The Hives sued over “Tick Tick Boom” riff

Posted by adam on Tuesday, October 28, 2008 at 12:00 PM (EDT)

Popular Swedish garage punk act the Hives have been hit with a plagiarism suit. Don Bolles, guitarist for glam-pop group Celebrity Skin filed the lawsuit, claiming that the main riff from the Hives "Tick Tick Boom" is a little too similar to one from his song "Why You?," recorded in 1997 with his band the Roofies and again in 2002 with Three Way. "Tick Tick Boom" was the lead single from the Hives' 2007 album The Black and White Album.

Shapiro commented to the LA Times "I absolutely love The Hives and don't feel great about suing a band I love, but I also feel credit is due where it is due if you borrow a riff." The musician claims that the songs were analyzed by a musicologist for similarities.

You can stream the Roofies track "Why You?" here and compare with "Tick Tick Boom" here.

Bands in this story

The Hives

Universal Music Group (83 comments)

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Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not respon sible for them in any way. Seriously.

GlamBalam (October 28, 2008)

fuck this band!

the_creeps (October 28, 2008)

which one?

sXenester (October 28, 2008)

someone tell tom delonge to start the machine before he gets sued

Johnny_J (October 28, 2008)

In other news, Bruce Springsteen and Miles Davis form a pact to sue the Gaslight Anthem...

douglas_is_rad (October 28, 2008)

I've always had a hunch that Bruce Springsteen is a necromancer, and now this semi-legal pact with the formerly deceased Miles Davis proves it.

HumanUnkind (October 28, 2008)

I hear the Ramones are gonna sue Ben Weasel for the riff in "I wanna be naked" as well.

squelch84 (October 28, 2008)

Tommy Ramone to sue every punk band ever for ripping off the sound he "invented."

14theroad (October 28, 2008)

That guy needs to see a new musicologist.
They're not the same, even I can tell that.

d_bag (October 28, 2008)

if these riffs count as being similar enough to sue over, tons of hardcore and death metal bands could go on a suing rampage.

still, i bet the similarities are purely coincidental. it's such a bland riff that there are probably a bunch of other "rock" bands who've played the same riff, but are not anywhere near as popular as the Hives. hell, people probably recorded this riff a thousand times before 1997. fuck this guy forever.

punk_sk (October 28, 2008)

some one call the sexual harassment panda

throw_away (October 28, 2008)

sexual harrassment pandalogist.

HumanUnkind (October 28, 2008)

Agreed.

Seth_Uber_Alles (October 28, 2008)

Musicologist my ass. That's not the same. I'm assuming this is the same Don Bolles from the Germs. Why can't he just shut up and go back to getting blowjobs from Shane West while getting rubbed down with his stupid hemp soap.

BarleyPat (October 28, 2008)

Propaghandi should sue Green Day for ripping off "Apparently I'm A PC Fascist" on American Idiot.

14theroad (October 28, 2008)

Someone should just sue Green Day out of existence so we can have more Pinhead Gunpowder records.

notfeelingcreative (October 28, 2008)

I like the way you think.

TrueBeliever (October 28, 2008)

Which Reminds me of when Papa Roach used a Green Day riff in the song "Last Resort." Now, I've never heard a more obvious rip-off than that one.

DavidM (October 28, 2008)

What about that Refused riff in that Hoobastank song? (I think it was Hoobastank)

DavidM (October 28, 2008)

1:42-1:55 of Crawling In The Dark:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2qU0YkWZIM

Craig-TheRebelCounty (October 28, 2008)

I could definitely see that. Obviously, D4 with "doublewhiskeycokenoice" too. That one's pretty damn similar.

skasucks76 (October 28, 2008)

"By the way I stole this riff"....... (danceandlaughandplay......)

nouse66 (October 28, 2008)

ignorethemessageweconvey

BarleyPat (October 28, 2008)

it seems were only here to entertain

PaC (October 28, 2008)

Cringer should sue Propaghandi for ripping off "Sunday".

Cos (October 28, 2008)

Doesn't anyone learn?

Agent Orange sued The Offspring for "Come Out and Play" years ago. It was at least feasible that the Offspring would have heard the Agent Orange song, and the Offspring STILL won.

BarleyPat (October 28, 2008)

I was just joking anyway.

Cos (October 28, 2008)

I just wanted to point out the case. There's a game on the 'org of getting your comments noticed, and most times the longest thread seems the best place to do it. I did get the joke.

Seriously though, Agent Orange had a much better case and they got fucked. I never understand why bands do this.

LinoleumMagazine (October 28, 2008)

Brendan Kelly you are awesome. Thank you for entertaining me at work and making my co-workers look at me funny when I laugh out loud.

http://badsandwichchronicles.blogspot.com/ (if any of you don't read this, you should start now)

JFK421 (October 28, 2008)

I laughed (and still am laughing) so fucking hard at that drunken midget part. oh man holy shit!

