You don't know his name, but you can instantly sing his riffs. But were they actually his to begin with? Greg Ham, the flautist/saxophonist for Men at Work, died recently. And the obituary in The New York Times included a lengthy re-telling of the legal conflict that stemmed from Ham's flute part in "Down Under". Apparently, Men at Work were found to have ripped off the flute riff from the classic schoolhouse singalong "Kookaburra Sits in the Old Gum Tree" and it absolutely devastated the band. Funny, I always heard the connection between "Down Under" and "Kookaburra" and figured it was intentional -- after all, the Men at Work song essentially stereotypes Australians, and what better Australian song to 'borrow' as a riff but "Kookaburra."
Hear the similarity between "Down Under" and "Kookaburra Sits in the Old Gum Tree" for yourself. And here's a nice report from Sydney 3 News on Australian TV about the dispute..
My take - RUBBISH!
ReplyDeleteIt has about 4 to 5 simiar notes, but it's not the same song. This isn't "My Sweet Lord/He's So Fine." I get bothered when someone is dragged through the mud for being "similar." I think it was unintentional. Subconsciously, he probaly had that song in the back of his head. Such a shame.