Robin Thicke Has a What?

Let me first start with this...while this is normally a family friendly -- mostly -- blog, this post is a little bit less so. So, what I'm trying to say is that my own sons should stop reading now.

One of the dangers of being single and unemployed is that you can also become a little bit out of touch. And, sure, being a dad seems to automatically veer you towards the clueless.

When a friend asked yesterday if I had seen the video for Robin Thicke's song "Blurred Lines," I had to admit that I had not. Heck, I hadn't even really paid that much attention to the song the couple of times that I had heard it. I vaguely remembered reading in Entertainment Weekly about the controversy over the lyrics and Thicke's comment about "what a pleasure it is to degrade women."

Since it's Robin Thicke, son of Alan and from a lineage that produced the theme to "The Facts of Life," I didn't worry too much about it.

It wasn't until later that I learned about the copyright controvesy, with Thicke suing the estate of Marvin Gaye and Funkadelic/George Clinton in order to prove that they didn't steal from Gaye's "Got To Give It Up" and Clinton's "Sexy Ways."

That isn't what this post is about, but just to give my two cents, "Blurred Lines" does sound like "Got To Give It Up." However, it wasn't so obvious that I immediately thought of it. And, if you're going to steal, stealing from Marvin Gaye and George Clinton at least shows that you have taste.

No, the only reason that I bring any of this up is because of the video. My first thought in watching the video -- well, right after "those are certainly nice boobs" and who's the other guy besides Thicke and Pharrell Williams (so sue me...I couldn't remember T.I. right off the bat) -- was, "Is this video an homage to Robert Palmer or George Michael or both?"

For comparison's sake, here's Thicke's "Blurred Lines" video:

 

 

(If you want the full on nudie version instead of the cleaned up version above then feel free to click here.)

 

Here's the video for Palmer's "Simply Irrestible":

 

 

 

Finally, here's Michael's "Freedom 90":

 

 

 



Let's see...we've got Thicke, Pharrel and T.I. in evening attire while models wear vapid expressions. That points to a tribute to Palmer's iconic mid-80's videos...including his breakthrough hit "Addicted To Love."

Depending on the version, the models are either pretty naked or really naked. While there aren't out and out nipples in George Michael's video, there are some really famous super models (Naomi Campbell, Christy Turlington, Linda Evangelista, etc.) that aren't wearing much...or in the case of Cindy Crawford are enticingly nude, although strategically filmed.

By the way, if you forgot about what we all thought about Ms. Crawford back in the day, watch the video and I'm sure the memories will come flooding back.

In Thicke's video, the models show that even really beautiful women can look kind of goofy dancing naked. In Palmer's videos, the models also move in a uniform, automoton way...making them look kind of goofy.

Palmer's videos and "Blurred Lines" are both set against fairly generic backgrounds.

Double points to Palmer.

George Michael doesn't even appear in the video for "Freedom 90," let alone hashtag his own name as Thicke does nor did he use inflatable letters to brag about the size of his appendage.

Then again, maybe neither Robert Palmer or George Michael felt like they had to brag about their manhood.

So, while others will debate whether Thicke and Pharrell plagarized "Got To Give It Up," I will continue watching the video for more clues about who they were ripping off with that.

Purely scientific. Nothing at all to do with the boobs.

While it seems unlikely that there might be someone reading this that doesn't actually know Marvin Gaye's "Got To Give It Up"...well, one you probably do and just don't know that's the title. It gets played on every Lunchtime 70's radio show in the country and was in both "Boogie Nights" and "Menace II Society." If that doesn't help you, then here's a clip of Gaye performing the song on "Soul Train":