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Thread: Artistic rip-offs

  1. #1

    Default Artistic rip-offs

    Not sure there are enough music fans here to make this work. Could be cool, could be a flop.

    I was thinking of this funny blast from the past song by Starcastle recently, and looked it up on Youtube. I remember thinking it was kind of weak, but this was worse than I'd remembered. Flowery 70s hogwash at its worst.



    Clearly a stylistic rip-off of Yes, the very successful (and bombastic) 70s progressive rock band. Close to the Edge was one of their epics:



    So stylistically similar, yet Yes was a huge act in their time, and Starcastle never made it. OK, technically Yes was significantly better. But still, one was praised for genius and innovation, the other mocked as fluff.


    Can anybody else think of some similar ripoffs? Perhaps don't need to limit it to music, but could extend to visual arts, TV commericals, movies, etc.

  2. #2
    Starcastle, what a blast from the past!

    I think a lot of current fabric design is ripped off from Marimekko and Lily Pulitzer. And poster art from Peter Max.

  3. #3
    Pictures! We need pictures to make this work!

  4. #4
    Oh! Well, I suck at posting images.

    But this is Marimekko, been around since the 1950s:
    http://www.marimekko.com/ENG/interio...nen/grid_1.htm

    Can find same knock-offs at any Target, or Pottery Barn


    This is Lily Pulitzer, also been around for decades:
    http://www.lillypulitzer.com/Bags/ha...,bags,handbags

    Looks like Vera Bradley is a copy cat
    http://www.verabradley.com/category/...641/pc/638.uts

    Not quite the same fun as music, though.

  5. #5
    Yeah, that's a good example! Well, I didn't go to Target or Pottery Barn to find the Marimekko thing. But it's fun to have somebody bring in something I know nothing about. Correct me if I'm wrong: this is uber-common in fashion, right? Don't people all stampede in one direction when a new "thing" arrives? And don't the same things often get recycled every 20 years or so?

    Great examples! Easily as good as music, and much easier to illustrate.


    And glad to hear somebody remembers Starcastle. What a hilarious band.


    Here's another musical one (sorry they are long pieces, but the degree of mimicry is impressive). Genesis was famous for the magnum opus of "supper's Ready." Worth a listen in and of itself, since it's a truly remarkable and unique piece of music. Then Marillion rips it off in the early 80s with "Grendel." Similar fantastical semi-mythological storyline that Gabriel would spin with Genesis, same stage performce art schtick of Gabriel, same general musical compositional style, and a direct rip-off of a heavy, weird time signature bit (Apocalypse in 9/8 in Supper's Ready, dunno the name of it with Grendel)

    If just interested in those parts, go to indicated spots below. The 9/8 section is an utter ripoff. The rest of it is fairly stylistic ripoff, but not direct.

    SR 1/3:


    SR 2/3: (9/8 section intro at 6:58 in 2nd part and goes to ~4 in third part. Compare to Marillion intro at: )

    {Note: ain't it nice seeing Phil Collins play drums rather than sing?}

    SR 3/3:



    Marillion 1/2:


    Marillion 2/2: (9/8 section starts at 3:45 to ~6:50, outro pretty similar in the grand bombastic exit style)



    Another rip-off: what, did Fish of Marillion feel the need to emulate Gabriel with a bad haircut as well?

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