Jagger Song Prompts Lawsuit
The authorship of Mick Jagger‘s hit “Just Another Night” has been called into question by Jamaican singer-songwriter Patrick E. Glanville, who claims in a copyright-infringement suit against Jagger, CBS Inc., Columbia Pictures Industries and several other companies that he – not Jagger – wrote the song.
Where this suit differs from copyright-infringement cases that have received media attention in the past – such as those brought against Michael Jackson and the Bee Gees – is that Glanville, who uses the stage name Patrick Alley, is a recording artist who had modest success selling his “Just Another Night” several years before Jagger recorded his song of the same name. Glanville’s recording – included on his Touch of Patrick Alley album – was released in 1982 on the TADS label in England. The song was copyrighted in November 1983 in the U.S. and released on the Pongora label. Glanville said it sold some 28,000 copies overall.
The suit, filed on January 2nd, 1986, in the United States District Court, Southern District of New York, asks for “all gains, profits and advantages” derived by the defendants – which could amount to millions of dollars – as well as statutory damages of $275,000.
Glanville learned of Jagger’s song from a friend last year. “After I played it, I realized it was a similar thing,” said Glanville. “I was very shocked. I looked at the record for some credit of my name, and I didn’t see it.”
“It’s the same song,” said Glanville’s attorney, Charles E. Baxley. “The same words, the same music – it’s obvious.”
Glanville is a friend of well-known reggae percussionist Sly Dunbar, who performed on Jagger’s “Just Another Night.” “Patrick told me that Sly told him, ‘Mick knocked you off,” said Baxley. But Jagger’s attorney, L. Peter Parcher, said, “Mick absolutely denies copying that song.”
This story is from the February 27th, 1986 issue of Rolling Stone.