Dani California

"Dani California" is the first single from the Red Hot Chili Peppers' ninth studio album, Stadium Arcadium. The single was first made available at the iTunes Music Store and then was officially released on May 2, 2006.

The international radio premiere was April 3, 2006, when Don Jantzen from the Houston radio station KTBZ-FM, played "Dani California" continuously for his entire three hour show.News, Red Hot Chili Peppers Official Fan Site, April 3, 2006, http://www.billboard.com

The single debuted on the The Billboard Hot 100 at number twenty-four and peaked at number six, becoming the band's third single to hit the top-ten on the chart. As well, "Dani California" reached the number one spot on both the Billboard Modern Rock and Mainstream Rock charts.Red Hot Chili Peppers - Singles, Billboard.com, http://www.billboard.com. It reached number 2 on the UK Singles Chart, kept from number one position by Gnarls Barkley's song Crazy.

In the Billboard album review of Stadium Arcadium, which dismissed the album as indulgent and lacking cohesion, "Dani California" was described as "the one thing that truly grabs attention upon first listen and warms its way into your subconscious, where it just won't let go, as much of Anthony Kiedis' catchiest melodies do."Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Stadium Arcadium - Album Review, Billboard.com, http://www.billboard.com

"Dani California" was also the theme song for the live-action Japanese horror film Death Note, based on the manga (Japanese comic).Johnny Butane, News: Death Note Trailer!, Dread Central, http://www.dreadcentral.com

Dani California has been nominated for an MMVA for best international video.

Music video

The music video for "Dani California" premiered on MTV on April 4, 2006. Directed by Tony Kaye, acclaimed director of American History X, the video is a quasi-chronology of the evolution of rock music; the band performs the song on a stage, but in a variety of outfits representing important figures and movements in the history of rock music.

However, in the June 2006 issue of UK Classic Rock magazine, Flea was quoted as saying, "We mainly did eras, not actual people: rockabilly, British Invasion, psychedelia, funk, glam, punk, goth, hair metal, grunge, and ourselves being the sum of all those parts". The clip finishes with the Red Hot Chili Peppers as themselves again, with flashbacks to the imitated artists featured earlier in the film.

Dani's story

In the song, lyricist Anthony Kiedis laments the early death of Dani California, a poor, young girl from Mississippi who became a bank robber and lived a hard, fast life. A girl by the name of "Dani" also appears in the Red Hot Chili Peppers' 2002 single "By the Way." Kiedis has explained that the character of Dani California embodies all the women from his past relationships, "When this funky groove came up it struck me as a perfect place to actually tell a story. It sort of revealed itself to me that it's been the same character, just kind of developing. At first I didn't realize that I was writing about the same girl."

Accusations of plagiarism

Shortly after its release, the originality of the song was questioned A Petty Case of Plagiarism, WGMD Radio News, http://www.wgmd.com/newspost/fullnews.php?id=1142 in the Dan Gaffney Morning Show of Delaware based radio station WGMD 92.7. The presenters alleged that the Chili Peppers had plagiarized Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers' 1993 hit Mary Jane's Last Dance. To demonstrate, they presented audio snippets of both songs, both side by side and simultaneously (i.e. on top of each other) several times. (The two songs are compared here ^*.) They stated that the chord progression, key, tempo, and the lyrical theme of the songs (both produced by Rick Rubin) showed "startling similarities" and urged listeners to "decide for themselves".

Some have dismissed this as a publicity stunt by the DJ's. Posters on the official Chili Peppers message board have pointed out that they sped up "Mary Jane's Last Dance" to more closely match the tempo of Dani California. It's also been pointed out that while the first 8 bars of both songs sound similar, the chords are not exactly the same, with "Mary Jane's Last Dance" being "Am, G, D, Am" and "Dani California" being "Am, G, Dm, Am". University of Chicago musicologist Travis Jackson said the songs' chord progressions were similar, but were a "pretty standard groove" in music and not necessarily evidence of copying.''http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/10481746/latest_news_petty_vs_chili_peppers_townshend_explains_song_and_more

Spin magazine readers voted in a June 2006 poll on the similarities of the songs: "We asked if you thought the Chili Peppers ripped off Tom Petty for their new single. The outcome might surprise you. The votes are in! As of press time, 49 percent of you felt the Chili Peppers' "Dani California" bites "certain musical elements" from Tom Petty's 1993 hit, "Mary Jane's Last Dance," while 46 percent said "Dani" was totally original. An on-the-fence five percent of readers weren't quite sure." Spin also posted an audio comparison of the two tracks. audio sample

In an interview with Rolling Stone magazine, Petty denied rumors that he planned to sue the Chili Peppers and said "I seriously doubt that there is any negative intent there. And a lot of rock & roll songs sound alike."http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2006/06/28/tom-petty-to-chili-peppers-were-cool/

Track listing

CD single #1:

"Dani California" – 4:42
"Million Miles Of Water" – 4:06

CD single #2:

"Dani California" – 4:45
"Whatever We Want" – 4:48
"Lately" – 2:56

7" Picture disc single

"Dani California"
"Whatever We Want"

Chart performance

Chart (2006)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	6
French Singles Chart	57
Dutch Top 40	8
UK Singles Chart	2
German Singles Chart	12
Australian ARIA Singles Chart	8
New Zealand Chart	7
Swiss Singles Chart	4
Irish Singles Chart	7
Austrian Singles Chart	7
Belgian Singles Chart	15
Swedish Singles Chart	2
Norwegian Singles Chart	5
Chilean Airplay Top 100	4
Italian Single Chart	4
Israeli Single Chart	8

Chart trajectories

"Dani California" - U.K. Top 75 Singles
Week	01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	10	11
Position	12	2	6	8	16	20	29	31	36	36	37

"Dani California" - Modern Rock Tracks Top 20
Week	01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	10	11	12	13	14
Position	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1

"Dani California" - Billboard Hot 100
Week	01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	10	11	12	13	14
Position	24	9	10	9	8	6	6	11	12	10	14	15	15	13

Australian ARIA Singles Chart Trajectory
Week	01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20
Position	9	9	8	8	10	14	14	12	22	27

World Tracks Top 40 ^*
Week	01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	10	11	12	13
Position	17	13	6	4	3	3	2	2	2	3	3	3	3
Points	108.000	144.000	183.000	253.000	276.000	306.000	310.000	311.000	317.000	297.000	293.000	288.000	266.000

Dutch Top 40 chart trajectory
Week	01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20
Position	29	18	10	'''8	11	11	14	17	18	21

New Zealand Top 40
Week	01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20
Position	35	7	7	8	8

Notes

External links

Red Hot Chili Peppers songs | 2006 singles | 2006 songs | Canadian number one singles

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