Lady Gaga, whose name is inspired by Radio Gaga by Queen in case you were wondering, has moved pretty swiftly from dance clubs in New York to the mainstream. Apparently she’s also the creative director for Polaroid, which seems like a snub towards Andre 3000. Anyway, Paparazzi was the fourth single (in the U.S.) from 2008’s The Fame. It follows the Gaga formula of a dark, ominous verse mixed with a very hooky, grandiose chorus. In this case, the chorus is pretty similar to the chorus of By The Way, the title track to the Red Hot Chili Pepper’s 2005 album. By The Way actually has a similar formula with it’s frantic, almost demonic sounding verse, leading into the pure cane sugar chorus. Does this make Anthony Kiedis mad? He could always start ripping off her fashion sense.
I guess the true dogfather as far as the courts are concerned is George Clinton, who now legally owns Bow Wow Wow Yippie Yo Yippie Yay. The phrase, which he originally wrote in the Parliament song Atomic Dog in 1982, has become part of the pop culture vernacular since Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre resurrected it for the 1992 gangsta rap smash hit crossover Nothin but a G Thang from The Chronic. Apparently, Clinton drew the line when the backup band for R Kelly, Public Announcement, tried to get away with it in their song D.O.G. in Me in their 1998 album All Work, No Play. He raised the funk flag and dropped a lawsuit on the group, and the courts saw it his way awarding Bridgeport Music, the company that handles Clinton’s work, around 89 large. Bridgeport is also pursuing 476 (holy cripes!) other copyright lawsuits against various artists who borrowed from Clinton, though he is not seeing any of these funds since he is in a royalty dispute with Bridgeport.
Weezer has been doing a fun, live mash up of Kids by MGMT and Poker Face by Lady Gaga. The band seems to enjoy playing with this idea, especially the crowd’s reaction when those all too familiar keyboard riff of Kids takes form. This footage is from the T-Mobile party on May 15th, 2009.
Yikes, this one might for the courts. Lifehouse released a song called Whatever it Takes from the 2007 album Who We Are that pretty much uses the same exact melody for it’s chorus as Don’t Go Away by Oasis from 1995’s What’s the Story Morning Glory. I guess they’ll do whatever it takes to get on FM radio. Oasis had a pretty good run from 1995-1999 with a slew of hits from Noel Gallagher, but things seemed to change around 2000 with the release of Standing on the Shoulder of Giants and some internal rifts within the band that went beyond the classic sibling squabbling we’ve come to adore in this band. Noel, are you out there? There might some back royalties here waiting for you.
Former child star and Rilo Kiley member Jenny Lewis released Acid Tongue in 2008, which was inferior to 2006’s more country tinged Rabbit Fur Coat. The first single was Carpetbaggers, featuring an unnecessary guest spot from professional collaborator Elvis Costello. Seriously, does he ever say no? The melody of the verse will sound familiar because it was first used by Neil Young in Love is a Rose originally written in 1974 for the unreleased album Homegrown, and later being released in 1977 on the compilation Decade which consisted of three lps.
This one is certainly hard to ignore. Jules De Martino and Katie White of the English Pop Due The Ting Tings must have been checking out some classic rock stations in Manchester when they formed in December 2004 because their song Great DJ lifts the “money riff” from Eddie Money’s 1977 #1 classic Baby Hold On. An interesting sidenote to this story is the fact that Money was sued by Ray Evans and Jay Livingston for plagiarizing the lyrics of the song Que Sera, Sera made popular by Doris Day, specifically the line “Whatever Will Be, Will Be,” so apparently that line is trademarked. Money reportedly paid the damages in court with real money in lieu of Eddie Money merchandise.
Kimya Dawson recently brushed elbows with lady mainstream with the soundtrack to Juno (screenplay written by Diablo Cody in a Target Starbucks in Crystal, Minnesota) and the standout track is Anyone Else But You, which is a song by her band the Moldy Peaches. It’s a catchy melody, with it’s “doo doo da doo doo da doo doo…” part that kind of cycles over and over. I bet Axl Rose digs this little lick too, because if you change it to an electric guitar (with distortion) and speed it up, it turns into the driving riff on Paradise City. You know…where the grass is green and the girls are pretty? This led me to ponder earlier versions of these golden notes which brought me to New York, New York by Frank Sinatra. Yep, there they are in the intro of the music. There’s a few extra notes in there, but it’s more or less the same backbone.
Finger Eleven is back with vengeance, and a ripoff. The Canadian alt metal band came into the world in Burlington, Ontario as The Rainbow Butt Monkeys. Which name is better? It’s kind of a wash. How about the Finger Eleven Butt Monkeys? Is that available?
Franz Ferdinand formed in Glasgow, Scotland in 2001 and delighted history teachers throughout the U.S. that instantly gained 2% street cred for knowing all about Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria. Take Me Out became a big hit in the UK and a modest hit in the US in 2004, with it’s unique composition and catchy guitar hook. Finger Eleven lifted this idea in Paralyzer which was a big hit for the band in the U.S. in 2008.
Mason Jennings played a sold out show at First Avenue in Minneapolis on December 27th, 2007. He usually plays First Ave every December, and this concert came closely after the soundtrack to I’m Not There was released, in which he provided two excellent Bob Dylan covers - Times They Are a-Changin’ and The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll. Surprisingly, both songs were left off the setlist.
Tegan and Sara, my favorite lesbian identical twin sister Canadian band, came to the Pantages Theatre in Minneapolis on November 30th, 2007, in support of their phenomenal record The Con. The album is on my best of 2007 list. They played a nice mix of this record and their older material.
Overall, the show was very good, with some minor distractions.
The first of which are intended for the crowd.
Much like Nancy Sinatra’s boots are made for walking, theater shows are made for sitting. You can stand for the encore only. Also, it’s not a free for all, and you can’t run up to the pit. Sorry kids. Stay off my damn lawn.
