Or maybe it was paying tribute. At any rate, I've been meaning to mention this for some time, but haven't gotten around to it. One of my favorite Withers tunes is Harlem, and the structure of Secret bares more than a passing resemblance to it. I've made a rough clip of portions of both songs:

[snip-sos]Secret is a bit slower, but the drum, strings and guitar sound a lot like Withers' song (listen to the strings build at the 22 second mark on Harlem). You could argue that the similarities are coincidental I'm sure, but given that Madonna set the video for Secret in Harlem, it makes me wonder if it wasn't intentional? I could also be reading too much into it. I dunno. Take a listen, see what you think.

Bill Withers made like 2 songs, much like Graham Bonnet, and what great songs they are.

i remember reading something about this as well several years back. i think anyting's possible. i think sometimes things could be inspired subconciously. or maybe you're reading to much into it. and i wouldn't put it to far past her, being that she grew up listening to that era of R&B.

chunky said:

Two songs? You're kidding, right?

Ain't No Sunshine
Lean on Me
Use Me
The Same Love that Made Me Laugh
Lovely Day
Just the Two of Us

And those are just his top ten hits. He charted 24 songs.

Secrets is a great song, I only discovered this album in the last few years.
I like skanky ghetto Madonna, gold tooth and all

"Where my 40 at?"



.
[Edited 11/30/05 20:17pm]

CHIC0 said:

Maybe it's both, but they do share some similarities.

twink69 said:

But that's not skanky ghetto Madonna - that's junky wannabe-Courtney Madonna.

this is the collection i have from him:







red x edit!!
[Edited 11/30/05 20:19pm]

CHIC0 said:

That's a good collection. And look how adorable his smile is. Looks like he's got a secret.

RipHer2Shreds said:

"mmmmm mmmmm Billy's got a secret..mmmmm mmmmm"

CHIC0 said:

RipHer2Shreds said:

Add Grandma's Hand on that list..

twink69 said:

Then you'll LOVE my current thread.

funkpill said:

Nope. I love that tune as well, but it didn't go top 10.

how can we get u folks to stop file sharing here?

RipHer2Shreds said:

ya'll forgot "sweet wanomi"

sosgemini said:

I'm not sharing files. It's a minute and a half snippet of the two songs.

RipHer2Shreds said:

isnt the legal limit 30 seconds?

and your eyes somewhere else foo!!

sosgemini said:

classic 45s.com has minute and a half samples. and if you're inquring about my signature, its been passed that Mixes are considered a composition of the dj creating it.

I thought Babyface was the producer & writer of Secret not Dallas Austin.
Am I wrong???

sosgemini said:

Hush, you! I'm listening to my elders. I was warned once about filesharing by you a year ago, and I've not done it since then. If I was actually sharing a file, I'd understand. I intentionally made it low bit-rate (96 kbps) and just randomly cut portions of each song - 30 seconds from one, 60 from another - so I could let others hear what I thought were similarities.

thedoorkeeper said:

He co-wrote and produced Take a Bow and the original version of Forbidden Love, but that's it for his work on this album.

Hell yeah that beyotch ripped off Bill Withers...



...MF her and John Wayne!


Seriously though, I hear the similarities you're referring to.
If it was a rip, it was very weakly implemented.
Harlem comes off as a much stronger, better executed idea to me.


tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431

Never heard the original, but Madonna is known to "appropriate" other pieces of music to make her own. Not exactly surprised.


Goddamn do I hate the song "Lovely Day", though. Annoying as all hell.

TheRealFiness said:

The B-side to 'Grandma's Hand'...

funkpill said:

yes,that it is