Firstly I updated my recent article about Thicke and Williams stealing Marvin Gaye's hit son Got to Give It Up.
Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams plagiarised their hit Blurred Lines from Marvin Gaye's 1977 song Got to Give It Up and have been ordered by a court to pay $7.4 million to the singer's children for infringement of copyright.
Nona Gaye, daughter of Marvin Gaye wept as the jury read the verdict and was hugged by her attorney, Richard Busch.
Nona Gaye, daughter of Marvin Gaye wept as the jury read the verdict and was hugged by her attorney, Richard Busch.
“Right now, I feel free,” Nona Gaye said after the verdict. “Free from… Pharrell Williams and Robin Thicke’s chains and what they tried to keep on us and the lies that were told.”
Thicke and Williams had denied copying the hit and Williams told jurors that Gaye’s music was part of the soundtrack of his youth. But the seven-time Grammy winner said he didn’t use any of it to create blurred lines. Meanwhile, the Gaye family's lawyer said he wanted to stop the sales of Blurred Lines. “They fought this fight despite every odd being against them,” Busch said of the Gaye family outside court.
Williams, 41, signed a document stating he didn’t use any other artists’ work in the music and would be responsible if a successful copyright claim was raised as Thicke testified he was not present when the song was written, despite receiving credit.
An expert for the Gaye family said there were eight distinct elements from Got to Give It Up that were used in Blurred Lines, however an expert for Williams and Thicke denied that those similarities existed.
Thicke and Williams had denied copying the hit and Williams told jurors that Gaye’s music was part of the soundtrack of his youth. But the seven-time Grammy winner said he didn’t use any of it to create blurred lines. Meanwhile, the Gaye family's lawyer said he wanted to stop the sales of Blurred Lines. “They fought this fight despite every odd being against them,” Busch said of the Gaye family outside court.
Williams, 41, signed a document stating he didn’t use any other artists’ work in the music and would be responsible if a successful copyright claim was raised as Thicke testified he was not present when the song was written, despite receiving credit.
An expert for the Gaye family said there were eight distinct elements from Got to Give It Up that were used in Blurred Lines, however an expert for Williams and Thicke denied that those similarities existed.
Bath College students played both songs to 20 shoppers in Bath and after hearing both songs, 80 percent said that Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams’ hit Blurred Lines sounded the same to the 1977 hit Got to Give It Up. The remaining 20 percent recognised the similarity however did not understand the issues raised.
When asked is it fair for the artists to pay Marvin’s family the large sum of money the reactions were mixed, with around 60% agreeing they should pay. However the remaining 40% say it is too extreme.
After that I wrote up an article about the Zimbabwe and contemporary classical music combination event the day before:
New hybrid genre is brought to City of Bath College when Zimbabwe and classical music is combined.
Professor of Music at Bath Spa University, Amanda Bailey organised for Zimbabwe musician Chartwell Dutiro and dancer Denise Rowe, members of Mbira Academy to collaborate with Exeter Contemporary Sounds string quartet, Julie Hill, Andrew Gillett and Jane Price.
The group was welcomed into City Of Bath to take part in a workshop with performing arts and music students, demonstrating their individual heritages and meeting in the middle.
The workshop started off with an introduction to the two different genres of music and a demonstration of each which familiarised the students with the work of the professionals whilst they prepared to be split into two groups. One group took part in dancing, Denise discussed her inspiration from contemporary and African dance. “I am interested in the connection between person and planet that is pivotal in traditional African dance forms and essential to our understanding of what it is to be alive.”
The workshop started off with an introduction to the two different genres of music and a demonstration of each which familiarised the students with the work of the professionals whilst they prepared to be split into two groups. One group took part in dancing, Denise discussed her inspiration from contemporary and African dance. “I am interested in the connection between person and planet that is pivotal in traditional African dance forms and essential to our understanding of what it is to be alive.”
The other group were joined by the string quartet trio that showed students the art of contemporary classical music. The students played their individual instruments whilst being introduced to an unusual type of rhythm.
Chartwell explained how he met Amanda Bailey when doing a performance 18 months ago which was when she suggested it would be a nice idea to do a collaboration with Exeter Contemporary Sounds.
Director of Tolo Ko Tolo dance company, Denise Rowe is a movement artist, choreographer, dancer, musician and creative producer drawing primarily from traditional and contemporary pan-African dance forms and non stylised/environmental movement.
Amanda Bailey’s research interests are based around the idea of performance and analysis; processes of composition, rehearsal and performance in contemporary music; string quartets; and ethnomusicology. The professor spoke about the importance of the contrast of cultures: “Separate curricular enables them to combine ideas together.”
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