Stevie Influenced by The Police?

[LiamMcConville]

So, we all know Stevie wanted Sting to do Bombay Saphires with her, but she couldn't get the nerve up to get in touch with him.

Strangely enough, the song "Bring On The Night" from The Police's 1979 album Regatta De Blanc...Sounds VERY similar to Bombay Sapphires AND Edge of Seventeen (exluding the chorus.)

[Tango]

It's no coincidence at all.

Check out the Q&As on The Penguin, here, the one done with Waddy Wachtel. He talks about Edge of Seventeen and The Police:

http://www.fleetwoodmac.net/penguin/qa/

He says they ripped it off The Police song, but changed it.

[Ghost_Tracker]

Originally Posted by Tango

It's no coincidence at all.

Check out the Q&As on The Penguin, here, the one done with Waddy Wachtel. He talks about Edge of Seventeen and The Police:

http://www.fleetwoodmac.net/penguin/qa/

He says they ripped it off The Police song, but changed it.

I've wondered sometimes if both Stevie and The Police were signed to the same record company. I just haven't bothered to check it out yet.

'cause to be totally honest, I'm very surprised that there wasn't a lawsuit. Maybe they worked something out "behind the scenes." Anyway yeah, according to the interview, when Waddy W. found out, he was pretty pissed at her. He said something like, "Don't you EVER do that again."

[starshine]

That really does sound alot like both songs....wow....I didn't know that....we all learn something new everyday.....I wonder what other songs maybe like that?....it makes you wonder.....not just with Stevie.....I'm sure it can happen easily really.....very interesting......Thanks!!

[Musicman408]

Originally Posted by LiamMcConville

So, we all know Stevie wanted Sting to do Bombay Saphires with her, but she couldn't get the nerve up to get in touch with him.

Strangely enough, the song "Bring On The Night" from The Police's 1979 album Regatta De Blanc...Sounds VERY similar to Bombay Sapphires AND Edge of Seventeen (exluding the chorus.)

God I love Stevie, but I don't see how that is even legal. Sounds JUST like the White Winged Dove song.........

[eclipse]

For you trivia buffs
Bring on the night was written about Gary Gilmore
He was a convicted murderer and was executed in 1977.
He was executed in a state where you could choose your method of death (Not sure where)
Anyway- He chose a firing squad...
Listen again to the words of Bring on the Night
Great song- Great story...
Anna

[SpyNote]

I think Stevie's still traumatized by his stalker song "Every Breath You Take." I recall her saying something like he was a scary man, back in 1983.

[Dreamz19]

Wow! Thanks for posting this. I've never heard this song before and I really like it. But this definitely sounds like Edge and Bombay Sapphires. I can remember reading here that Stevie took the riff for Edge from a Police song. I just never knew which one.

[LukeA]

Originally Posted by LiamMcConville

So, we all know Stevie wanted Sting to do Bombay Saphires with her, but she couldn't get the nerve up to get in touch with him.

Strangely enough, the song "Bring On The Night" from The Police's 1979 album Regatta De Blanc...Sounds VERY similar to Bombay Sapphires AND Edge of Seventeen (exluding the chorus.)

As others have said, it has been long known that Edge/Bombay Sapphire(s) plagiarized Bring On The Night (which Sting later borrowed from on a few solo tracks of his, Everybody Laughed But You/January Stars and End of the Game).

This thread comes up every couple years or so. Every once in a while, someone comes along who swears that they can't hear any similarity between the two... LOL.

A friend pointed this out to me about 10 years ago and I almost fell off the chair. I was somewhat disappointed in Stevie (& co.) that they could do something so blatant. However, maybe she did consult with Sting (& co.) and made some kind of deal or something.

Let's not also forget the similarities between Stand Back and Little Red Corvette (which Stevie has spoken about). And....what about (T Petty) Here Comes My Girl/Outside the Rain?

[Kelly]

Originally Posted by LukeA

As others have said, it has been long known that Edge/Bombay Sapphire(s) plagiarized Bring On The Night (which Sting later borrowed from on a few solo tracks of his, Everybody Laughed But You/January Stars and End of the Game).

This thread comes up every couple years or so. Every once in a while, someone comes along who swears that they can't hear any similarity between the two... LOL.

It seems like EVERY topic is repeated every few months or so.

I love Waddy's comments on "Bring on the Night"/"Edge". He was right to be pissed at her.

[strandinthewind]

Originally Posted by Kelly

. . . He was right to be pissed at her.

It seems to me that he was just as culpable - at least according to his interview on this site, to wit:



There's something I've wanted to ask you about, Waddy. Way back, in April, 1999 you did an interview with Musician Magazine, with a writer named David Simon. You familiar with that?

Yeah.

Okay . . . it was a great interview. He said something to you like—
"One of your more famous 'guitar statements' is that staccato opening riff to Stevie Nicks' Edge Of Seventeen. Where you aware of the similarities between that song and the Police's Bring On The Night?" And you said, "I had never heard Bring On The Night, and at that session they told me they were going to do a song based on this feel. I had heard something about the Police, but I didn't know what they were talking about. Then about two years ago, I had the radio on, and on comes what sounds like Edge of Seventeen."

