![]() ![]() ![]() "Under Pressure" was sampled by American rapper Vanilla Ice for his 1990 single " Ice Ice Baby". It is included on the band's compilation albums Greatest Hits II, Classic Queen, and Absolute Greatest, as well as Bowie compilations such as Best of Bowie (2002), The Platinum Collection (2005), Nothing Has Changed (2014), Legacy (2016), and Re:Call 3 (2017). The song was included on some editions of Queen's first Greatest Hits compilations, such as the original 1981 Elektra release in North America. Live recordings appear on the Queen live albums Queen Rock Montreal and Live at Wembley '86. It was played live at every Queen concert from 1981 until the end of the band's touring career in 1986. In 2021, it was ranked number 429 on Rolling Stone 's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. "Under Pressure" was listed at number 31 on VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of the '80s, and voted the second-best collaboration of all time in a poll by Rolling Stone. The song has been described as a "monster rock track that stood out" on the Hot Space album, as well as "an incredibly powerful and poignant pop song". The song reached number one on the UK Singles Chart, becoming Queen's second number-one hit in their home country and Bowie's third, and also charted in the top 10 in more than 10 countries around the world. Originally released as a single in October 1981, it was later included on Queen's 1982 album Hot Space. Please do not hesitate to contact us at or on 020 72886003 for a free consultation." Under Pressure" is a song by the British rock band Queen and singer David Bowie. If you fancy a quick laugh, check out the classic footage online of Van Winkle poorly attempting to justify that the melodies were not the same.Īs always, our specialist copyright team (and music lovers) here at Briffa are always on hand to help with all things music, be it contracts, claims or even just a free chat about what’s what. I personally believe in the artistic merit in sampling, however in this case Van Winkle blatantly sampled a famous song without giving the recognition and royalties due to the artists. Regardless, he happily explained that he had made a handsome amount of money from Ice Ice Baby and was comfortable in life. Years later, Van Winkle revealed that he paid $4 million to purchase the publishing rights to Under Pressure which he said was cheaper than continuing having to pay royalties. Bowie and Queen members both also received songwriting credits on the track. The case eventually settled for an undisclosed but inevitably hefty sum. Representatives for Queen and Bowie were having none of it and threatened a copyright infringement claim. Unfortunately for Winkle it does not work that way. He famously insisted that the two melodies were different because he added a beat between notes. Van Winkle had quite clearly sampled the classic bassline to Under Pressure. Queen and David Bowie were not nearly as impressed as everyone else was. Nevertheless, Vanilla Ice (or Robert Van Winkle as he is legally named) got himself into some trouble when he brought out his now immortal track. After all, it brought us such classic and meaningless lines as “all right stop, collaborate and listen”. I am not entirely sure how to feel about this song on the one hand it is awful but on the other hand I like it. This week I am going to talk about a song we have all heard – Vanilla Ice’s seminal 1990 track Ice Ice Baby. At least the lockdown is gradually being relaxed so sit tight and enjoy these charming blogs in the meantime. I hope you are all keeping well and enjoying the gradual descent into insanity which I am sure has been these past two months. It is that time again, another Classic Copyright Case from yours truly.
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