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Indi-Pop
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1
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Pehle to kabhi kabhi [Non-film Album: Dil ke tukde hazar hue] <TC>
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Composer: Altaf Raja and Vishnu Deva,
Sung by: Altaf Raja
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Ripped in total from Pakistani singer Rahim Shah's song 'Ghum'.
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Listen to
Pehle to
kabhi (Altaf) | Ghum
(Rahim Shah)
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The surprise
is that even Rahim Shah's version isn't original! It is supposed to be
an old Afghani song called 'Tappa' which was later sung by the famous Pushto
singer, Haroon Bacha. Rahim's was just an updated pop version! Its
unlikely that Altaf and Vishnu have got hold of the older version and
improvised on it. But the fact
remains that Altaf and Vishnu Deva have shamelessly plagiarized on
somebody else's composition with no credits to the original whatsoever.
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2 |
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Mohabbat Karle Re [Non-film Album: Mohabbat
Karle] <TC>
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Composer: Shiamak Davar, Sung by: Shiamak Davar
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Copied from African singer Angelique Kidjo's song, 'Adouma'.
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Listen to
Mohabbat karle re |
Adouma
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Adouma was part Angelique 1994 album, 'Aye'.
Santana has also recently done a cover version of this song in the
album, 'Shaman', with due credit to Angelique, of course!
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3 |
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Pukaro [Non-film Album: Superuna (1983)] <TC>
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Composer: Bappi Lahiri, Sung by: Runa Laila
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Lifted from the Tanzanian song 'Malaika', made popular by Miriam Makeba.
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Listen to
Pukaro
| Malaika
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| Looks like Bappi Lahiri has lifted the Miriam Makeba
number 'Malaika' much before Nadeem Shravan did in their song 'Gawah
Hain' in Damini.
Trivia Note: 'Malaika' is a Tanzanian song and the Kenyan singing
legend Fadhili William's 1963 version of the song is supposed to be the
definitive version, even though Fadhili's claims of ownership of this
song is still under dispute, long after his death! Miriam Makeba is
credited with spreading this song beyond Africa!
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4
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Vote
for ghaghra (Dilli shahar mein) [Non-film Album: Vote For
Ghaghra (1995)]
<TC>
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Composer: Ila Arun
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Lifted from Dr Alban's 1993 track,
'Om we rembwe ike' from the album 'One Love'.
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Listen to
Vote
for ghaghra | Om
we rembwe ike
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5
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Na Jaane [Non-film Album: Na
Jaane (1997)]
<TC>
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Composer: Harry Anand, Vipin Anand,
Nitin Bali
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Lifted from the 1967 French track, Je T'aime' by the French composer
Serge Gainsbourg.
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Listen to
Na Jaane
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Je
T'aime (Serge and Jane Birkin) |
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Trivia:
>>
Question by
Times of India journalist to Nitin Bali on the eve of his new album
Baliwood's release: "Your first album Na Jaane had all original
tunes, so why did you decide to go in for a remix album?
>> Excerpt from Indya.com's profile of Nitin
Bali: "Confident of his voice and latent talent, Nitin
recorded a demo of the song Na jaane, written by him in
conjunction with a friend, Manu Chopra. His father heard the
song and ..... two hours later, died"
More on Je T'aime: Je t'aime was originally recorded
by Serge Gainsbourg, along with Brigitte Bardot (when they
were quite an item) in 1967. But this version was not
released, at Bardot's request. Not to be disheartened Serge
re-recorded the track with his British girlfriend Jane
Birkin. This track made its first appearance on the pairs'
self-titled 1969 LP, recorded in London, with Roger Coulam
providing the sleazy, cheesy organ that accompanies the
fluid bass and urgent drums! The song gained notoriety when
Radio 1 banned it for heavy breathing and saucy lyrics. It
has since appeared everywhere from hardcore pornography to
dodgy discos and advertisements. |
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6
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Yalla Yalla [Non-film Album:
Story of UMI (2004)]
<TC>
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Composer: Harry Anand |
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Note-to-note lift from a Middle
Eastern track, 'Yalla ya shabab' by Ragheb Alama (Album: 'Saharouny
Leil', 2001).
