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TL;DR:

  • A 1990s rocker said the middle of Radiohead’s “Karma Police” sounds like The Beatles’ “Sexy Sadie.”
  • He discussed the reaction to this similarity.
  • The star revealed the ways The Beatles, The Who, and other bands influenced his work.

A classic rock star said Radiohead’s “Karma Police” copied part of The Beatles’ “Sexy Sadie.” In addition, the star said Radiohead garnered praise for drawing influence from the Fab Four while he did not. Notably, The Beatles’ “Sexy Sadie” and Radiohead’s “Karma Police” both appeared on seminal albums.

Oasis’ Noel Gallagher compared Radiohead’s ‘Karma Police’ to The Beatles’ ‘Sexy Sadie’

Noel Gallagher is a songwriter from the band Oasis. Critics and fans compared Oasis to The Beatles repeatedly. In the 2013 book The Art of Noise: Conversations with Great Songwriters, Gallagher discussed why the Fab Four influenced his work. “I guess it’s so ingrained in my musical life: Oasis were basically a cross between The Beatles and the Sex Pistols,” he said.

Gallagher felt Oasis wasn’t the only 1990s band to draw inspiration from The Beatles. “I’ll put it to you this way: when Radiohead in the middle of ‘Karma Police’ dropped that bit in of ‘Sexy Sadie,’ to all the people down here that’s f****** brilliant, but when I do it I’m accused of some kind of plagiarism,” he said. “It’s not important to me.”

Noel Gallagher explained how The Beatles inspired his work with Oasis

Gallagher elaborated on his musical influences. “The Beatles are in my DNA, and the Sex Pistols and The Kinks and The Who, for that matter,” he said. “If bits of their songs find their way into mine, great; they’re well within their rights to sue me and I’m not arsed.

“I’ve been in here listening to [BBC] Radio 1 and thought, ‘That sounds a bit like one of mine,’ but it’s like, fair play, man,” he added. “That’s what music is. You’re supposed to inspire the next generation. The Beatles were finished before Oasis came along anyway.”

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How The Beatles’ ‘Sexy Sadie’ Is Connected to the Manson Family

How ‘Sexy Sadie’ and ‘Karma Police’ performed on the charts in the United States

“Sexy Sadie” was never a single. Therefore, it didn’t hit the Billboard Hot 100. The tune appeared on The White Album, which topped the Billboard 200 for nine of its 215 weeks on the chart. Notably, the tune inspired the name of the character Sadie from the Fab Four jukebox musical Across the Universe. The character is clearly based on Janis Joplin.

“Karma Police” didn’t hit the Billboard Hot 100. Regardless, the music video for “Karma Police” is one of the most famous from the 1990s alternative rock scene. Notably, aside from “Nude” and the modern standard “Creep,” none of Radiohead’s songs reached the top 40 in the United States. Radiohead included “Karma Police” on the critically acclaimed album OK Computer. That record climbed to No. 21 on the Billboard 200 and stayed on the chart for 55 weeks.

“Karma Police” remains one of Radiohead’s most famous songs and it might not be the same without “Sexy Sadie.”

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