They changed the song in "Lifesigns"

[Dane_Whitman]

Hey all,

This is very trivial, but today I was watching Lifesigns and I noticed that the song that was playing when the Doctor turned on the radio in his simulated Chevy was a different song than what was originally heard in the episode. I used to buy the VOY videos and I've watched this episode quite a few times, so that '50s song always stuck in my head. The one I heard today was different though.

I suppose they had to change it for the dvd release because of some copyright issue? Still, it's strange that it was included on the official VHS release. Anyone else notice this?

 

[Akiraprise]

I did not know this. Which song was played originally versus what is playing on the DVD?

 

[Odo's_Bucket]

"I fall to pieces" by Patsy Cline would have been appropriate.

 

[black_dranzer]

According to Memory Alpha:

"In the original broadcast of this episode, the song playing on the radio while The Doctor and Pel are in the holographic simulation of Mars is "I Only Have Eyes for You". Although originally written in 1934 by Harry Warren and Al Dubin, the version used is the 1959 recording by The Flamingos. On the DVDs, the song "My Prayer" is used instead. It was originally Copyrighted in 1939, written by George Boulanger and Jimmy Kennedy."

It doesn't give a reason as to why it changes it though...

 

[Brit]

I noticed it because "I Only Have Eyes for You" is just about my favorite 50's song.

Brit

 

[Dane_Whitman]

According to Memory Alpha:

"In the original broadcast of this episode, the song playing on the radio while The Doctor and Pel are in the holographic simulation of Mars is "I Only Have Eyes for You". Although originally written in 1934 by Harry Warren and Al Dubin, the version used is the 1959 recording by The Flamingos. On the DVDs, the song "My Prayer" is used instead. It was originally Copyrighted in 1939, written by George Boulanger and Jimmy Kennedy."

It doesn't give a reason as to why it changes it though...

Thanks for the information. It's a shame because "I Only Have Eyes for You" is a very pleasant song that worked really well in that scene.

 

[exodus]

According to Memory Alpha:

"In the original broadcast of this episode, the song playing on the radio while The Doctor and Pel are in the holographic simulation of Mars is "I Only Have Eyes for You". Although originally written in 1934 by Harry Warren and Al Dubin, the version used is the 1959 recording by The Flamingos. On the DVDs, the song "My Prayer" is used instead. It was originally Copyrighted in 1939, written by George Boulanger and Jimmy Kennedy."

It doesn't give a reason as to why it changes it though...

It's due to copyright issues & royalties.

You can play any song within a TV show & be fine, however if you plan on distributing that show for profit you have to get premission from those that own the music used in it. The reason is, you have to pay them for the rights to use and distribute that material. It's why such shows like "American Dreams" which centered around popular music of the 50's & 60's isn't on DVD. They have to ask all those that own the rights to those songs permission & then negotitate payment for them.

If that fails or they ask too much money for those royalities, then the song must be removed from the distributed copies and replaced with a cheaper song or one they give permission on. This is why "I Only Have Eyes for You" was removed from the DVD copies of Voyager.

It's all about business & money.

 

[Piper]

Music replacement happens quite a lot on DVD releases - it's usually indicated by a tiny line of text on the box saying something like "Some of the music used differs from that in the originally transmitted episodes." I didn't realise that there were any examples on the Trek DVDs though.

 

[Lynx]

I have the episode both on tape and DVD so I must check both to compare. Honestly, I never thought about it until now, neer noticed the change.

As for rights and such, sometimes it gets too rigid. I can understand if an artist don't want to have their songs in a movie in which they don't like the content or message but sometimes it gets too tangled up.

If I had written a great song, I would be more than delighted to have it in a Trek episode.

 

[mythme]

I KNEW IT!!!!!!

I knew it was "I Only Have Eyes for You".

and all these years I thought I was losing my mind!

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

I have the episode both on tape and DVD so I must check both to compare. Honestly, I never thought about it until now, neer noticed the change.

As for rights and such, sometimes it gets too rigid. I can understand if an artist don't want to have their songs in a movie in which they don't like the content or message but sometimes it gets too tangled up.

If I had written a great song, I would be more than delighted to have it in a Trek episode.

It is a matter of money.

Songwriters earn their livings - or attempt to, anyway - from the royalties on use of their music.

If "Voyager" is unwilling to pay the royalty for a piece of music - presumably because it's more than they can afford or think it's worth - then there is no reason for the artist to be "delighted" about accepting a lesser fee.

