10 Hits You Didn't Realise Sampled Other Songs
3. Sour Times - Portishead
Hailing from Bristol, UK, Portishead were at the forefront of the trip hop movement, a fusion of hip hop and electronica recognised for its slower tempos and dark, moody atmospheres. Portishead's debut album, 1995's Dummy, proved a massive success for the trio, charting high across Europe and earning them a Mercury Music Prize.
A lead single from the album, Sour Times was composed by all three members of the band, and has long been considered one of the defining tracks of the '90s. With it's rattling strings, off-kilter sound, and haunting vocals, it's a song which is instantly recognisable and strikingly memorable.
Those rattling strings come from Danube Incident, by Argentine pianist and composer Lalo Schifrin, a piece of music written for the influential TV spy series, Mission Impossible, for which Schifrin also composed the excellent theme tune. That theme tune, of course, would later be reinterpreted by members of U2 for the long-running series of Tom Cruise movies.
Other notable Schifrin compositions include the film-scores for Paul Newman vehicles Cool Hand Luke and Bullitt, Clint Eastwood's Dirty Harry series, Voyage Of The Damned and George Lucas' first film, THX 1138.