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.

Young Folks by Sweden’s Peter Bjorn and John was to 2007, as Crazy by Gnarls Barkley was to 2006 in the United States. The instantly recognizeable drumbeat, vocal stylings of guest performer Victoria Bergsman (formerly of The Concretes), and the infectious whistle used in the verse make it as sweet as a pouch of big league chew. I’m guessing The Turtles enjoyed this song, since they recorded something very similar in 1966 called You Baby. The major similarities are the drumbeat and the melody of the verses. Even the beatlesque jangly guitar in You Baby is close to the whistling of Young Folks, which makes sense since it’s just following the melody.

The Arcade Fire have quietly become one of the most vital bands in current music, spearheading the Canadian Invasion (trademark). In one of these quiet moments, I believe they watched Eddie and the Cruisers in the comfort of their tour bus. The melody verse of Keep the Car Running by the Arcade Fire is similar to the melody verse of On the Darkside by John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band.

It’s true. The Damon Albarn-fronted uber hip animated band Gorillaz lifted a tune from the Canadian Troubadour Gordon Lightfoot. This is a case of verse sounds like verse.

If You Could Read my Mind appeared on the 1970 album Sit Down Young Stranger and rose to #5 on the Billboard charts becoming his first American hit. This prompted Reprise Records to change the name of the album to (big surprise) If You Could Read my Mind. The album has a picture of the G-Light (everyone refer to him as G-Light from this point forward) staring out of a window with a content, possibly bordering on creepy, expression on his face similar to John Denver’s much creepier 1970 album cover for Take Me to Tomorrow.

OK. Let’s start this blog off with the quintessentiel example of songs being alike.

The Chiffons were an all girl r&b group that came out of the Bronx in 1960. The group hit number one in the U.S. with the song He’s So Fine as their first single. It was written by a songwriter named Ronald Mack, who died of cancer shortly after it was released. Carole King played piano on this track. The group included Judy Craig as lead singer, Patricia Bennett and Barbara Lee. Sylvia Peterson joined the group in 1963.