Because we love ‘em all. Here’s your 90’s Video of the Day
Verve: “Bittersweet Symphony”
It’s certainly a case where the name of the song fits the story of the song itself. “Bittersweet Symphony,” samples a 1965 Andrew Loog Oldham orchestral recording of The Rolling Stones' song "The Last Time." The Verve's label cleared the rights to sample the recording from Decca Records in 1997, but Allen Klein and ABKCO owned the publishing and would only clear the track if Ashcroft signed away ALL of his rights, including those as its lyricist. That gave Rolling Stones Mick Jagger and Keith Richards full songwriting credit on a track they had nothing to do with. That means at this song’s height of popularity, Richard Ashcroft didn’t make a dime. How prophetic that he had written a song about how money doesn’t always equal happiness.
But something special happened in 2019, Ashcroft’s managers asked Jagger and Richards to give up their interest in "Bittersweet Symphony" and according to Ashcroft's publicist, "Mick and Keith immediately, unhesitatingly and unconditionally agreed to this request." Ashcroft added in his own statement, “This remarkable and life-affirming turn of events was made possible by a kind and magnanimous gesture from Mick and Keith, who have also agreed that they are happy for the writing credit to exclude their names and all their royalties derived from the song they will now pass to me.”
The video is a nod to the style of Massive Attack, who did a similar feel in their video for “Unfinished Symphony.” Richard is here similarly walking down a busy street, a shopping area in London called Hoxton Street.
Hit me up with 90’s Video’s you wanna see featured at abby@wxdx.com