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Listen to
Yalla Yalla |
Yalla Ya Shabab |
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Also refer to other lifts of the same
original - Anand Raaj Anand page: No. 9 and Jatin Lalit
Page: No. 19. This is bloody shameless! In fact, in an
interview with Screen magazine, Harry is asked, "Your
new release The Story Of UMI is a remix album which claims
to have one original song ‘Yalla yalla...’ Why the need for
an original song in a remix album?", for which he says, "We
felt it would be a good idea to put in an original song in a
compilation of remixes". Thankfully, the next question is,
"But ‘Yalla yalla...’ doesn’t seem original. Also, one has
heard a similar song ‘Aanewala pal...’ in Plan, which has
music by your big brother Anand Raaj Anand". Harry's
response goes, "I agree. It’s inspired from an international
hit. But I have only picked the first line of the original
song, the rest is all mine....As for the similar song in
Plan, it’s possible that a song can make an impact on many.
And you know how it is in films, where producers insist that
a music director use a particular song. As a result, you
have one inspired number in umpteen films"! Oh puhleeze! |
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7
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Jab koi pyar se
[Non-film Album: Sayesha (1994)]
<TC>
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Composer & Singer: Nadeem Saifi |
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Lifted off Mehdi Hasan's very popular track of
the same name, same lyrics! |
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Listen to
Jab koi (Nadeem) |
Jab koi (Mehdi Hasan)
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Nadeem Shravan were in their peak during
the 90s and its in one of these binges that Nadeem Saifi
decided to showcase his vocal chords to the country, in a
private album titled, 'Sayesha' (1994). I still remember the
tacky video with Nadeem walking alongside some private jets
and singing uncomfortably. Now, I do buy the argument that
this duo lifted 'cos producers demanded the lifts (to some
extent!), but wonder which force demanded that Nadeem lift
Mehdi Hasan's very popular track, 'Jab koi pyar se bulayega'
for the lead track in this private album! I'm sure there's
no 'prodoocer' here to force Nadeem to lift the Pakistani
track, since this is a private album - which usually is
supposed to be a form of self-expression (much like the
other funny private album by Anu Malik, 'Eyes', what with
its its raining, its paining rhymes!). Sad. And thoroughly
annoying, since there's minimal effort on Nadeem's part to
add on to the original (mild pitch tweak) and even the
lyrics are largely similar! |
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8
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Mahi mahi mahiya
[Non-film Album: Junoon (2007)]
<TC>
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Singer: Abhijeet Sawant,
Composer: Jatin Sharma |
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Straight lift off Egyptian boy band
Wama's 'Ya ghali aliya' (2005) |
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Listen to
Mahi mahi mahiya
| Ya Ghali Aliya |
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Indian Idol Abhijeet Sawant latest
album, Junoon' has songs composed by multiple composers (Amit Trivedi,
Mithoon, Biddu, Raju Singh and Jatin Sharma) and Sony BMG has done a
great job packaging the assortment. The problem is with 'Mahi mahi
mahiya', an obviously middle-eastern sounding track, composed by Jatin
Sharma, a man known predominantly for his remixes and as
his website so eloquently portrays, for his humble origins. This
track is an outright lift of Egyptian boy band Wama's super hit track, 'Ya
Ghali Aliya', that was part of a similarly titled album in 2005. Just
wondering...if Wama decide to take a legal recourse (whatever its worth,
that is!) who should they be suing? Sony BMG? Abhijeet Sawant? Jatin
Sharma? I'm curious. Considering how fantastic their album is, they
should simply release it in India and simply 'make' doodh ka doodh and
paani ka paani :-) |
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9
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Tanha
[Non-film Album: Junoon (2007)]
<TC>
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Singer: Abhijeet Sawant,
Composer: Biddu |
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Ripped off Lebanese singer Ragheb
Alameh's 2005 track, 'Nassini el donia'. |
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Listen to
Tanha |
Nassini el
donia |
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Here comes the second lift in the
same album. The song: Tanha. Composer: Biddu Appaiah! Yes,
the same Biddu behind Alisha's Made in India. And, Nazia
Hassan and Qurbani. And much before that - Carl Douglas'
international chartbuster 'Kung fu fighting'! Jeez..how the
mighty have fallen! The song Tanha is a shockingly shameless
and direct lift from Lebanese singer Ragheb Alameh's 2005
song, 'Nassini el donia' from the album, 'El Hob El Kebir'.
