Though he hasn’t had anything like a hit since ”Shanghai Breezes” went to No. 31 in 1982 — or a real smash since ”Calypso” peaked at No. 2 in 1975 — pop-rocker John Denver’s influence lives on. Or so was the contention of a copyright infringement suit that began when an employee of Cherry Hill, Denver’s music publisher, heard a New Order song on the radio. Cherry Hill’s lawyers claimed that the British dance quartet’s 1989 song ”Run” borrows considerably from Denver’s ”Leaving on a Jet Plane,” which Peter, Paul & Mary rode to No. 1 way back in 1969. New Order’s lawyers eventually allowed that there had been some ”clearly inadvertent” infringement and agreed to pay a standard royalty to Cherry Hill. Denver, a spokesman says, has been unaware of the suit.
And then on this page, people are as confused as you and I:
New Order didn't sample the John Denver track. A lawyer somewhere thought Run sounded like Leaving on a Jet Plane, took them to court and won. It most definitely doesn't contain any samples of the John Denver track though.
But yeah New Order pretty much owned the 80s dance charts. My favorite of theirs has to be the re-recording of Temptation from 1987:
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