Latest News: Petty vs. Chili Peppers, Townshend Explains Song and More

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.''

Townshend Brushes Off Conservative Tag

PETE TOWNSHEND is playing defense after the notoriously conservative National Review listed the WHO's Won't Get Fooled Again Number One on its list of the top fifty conservative rock songs. In a short blurb accompanying the ranking, author John J. Miller explained that the song made the list because it ''swears off naive idealism once and for all.'' In a response to the ranking, Townshend posted an entry in the Pete's Diaries blog on his Web site, entitled ''Won't Get Judged Again,'' rebuking the rank. Townshend explained, ''It is not precisely a song that decries revolution -- it suggests that we will indeed fight in the streets -- but that revolution, like all action can have results we cannot predict. Don't expect to see what you expect to see. Expect nothing and you might gain everything.'' Townshend then goes on to explain that the song was simply ''Meant to let politicians and revolutionaries alike know that what lay in the center of my life was not for sale, and could not be co-opted into any obvious cause.'' Rounding out the top ten of the National Review's top fifty conservative rock songs are THE BEATLES' ''Taxman,'' THE ROLLING STONES' ''Sympathy for the Devil,'' LYNYRD SKYNYRD's ''Sweet Home Alabama,'' THE BEACH BOYS' ''Wouldn't It Be Nice,'' U2's ''Gloria,'' THE BEATLES' ''Revolution,'' THE SEX PISTOLS' ''Bodies,'' METALLICA's ''Don't Tread on Me'' and THE KINKS' ''20th Century Man.''

Yorke Album Leaked Already

Some fans are already enjoying THOM YORKE's first solo album The Eraser, the latest victim of internet piracy. An early watermarked promo leaked the NIGEL GOODRICH-produced record just over a month prior to its official July 10th release, and songs like the piano chopping ''Cymbal Rush'' and ''The Clock'' have begun showing up on Radiohead message boards and MP3 blogs. In the meantime, Yorke is on the road with his Radiohead bandmates for a string of intimate North American dates with a set that is reported to be loaded with new material.

Sean Paul Joins Carey on Summer Tour

Multi-platinum selling reggae artist SEAN PAUL will tour North America this summer as part of MARIAH CAREY's concert series: The Voice, The Hits, The Tour, which kicks off August 7th in Tampa, Florida. Paul will join The Tour for stops in Atlanta, Philadelphia, Toronto, Boston, Atlantic City and New York, among other cities, supporting last year's The Trinity, which has sold more than one million copies. The singer's latest single, ''Give It Up to Me,'' is currently Number Fifty on the R&B/Hip-Hop charts. This summer's outing will be Paul's first major tour since 2003. Tickets for most shows go on sale June 2nd. Before joining Carey in August, Paul is set to embark on a month-long European tour to begin in June.

Chili Peppers Added to Endfest 15

Riding high on the heels of their first-ever U.S. Number One album, ''Stadium Arcadium,'' which sold nearly half a million copies in its first week, the RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS have been added to KNDD's Endfest 15, to be held at Seattle's White River Amphitheater August 12th. Joining the Peppers on the bill will be MODEST MOUSE, SNOW PATROL, WOLFMOTHER, NINE BLACK ALPS, EAGLES OF DEATH METAL, THE SUBWAYS and ROCK KILLS KID. Tickets range from $35 to $55 and are available through Ticketmaster. A presale open to Red Hot Chili Peppers fan club members is currently under way.

The Student Becomes the Master

In an ironic victory, OASIS beat out their idols, the BEATLES, to have 1994's Definitely Maybe voted the greatest album of all time over Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. The vote, which began last year and allowed participants to rank their ten favorite albums, was held by British Hit Singles & Albums and NME.com. It is estimated that nearly ninety-five percent of the more than 40,000 votes cast came from England. The Beatles had five albums in the top 100, including the Number Two and Number Three spots. The only American album to make the top ten was NIRVANA's Nevermind, which landed at Number Six. Other noteworthy inclusions were U2's The Joshua Tree (No. 11), MICHAEL JACKSON's Thriller (No. 35), the ROLLING STONES' Exile on Main Street (No. 42), BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN's Born to Run (No. 84) and the EAGLES' Hotel California (No. 100).

Stones Set to Roll On

THE ROLLING STONES are now set to resume the European tour that was temporarily disrupted following guitarist KEITH RICHARDS' recent head injury. The rescheduled jaunt will kick off July 11th in Milan, Italy, and include more than twenty performances in eleven countries. As previously reported, two German dates were cancelled and ten other performances have been postponed. Fans with tickets for the postponed shows are advised to save them and await further instructions. Richards was injured in April after falling from a palm tree while on vacation. In a statement to fans, Richards said, ''Excuse me, I fell off my perch! Sorry to disrupt everyone's plans but now -- it's full steam ahead! Ouch!''

Ludacris, West Come Out Victorious

Rappers LUDACRIS and KANYE WEST won their copyright infringement suit Thursday after a jury took less than a day to decide the rappers' ''Stand Up'' had not borrowed lines from the New Jersey group I.O.F.'s song ''Straight Like That.'' Upon exiting the Manhattan courtroom, Ludacris signed autographs and posed for pictures with fans. West did not appear in court. The central dispute in the case focused on ''like that,'' which is featured in both songs more than eighty times, preceded by ''straight'' in one and ''just'' in the other. After the trial, Ludacris had this to say: ''I hope the plaintiffs enjoyed their fifteen minutes of fame. This whole experience is proof to me of why I will always fight for what I believe in.''

Pete Doherty's Latest Trouble

In a story that has become all too routine, BABYSHAMBLES frontman PETE DOHERTY had another run-in with police Thursday, this time in Barcelona, Spain, after an airline crew found a bloody syringe in a bathroom the troubled rocker had just exited. Doherty and his bandmates were traveling aboard an EasyJet airliner on their way to perform at the Primavera Sound Festival in Barcelona when the crew became suspicious of Doherty for spending ''a lot of time in the toilet.'' After discovering the bloody syringe, the crew questioned Doherty, who became ''agitated and aggressive.'' A crew member notified Barcelona's El Prat Airport police, who met the airliner at the gate. According to witnesses, when police boarded the plan, one of Doherty's travelmates entered the bathroom with a baggie and exited empty-handed. Doherty and his crew then began ''throwing their bags around and swapping bags, and would not identify which bags were which,'' according to an EasyJet spokesperson. Since the police were unable to find any contraband, everyone, including Doherty, was released, although the band has since been banned from the airline.