Two weeks ago, The Sun published an excerpt from an interview with singer Jill Sobule in which she trashed Katy Perry. Sobule put out a folksy pop song in 1995 called “I Kissed a Girl” that bears little resemblance to Perry’s 2008 hit, except for the concept and name. The thing that Sobule found offensive was that Perry claimed that the title of the song came to her in a dream, even though according to Sobule, Perry “wrote it with a team of professional writers and was signed by the very same guy that signed me in 1995.” More explosive parts of Sobule’s interview included her calling Perry ” f***ing stupid, maybe ‘not good for the gays’, title thieving, haven’t heard much else, so not quite sure if you’re talented, f***ing little slut.”

Sobule now has a long article up on The Huffington Post explaining that her quote was taken out of context and without attribution from an online ‘zine called The Rumpus. It’s true that The Sun lifted the quotes without credit, although they eventually put up a link to the interview once the story was old news. If you read the full article, that’s exactly what she said and she wasn’t prompted other than a question that “What are people usually most interested in knowing about?” It was her own decision to go off on Perry like that, and I don’t blame her, but she’s trying to backtrack now. She wasn’t misquoted and the context doesn’t change what she said, but she says it was in jest and she didn’t mean it like that:

I woke up last Tuesday, and went straight to the computer. I had an interesting idea for a song — that now I forget. First thing I noticed was my Twitter was filled with, what appeared to be, hate mail from about 30 very upset Katy Perry fangirls. I was confused. Then, I got email messages from relatives and friends informing me that I was in Perez Hilton and The Sun. Why would I be in the tabloids? I’m not that fancy. And, from what they said — I still have yet to visit those particular sites — I was portrayed as this angry bitter jealous “gramma” starved for publicity.

It all started with an interview I did for one of my new favorite blog sites: Therumpus.net — a semi-obscure but hopefully growing arts and cultural website. It was one of the more interesting interviews I have ever done, as I was actually asked, engaging questions for a change. However, the interviewer had to ask the annoying yet inevitable “What did I think of the Katy Perry version of “I Kissed a Girl?”

I thought maybe this time I would have fun with it and goof on what many of my fans were hoping to hear over the last year. I prefaced my reply with a wink, and then rambled on with a string of over the top dumb-ass profanities, purposely out of character and completely in jest.

There was no problem with The Rumpus readers, but then a few weeks later the quote was picked up in the tabloids, out of context, with no link to the original interview, and without that — hard to sometimes see in print — wink. My friend Ken, a publicist, said, ” I saw the grin behind your words, but not everyone knows you, Jill” My use of the phrase, “f*cking little slut”, by the way, would only be used… ironically.

I am sounding apologetic, which I’m not, but I have to admit the whole thing made me feel terrible for a couple of days. Who wants to be misunderstood or portrayed negatively, especially by such a beacon of light as Perez with his enormous following — my mother reads him. And I’m not one who goes for the “all press is good press” dictum. Now I hear I will be featured in the upcoming issue of US magazine under the heading “Feud of the Week”!

But where my thin skin really showed was my reaction to the Katy Perry teen fangirls. I somehow was transferred to 7th grade, the worst year of my life. I was reminded of when mean girl Shelly Zissman spread the rumor that I was a “lezzie” at Shwader Camp. I was devastated. Okay, so maybe the rumor had some basis of truth to it, but she didn’t know that at the time.

[From The Huffington Post]

Sobule also plugs her new fan-funded album on this story, writing “By the way (a bit of shameless self-promotion since I don’t have a big machine behind me): My new record, California Years, was completely fan-funded. You can get it most places, but I like it best when it’s listened to and bought on my website, JillSobule.com.”

I don’t know. I believe her when she says she meant it in jest, but you can tell Perry’s success bothers her, as do some of the responses to what she said. Sobule got a lot of publicity out of it, though, and she timed her follow-up well in order to get her name in the press again after the story had faded. I think she was genuinely surprised by the publicity, but maybe Sobule should try and pull some more stunts like this. There are only so many times you can trash people before you end up getting ignored though. Just look at Roseanne Barr.

Here’s Katy Perry performing in Sydney, Australia on 8/17/09. Credit: ICON/Fame Pictures. WENN.com. Jill Sobule is shown in 2006

I remember the day I received a promotional e-mail to watch the new “I Kissed a Girl” video by an artist I’d never heard of, Katy Perry. I watched the whole video hoping to see a hot girl-on-girl kiss and there was no action whatsoever. I thought the song was too hard and the video was too much of a tease and never imagined that it would be a hit. In my mind, it didn’t compare to the cute “I Kissed a Girl” song I knew from 1995. The 1995 song is a sweet kind of sentimental tribute to experimental lesbianism while Perry’s version treats a same sex kiss as just another experience to brag about.

Perry managed to catapult that song to the top of the charts, though, and has had other hit singles, like “Hot ‘N Cold.” She’s a hard worker and a tireless self promoter and has won many fans with her wacky, friendly image. There’s at least one person who would rather not be a witness to Katy Perry’s massive fame. Singer Jill Sobule really resents the fact that Perry’s hit single has the same name as her 1995 song, particularly because Perry claimed that she came up with the title but just happened to be working with the same producers that helped make Sobule’s song a hit:

JILL SOBULE released a track with the same name, but totally different music and lyrics, in 1995.

And despite saying in the past that she wasn’t “precious” about her song title, Jill now claims Katy stole it – remarking it can’t be coincidence as they were both signed by the same music executive.

Jill blasted: “As a musician I have always refrained from criticizing another artist. I was, ‘Well, good for her.’

“It did bug me a little bit, however, when she said she came up with the idea for the title in a dream.

“In truth, she wrote it with a team of professional writers and was signed by the very same guy that signed me in 1995.

“I have not mentioned that in interviews as I don’t want to sound bitter or petty, because that’s not me.

“Okay, maybe, if I really think about it, there were a few jealous and p***ed off moments.

“So here goes, for the first time in an interview…

“F*** you Katy Perry, you f***ing stupid, maybe ‘not good for the gays’, title thieving, haven’t heard much else, so not quite sure if you’re talented, f***ing little slut.”

[From The Sun]

That was really harsh and there’s no need to call names. Sobule should be blaming the people she worked with, not Perry. It’s not like there are any similarities to the songs other than the title and general concept. Sobule never really had a hit beyond that “I Kissed a Girl” song and another single at the time, “Supermodel,” and you can tell she resents it. According to Wikipedia, her last album was financed with fan donations made through her website. It must be really rough to be a musician and the odds of reaching sustained success are like hitting the lottery. Perry hit it big, but she could be old news in a few years too. There’s no need to bash her for having the same ambitions.

Jill Sobule’s “I Kissed a Girl” from 1995

Katy Perry’s “I Kissed a Girl” from 2008

Jill Sobule is shown in 2007. Katie Perry is shown on 7/24 and 7/26/09. Credit: WENN.com