--- Len Mullenger <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
>A teacher in need of help....
>Posted by Katie Tiffany [log in to unmask] on September 7, 2002,
>11:38 pm
>
>I am looking
>for similar bars, stanzas, tunes etc.  that some artist may have
>pulled to sample or imitated or incorporated (with a slight change
>perhaps) into their own music.  Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I don't know any website that can help you, but I can give you at least a
couple of examples, or at least references to get you started.  For what I
offer, perhaps others on the list can fill in the blanks:

1) Coolio's "Gansta's Paradise"- This was the theme song for the
movie,"Dangerous Minds." It's a good song (to those who like this sort
of thing), but I also definitely remember one day hearing on a classical
station the piece from which the song's music seemed to be derived (I
believe it was the opening of the song, and not the chorus).  Any brave
souls who want to try to guess what the classical counterpart is can hear
the song at:

 http://coolio.audioseek.net/download/1754340/0/1/Coolio%5CGangsta's_Paradise.html

2) Sting's "Russians"- This was a hit song back in the eighties during the
"Cold War." The music is definitely derived from a Russian composer, and
right now I'm thinking it's Glinka.  Perhaps someone can confirm what piece
this was lifted from.

3) If you want to reference "Classical Pop," it should be mentioned that a
lot of the music John Williams has composed for movies sounds like he has
borrowed heavily from Dvorak (and possibly Wagner? Someone may have told me
that).  Again I can't give details, but perhaps someone else can.

4) Finally, I wanted to mention that Eddie Van Halen of Van Halen fame,
once said that one of his classical influences was Bach (along with
Debussy.) (Eddie Van Halen was apparently a serious pianist before turning
to guitar in his teens.) I thought I could hear this influence in his
guitar playing, which often sounds either polyphonic or like he's using
pedal notes.  "Eruption" would be a good example.  At any rate, although
there's no direct quoting involved it might be interesting for the kids
to hear how elements of Bach find their way into popular songs.

Hope this helps,
hector