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Made it to a news blurb in Crain’s Cleveland Business!

Ugh. The Chili Peppers used to be one of my favorite bands growing up, in part because they seemed to sidestep all the music biz B.S. and do their own thing. Then of course, as everyone does, they got a little older, a little calmer, and now it seems, a little sillier (in a bad way).

According to reports, they are suing Showtime for the show “Californication” because it dilutes their property, causes unfair competition and because everyone associates that word with their 1999 album. Seriously? Isn’t that a tad egomaniacal? That album is almost 10 years old. And this quote threw me as well…

“Californication is the signature CD, video and song of the band’s career, and for some TV show to come along and steal our identity is not right,” said the band’s lead singer, Anthony Kiedis, in a statement.

The signature CD?  I’d put Mother’s Milk, Uplift Mofo, or Blood, Sugar, Sex, Magic way before Californication… Stealing their identity? I watched every episode of that show, and sure, the name made me think of the Chili Peppers for like 3 seconds, and then I was caught up in the story, which from what I saw not once carried any storylines about aging rock singers named Anthony Kiedis. It’s about a struggling book author who deals with relationships between his ex-girlfriend, his daughter, his agent and himself… The thoughts of the Chili Peppers and their Identity were gone from my head before the opening credits were done…

Just a bummer that they have to get caught up in something so trivial and stupid like that…