’80s Funk Band Collage Sues Bruno Mars & Mark Ronson Over “Uptown Funk!”
Eighties electro-funk band Collage are suing Bruno Mars and Mark Ronson over “Uptown Funk!,” TMZ repots. Larry White, the band’s sole surviving member, and the estates of two others are claiming that the chart-topping hit is a rip-off of their 1983 single “Young Girls,” and they’re seeking damages and profits. According to the complaint (via Pitchfork):
Upon information and belief, many of the main instrumental attributes and themes of “Uptown Funk” are deliberately and clearly copied from “Young Girls,” including, but not limited to, the distinct funky specifically noted and timed consistent guitar riffs present throughout the compositions, virtually if not identical bass notes and sequence, rhythm, structure, crescendo of horns and synthesizers rendering the compositions almost indistinguishable if played over each other and strikingly similar if played in consecutively.
Trinidad James, Jeff Bhasker, Devon Gallaspy, Phillip Lawrence, Sony Music Entertainment, Warner/Chappell Music, Atlantic Records, RCA Records and others are also named in the lawsuit. Compare the two songs below.