The row between Eddy Grant and Gorillaz has deepened with the Guyanese singer scheduled to reissue his track “Time Warp” tomorrow. Grant (perhaps best known for his hit Electric Avenue) has told NME.com that he is considering legal action after drawing similarities between elements of Gorillaz’ new single Stylo and his own song Time Warp, which came out in 1983. Grant told the British magazine that he felt the keyboard sections are the same, and further, claims that Gorillaz main man Damon Albarn was aware of the similarities and proceeded regardless: “Damon Albarn knows in his heart of hearts – it’s unfortunate that we cant get into people’s hearts – he knows that this is a song that he’s loved, in his club days…I don’t know the guy…but he knows this is a song he loves,” he claimed, although he admitted that he had never met Albarn and had not realized the Blur man was behind Gorillaz until recently.”
Gorillaz are a British virtual band created in 1998 by Damon Albarn of Britpop band Blur, and Jamie Hewlett, co-creator of the comic book Tank Girl. The band is composed of four animated band members: 2D (lead vocalist, keyboard), Murdoc Niccals (bass guitar), Noodle (lead guitar and occasional vocals) and Russel Hobbs (drums and percussion). The band’s music is a c ollaboration between various musicians, Albarn being the only permanent musical contributor. Their style is a composition of multiple musical genres, with a large number of their influences including: dub, hip hop, alternative rock, electronic and pop music.
In a statement Eddy Grant said: ‘“Time Warp” has always been a very popular song and has been a staple of the DJ scene for many years, now it’s available for the public to buy on digital format they will have the opportunity to see for themselves what a blatant Rip Off ‘Stylo” is, it’s practically note for note the same!”
Available on iTunes from Sunday (March 21st) the news has not stopped copies of ‘Plastic Beach’ flying off the shelves. The album reached number two in its first week of release and remains in the Top Ten.
The two acts share a label, EMI, who told NME that: “This is a private matter between Eddy Grant and Gorillaz, and we’re not intending to make any further comment.”
Check out a comparison below…
Repeating Islands 