Off Topic. Off Any Topic.

I've gone about acquiring big bunches of old 45 records. I like to go through and play unfamiliar ones, treasure hunting. Because of what I have, what I know, and what I like, the typical record that gets me going during one of these sessions is a late 70s/early 80's funk/disco tune. This is because a bunch of the 45s fit that description, it's a genre I don't know very well, and there's some pretty cool stuff to be found.

Anyway, I came across a record by Slingshot, which was a medley of Steely Dan's "Do it Again" and Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean." The medley is done in mash-up style, 20 years before mash-up became a genre. I thought that this was pretty cool. But then it got weird. I came across a record by the group Clubhouse. It was released the same year, and featured the same style of mash-up medley. Not just the same style, actually, but the exact same two songs, "Do it Again" and "Billie Jean."

The information on the discs was enough to confirm that these were indeed different performers, on different record labels, with different producers. Furthermore, even a casual listen would immediately let you know that these were not the same tracks. A trip to Wikipedia by way of Google let me know that in fact, the Italian group Clubhouse released their version first, with the Detroit band Slingshot following later with a U.S. release of their version.

I'm not sure how well I can make anyone else understand how bizarre I find this.