While watching that One Hit Wonders of the 90s show they mentioned that Verve's song "Bittersweet Symphony" didn't actually help them much. Apparently they tried to license a sample of an orchestral version of an old Rolling Stones song. They were refused (supposedly the person in charge just said, "We don't license samples") but they used it anyway. The Rolling Stones came after them so they get all the money from the song and they got song-writing credits.
- Rolling Stone (the magazine) on the issue
- An alternate take that claims that Verve did initially have the rights to use the sample but the Stones sued after it became a hit
- MTV's take on the issue
I mostly found it interesting because I remember liking the orchestral bit but not really liking the rest of the song.
Bittersweet Symphony:
The Last Time:
Oh, and I discovered it can be fun to menace
twitme with snack foods. 