While looking for inspiration for the Verve’s then-upcoming album, frontman Richard Ashcroft decided to dive deep into musical archives, ultimately discovering some orchestral sessions from the Rolling Stones’ early discography, conducted by the act’s former manager, Andrew Loog Oldham. These sessions were solely instrumental, and the act’s track, ‘Last Time,’ was among the covered songs.
Upon hearing the ‘Last Time’s tune, Ashcroft had the radical idea to use the melody and turn it into something extraordinary through a Verve track. So, he got in touch with the Rolling Stones’ label, getting permission to sample the old track while recording what would be their hit, ‘Bittersweet Symphony.’
The song became a major commercial success, but before Richard and the Verve had the proper time to enjoy their achievement, the Stones’ then-manager, Allan Klein, decided to file a lawsuit, calling out the younger band for ripping off the ‘Last Time,’ and ultimately starting a controversial legal battle that involved a rather grumpy Mick Jagger and Keith Richards.
However, this unfortunate incident wasn’t the only occasion an artist was called out for ‘ripping off’ others, as it’s common in the music industry for musicians to blame one another for plagiarism. So, when a particular Stevie Nicks track was released, people started to question why the melody sounded so familiar.
Luckily, Nicks was never involved in a legal battle over her ‘inspiration’ from a The Police song, although guitarist Waddy Wachtel wasn’t as happy. He had worked with the Fleetwood Mac icon while recording her solo debut, ‘Bella Donna,’ featuring on the ever-iconic track, ‘The Edge of Seventeen,’ and lending his talents as a guitar player.
Things were all good while Wachtel spent his time in the studio, mastering his parts, although he did admit to hearing people uttering about Nicks getting inspired by Sting while composing ‘The Edge of Seventeen.’ Waddy wasn’t an avid listener to the Police, though, and he didn’t know what the band sounded like. So, this reported inspiration didn’t matter much to him.
However, when one day he heard what sounded like Stevie’s hit track playing on the radio, he was confused to hear Sting’s voice singing a completely different song. Wachtel then quickly realized how they had completely ripped Sting and the Police off, immediately calling Nicks and asking her about the similarity, advising her not to do that again.
The guitarist was asked about the incident and the similarities between the Police’s ‘Bring On The Night’ and ‘The Edge of Seventeen’ while he was chatting with the Musician Magazine in the late 90s, as the host questioned if he knew how much Stevie was inspired from Sting while recording his parts.
The guitarist on recording for Nicks and recalling how he realized they had ripped off The Police:
“I had never heard ‘Bring On the Night,’ and at that session, they told me they were going to do this song based on this feel. I had heard something about the Police, but I didn’t know what they were discussing.
Then about two years ago, I had the radio on, and on comes what sounds like ‘Edge of Seventeen’ – and all of a sudden, there’s Sting’s voice! I thought, ‘We ripped them off completely.’ I called Stevie that night and said, ‘Listen to me, don’t ever do that again.'”
So, it might be safe to speculate that Nicks heard the song, liked the feeling, and decided to work with the melody. However, her guitar player had no idea what he was playing, although he was duly informed that the track was based on a Police song. Still, he didn’t realize until much later how the two songs were almost the same.
