Edited by Azizi Powell
This is Part III of a three part pancocojams series that showcases the 1982 Funk song "Let It Whip" by The Dazz Band.
Part III showcases The Dazz Band's "Let It Whip" and Michael Jackson's "Beat It" and includes comments about how the beginning of each record sounds the same.
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2020/02/the-dazz-band-let-it-whip-information.html for Part I of this pancocojams series. Part I provides information about The Dazz Band and showcases a YouTube video of The Dazz Band performing their hit song "Let It Whip".
Lyrics for this song are also included in this post.
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2020/02/youtube-video-of-soul-train-line.html for Part II of this pancocojams series. Part II provides information about the television show Soul Train and showcases a YouTube video of the Soul Train line dancing to "Let It Whip". Selected comments from that video's discussion thread are also included in this post.
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The content of this post is presented for cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.
All copyright remains with their owners.
Thanks to The Dazz Band for their musical legacy and thanks to Michael Jackson for his musical legacy. Thanks also to all those who quoted in this post. Thanks also to the publishers of theses video on YouTube.
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PANCOCOJAMS EDITOR'S NOTE
The Daz Band's song "Let It Whip" came to my mind as a result of United States' House Speaker Nancy Pelosi ripping up her copy of Donald Trump's State Of The Union address. https://www.vox.com/2020/2/5/21124293/nancy-pelosi-gif-trump-speech-papers-state-of-the-union. Yes, I know- the word "whip" doesn't have the same pronunciation and meaning as the word "rip". But the two words sound almost the same and are spelled almost the same.
That said, sharing information about and examples of The Dazz Band's now iconic 1982 Funk song "Let It Whip", the television series Soul Train & the Soul Train line, and Michael Jackson's 1982 Beat It song, is one way of honoring Black history in the month of February that United States annually designates as "Black history month". (As for me, I celebrate Black history and Black culture all year long.)
Too often people think that the only way of celebrating Black history is to talk about slavery, famous African American inventors, and the civil rights movement in the United States. Our history is waaay more than that, and we are making history every day.
Peace and stay woke!
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SHOWCASE VIDEOS
[These videos are given in chronological order with the earliest released record presented first.]
Video #1: The Dazz Band "Let It Whip"
Petr Wab, Jul 28, 2007
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Video #2: Michael Jackson - Beat It (Official Video)
Michael Jackson, Apr 11, 2011
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SELECTED COMMENTS AND/INFORMATION ABOUT THE SIMILARITIES BETWEEN THE BEGINNING OF "LET'S WHIP IT" AND "BEAT IT"
(These comments are given in no particular order and are given with hyperlinks, letters, and numbers after each link for referencing purposes only)
A. From https://www.ilxor.com/ILX/ThreadSelectedControllerServlet?boardid=41&threadid=17005
1. RFI: the funk song which has the exact same beat as Michael Jackson's "Beat It"?
i've heard this on the radio a couple times lately and the similiarity of the drum intro to "Beat It" is so striking that I'm certain MJ/Quincy bit it (it sounds pre-82, at least). took a few guesses at the title (the refrain says "rip___(tide?)") but so far I haven't found any clues."
― Al (sitcom), Thursday, 8 May 2003
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2. "Let it Whip" by the Dazz Band?
― Mr. Diamond (diamond), Thursday, 8 May 2003
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3. "whip it right" = your "rip tide" i'm thinking
― Mr. Diamond (diamond), Thursday, 8 May 2003
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4. ...both "Let It Whip" and "Beat It" were released in 1982, but i can't find any info about at what point in the year either came out. anyone have any idea which came out first? I know "Beat It" was the 3rd single off Thriller, though, so it probably wasn't on the charts 'til '83. hmmmmm.....
there really isn't any similiarity in the melody, btw, just the beat, which, I again stress, is EXACTLY THE SAME. some googling has turned up not a single remark anywhere online about this similiarity, which really surprises me - pretty much all the results just list them both among many other dance hits from '82."