Dordon (October 28, 2008)

rays will make the win tonight and send it back to the trop... or tomorrow... or whenever the god dman fcuking rain stops.

INDW (October 28, 2008)

I'm going to have to break with the early consensus here, they sound very very similar to me.

in separate news, a musicologist is not a real a job

Dante3000 (rich) (October 28, 2008)

It is if your side wins the court case.
-Dante

INDW (October 28, 2008)

yeah, and a symboligist is real if Dan Brown says so

thatsyouth (October 30, 2008)

your a fucking dumbass. you have no idea what it takes to be a musicologist. the depth of knowledge you must have is far more than you could ever understand.

-someone who knows way more about music than you.

-apparantely a pretentious prick as well.

douglas_is_rad (October 28, 2008)

Don't tell that to Prince...

H_Express (October 28, 2008)

brilliant.

Dante3000 (rich) (October 28, 2008)

Rock bands use similar riffs? That's unpossible!
-Dante

Nebraska (October 28, 2008)

"I absolutely love The Hives and don't feel great about suing a band I love" - what a fucking douche! glam rock fucking sucks anyways.

larspunk86 (October 28, 2008)

The Lawsuit is a bit silly, however they do sound very similar.

ConsumedByMusic (October 28, 2008)

isn't there a lawyer on this board? in order for him to win, would he just have to assert that the riffs are the same, or that the hives used his riff to create their riff? I'm pretty that reverse engineering is allowed if you tell an engineer to make a program do a certain function if they have no idea how the competitors program does it. so if 2 musicians make the same sound without knowledge of each other wouldn't that be legal?

joeydevil (October 28, 2008)

Yes it would, one hundred percent.

Brendan27 (October 28, 2008)

Considering the Roofies have 800 page views and his new band has 1100 I highly doubt the Hives have ever heard of this band.

freesandwich (October 28, 2008)

I'm comin' down on the stereo, hear me on the radio

click click BOOM!

badbrain (October 28, 2008)

Make 'em say Uuunnhh, na na na na

canaandrumzz (October 28, 2008)

Ba wit ta ba da bang da bang ditty ditty ditty said the boogie said up jump the boogie

Craig-TheRebelCounty (October 28, 2008)

Not to indirectly bash The Hives, because I have nothing against them... but I could have written that riff in 4 minutes with my hands tied behind my back. Do The Roofies really think The Hives need to listen to forgotten powerpop bands for riff ideas? Sure, they sound similar, but so do probably thousands of other songs in the world. Gimme a break.

Craig-TheRebelCounty (October 28, 2008)

My point was that it's a riff that anyone could have written after sitting down with a guitar for 5 minutes. Not exactly one-of-a-kind.

Dordon (October 28, 2008)

http://www.theonion.com/content/news/dollar_bill_on_floor_sends_ wall

lolz this is funnier than all hell.

american_666_jesus (October 28, 2008)

Myspace friends by the Roofies: 24
Myspace friends by the Hives: 138,295

Either that isn't the offcial Roofies MySpace, or no one has given a shit about this band for years and they want some attention. They do sound pretty similar, though. I'm no musicologist, (hahahaha), but I can hear the similarities.

TrueBeliever (October 28, 2008)

"Hey girl, I will be your friend but who is keeping score?"

14theroad (October 28, 2008)

That never made sense to me. But nothing he says really does.

Dordon (October 28, 2008)

http://www.theonion.com/content/news/tony_womo_out_three_to_four _weeks

pt2

joeydevil (October 28, 2008)

That's kind of funny but QBs in the NFL need their hands to be in good shape, you know, to throw the ball. It's tough to throw the ball with a broken finger on your throwing hand. I'm sure he would play if it was on his other hand.

the_other_scott (October 28, 2008)

every song rips off some other song. get over it dude.

is this the same Don BOlles from the Germs?

joeydevil (October 28, 2008)

Yes but this has nothing to do with Don Bolles. It has to do with a guy who was in a band with Don Bolles one time.

joeydevil (October 28, 2008)

Nevermind im retarded.

joeydevil (October 28, 2008)

Well they both sound alot alike but I think there are two extra notes in the Hives one so it isnt exactly the same. Funny thing is I would bet the Roofies weren't the first band to use a riff that sounded alot like that one so didnt they just rip off someone else? The point is, that band didnt do anything about it because it is stupid to go after someone for a guitar riff these days. I would bet The Hives hadnt even heard it before.

throw_away (October 28, 2008)

who are you, vanilla ice?

