Rip-off Roundup part I

Yesterday at work while shuffling on the player, two tracks were sequenced and I was alarmed at the exact riffing on the baselines. The songs were "Debra" by Beck and "My love for you" by Ramsey Lewis.
Although I lost some time skipping back and forth the two songs to my colleagues to prove my amazing discovery until I annoyed them, it gave me a good idea for a post. Remember kids: Sampling and covering is cool, ripping off and not credit is not.

Round 1: Beck vs. Ramsey Lewis
Both songs sound very familiar in mood and especially in the baseline. As they progress Ramsey Lewis gets lost in an endless funk jam and Beck, predictably, sticks with the original riff throughout the song.

Ramsey Lewis - my love for you
Beck - Debra

Final Verdict: I'm gonna go for Beck on this one. I'm not the biggest beck fan but I thought "Midnite Vultures" was the shit when it first came out, I rarely listen to it anymore but I still stand Mr. Beck's rip-offs now and then. Sorry Mr. Lewis.

Round 2: Visage vs. Kelly Osbourne
A shameless rip-off only a few are aware of. Kelly Osbourne passed the fine line between copy and cover on this one. Fuck, it even has a fancy spoken french word at the beginning of "her" song.
Such rip-off from an mtv branded artist couldn't pass without notice in the music biz and Mrs. Osbourne was contacted immediatly by Visage themselves for explanations. Apparently they arranged a collaboration on Kelly's new album or I think it was rather a collaboration from Kelly on a comeback album by visage... I'm sorry, I really don't remember how it turned out and I'm too lazy to find out.

Visage - fade to grey
Kelly Osbourne - one word

Final Verdict: The original one tickles me better by far. There's also an extended version of "fade to grey" which is even better and which I'd recommend you to look for (probably will post it anyways in the near future).

Round 3: The Beatles vs. Sublime
The first time I heard "What I got" I noticed it sounded really familiar. Then when "Lady Madonna" appeared on the radio a few days later, it dawned on me. The similarity in both songs' vocalization on the verses is so big and both songs are so widely known across the world that I'm surprised none of the beatlemaniacs I know have pointed it out when "What I got" rises up from someone's old stereo. Maybe they're just not similar at all and I'm the only person that perceives it as a rip-off.

The Beatles - lady madonna
Sublime - What I got

Final Verdict: Tough one. I'll call it a tie but unfortunately I don't have the time to explain to you the reasons why. (Swoosh!, look I'm magically vanishing now.)

If you've got some more rip-offs you'd want to share, comment or mail me. I'd appreciate if you'd like to feed my current rip-off obsession very much. Thank you.

Image: one of the numerous anonymous copies from the 16th century of the Mona Lisa claimed to be the original one.