Non-Urban Music Red Hot Chili Peppers plagiarise Tom Petty

[Illuminattile]

This is a little old, but I didn't see it posted up;

The RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS' recent hit ''Dani California'' is uncomfortably similar to TOM PETTY's 1993 song ''Mary Jane's Last Dance,'' according to two Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, talk-show hosts who posted an MP3 comparing the tracks online this week. ''It's not just the chord progressions are the same -- the entire theme of the song is the same, and some of the lyrics are the same,'' says Jared Morris, a producer and talk-show host at WGMD-FM. But while published reports allege an infuriated Petty intends to sue over copyright infringement, the singer wasn't available for comment and spokespeople for the longtime Heartbreakers frontman wouldn't talk.

Not only that, a University of Chicago musicologist says the ''Dani California'' passage is hardly similar enough to ''Mary Jane's Last Dance'' to hold up in court. ''The opening parts of both songs have very similar grooves, they use pretty much the same chord progressions and the ways the melodies are patterned are similar. And it pretty much stops there,'' says Travis Jackson, an associate professor who specializes in recording technology. ''Chord progressions are really hard to claim as a basis [for a lawsuit]. That's a pretty standard groove. You would have to do a lot more to say there's outright copying.''

Download the comparison

He's supposedly considering legal action.

 

[Casey]

Fuck. It does sound similar. But, as legendary music producer Mutt Lange once told my cousin "You can't write a hit song everyday".

 

[PuffnScruff]

hey, shit happens, just ask nickelback
http://www.princeton.edu/~vperry/blog/nickelback.mp3 (may take a second for it to load)

i have also heard the excuse, which is a true one, writers write what they know, whether it is intended to be a rip off or done subconsciously. do you know how many people compare the movie e.t. to the story of jesus.

 

[Dogmatic187]

Yeah I heard about this the other day, maybe they'll go with the Vanilla Ice defense?

 

[PuffnScruff]

http://www.myspace.com/djamone

dj am did a mix using the two songs, its not bad