Saturday, January 29, 2011

Ariel Pink and Stevie Wonder

I fail to understand how not one review I read last year of Ariel Pink's album mentioned how "Round and Round" (Pitchfork's #1 song of 2010 no less) borrowed its opening vocal melody from Stevie Wonder's classic "My Cherie Amour." I make no bones about how much I loved Before Today or that I think "Round and Round" stands on its own as a phenomenal pop song. It just strikes me as a bit odd since Wonder's song is fairly ubiquitous within the lexicon of great pop songs. Would it have been so hard to frame a discussion of the song's greatness in easing through the door on a melody that almost anyone would recognize? Do modern critics think that Pink's audience is so young that they won't know Stevie's song and therefore discussion of it in this context is irrelevant? Or are music critics willfully ignorant to the point because they don't want to admit that a song they fell for so hardcore couldn't be entirely original?

Compare and contrast:
Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti - "Round and Round"

Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti - Round & Round from Delo Creative on Vimeo.



Stevie Wonder - "My Cherie Amour"

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Definitely a nod to Stevie. Not a bad thing though...