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'Baby Got Back' center of 'Glee' cover controversy

BY Tom Tangney  on January 29, 2013 @ 11:41 am (Updated: 11:52 am - 1/29/13 )

Most everyone knows Sir Mix-a-Lot's classic 1992 song, "Baby Got Back," but on the mid-season premiere of "Glee," network TV audiences got a version of the song they'd never heard before.

Or did they?

Not that anyone needs a reminder, but it's the biggest hit Renton's Sir Mix-a-Lot ever had. Then last Thursday, in its mid-season premiere, "Glee" trotted out a cover version that turned the song upside down and inside out.

I love cover versions that completely re-imagine the original song and turning a driving, hip-hop standard into an acoustic romantic ballad struck me as funny and original. Sir Mix-a-Lot may be cringing - who knows? - but it had me smiling.

But somebody who isn't smiling is Jonathan Coulton, a musician with a relatively small but devoted following, mostly on the Internet. It turns out he did a cover very similar to Glee's version back in 2005. In fact, not just "very simlilar," almost identical!

It couldn't be much closer. Coulton's arrangement is clearly the same as the one in "Glee." And Coulton's feeling ripped off. "Glee" routinely puts its cover versions up for sale on iTunes and it'll get thousands of downloads. Coulton not only doesn't get a dime from any of this, he didn't even get any credit for it on the show.

"Glee" is about a high school show choir, so it's by design a show full of cover versions of other people's songs. It pays license fees for the songs it uses but new arrangements of original songs are not protected. Covers are not copyright-able, except for their audiotracks.

"Glee" has contacted Coulton about the controversy but according to him, the show had the audacity to suggest that he should be happy for the exposure. As Coulton points out, the only exposure he's been getting is as a result of his complaints against the show.

Coulton at least appreciates the irony of his battle, given that the show is all about the underdog trying to make his way in the world. As he puts it, "If this were an episode of Glee, I would win."

Exterior photo courtesy Jonathan Coulton, by Dale May

Tom Tangney, KIRO Radio Host
Tom Tangney is co-host of KIRO Radio's Seattle's Morning News and resident enthusiast of...everything. He loves books, movies, TV, art, pop culture, politic, sports, and Husky football.
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Comments (8)


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  • Oly80 wrote...
    that show was cute at the beginning...
    January 29, 2013 6:54 am
    now it's just preachy and, for some reason, self important feeling.

    it jumped the shark WAY before, but it TOTALLY lost me when they graduated ALL their good people and THEN brought them all back in somehow. high school never ends for some, i guess.

    lame.

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  • gomariners wrote...
    Agreed
    January 29, 2013 1:00 pm
    Although I left long before they "graduated". Every episode became a lecture in bulling and being gay. Pretty lame that they stole this guys song.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • DonVigo wrote...
    Glee - What's wrong with music today.
    January 29, 2013 9:16 am
    The show itself is merely the perpetuation of blatant stereotypes. The stories couldn't be any more drivel... And much like Fox's first blow to the music industry American Idol (Kareoke Superstar)all Glee does is b-stardize other artists' work and take credit for it... Explain how a TV show cast belongs on the Billboard charts if they're not making original music!? The popularity of this show just proves how low society has gone... And honestly, the concept of them not being artistically credible is not news.
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  • Oly80 wrote...
    great point!
    January 29, 2013 9:32 am
    they actually TRIED to do a show where they did ORIGNALS, but it was TERRIBLE! the songs were the kind you'd forget AS you listened to them.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Snout wrote...
    Stop messing around with good songs!
    January 29, 2013 9:56 am
    A bunch of froofy people bouncing around (except for the cripple we're supposed to feel bad for) and ruining perfectly good music. It's a sad day when this garbage is popular.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • hawks$life wrote...
    that show was good when... ... . .
    January 29, 2013 10:27 am
    Oh wait, it never has been
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • AKAF wrote...
    Problem with Hollywood critics is they are blinded....
    January 29, 2013 11:18 pm
    more so now they continue to be hosts on a morning news radio show. Ignore the fact of the violence in Hollywood and anti values on TV shows...tell me one show that has normal value on TV now that Tom supports...however, violence and anti family values in America is a problem. Tom, and his fellow critics are part of the problem.
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