"Theirs goes, 'Ding ding ding dingy ding-ding.' Ours goes, 'Ding ding ding ding dingy ding-ding.'"

let me ask this, because i would rather get my opinion from the comments and am basically refusing to listen to either song: do the extra notes break up or change the passage? does it make the phrasing of the riff different?

MattTrombone (October 28, 2008)

http://images.asia.ru/img/alibaba/photo/50531767/Clown_Shoes.jpg

wonton (October 28, 2008)

Nice handle.

dlangl4 (October 28, 2008)

Me Willie. Willie Trombone.

Zombie-Guru (October 28, 2008)

I'm going to say they stole the riff because the only difference in spelling between "Thieves" and "The Hives" is an h and a misplaced i.

cpp_ (October 28, 2008)

Thats fucked up, you know how many bands could sue other bands for ripping off other peoples guitar riffs. I'll bet someone could sue this shapiro fagot for that riff 10-20 years before him for writing it. That would also mean Pennywise could sue themselves for making the same album for 20 years.

TheOneTrueBill (October 28, 2008)

Shouldn't Done Bolles be sick of the legal system by now?

joeydevil (October 28, 2008)

I think this story is inaccurate. I don't think Don Bolles has anything to do with this. It's all Shapiro. Don Bolles was not involved with either recording of those songs. The only mention of Don Bolles in thiat LA Times story is when they mention that he was once in an unrelated band with Shapiro. Where does it say anywhere that Don Bolles has anything to do with this?

CountChocula (October 28, 2008)

Yup, what fucking dumbass wrote this anyway?

miniblindbandit (October 28, 2008)

jonathan larson?

HeyBarmold (October 28, 2008)

Since absolutely nobody listens to the Roofies, I'm thinking that someone in the Hives must have walked by Don Bolles while he was singing it in the shower.

sfbarker (October 28, 2008)

Pretty generic riff. We've reached a point where there are NO NEW RIFFS...shut up and stop acting like you own a simple chord progression. Guess the Germs movie isn't doing well?

4x4Grimreaper (October 28, 2008)

no new riffs /except/ for in unlistenable grindcore that is.

el_matt (October 28, 2008)

Isn't it convenient that the song that they are suing over is the only one they have up on Myspace?

the_creeps (October 28, 2008)

While we're at it, Dan Bolles should sue all John Reis related projects

Animal26 (October 28, 2008)

We've all come across a number of similarities in songs. The most absurd one I can think of is Blink 182's "Down" and Bruce Springsteen's "I'm goin' down" off Born in the USA. Anyone know what I'm talking about? It's hilarious.

This is certainly a debatable issue though. There's always an element of subliminally writing something similar to something you've heard before, without knowing or ever having any intention of stealing it. But that stuff's not for us to decide. It's up to a judge and jury full of people who've never written a song.

Tobin_Ownlife (October 28, 2008)

Yeah, when is it ok for me to sue someone for using the same 4 chords in a song that I just recorded, that happened to also be in a song from 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 11, and 35, etc. years ago? Because I could really use some cash and if I can actually sue someone for making music that sounds like mine, then I'm all for it. Woooooo.

In all seriousness, I think I actually read something about how almost all music can be traced back to another song in terms of the harmonies and melodies. It's just nearly impossible to come up with something completely new, especially with classical music covering as many melodies and harmonies as it did.

JoelSweetheart (October 28, 2008)

NEWS FLASH: I am suing Done Bolles for being a dumbass.

joeydevil (October 28, 2008)

Don Bolles didn't do anything.

the_creeps (October 28, 2008)

Plays today: 1220
Total plays: 1523

Maybe I should drop my bands MySpace page on here...

KatieBands (October 28, 2008)

This guy doesn't care about credit being due, he's just pissed he's not famous for the riff, himself, and wants some money.
I hope that riff is copyrighted in his name, not the bands. Cause if he used it in two bands and it was copyrighted under the bands name, he kind of broke his own copyright. So he should sue himself. Haha.
Plus, the Hives blow anyway.

rob_rob (October 28, 2008)

you can't copyright a riff, the only thing you can copyright is a melody.

Stoked_Luis (October 28, 2008)

There going to lose this lawsuit so bad since if the hives are smart there gonna use the same tactic Saban used when they got sued for this, trademark since there not exactly the same the hives wont have a problem winning.

.... nothing is sacred anymore..

joeydevil (October 28, 2008)

When are they gonna fix the headline? Don Bolles didn't have anything to do with this!

nick_s (October 29, 2008)

It sounds so different from the whole Hives back catalogue, they must have stolen it from somewhere.

Pennywise are really in the shit if Bad Religion start looking at all the bands that ripped off there riffs. Can you owe someone one career?

fuckin_ay (October 29, 2008)

what the fuck? that isn't the same. it's similar but definitely not the same at all. fucking greedy fuck. who says anyone can own sound waves anyways?