The new "hit" single of Toby Kieths is a stolen idea from a Key West artist named Michael McCloud. McCloud wrote a song some 10 years ago called "Tourist Town Bar." Toby Kieth has "borrowed" or shall I say, stolen, key lines from this song and called it his own. Come on Toby! Fess up!!! You have some great stuff but give a little credit where it is due. And maybe Toby is not the writer of this song. Maybe some desperate Nashville songwriter needed a break and decided to plagerize this song. If you do not believe me, go to Limewire and download "Tourist Town Bar" by Michael McCloud. The lines in Toby's song are almost an exact match!!! Coincidence? I think not! I wonder if Dan Rather has the balls to ask him about the latest stolen hit?
I wonder if Dan Rather has the balls to ask him about the latest stolen hit? I would suggest that Rather, who only uses his balls when he's interviewing someone right-of-center, would grill Keith about this, but as anyone who saw Rather jam with R.E.M. on "What's The Frequency, Kenneth?" (the song inspired by a bizarre mistaken-identity street attack on Rather many years ago), he has no clue about music.
As for Toby Keith, I have never heard either song you are referring to, but I will say one thing: Keith can't be worse than the most outrageous rip-off artist of all time, Phil Collins.
I say this, by the way, as a guy who generally likes Collins' work with Genesis (he is, IMHO, pop music's best drummer -- check out his work on Adam Ant's "Puss in Boots") and as a solo artist. But it's absolutely undeniable: many of the songs he's written or co-written with Genesis never would have been recorded if others hadn't laid the groundwork. And this isn't just a artist being derivative of musical pioneers, like classical composers or jazz and blues innovators -- this is obvious, brazen thievery of songs that are, in most cases, less than two decades old.
A few quick examples:
- "Misunderstanding," Genesis' breakthrough US hit the from Duke LP, is a re-working of Sly and the Family Stone's "Hot Fun In The Summertime."
- "No Reply At All," also on Duke, is heavily borrowed from the Beatles' "No Reply," although the lyrical content of the Fab Four's "No Reply" is closer to that of "Misunderstanding."
- "In The Air Tonight" and former Genesis bandmate Peter Gabriel's "Biko" have a nearly identical prelude. If a DJ had said, "Here's Phil Collins' 'In The Air Tonight'" and played Gabriel's "Biko" instead, you may not detect it unless (a) you were really paying close attention, or (b) you heard Gabriel's voice at the point that you expected Collins'.
- Like "No Reply At All," which appropriates the title of an existing song, Collins has also recorded "I Wish It Would Rain Down," and "Billy, Don't Lose My Number." Comedian Bob Sarlatte once suggested that Collins' next single would be "Jumpin' Jim Flash."
- "Sussudio" is a flat-out rip off Prince's "1999." Nuf said.
While Collins is the worst offender, he's far from the only one. Working class hero and good but overrated rocker Bruce Springsteen got a free pass for a "Sussudio"-like rip job when he re-recorded Billy Swan's "I Can Help" and re-named it "Cover Me." Don't believe me? Listen to the tracks one after the other and tell me I'm wrong.