- by Daniel Melia
- Wednesday, May 24, 2006
- filed in: Rock
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The Red Hot Chili Peppers have been accused of plagiarism by a radio station in America.
The station, WGMD in Delaware, has produced pretty damning evidence that the bands last single ‘Dani California’ is a rip off of a Tom Petty track.
The song in question is Petty’s 90’s hit ‘Mary Jane’s Last Dance’ and the radio stations Morning Show presenter and producer have alleged the plagiarism.
Producer Jared Morris said: “The chord progression, the melody, the tempo, the key, the lyrical theme… they’re identical.”
Show presenter Dan Gaffney has produced this MP3 to show up the similarities and help people make their own decisions.


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It does sound really really similar to it but how many other songs are there that sound almost identical in the world? There are only so many chords you can use
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If anyone thinks it’s a sheer coincidence how these songs sound similar.. think again. John Frusciante their guitarist is influenced by a lot of music from this era and the new york punk scene in particular. Wonder where Frusciante got his ‘Californication’ one of their most famous riffs from? Listen to Television’s ‘Elevation’ and it’ll all be clear how much the Chili Pepper’s rip off their influences. The Chili Peppers are possibly the most over-
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From the first moment I heard ”Dani California” I thought I had heard it before and I haven’t really understood what the fuss over this song has been. It pales in comparison to allot of new music out now and seems to be hitting the charts out of love and respect for RHCP rather than the quality of the song itself. The clever video that accompanies this song, at one point reflects the era when the ripped off melody was written. It may not have been done consciously and probably 
Even if it’s not, RHCP are worthless now. But it is.
Very similar indeed.BUT if we’re going to play this game, we might as well name every band on the planet.RockNRoll is a formulaic art-from where repitition is inevitable.EVERYONE draws influence from someone else.RHCP rarely show their influences so directly,unlike a lot of trendy bands these days that blatently rip Talking Heads,Television,Joy Divsion,etc.At least RHCP are versatile enough to transend current trend and even pay homage while they’re at it.Dont hate b/c of commercial
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