Men at Work`s “Down Under”-’A Fried-Out Combie’ of Plagiarism?

I was in outside sales at AAA Motor Club in the early 1980s. One day I asked a prominent salesman, Ed Meeks, who his favorite band was. I figured if I knew what band he got inspired by, it would rub off on me, and help me to increase my sales. “John,” he said, “Men at Work rule!” He just happened to have a cassette of Business as Usual in his office, and we listened to and grooved on Down Under.

Now it looks like the Australian Grammy-award winning New Wave group will have to pay back royalties, after they lost a court case just today, and were caught in the act of plagiarism. The flute part in Down Under is a sufficient reproduction of a song called Kookaburra Sits in the Old Gum Tree, that was written 70 years ago by Marion Sinclair, an Australian school teacher who penned it for a Girl Guides competition.

“Traveling in a fried-out combie, on a hippie trail, head full of zombie. I met a strange lady, she made me nervous. She took me in and gave me breakfast, and she said:” Well the lyrics, by the Men at Work dudes, Colin Hay and Ron Strykert, are highly original! Maybe it`s just the tune that`s lifted. But the funky Ska rhythm changes it enough to keep it original…What do you think? Tune is an icon for us `80s LOVERS… What the heck is ‘ZOMBIE’, anyway? (sources-Reuters-Australia`s “Down Under” band rapped for plagiarism by Rob Taylor and Wiki)

Related posts:

1. ‘Das Berliner Requiem’ A Seldom Heard Work of Kurt Weill
2. Joe Satriani Sues Coldplay For Plagiarism!
3. The Velvet Underground Find A Balance On ‘Loaded’