In interviews, songwriters and bands are always asked to name their influences. I can tell you that this is an uncomfortable question sometimes, because one doesn't want to disappoint the fans when they discover that even though your music is known for balls-out rocking guitar pop, it turns out your influences include Cat Stevens and Dvorak.
It's usually not that much of a surprise though. Sometimes the influences are so obvious you wonder whether the artist is embarrassed to admit them because they're so clearly ripping off the style of their heroes. I won't name names here, primarily because anyone who is that transparently unoriginal doesn't receive enough acclaim to become well-known. (The exceptions tend to be those who become successful because of their looks!)
But sometimes the influences are purposely worn on the sleeve as a love-letter to their musical idols. And sometimes it works so well because the artist has mashed up elements from a few different influences into one piece. Tame Impala's "Elephant" is my current fave example of this: everyone agrees that Kevin Parker sounds like John Lennon on this song, and most would agree that the band has a definite Beatles-y sound behind him, including the distinctive Hofner bass anchoring the groove. Then in the middle of the song, after a connective phrases that sounds like the connective descending scale in Pink Floyd's "Money," a loopy keyboard break feels like it could have been Ray Manzarek soloing in a Doors song. The Comments section on the YouTube posting confirms that I'm not the only one hearing these, but (aside from the usual YT trolls) no one seems to mind.
When is it OK to copy your influences? Well, I suppose the three intervening decades help, but for me it's the fact that these influences are combined in a new, exciting way, a way the influencing artists might not have thought of.
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