“I feel I was thrown under the bus” Eddy Grant on the time he accused Gorillaz of plagiarising ‘Time Warp’
“Even Damon’s strongest fans would know how ubiquitous ‘Time Warp’ has been and still is.”
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Singer-songwriter Eddy Grant has reflected on the time he accused Gorillaz of plagiarising his song Time Warp and the way the experience left him feeling “thrown under the bus”.
Back in 2010, the Equals member accused Gorillaz of making a “blatant rip-off” of his 1981 track with their single Stylo, stating, “My song sits almost note to note with their release.”
Grant says that “Time Warp is a very popular song and has been a staple of the DJ scene for many years” and that he feels “total disrespect from Gorillaz and their management company, especially as they are an established act.”
Discussing the accusations in a new interview with NME, Grant says: “I mean, everybody knows where that song came from. It’s just that there comes a time where you say, ‘Enough. Why am I going to go on fighting this case? Over what? Leave it alone’. They know the truth.”
“Even Damon’s strongest fans would know how ubiquitous Time Warp has been and still is. It’s a one-off – when you hear it, you know what it is.”
He continues: “I mean, [American singer ]Jaheim slowed [Time Warp] right down so that I would never be able to notice it, and I noticed, and he gave me credit for the song [Like a DJ]. It’s a sickness in the business. If you like it enough and want to do it, then do it and give the guy the credit.”
Asked if he’d ever spoken to Damon Albarn about the issue, Grant replies: “It’s a strange one because Damon’s manager used to be part of the management team for The Equals and we were with the same music publisher, but I feel I was thrown under the bus because Damon was selling a lot more records than I was.”
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