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Van Halen vs. Tone-Loc

This week in 1989, Tone-Loc was blocked from the #1 spot on Billboard's Hot 100 by Paula Abdul and her first hit song "Straight Up." 

Sharp-eyed readers will note that this is the third mention of Abdul on this blog, something I never would have guessed when I launched this. 

Anyway, Tone-Loc's "Wild Thing" rocketed into the hearts of music lovers around the world thanks to a classic hip hop move: Borrowing an element from something that was tired at the moment and re-inventing it for new audiences.  

In this case, the song's guitar riff and drum roll were instantly identifiable from Van Halen's "Jamie's Cryin'" off their first album in 1978 (!) According to Wikipedia (the primary research resource here at "Little Brett, Big City"), the Van Halen management team allowed the sample to be included in "Wild Thing" for a flat fee of $5,000. 

But apparently the band members hadn't heard anything about it. Drummer Alex Van Halen said he first heard "Wild Thing" on the radio -- and immediately recognized his own tom-tom break a few times in the song. A civil lawsuit was filed and settled out of court for a reported $180,000. Regarding the settlement, Van Halen reportedly said, "Well, at least we got something. Tone-Loc and his people made millions out of it..."

Tone-Loc returned to The Hot 100 later that spring, reaching #3 with "Funky Cold Medina." At my graduation party in my Bowling Green apartment that August, we filled a kiddie pool with a stew of all kinds of liquor calling it "Funky Cold Medina." I knew better then not to try any of it. But I might now.





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