Nick Cave's six strings that drew the attention of a Dundee rocker
An unknown Dundee musician is set to take on the might of one of the world's biggest rock legends over a newly-released song which, he says, bears an uncanny resemblance to a track he wrote more than five years ago.
- By Alan Wilson, Rocktalk writer
- Published in the Courier : 01.10.10
- Published online : 01.10.10 @ 07.20am
Frankie Duffy of the band Kalel says he wrote the song Grey Man around 2004 or 2005 when he was in a covers band, and when asked to join a new group, Rising Signs, they recorded it as a demo track in 2005.
Frankie (29) says he was astonished when he heard the track Palaces Of Montezuma from Nick Cave's band Grinderman's new album.
"I couldn't believe it when I heard that track," Frankie said. "It stood out a mile, it's exactly the same chords and the same hook as the intro to Grey Man.
"I was never really a Nick Cave fan, but I really like Grinderman, that's a different kettle of fish. But when you hear that track you can totally spot the similarities. I sat down with my guitar and played along with it and it's exactly the same A, E and B chords, which to be fair anybody could use to write a song at any time.
"But it's the chord progression and when the vocal hook comes in with some ooohs, it's exactly the same, you can just hear it's the same thing.
"It's been up on our Myspace even after Rising Signs split, and I don't know, I can't help thinking that Nick Cave was sitting in his house one night and decided to surf some unsigned bands and saw our site, saw we were split up and thought, ‘I'll have that track, nobody will ever know.'
"Or it could be a really huge, amazing coincidence, but it's really obvious they sound the same and on the Grinderman album you can hear the band talking and you can hear the words ‘grey man' being said, so maybe it's not as much of a coincidence after all.
"The thing is our manager sent a recorded-delivery sealed copy of our demo to himself at the time, so we've got that to prove when it was recorded.
"We did it at the Teapot Studios in Perthshire so they'll have a copy as well. I'm going to get in touch with Nick Cave's management and ask him to have a listen and see if he'll admit the similarities.
"I'm not sure where I want to take it but it will be interesting to see what they've got to say.
"Everybody I've played it to agrees it sounds like the same song and you never know, I might have to sue him in court," he laughed.
Frankie says he's going to put his theory to the test in front of a live audience tonight when he comperes a show in Dundee.
"I'm compering a gig at Hustlers in Dundee and I'm going to take a CD with both tracks on it and play it to the crowd and ask their opinion. That should be fun and it'll be great to hear the response. I just hope Nick Cave gets back to me as well though, that's the main aim, to see what he's got to say for himself."
A spokesman for Nick Cave and Grinderman said on Thursday he would forward a copy of Frankie's song to the band's record label and would be getting in touch with the Dundee singer once they had listened to it.
02.52pm - 02.10.2010 Warren Ellis - Paris, France Report This
I would love to compare the songs, but rising signs myspace doesn't have any songs on it.<br />P.s Nick thinks you are 17 years old
06.14pm - 02.10.2010 Grey Man Fan - Dundee, Scotland Report This
Live video of Rising Signs performing "Grey Man" at The Doghouse in 2006 at<br />http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=2347271
08.19pm - 02.10.2010 Rhys D'arcy - Hull, UK Report This
Yes, similar. But then again it's a VERY simple chord progression. 'on the Grinderman album you can hear the band talking and you can hear the words ‘grey man' whereabouts?!
12.31pm - 05.10.2010 Michael - Glasgow, Scotland Report This
"I can't help thinking that Nick Cave was sitting in his house one night and decided to surf some unsigned bands and saw our site, saw we were split up and thought, ‘I'll have that track, nobody will ever know.'" <br /> That is the most hilariously deluded thing I have ever heard anyone say in my life.
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