Trust me, if your employer decides that you're worth less than you've been paid in the past and offers to employ you in future at a cut rate you won't feel "honored."

 

[Trek Survivor]

For those UK fans who are also fans of "Only Fools & Horses", this is also the reason why the DVD versions are so messed up. I could cope with background music being changed, but because music often plays a big part in some OFAH (such as "The Jolly Boys Outing" and the lounge singer massacreing Just The Way You Are in the background of an important Del and Rodney dialogue), entire scenes have been cut out. It sucks, but the BBC are very tight!

 

[exodus]

I have the episode both on tape and DVD so I must check both to compare. Honestly, I never thought about it until now, neer noticed the change.

As for rights and such, sometimes it gets too rigid. I can understand if an artist don't want to have their songs in a movie in which they don't like the content or message but sometimes it gets too tangled up.

If I had written a great song, I would be more than delighted to have it in a Trek episode.

It is a matter of money.

Songwriters earn their livings - or attempt to, anyway - from the royalties on use of their music.

If "Voyager" is unwilling to pay the royalty for a piece of music - presumably because it's more than they can afford or think it's worth - then there is no reason for the artist to be "delighted" about accepting a lesser fee.

Trust me, if your employer decides that you're worth less than you've been paid in the past and offers to employ you in future at a cut rate you won't feel "honored."

Not to mention a major majority of artists don't even own the rights to their own music, the companies that sign them do.(Anybody remember how Michael Jackson out bid Paul McCartney over the rights to half the Beatles songs?) It was the whole reason artist like Prince changed his name to a symbol and wrote "slave" on his face. WBs told him they own his music & the rights to his own name, by changing it anything he wrote after they couldn't. You can't legal own anything by someone with no name.

Clever guy.

 

[spoonunseptium]

Leave up to the prudy buissness copyright douches to ruin something perfect.

 

[exodus]

Leave up to the prudy buissness copyright douches to ruin something perfect.

True.......but everybody has to make a living some how.




At least it's legal.

 

[wahwahkits]

"I fall to pieces" by Patsy Cline would have been appropriate.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

It was the whole reason artist like Prince changed his name to a symbol and wrote "slave" on his face. WBs told him they own his music & the rights to his own name, by changing it anything he wrote after they couldn't. You can't legal own anything by someone with no name.

Well, going with the no-name thing was clever in another respect - it enabled him to effectively retain the name "Prince" despite Warners' claim on it. When the press reported on him and needed a way to refer to him he encouraged the "artist formerly known as Prince" bit.

 

[exodus]

It was the whole reason artist like Prince changed his name to a symbol and wrote "slave" on his face. WBs told him they own his music & the rights to his own name, by changing it anything he wrote after they couldn't. You can't legal own anything by someone with no name.

Well, going with the no-name thing was clever in another respect - it enabled him to effectively retain the name "Prince" despite Warners' claim on it. When the press reported on him and needed a way to refer to him he encouraged the "artist formerly known as Prince" bit.

Can you imagine a company telling you they own the rights to your own name?

I remember I saw an interview with him during that period and they asked him: So what do your friends call you now?

 

[Lynx]

Well, going with the no-name thing was clever in another respect - it enabled him to effectively retain the name "Prince" despite Warners' claim on it. When the press reported on him and needed a way to refer to him he encouraged the "artist formerly known as Prince" bit.

Not to mention John Fogerty whose only way to get out of a slave contract was to sell the rights to the songs he wrote for Creedence Clearwater Revival to the company. Some years later when he wrote a song which referred to the company boss as a money stealing pig, the company tried to take revenge on him by suing him for plagiarism of his own songs. He was accused for writing a song which had some similarities to an old Creedence Clearwater Revival song which he had written many years ago but which he no longer had the rights to. Fortunately the company lost that one.

As for certain songs in movies and so, in most cases it's the record companies who causes the problems, not the artists. A rock band who participated in a movie was asked to perform with one of their most sucessful songs. However, they hadn't written the song themselves and the company which did own the rights to the original song did forbid the band to use it in the movie because the movie company had some connections to another record company. So the band had to re-write the song slightly with different lyrics to be able to use it in the movie.

As for Star trek, there are some rock stars who are Trek fans, like Mick Fleetwood and Iggy Pop. Both of them hve participated in Trek episodes. Maybe some of their songs could have been used in some episodes.

 

[neogothboy74]

I noticed it because "I Only Have Eyes for You" is just about my favorite 50's song.

Brit

Same here.