The world of pop music has been littered with potholes of plagiarism. A hundred years ago, the song “Yes! We Have No Bananas” took the melody of G.F. Handel’s “Hallelujah” chorus for a Tin Pan Alley refrain. George Harrison’s song “My Sweet Lord” was found to be too close in melody and structure to the Chiffons’ “He’s So Fine.” Huey Lewis and the News’ “I Want a New Drug” may have been the inspiration for Ray Parker Jr.’s “Ghostbusters” song, just as much as the Electric Light Orchestra’s “Sweet Talkin’ Woman” became the inspiration for Huey Lewis and the News’ “Do You Believe In Love.”
Now, friends, comes the most blatant, egregious, clear-as-crystal theft of a fantastic rock song.
Because here’s the root …
Yep. From my home town of Albany, New York … the legendary party rock band Blotto. What a great song. “I Wanna Be a Lifeguard.” Makes me want to go to the beach … with a thousand pretty girls in re-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-ch. You know… sand between my toes … hardly any clothes … white stuff on my nose…
Got it? Good.
Now take a listen to this. And brace yourself …
So apparently this band, a group called 180 Out, recorded this song … called “Lifeguard,” about twelve years ago. The song has a distinctively similar melody to the refrain of Blotto’s “I Wanna Be a Lifeguard.”
Distinctively similar? Bro … it’s the same freakin’ lyric and the same freakin’ melody!
I’ll just say something … this group, 180 Out, better hope that nobody in Blotto happens to have any legal training. That nobody in Blotto happens to understand the intricacies of music industry law.
Somebody like … oh, I don’t know … the drummer for Blotto. Who also happens to be a lawyer. And the manager of a popular recording act. And who could decipher the most rapacious of music industry contracts the way a seamstress can identify every different embroidery stitch.
So if this group 180 Out can see this blog … a little suggestion for you.
Look up what the damages are for plagiarism and copyright infringement.
Trust me. They’re substantial. Very, very substantial.
Just sayin’ is all.
Chuck The Writer 
Yeah, you can’t really even make a case for “inspired by” for that one.
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Oh, my God. And I mean God. I searched 10/11/12, and the common response is to Hebrews 10: 11-12. “And every priest standsย daily at his service,ย offering repeatedly the same sacrifices,ย which can never take away sins.ย But when Christย had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, heย sat down at the right hand of God.”
But do they really honor God by stealing?
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