Transmitting Live from Mars

Album: 3 Feet High and Rising (1989)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • The original concept behind De La Soul was that Mase was PA and Posdnuos and Dove were the microphone plugs, transmitting messages from Mars. The idea was quickly abandoned but was used for the title of this short skit.
  • The short interlude is basically a French language lesson merged with a loop culled from The Turtles "You Showed Me" and Wilson Pickett's version of "Hey Jude." Posdnous recalled to Rolling Stone: "My pops had this 45 - I don't know why he had this record - it was this French instructional record. I thought it would sound cool with this Wilson Pickett cover of 'Hey Jude,' and then Paul had the Turtles record ['You Showed Me'], so he said let's put that with it, so we just added it all together."
  • The Turtles sample resulted in a $1.7 million copyright-infringement lawsuit that was eventually settled out of court. The legal action also set a precedent, which stymied hip-hop's methods of production. The new laws delayed a number of albums, including the trio's follow-up, De La Soul is Dead. When the record was finally released it was stripped of many samples and struggled to repeat the success of 3 Feet High.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Creedence Clearwater Revival

Creedence Clearwater RevivalFact or Fiction

Is "Have You Ever Seen the Rain" about Vietnam? Was John Fogerty really born on a Bayou? It's the CCR edition of Fact or Fiction.

Christmas Songs

Christmas SongsFact or Fiction

Rudolf, Bob Dylan and the Singing Dogs all show up in this Fact or Fiction for seasonal favorites.

Susanna Hoffs - "Eternal Flame"

Susanna Hoffs - "Eternal Flame"They're Playing My Song

The Prince-penned "Manic Monday" was the first song The Bangles heard coming from a car radio, but "Eternal Flame" is closest to Susanna's heart, perhaps because she sang it in "various states of undress."

Andrew Farriss of INXS

Andrew Farriss of INXSSongwriter Interviews

Andrew Farriss on writing with Michael Hutchence, the stories behind "Mystify" and other INXS hits, and his country-flavored debut solo album.

Strange Magnetics

Strange MagneticsSong Writing

How Bing Crosby, Les Paul, a US Army Signal Corps Officer, and the Nazis helped shape rock and Roll.

Ian Anderson: "The delight in making music is that you don't have a formula"

Ian Anderson: "The delight in making music is that you don't have a formula"Songwriter Interviews

Ian talks about his 3 or 4 blatant attempts to write a pop song, and also the ones he most connected with, including "Locomotive Breath."