Audio By Carbonatix
Joe Satriani accused the Coldplay dudes of hijacking his song “If I Could Fly” for their song “Viva La Vida.” Satriani was pissed, and we all know that dude can wail on the guitars fast enough to make the Silver Surfer fly through the sky. Coldplay denied his allegations, but the two ended up settling out of court, probably because Coldplay was scared Satriani might set them on fire. Amazingly, this isn’t the most egregious of offenses on this list, but it’s certainly the most publicized. Clearly, the Coldplay version has less guitar solos.
Earlier this week, Nick Cave responded to accusations that he nicked the basis of the song “Palaces of Montezuma” from a tune by some guy named Frank Duffy called “Grey Man.” It seems absurd someone as versatile as Cave would intentionally borrow a lick or two from another song. Any similarities are surely incidental. After all, there are only so may chord progressions and so many words that can be strung together before they start sounding like At the Drive-In-like gibberish. In honor of Grinderman, here’s some other famous charges of pilferage.
10. Tom Petty vs. The Strokes
The Strokes openly admitted to copping the basis of “Last Night” from Tom Petty and Petty claimed not to care about it in an interview with Rolling Stone. Perhaps there’s something to learn from this: if you’re open about your influences, people are less likely to get up in arms… which isn’t the case for the next few songs on this list.
9. Queen/David Bowie vs. Vanilla Ice
2. The Hollies vs. Radiohead
This one never made it to court because someone noticed the similarities to “The Air That I Breathe” by the Hollies and “Creep” by Radiohead before the latter’s record was released. The song is so kindred, in fact, that the original songwriters, Albert Hammond and Mike Hazelwood, share songwriting credit in the liner notes.
Joe Satriani accused the Coldplay dudes of hijacking his song “If I Could Fly” for their song “Viva La Vida.” Satriani was pissed, and we all know that dude can wail on the guitars fast enough to make the Silver Surfer fly through the sky. Coldplay denied his allegations, but the two ended up settling out of court, probably because Coldplay was scared Satriani might set them on fire. Amazingly, this isn’t the most egregious of offenses on this list, but it’s certainly the most publicized. Clearly, the Coldplay version has less guitar solos.
Earlier this week, Nick Cave responded to accusations that he nicked the basis of the song “Palaces of Montezuma” from a tune by some guy named Frank Duffy called “Grey Man.” It seems absurd someone as versatile as Cave would intentionally borrow a lick or two from another song. Any similarities are surely incidental. After all, there are only so may chord progressions and so many words that can be strung together before they start sounding like At the Drive-In-like gibberish. In honor of Grinderman, here’s some other famous charges of pilferage.
10. Tom Petty vs. The Strokes
The Strokes openly admitted to copping the basis of “Last Night” from Tom Petty and Petty claimed not to care about it in an interview with Rolling Stone. Perhaps there’s something to learn from this: if you’re open about your influences, people are less likely to get up in arms… which isn’t the case for the next few songs on this list.
9. Queen/David Bowie vs. Vanilla Ice
2. The Hollies vs. Radiohead
This one never made it to court because someone noticed the similarities to “The Air That I Breathe” by the Hollies and “Creep” by Radiohead before the latter’s record was released. The song is so kindred, in fact, that the original songwriters, Albert Hammond and Mike Hazelwood, share songwriting credit in the liner notes.
Joe Satriani accused the Coldplay dudes of hijacking his song “If I Could Fly” for their song “Viva La Vida.” Satriani was pissed, and we all know that dude can wail on the guitars fast enough to make the Silver Surfer fly through the sky. Coldplay denied his allegations, but the two ended up settling out of court, probably because Coldplay was scared Satriani might set them on fire. Amazingly, this isn’t the most egregious of offenses on this list, but it’s certainly the most publicized. Clearly, the Coldplay version has less guitar solos.