― Al (sitcom), Thursday, 8 May 2003
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5. "yeah, I kind of had a feeling that, if there was in fact any conscious borrowing going on, it would be MJ from DB, and not the other way around...it just makes more sense that Jacko would bite beats from a run-of-the-mill funk outlet, than that they would do so from one of the biggest hits off the biggest album of all time."
― Al (sitcom), Thursday, 8 May 2003
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6. Oh my god! I must have subconsciously made this connection too, 'cause the last mixtape I made with a beat-mixing program had "Billie Jean" blending directly into "Whip It". Actually, maybe it's not such a coincidence; that was my 1982 theme tape."
― Dan I., Thursday, 8 May 2003
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7. "I just realized last week what a great beat that is. Does the Dazz Band version sound as good? (the synth drums really make it for me)"
― Adam A. (Keiko), Thursday, 8 May 2003
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8. "I just realized last week what a great beat that is. Does the Dazz Band version sound as good? (the synth drums really make it for me)"
it's pretty much the exact same snare/kick/hi-hat pattern, slightly different drum sounds.
― Al (sitcom), Friday, 9 May 2003
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B. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Let_It_Whip
"Let It Whip"
[...]
"Released: February 12, 1982
Format 12"
Recorded: July 1981
Genre: Post-disco, funk
Label: Motown"
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C. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thriller_(album)
" “Beat It”
Single Released: February 14, 1983
Thriller Studio album: Released November 30, 1982
Recorded: April 14 – November 8, 1982
Studio: Westlake Recording Studios (Los Angeles, California)
Genre: Pop, post-disco, rock, funk
Length: 42:19
Label: Epic"
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D. From https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SE7-tWEEejU
"The Dazz Band "Let It Whip"
[These are only a few of the comments from this "Let It Whip" video's discussion thread that mentioned Michael Jackson's "Beat It".]
1. vmi3301, 2010
"I love that Michael Jackson used the beginning for Beat It..."
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2. Ramon LeBlanc Harts, 2012
"I STILL believe that this song is the inspiration for Michael Jackson's BEAT IT!!!"
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3. holidayrap, 2013
"The beat does sound VERY similar. Quincy must have had this playing in his mind when he produced Beat it."
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REPLY
4. ght4012, 2015
"Sounds alot like "Beat it"...but we all know this was first"
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5. TheLizardKing1967, 2012
"Now I know where the front end of the song "Beat it" MJ comes from."
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6. Ramon LeBlanc Harts, 2013
"Great song! Just change the lyrics, add Eddie Van Halen on electric guitar, and a WestSide Story video and what do you have - you've guessed it - BEAT IT. This is one reason why R&B/Soul lovers enjoyed BEAT IT so much. Even as a teenager growing up in L.A. I thought BEAT IT sounded familiar!"
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7. Duke Creole, 2015
"I love Michael Jackson but I still believe that BEAT IT was a direct rip off of The Dazz Band LET IT WHIP - LISTEN VERY, VERY, VERY CAREFULLY to the CHORD PROGRESSION and remember MJ was being ostracized by MTV which only played white rock music at that time ( Eddie Van Halen's guitar virtuoso was added to appeal to the Hard Rock genre )!"
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REPLY
8. veela lynne, 2015
"I totally agree"
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REPLY
9. Harley Weedwax, 2016
"+Duke Creole true!! ,plus if I remember correctly, this was one of the first "Black" records to get spin on "white" video music programs.. MJ may have been paying attentionto what would cross him over- he was a pretty smart guy"
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10. B.I.S.O.N.: BRISTOL SCREENWRITER NONSTUDENT, 2016
"I keep telling everybody Michael Jackson's BEAT IT is a rip off of the Dazz Band's LET IT WHIP"
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E. From https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVTZ4akhLA4
"Let it Whip - Soul Train Line 1982"
1. Cletus Beauregard, 2016
"every time I hear the beginning of MJ's "Beat It", I keep hoping it's this song instead."
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This concludes Part III of this three part pancocojams series.
Thanks for visiting pancocojams.
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