I ran into an older NPR story on Dickie Goodman, a man sued by 17 labels for copyright infridgement in the 1950s. He is perhaps the first mash-up remix artist.
The ability to easily take a song, sample a bit of it, and then cut-and-paste it — just as you do with words and sentences in a word processor — has given birth to a fad called “mashups.” More than 45 years ago, Dickie Goodman had a similar idea. He would take bits of songs — often songs that were beginning to climb the charts — and with a grease pencil and a razor blade, cut them up and give them new meaning.
He is truly the king of novelty. Be sure to check out his tribute CD.
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