Alan Parsons copies Donna Summer?? say it ain't so..

[happytheman]

Call me crazy but I heard Donna Summers "Love to love ya baby" on the radio today and the similarity to the instrumental "I Robot" was unreal. So when I got home I cued it up and sure enough around 2.19 into the song you have an instrumental break that is lifted one year later by Alan Parson on the instrumental I Robot. Again go in about 2.20ish into Parsons song and there you have it.
I knew he lifted a lot of Floyd but Donna Summers??

[thehallway]

Just listened to the two songs, and I can see where you're coming from, but it's more a case of the two songs being in the same key with a similar tempo and groove. I wouldn't say it was copying, as both songs are essentially just a groove around a tonic (C Minor I think), one with a vocal melody and one with random sounds. I guess it is sort of strangely too similar though.

I knew Parsons produced Floyd but not having heard any of his songs, I wasn't aware he plagiarised them. Maybe he felt he had the right to because he was involved with one of the greatest albums of all time!

[tardistraveler]

Disco Robot? lol

Interesting that you noticed the similarity!

[happytheman]

Just listened to the two songs, and I can see where you're coming from, but it's more a case of the two songs being in the same key with a similar tempo and groove. I wouldn't say it was copying, as both songs are essentially just a groove around a tonic (C Minor I think), one with a vocal melody and one with random sounds. I guess it is sort of strangely too similar though.

I knew Parsons produced Floyd but not having heard any of his songs, I wasn't aware he plagiarised them. Maybe he felt he had the right to because he was involved with one of the greatest albums of all time!

There are several places on I Robot where you feel Alan took "liberties" with DSOTM. And of course there are other albums where the songwriting is very close.

[happytheman]

Disco Robot? lol

Interesting that you noticed the similarity!

Yeah I'm a huge Donna Summer fan (not), no I simply had on the 1976 disc from a Time Life Best of the 70's series and up popped her song and for whatever reason I let it play thru rather than flip to the next song. As I recall that song got played to death when it was released.