While the lift includes some mild tweaks in the main
structure by Biddu - everything from the prelude, the
opening and the key hook is incredibly similar. Biddu...why
man? In the earlier post, I had ideally blamed the composer
(Jatin Sharma) more than the singer. But considering this
2nd lift, I think the blame should rest equally on young
Abhijeet's shoulders. Why? Just like we attribute 'Ya ghali
aliya' to Wama Band and 'Nassini el donia' to Ragheb Alameh,
beyond this site, I don't think anyone would link either
Jatin Sharma or Biddu with these tracks. They will obviously
be Abhijeet Sawant's tracks! Abhijeet could well be just an
'artist' in Sony BMG's repertoire and perhaps may just be
arriving at the studio to record the songs that folks in
Sony have 'arranged' for him. But given the fact that the
album is being sold on his name, he is equally responsible
too! |
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Trivia:
Ragheb Alameh?
Biddu who? |
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10
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Na jaanay kahan
[Non-film Album: Charkha (2008)]
<TC>
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Singer: Rahat Fateh Ali Khan,
Composer: Rohail Hyatt and Faisal Rafi |
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Uncredited remix Alanis Morissette's
unreleased single, 'Uninvited' (1998) that was part of the
'City of Angels' OST. |
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Listen to
Na janay
kahan |
Uninvited |
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Wonder who's idea this is! |
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11
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Intezar
[Non-film Album: Devika (2007)]
<TC>
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Singer: Devika, Composer:
Shehzad Hasan |
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Lifted from
Richard Marx's Hazard. |
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Listen to
Intezar |
Hazard |
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When I reviewed
Devika's self-titled debut album back in July 2007, I
had noted that the tune sounds terribly familiar and that I
was not able to put my finger on a so-called original. Well,
the source was rather obvious - a really popular
song...Richard Marx's Hazard (from the album, Rush Street,
1991). Shehzad doesn't make any attempt at hiding the source
- the first 2 lines play as-is and then there is a change. |
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12
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Oi! Triesto [Album: Oi! Triesto - Sukhbir (2000)]
<TC>
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Singer: Sukhbir, Composer:
Sukhbir |
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Lifted from
Columbian singer Rodolfo Aicardi's La Colegiala.
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Listen to
Oi! Triesto |
La
Colegiala |
Sukhbir's 2000
album Oi! Triesto's title song shared a lot of musical
similarities with Karthik Raja's chartbuster Tamil song, 'Cholare'
from the 1997 film, 'Ullasam'. The tunes were different, but
some of the prominent musical pieces were similar, often
racier in the Tamil version. I always had this nagging doubt
that both tracks were influenced by another mother-song;
this was also partly because of Sukhbir's plagiaristic ways,
particularly glaring in the Oi! Triesto album where he helps
himself with many other popular Spanish/ Latino originals,
possibly without credit (this needs to be verified however -
given his Dubai roots, he just might have added the
requisite credits). The original of the similar music pieces
in both these tracks is from Columbia - the song, 'La
Colegiala' ('The Schoolgirl') by celebrated Columbian singer
Rodolfo Aicardi. La Colegiala was a phenomenal success when
Rodolfo released it as part of his band's (called 'Rodolfo Y
Su Típica RA7') early 80s collection. Its an interesting
lift - while the Tamil song's core tune is different, the
main, catchy prelude and a chorus that goes 'Megha Megha'
(the name of the leading lady in the film) is inspired by
the Columbian original. As for Sukhbir's version, its
largely the same, with a mild tweak on the pace.
Listen to Ullasam's
Cholare |
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Hindi
Anu Malik
Anand Milind
Anand Raaj Anand
Bappi Lahiri
Jatin Lalit
Kalyanji Anandji
Laxmikant Pyarelal
Nadeem Shravan
OP Nayyar
Pritam Chakravarty
Rajesh Roshan
RD Burman
Salil Chaudhry
SD Burman
Sandeep Chowta
Sanjeev Darshan
Shankar Jaikishen
Hindi - others
Tamil
A R Rahman
Deva
Ilayaraja
Karthikraja
Yuvan S. Raja
Tamil - others
Assorted
Coincidences
Indipop
Advt. jingle lifts
Telugu
Trivia |