Right.

Okay. My question is . . . I know of something called "sampling." Was this a case of "sampling" or what was this? I know Stevie doesn't write guitar riffs. Somebody did, but obviously it wasn't Stevie.

No, no . . . it was The Police. It was whatever that song is . . . "Bring On The Night."

Okay, in the interview you said, "We completely ripped them off."

Yes, well, basicially, that's what we wanted to do. But let me say in my own defense, being a respectable thief anyway— if you listen to the Police's song, Andy Summers performs it with some sort of echo unit. There is some sort of artificial "repeating" mechanism going on. And when I heard that, I just said, "I'm not going to do it like that. I don't like that kind of crap. I'll just play the thing." So I just did it the way I still do it, with the hand, as opposed to falsifying it with an echo machine. So it's all dig-a-dig-a-digga. The chords, and everything totally start to move differently. And that drum feel is that same thing. It's that off-off bass drum, against the guitar. So that is what I said. "What? We're doing what? Well, I ain't gonna do that. I'm doing it my own way." And that's how we did it.
_____________________________________________________________

He uses the term "we" more than once and then he states that he was so aware that he was lifting the riff that he changed the way it was played. That leads me to believe that he was not that pissed about it and that they were up front about it

[Kelly]

Originally Posted by strandinthewind

It seems to me that he was just as culpable - at least according to his interview on this site, to wit:



There's something I've wanted to ask you about, Waddy. Way back, in April, 1999 you did an interview with Musician Magazine, with a writer named David Simon. You familiar with that?

Yeah.

Okay . . . it was a great interview. He said something to you like—
"One of your more famous 'guitar statements' is that staccato opening riff to Stevie Nicks' Edge Of Seventeen. Where you aware of the similarities between that song and the Police's Bring On The Night?" And you said, "I had never heard Bring On The Night, and at that session they told me they were going to do a song based on this feel. I had heard something about the Police, but I didn't know what they were talking about. Then about two years ago, I had the radio on, and on comes what sounds like Edge of Seventeen."

Right.

Okay. My question is . . . I know of something called "sampling." Was this a case of "sampling" or what was this? I know Stevie doesn't write guitar riffs. Somebody did, but obviously it wasn't Stevie.

No, no . . . it was The Police. It was whatever that song is . . . "Bring On The Night."

Okay, in the interview you said, "We completely ripped them off."

Yes, well, basicially, that's what we wanted to do. But let me say in my own defense, being a respectable thief anyway— if you listen to the Police's song, Andy Summers performs it with some sort of echo unit. There is some sort of artificial "repeating" mechanism going on. And when I heard that, I just said, "I'm not going to do it like that. I don't like that kind of crap. I'll just play the thing." So I just did it the way I still do it, with the hand, as opposed to falsifying it with an echo machine. So it's all dig-a-dig-a-digga. The chords, and everything totally start to move differently. And that drum feel is that same thing. It's that off-off bass drum, against the guitar. So that is what I said. "What? We're doing what? Well, I ain't gonna do that. I'm doing it my own way." And that's how we did it.
_____________________________________________________________

He uses the term "we" more than once and then he states that he was so aware that he was lifting the riff that he changed the way it was played. That leads me to believe that he was not that pissed about it and that they were up front about it

To each his own...

There is another quote from Waddy where he tells Stevie not "to ever do that again"...after realizing what happened with Edge and Bring on the Night.

[strandinthewind]

Originally Posted by Kelly

To each his own...

There is another quote from Waddy where he tells Stevie not "to ever do that again"...after realizing what happened with Edge and Bring on the Night.

In the April, 1999 interview he did with Musician Magazine, he sings a different tune:

One of your more famous guitar statements is that staccato opening riff to Stevie Nicks' "Edge of Seventeen." Were you aware of the similarities between that song and the Police's "Bring On the Night"?

I had never heard "Bring On the Night," and at that session they told me they were going to do this song based on this feel. I had heard something about the Police, but I didn't know what they were talking about. Then about two years ago, I had the radio on, and on comes what sounds like "Edge of Seventeen"-and all of a sudden, there's Sting's voice! I thought, "We ripped them off completely!" I called Stevie that night and said, "Listen to me, don't ever do that again!"

http://www.fleetwoodmac.net/penguin/.../musician3.htm

I do not understand how he could on the one hand say (emphasis supplied) :

Yes, well, basicially, that's what we wanted to do. But let me say in my own defense, being a respectable thief anyway— if you listen to the Police's song, Andy Summers performs it with some sort of echo unit. There is some sort of artificial "repeating" mechanism going on. And when I heard that, I just said, "I'm not going to do it like that. I don't like that kind of crap. I'll just play the thing." So I just did it the way I still do it, with the hand, as opposed to falsifying it with an echo machine.

and then say he never heard the song. To me, that makes no sense. Rather, it clearly indicates he knew they were lifting Andy S's riff.

[face of glass]

Originally Posted by Waddy

Andy Summers performs it with some sort of echo unit. There is some sort of artificial "repeating" mechanism going on.

That's probably either an E-bow or infinite guitar. Good way of making people believe you're a better guitarist than you actually are.

Bill Bailey got it right: