The lyrical delivery, cadence and subject matter are more than similar. But both songs make me reach for my bottle of Chipotlaway.

Graycap23 said:

Agreed. I had this discussion with DannyD5050 when the song came out. I still don't get how people can say it's a rip. It's similar on a lot of levels, but it's not a copy.

If that's the case, you could say it's like "Lady Cab Driver", "I Heard It Through The Grapevine" (Roger's Version), or "Dance Floor" from Zapp. All are similar to me, but very different.

squirrelgrease said:

"Dance 4 Me" and "Get on the Boat" are very similar.

maya said:

How do u figure?

daPrettyman said:

I didn't claim it was a rip, but I do think that the vocal melody on those lines (see Wetdream above) is very close.

wasitgood4u said:

I saw that u didn't call it a rip. In a previous discussion, I recall someone saying it was a rip.

Roger and Prince are both similar. Both funky as hell and badass guitarists.

However, I don't see any similarity between "I Can Make You Dance" and "Dance 4 Me" other than they are both electro-funk songs about dancing.

FYI, in one of my all time favorite Zapp & Roger songs, "It Doesn't Really Matter", Roger sings a verse where he gives props to all his favorite artists, like James Brown and Aretha, and in that verse he sings "Now we got the Minneapolis connection, Thank you Prince! Cos you sound so good to me....get on down!"

Zapp & Roger without a doubt one of my favorite groups of all time. I own pretty much everything Roger ever worked on, including some relatively obscure stuff he produced like the album "Sugar Kiss" by Sugarfoot of the Ohio Players.

RIP Roger.

He stole it! Dang P first Kiss now this...tsktsktsk

However no biggie as there are a bunch of artists that borrowed/stole from P
[Edited 10/21/09 13:02pm]

daPrettyman said:

I find it interesting that people can't hear what is clearly a very similiar bass line.

*dances*
haven't heard that in a while

wasitgood4u said:

no doubt... Prince playing homage to ZAPP and Roger Troutman... nothing wrong with that

wasitgood4u said:

.. the first four notes both tunes are indeed exactly the same, then they take different directions. Groove is similar but not identical. I'd be surprised if this wasn't an influence (conscious or not) on Prince's song... but who knows ? There are only so many notes in an conventional scale...

I think its coincidence. Prince runs into a lot of ideas that other artists do, I don't think he intentionally rips them off (nevermind Dreamer But this is one case that I think is just coincidence.

Tom Petty said it best to Rolling Stone:"I seriously doubt that there is any negative intent there (Referring to Red Hot Chili Pepper's Dani California sounding like Petty's Last Dance With Mary Jane). And a lot of rock 'n' roll songs sound alike. Ask Chuck Berry. The Strokes took 'American Girl' [for their song 'Last Nite'], and I saw an interview with them where they actually admitted it. That made me laugh out loud. I was like, 'OK, good for you' ... If someone took my song note for note and stole it maliciously, then maybe [I'd sue]. But I don't believe in lawsuits much. I think there are enough frivolous lawsuits in this country without people fighting over pop songs."

rudedog said:

Gotta love Tom Petty! It's probably at least unconscious influence, probably more than just blind coincidence...

daPrettyman said:

The music on Dance 4 me sounds like a rearrangement of Get on the Boat(or vice versa as I don't know which was created first).

maya said:

Not to me. D4M has a latin undertone (like a tango or something), whereas GOTB is a salsa type song.

laurarichardson said:

Just read the date on the you tube site-no need to get precious

pianoman said:

-----
So pianoman what is the rule for copying. Is it the first four chords or bars that must be the same.

wasitgood4u said:

Not at all, this other song is straight FUNK ...

Funny post...Get on the Boat musically is a reworking of "Soul Power 74" by Maceo and The Macks , which was a jazzed up instrumental version of Soul Power by James Brown. Dont hear ANY resemblence to Dance 4 Me.....