Avril Lavigne

I saw in the news that some 70s band called the Rubinoos are suing Avril because they think their song "I wanna be your boyfriend" sounds like "Girlfriend"....

[UPDATE: You can read details about the lawsuit settlement at the bottom of my original post by clicking here]

Hmmm... first off, I checked with some of my family who were in their teens in the 70s and they don't remember ever hearing that song before, so I don't know how Avril - who wasn't even born yet - could know it...

And even so - the only similar thing about the song that *I* can hear is that one is about a girlfriend and one is about a boyfriend (Gee, how many songs have been written about THOSE subjects over the past 1000 years, including many many of guys/girls saying they want to be their girlfriend/boyfriend..? LOL) and the fact both have the phrase "Hey! Hey! You! You!"... followed by Avril singing "I don't like your girlfriend" or "I want to be your girlfriend" etc and those Rubes singing "I wanna be your boyfriend"...

You can hear a sample of the Rubes song here on their site (mp3 format) or from Amazon's site. (PC wma format)

So yeah, that is an unusual combination of words ("Hey! Hey! You! You!"), right...?

Wrong!


Back in the mid 1960s a little band you may have heard of called The Rolling Stones sang:
"Hey! Hey! You! You! Get off of my cloud".

See the below video, around 40 seconds in... oh, and the girls screaming and singing along in the audience are the same age as my grandmother now! LOL



And in the 1980s..?

A singer called Billy Ocean had a huge hit with "Get Outta My Dreams, Get Into My Car" that starts with the words: "Hey! Hey! You! You! Get into my car"



Want more?

Here's a great song by another Canadian singer Fefe Dobson singing "Get You Off".

Check out this live video where she sings early in the song: "Hey! Hey! You! You! Get off of my back".



Want more...? *sigh* :)

Here's a singer called Soluna who has a song with the name "Hey Hey You You" (followed by "I figure it's true true" etc.)

Couldn't find a video, but here's an audio sample from Amazon's site. (PC wma format)


So yeah, in my opinion there are a TON of songs about boyfriends and girlfriends in the whole history of songs. And there are also FAR more popular songs that used the phrase "Hey Hey You You" than the Rubinoos.

PLUS... the only "hit" the Rubinoos ever had was a REMAKE of an old 1967 song by Tommy James and the Shondells called "I Think We're Alone Now"... which was remade again in the 1980s by a singer called "Tiffany".

Hey! Maybe the Rolling Stones should sue the Rubinoos for stealing that phrase from their "Get off of my cloud" song, since that song came out more than ten years before their 'Boyfriend" song did! :)


UPDATE: Avril wrote a post on her own website about the Rubinoos lawsuit and also about Chantal Kreviazuk being quoted as saying Avril stole a song she sent her years ago called 'Contagious' (which isn't true either) .

BTW, Av also mentions one of the songs I show above as having the same type of lyrics as 'Boyfriend' or 'Girlfriend' - 'Get off of my cloud' by the Rolling Stones.

The other song she thought of is "I wanna be your boyfriend' by the Ramones, which was released on their 1978 album.... three years before the Rubinoos' song with the same name!

Just so people know what that song sounds like, I added a video of them singing that song live in Paris in 1980 (according to what it says on that Youtube video).



Read Avril's post "To my Dear Media, Friends, and Fans" by clicking here!


Hilarious Update!

Check out this funny video by theroachyjay over on YouTube called "No One Knows What The Rubinoos Are Saying Anyway!!" :)



UPDATE: I just saw this new quote by Terry McBride (Avril's manager) about the lawsuit from Access Hollywood's website (and via 'abcmystery' on Avril's discussion forum)

Dear Media,

I have read the following quote from Tommy Dunbar of the Rubinoos.

"While it's true that we filed suit some time ago, we hesitated to go public to save Avril and her handlers any embarrassment," Tommy Dunbar said. "We learned over the July 4th holiday that her management and spin doctors have apparently decided to preempt things with their revelation of the lawsuit."

