A record company filed a lawsuit against Madonna today claiming she illegally sampled The Salsoul Orchestra’s 1977 dance song “Chicago Bus Stop” in her 1990 song “Vogue.” Better 22 years late than never, I guess. The Daily Mail says:
The company believes Madonna sampled horns and strings from the track – and never paid to do so.
VMG Salsoul has even explained why it has taken so long to file the offending lawsuit.
The record company claims that the samples are not immediately obvious.
They allegedly have only been detected recently due to new technology which is able to isolate and identify sounds.
It’s not the first time Madonna has been accused of plagiarism and copyright infringement — a Belgian songwriter sued her in 2004 for stealing “Frozen” and she had to settle out-of-court with another artist for ripping off “Hollywood” — but I find the twenty-two year delay on their part a little suspect. I’m sure it’s just a coincidence that The Salsoul Orchestra has a greatest hits CD coming out next month. Just like it’s a coincidence that there was urine all over the floor of the elevator they found me in this morning. Coincidence!
