Red Hot Chili Peppers’ “Dani California” the video is a quasi-chronology of the evolution of rock music; the band performs the song on a stage, but in a variety of outfits representing important figures and movements in the history of rock music.
Red Hot Chili Peppers’ “Dani California” However, in the June 2006 issue of UK Classic Rock magazine, bassist Flea was quoted as saying, "We mainly did eras, not actual people: rockabilly, British Invasion, psychedelia, funk, glam, punk, goth, hair metal, grunge, and ourselves being the sum of all those parts". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dani_california
Rockabilly: Elvis Presley
British Invasion: The Beatles
Psychedelia: The Jimi Hendrix Experience
Funk: George Clinton and Parliament/ Funkadelic (P-Funk)
Glam: Motley Crue
Punk: Sex Pistols
Goth: Misfits
Hair Metal: Poison
Grunge: Nirvana
All of these references are allusions If we don’t have the background knowledge to recognize allusions, the author's intentions are not met and we as an audience “miss the point”.