This is simply a lie. I challenge them to provide one iota of proof to back up this claim. We did not say a word about the suit out of respect for the dialog that was ongoing. The numerous phone calls from the media seeking comment on the suit started on July 4th. We were blind sided and simply responded.

We also find it ironic that in the Suit they named Apple as a defendant, what a great way of getting it out there to the media.

On the topic of Apple, it seems like the Rubinoos have an issue with the Beatles among other great bands. This quote is directly from the Rubinoos Myspace page "Bands that have ripped us blind: the Raspberries, The Beach Boys, The Beatles"

As we have clearly stated, upon the expert opinion of one of the country's foremost musicologists, there is no basis for this claim."

UPDATE - July 18 - New info about the Rubinoos 'Girlfriend' lawsuit...

The L.A. Times reported new quotes from both sides of the Rubinoos lawsuit...

..speaking publicly on the matter for the first time, "Girlfriend's" co-writer Lukasz "Dr. Luke" Gottwald has lashed out at the plaintiffs — songwriters James Gangwer and original Rubinoos member Tommy Dunbar — denying allegations that he and Lavigne "copied" "Boyfriend."

"I never heard of the Rubinoos before the lawsuit," said Gottwald, an in-demand producer who has crafted hits for Kelly Clarkson, Pink and Daughtry, among others. "I never heard of the song and neither has Avril. I would take a polygraph on that in front of them."

"Me and Avril wrote the song together," Gottwald told The Times. "It started out with Avril wanting to make something fun and upbeat. It has the same chord progressions as 10 different Blink-182 songs, the standard changes you'd find in a Sum 41 song. It's the Sex Pistols, not the Rubinoos."

The lead singer of the Rubinoos, Jon Rubin (who is not a part of the lawsuit because he didn't write it), told The Times that in terms of meter and chord progression, "Girlfriend" bears a close resemblance to "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend." He also thinks that "Girlfriend" has more similarities to a 1997 cover version of the song, retitled "I Wanna Be Your Girlfriend" by the female-fronted Brit-pop band Lush.

Rubin said: "We got tons of e-mails about it. 'You guys must be collecting big dough now.' Well, actually not."

UPDATE - July 18 - Avril Thanks her fans!

Thank you, from Avril.

Hey everyone.

I wanted to take this time to thank you, my fans for all your undying support. You have been amazing and i can't express how much i appreciate it. Thank you all so much. I am so proud of this record and grateful for the response it has been getting from all of my fans. You made it go 1!!

also,

there is another great record i've been listening to lately. And i want you all to hear it too. The new SUM41 album called Underclass Hero comes out in 1 week on july 24. You can hear the whole album now for free here:

http://www.mtv.com/music/the_leak/sum_41/underclass_hero/

my favorite songs are "With Me", "Walking Disaster", "Best of me" "Confusion and Frustration"

It rocks you have to check it out. And of course you can also check out myspace.com/sum41 for more info.

Thank you all again, you mean so much to me.

Avril Lavigne,

...


UPDATE: January 2008 - According to WTOP News....

SAN FRANCISCO - A settlement has been reached in the battle over a popular song.

"Girlfriend" by Avril Lavigne was a big hit in 2007, and a song that sounds like you may have heard it before. A 1970s pop band called the Rubinoos says it sounds a lot like one of their songs, "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend."

The bands' songwriters sued Lavigne and others involved with the song, claiming copyright infringement.

In a Dec. 14 order, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California Judge Charles Breyer entered an Order of Dismissal, saying he was been notified by the parties that "they have agreed to a settlement of this case."

Neither side will say what's in the settlement as far as payment, or if a conclusion was reached of whether the song was ripped off.

So... pretty much what most people expected. They settled out of court for an undisclosed amount of money instead of spending (likely just as much if not more) for the cost of a trial.

:(