Coldplaigarism

After the claims that Coldplay might have borrowed one of the songs on their new album, former Macca PR bloke turned Coldplay spokesperson Murray Chalmers issued a strident denial:

"We totally refute their claims, and there are two facts that make it easy to disprove them," said the band's spokesman Murray Chalmers. "First, on the night in October when the band say Chris Martin was watching them, he was actually working at the Air Studio in London, and we can prove that. Second, even if he had been at the gig, "Viva la Vida" was written and demoed seven months before the night in question, so it couldn't possibly have been copied."

It's a terrible thing to be accused of, plaigarism, isn't it... oh, hang on, though, what's this The Times has noticed in an interview for Borders?:

But Martin hasn't done himself any favours with this promotional interview for the album in which he admits that Coldplay are "the world's worst—but most enthusiastic—plagiarists as a band".

It's curious to delight in your own musical 'borrowing' only to throw a massive strop when someone else accuses you of the same thing; perhaps it's just the band can't bear to be thought of stealing off people like Creaky Boards.

If it was yours, wouldn't you keep quiet?

Creaky Boards - no, us, neither - have posted a message on the web claiming Coldplay have ripped them off:

In a video message on YouTube, Andrew Hoepfner, the bands songwriter, says that Martin even saw the band when they performed last year.

"We were flattered when we thought we saw Chris Martin in the crowd that night. He seemed pretty into it. Maybe too into it,” he writes.

We're trying to picture Martin creeping round America stealing melodies from obscure indie bands and then - having sucked all the life out them - trapping them in his own records. It would certainly make a cracking episode of Buffy.