track 1), as well as the intro time, the outro time, and the type of ending (cold or fade). The housings were stored on the wallin a giant rack, like the carts themselves. At the top of each hour, the jock or an intern would pull the music for each hour, and stack the housings in the order in which they were to be played. After the song was played, the jock or intern put it back on the wall.
After the chart run of the song had ended, then it's anyone's guess as to what happened to the promo CD. Usually, it ended up in the program director's office. Sometimes, it found its way into a zealous jock's personal collection. (Ahem.) Remember, this was before CD-Rs existed, so the promo CD might have been the only place a station had for the proper version to play on-air.
So it doesn't surprise me that for older tracks, a station may have to resort to the album version, from the commercially-available CD. Stations couldn't just order another copy of the promo CD from the record company, since those were never kept in a proper stock for later distribution.
In recent years, a station might be able to get the single version from a production house, like TM Century (if they still exist), but it's hit-and-miss. Stations have the same issues as us collectors, so it's not surprising that a modern-day station playing a '90s-era track may use whatever they can find as the source.
Edited by crapfromthepast on 23 April 2013 at 11:42am
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Topic: Strike It Up / The Power sample questions
