28: HBD™

Support RS at patreon.com/reasonablysound

Originally published September 17, 2015

It’s the birthday episode for Reasonably Sound! Celebrating 1 year, Mike dives into why he can’t lead us all in a rousing chorus of that famous Happy Birthday song that we all know and … love (?). But the copyright clampdown might be loosening in light of dramatic new evidence found (as evidence usually is) in a basement.

PLUS … an exciting new birthday announcement: We are launching a Patreon! Now you can support the show you love with more than just cheering at your phone whenever a new episode comes out. The Patreon will help Reasonably Sound grow to new and exciting places. You can see the full details at the Reasonably Sound Patreon page.

You can also find Reasonably Sound’s very own Birthday Song at Mike’s bandcamp here: https://mikerugnetta.bandcamp.com/album/hbd-2

-- SOURCES --

FMA’S License Free Birthday Songs, Entries
http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Happy_Birthday_Song_Contest/The_New_Birthday_Song_Contest/

Happy Birthday Song Contest Winners
http://freemusicarchive.org/curator/FMA/blog/Announcing_the_Happy_Birthday_Replacement_Songs

The twisted history of the Happy Birthday song—and the copyright shenanigans that keep it profitable
http://boingboing.net/2015/08/07/the-twisted-history-of-the-hap.html

Copyright and The World’s Most Popular Song by Robert Brauneis [PDF]
http://poseidon01.ssrn.com/delivery.php?ID=481085124111100121104090124019121064104035090029001010110003125092118100096090117113041000008060051058110118083098067111089113060083005001074096094122082009084025073059066002004112011026007024016084125125088100084090087089118001089100093115113117007&EXT=pdf

Original 1890s Manuscript of “Happy Birthday” Found In a Filing Cabinet
http://www.digitalmusicnews.com/2015/09/01/breaking-original-1890s-manuscript-of-happy-birthday-discovered/

Birthday Song’s Copyright Leads to a Lawsuit for the Ages
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/14/nyregion/lawsuit-aims-to-strip-happy-birthday-to-you-of-its-copyright.html

“Happy Birthday” Lawsuit: “Smoking Gun” Emerges in Bid to Free World’s Most Popular Song
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/happy-birthday-lawsuit-smoking-gun-811144

Happy Birthday song and its strange past
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/music-news/10674899/Happy-Birthday-song-and-its-strange-past.html

-- a previous version of this episode contained the following MUSIC --

Intro and Outro: Happy Birthday Song by Andrew Brid from andrew bird and the mysterious production of eggs
Break 1 – Smiley Monroe
Break 2 – My Birth by Swans from My Father Will Guide Me Up A Rope to The sky