I was showing off my collection of newly ripped MP3s to my friend Marc Felice the other day. He was nice enough to drop off some tunes I didn't own so I could have a listen. Among the CDs he lent me was Warning by Green Day, the lone Green Day disc missing from my collection. Listening to this CD reminded me of how much "Waiting" sounds like Petula Clark's 1964 hit "Downtown". It's unmistakable. It's so similar, it must have been intentional.
I've noticed other modern rock hits sounding similar to older tunes. The Offspring's "Why Don't You Get a Job?" sounds almost exactly like The Beatles' "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da". It's a blatant rip-off.
One of my favourite bands, Pearl Jam, are guilty of this as well. "Given To Fly" from Yield is eerily similar to Led Zeppelin's "Going to California". Still, the song kicks ass and is a personal favourite.
