From the NY Post:

ARE the Red Hot Chili Peppers really stone-cold copycats? The Peppers have
just come out with a huge new album, "Stadium Arcadium," but its success is
marred by insiders' charges that the CD's hit single is uncomfortably similar
to a Tom Petty hit from the '90s.
"The single 'Dani California' [currently No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100
chart] is a huge hit - but there is a major problem," one source claimed.
"The song has the same chord progression, melody and tempo of Petty's 'Mary
Jane's Last Dance.' The song even has a similar lyrical theme."
"Dani California" starts off: "Gettin' born in the state of Mississippi /
Poppa was a copper and her momma was a hippie / In Alabama she was swinging
hammer," while "Mary Jane's Last Dance" goes: "She grew up in a Indiana town
/ Had a good-lookin' mama who never was around / But she grew up tall and she
grew up right / With them Indiana boys on an Indiana night."
Our source said, "Tom Petty was made aware of this and is looking into legal
ramifications. The Chili Peppers could be facing a huge plagiarism lawsuit -
which is a major problem for Warners. Both bands are on the Warner Bros.
label. If Tom sues, the album, which is Warner's biggest hit of the year,
would have to be pulled from shelves pending litigation."
Petty's rep, Heidi Robinson, said: "I am well aware of this situation. [The
two songs] certainly do sound similar, don't they? I guess imitation is the
sincerest form of flattery. Tom doesn't have a comment on this at all. I have
no idea if he is going to sue the Chili Peppers, and am not prepared to make
a comment on that."
Chili Peppers' rep Liz Rosenberg referred calls to Warner Bros. spokesman
Link Burland, who said, "This is the first I have heard of it."




I hadn't yet heard the RHCP song, but now that I have, I can only wonder
about what planet the Chilis inhabit to think they could slip this one
by.

Wow. What a rip!!





David Correia
www.Celebrationsound.com

It was probably an honest mistake...
They do happen you know...
We're not all criminals...
---
Steve.


"david correia" wrote in message
...
From the NY Post:

ARE the Red Hot Chili Peppers really stone-cold copycats? The Peppers
have
just come out with a huge new album, "Stadium Arcadium," but its success
is
marred by insiders' charges that the CD's hit single is uncomfortably
similar
to a Tom Petty hit from the '90s.
"The single 'Dani California' [currently No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100
chart] is a huge hit - but there is a major problem," one source claimed.
"The song has the same chord progression, melody and tempo of Petty's
'Mary
Jane's Last Dance.' The song even has a similar lyrical theme."
"Dani California" starts off: "Gettin' born in the state of Mississippi /
Poppa was a copper and her momma was a hippie / In Alabama she was
swinging
hammer," while "Mary Jane's Last Dance" goes: "She grew up in a Indiana
town
/ Had a good-lookin' mama who never was around / But she grew up tall and
she
grew up right / With them Indiana boys on an Indiana night."
Our source said, "Tom Petty was made aware of this and is looking into
legal
ramifications. The Chili Peppers could be facing a huge plagiarism
lawsuit -
which is a major problem for Warners. Both bands are on the Warner Bros.
label. If Tom sues, the album, which is Warner's biggest hit of the year,
would have to be pulled from shelves pending litigation."
Petty's rep, Heidi Robinson, said: "I am well aware of this situation.
[The
two songs] certainly do sound similar, don't they? I guess imitation is
the
sincerest form of flattery. Tom doesn't have a comment on this at all. I
have
no idea if he is going to sue the Chili Peppers, and am not prepared to
make
a comment on that."
Chili Peppers' rep Liz Rosenberg referred calls to Warner Bros. spokesman
Link Burland, who said, "This is the first I have heard of it."




I hadn't yet heard the RHCP song, but now that I have, I can only wonder
about what planet the Chilis inhabit to think they could slip this one
by.

Wow. What a rip!!





David Correia
www.Celebrationsound.com

Steven Sena wrote:
It was probably an honest mistake...
They do happen you know...
We're not all criminals...
---
Steve.

It's entirely possible that it was unintentional. Still, there is one
weird thing to wonder if the song really sounds so similar to a well
known hit. How did it make it all the way to the final CD without
_anyone_ else involved in the process (engineers, producers, label,
etc.) noticing the similiarity?

Even law suits help sell ****ty bands...