When my wife got her car about eight years ago it came with a free trial of XM Radio. This was just a few years after the merge with Sirius Satellite radio. I had satellite radio in one of my old vehicles, so I knew that once she got used to it she would be hooked.
I'm not a fan of talk shows or listening to people talk early in the morning, so satellite radio along with streaming is perfect for me. One of the things I really love is the variety of music that you can listen to.
We were driving down to Toledo to meet our inlaws this past weekend and we had the radio set to LL Cool J's "Rock the Bells" radio. They do a special segment every now and then called "Salute the Sample" and I thought that would be a perfect theme for this weeks #threetunetuesday started by 
Basically, the premise of the show is LL Cool J and some of his friends talk about a particular sample that was used in a hip hop track. They play the original song and then they play the song that it was sampled in.
I thought I would start things off easy this week and give you one that you have probably heard before.
That's right, the sample we are going to salute today is none other than "Genius of Love" by Tom Tom Club. I can't say as though I ever heard the original before digging into it, but if you are not familiar with this tune you have to have been living under a rock.
According to a website I found, this song has been sampled in no less than 65 different songs over the years. That's pretty impressive if you ask me. This might be the most iconic tune that no one has ever heard of before.
Unless you are talking to a real music aficionado, if you asked them to hum "Genius of Love" they probably couldn't pick it out from any other tune. In fact, many of them might accidentally start humming/singing "Slave to Love" by Bryan Ferry instead.
On the other hand, if you started humming "Genius of Love" to them, they should be able to name at least one maybe two songs that they have heard it sampled in.
Depending on how old they are, this might be the first song that they mention "Fantasy" by Mariah Carey. I remember when Mariah Carey hit the scene. I was a young man and I was clearly taken with her. I remember my dad even bought one of her CD's because he was so fascinated by her voice.
Sure, looking back now, it's pretty clear why people feel some of her higher notes are akin to dolphin calls, but back then, it was just so new that I don't think people cared as much.
Plus, taking that higher octave out of the picture, Carey is still a diva who could sing the phone book and it would have sounded great. There is a reason her name is often in the same sentence as Whitney and Aretha.
It kind of makes you wonder if she was always as weird as she is now and she just did a better job of hiding it back then. Who knows...
Then again, if you are talking to someone younger, they will probably instantly recognize "Genius of Love" from this recent song by Latto called "Big Energy". I think the first song I heard this song was on one of the episodes of She Hulk. That should tell you how much current music I listen to.
I'd be lying if I said it didn't do anything for me though. It definitely hit me right in the nostalgia and I immediately added it to one of my regular playlists on Spotify.
I think it's the perfect example of why "Genius of Love" has been sampled so much. It's just a smooth groove. It has a beat that gets you bouncing and the throwback vibe definitely gets you in the feels.
I know that's my three, but let me leave you with one more...
The use of samples in music is definitely an art form. Although it seems to be abundant in rap and hip hop music, it doesn't end there. The song "All by Myself" by Eric Carmen samples a classical tune. There are many others. You can check out seventeen of them on this page.
I also discovered the other day there is a website and app called Who Sampled that allows you to see who sampled a song when you hear it. I haven't checked it out yet, but the idea sounds pretty cool to me. If you have used it, let me know about it in the comments.
What is your favorite sample?
All pictures/screenshots taken by myself or 
