10 Hit Songs You Had No Idea Used Samples
3. Mad Men Theme
Matthew Weiner, the writer, director, and producer of Mad Men, really wanted Beck to sing the theme song. Thankfully for us, Beck had no faith in a show about ad executives in the '60s, and turned down every single contract they sent his way. We only ended up with the iconic theme after Weiner randomly heard a snippet of it being used as a segue between programmes on the radio, and immediately fell in love.
The song, by RJD2, was originally used as a backing track for an Aceyalone rap song called A Beautiful Mine. The Mad Men producers wisely removed the lyrics and rearranged it to the point that RJD2 reportedly didn't recognise his own song when he first heard it.
To create A Beautiful Mine, RJD2 had sampled Beautiful Leaves by Enoch Light. It's a gorgeous song in its own right, though it is woefully missing a part where some cool drums kick in and really take a walk around the set.