Blasting through the Republican convention hall is the 1977 hit "Barracuda" by rock band Heart.
It's a shout-out to Sarah Palin. When she played basketball in high school, the soon-to-be Republican vice presidential nominee earned the nickname "Sarah barracuda" for her fierce competitiveness.
Some of her opponents revived the "Sarah barracuda" nickname after she became mayor of her hometown, Wasilla, in 1996, defeating a three-term incumbent.
Ann and Nancy Wilson of Heart said Thursday night that Universal Music Publishing and Sony BMG have sent a cease and desist notice to the McCain-Palin campaign over their use of 'Barracuda.'
"We have asked the Republican campaign publicly not to use our music. We
hope our wishes will be honored," the group said in a statement that said they "condemn" the use of the song at the Republican convention.
At some recent John McCain campaign rallies,John Mellencamp’s "Our Country" and "Pink Houses" have been booming out over the speakers. Uplifting heartland rock must have seemed like a smart pick, but there’s just one problem: Mellencamp is an ardent Democrat. And, until recently, he supported John Edwards – who had been playing "Our Country" and "Small Town" at his rallies. Mellencamp hasn’t yet made a public response, but his reps are quietly reaching out to McCain and asking him to stop playing his tunes.
John McCain ended the big rally introducing Sarah Palin as his running mate with the Van Halen song "Right Now," and the band is not pleased, reports TMZ:
After John McCain used a Van Halen song during his big speech earlier today, the band wants to make to make one thing clear -- they're not running with McCain.
Van Halen management tells us the band had no idea McCain was planning on using "Right Now" during his big entrance in Ohio telling us, "Permission was not sought or granted nor would it have been given."
Jackson Browne has filed a lawsuit against John McCain after the Republican presidential candidate used a portion of Browne’s "Running On Empty" in a campaign commercial without permission. The Republican National Party is also listed in the suit. In the commercial, McCain mocks Barack Obama for suggesting that the country conserve gas through proper tire inflation. What bothers Browne almost as much as McCain’s lack of permission, the lawsuit alleges, is that using "Running On Empty" suggests that Browne supports McCain’s presidential campaign and the Republican platform. "In light of Jackson Browne’s lifelong commitment to Democratic ideals and political candidates, the misappropriation of Jackson Browne’s endorsement is entirely reprehensible, and I have no doubt that a jury will agree," Browne’s lawyer Lawrence Iser said. Browne is seeking to prohibit the McCain campaign from using "Running On Empty" or any other Browne compositions, as well as asking for unspecified damages.
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1 guy - Daddy Yankee. He spoke and sang at a McCain rally at a high school in Arizona. They girls freaked. Yankee says McCain helps immigration issues and that's why he supports him.
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It's clear Obama is the choice of musicians and probably most artists. But isn't that just because McCain is an old fuddy duddy geezer? If Obama were a lot older, I don't think he'd be getting such rock star treatment. I dunno. Just something I was thinking about when I saw clips of the DNC. Looked more like the American Music Awards ceremony.
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Sammy Hagar rocked the Republicans in St. Paul -- he may have been the best known non-country artist to play there.
Since I live in DC, I am "bi-partisan" when it comes to getting free drinks, so I've been to a few GOP events -- including Bob Dole's swan song for his presidential campaign on Election Night 1996. That was truly weird. Mostly younger people showed -- they had some sort of cover band and DJ spinning classic rock. Tons of food and drinks (compared to Inauguration Galas when you can't get near the bar) -- everyone there knew Dole was going to get slaughtered by Clinton, so they just had a good time on the campaign's dime.
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Here's hoping McCain gets the pants sued off him.
(My apologies to any McCain/Palin supporters here...)
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Okay, Moggers, I know you folks have some wicked research skills...someone find out if any artist has ever recorded a song called "Caribou Killa"--and dollars to donuts, the artist at hand would happily lend their talents to the RNC.
It's gotta be out there.
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Generally, no. Artists tend to avoid Republicans. They prefer to take safer "brave" political stands that dovetail with their audience's leanings.
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Artists "tend to avoid Republicans" not to placate their audiences, but because the platform and policies of the Republican Party are antithetical to everything they believe in. Ask The Dixie Chicks what happens when you stand on principle and go against the grain of your constituency.
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Pul-leeze. Natalie Maines made an off-the-cuff comment at a concert - in Europe, I think. When it resulted in publicity and the wholesale abandonment of them by most of their fan base, and too late to change, they endlessly promoted their "bravery" to try to form a new audience out of Bush-haters.
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Has it ever occurred to anybody to ask if Obama/Dems asked Brooks and Dunn if their song could be used at the Convention? Same rules apply, no? I'm a Dem and I just wish al politicos would cease and desist from using pop songs. Love Bill and Hill but I can't listen to the Mac's "Don't Stop" anymore.
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i live in nashville and the daily paper here - the tennessean - quoted brooks and/or dunn as saying they were cool that BOTH parties felt they could relate to the song. they are equal opportunity vis a vis people hearing, using, enjoying their song and equal opportunity vis a vis people buying that song due to the halo effect of that massive exposure
EVERYONE uses pop songs for everything. there is so much cultural currency - ideological shortcuts, sense memories, etc that people have invested in pop music.... they are a natural for ad campaigns
politicos... the campaigns are simply ad campaigns with a lot more at stake than selling cars...
so do not ever look for pop music and advertising of any sort to part ways...
for the record - i so hate burger king's ad agency for using the lovin' spoonful song "you didn't have to be so nice" as a short-lived ad campaign that i haven't bought a single thing at burger king since then - not a drink, not a french fry and certainly not a burger....
first band i ever saw play live. don't want to associate them with burger king. no. i assocaite the lovin spoonful with hating nixon!
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anna log, your points are well taken. I don't really think politicos ever will stop using pop songs in campaigns, but I can dream...
I do like what B & D said. It is the right attitude.
I know waht you mean about BK/Spoonful situation. Here in NYC, the State in fact, one of our Lottery games is using What a Day for A Daydream in its promos and that song is now impossible for me to listen. It's not the band's version but it's being sung by "actors" and it's quite irritating.
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I get why artists might want to not have politicians taking their tunes, but jeez that mellencamp song is ridiculously ubiquitous-- Chevy trucks, the NFL I think. I'm with Runnerbird-- every time the fleetwood mac song plays I see Bill and Hill and Al and Tipper on a bus...kinda ruins it for me.
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Here's a hearsay-level observation about politicians using music for their own aims:
I recall reading a newspaper article during the Iran/Iraq war when the need for cannon fodder/land mine stompers was high. The reporter noted that Iran didn't have as much martial music as needed, and were playing a recording of Souza's "Stars and Stripes Forever" (uncredited) outside recruiting stations. This struck me as odd as having a military band strike up "Deutschland Uber Alles" to get folks to sign up for World War I/II. (Or for that matter, Japan's "Kimigayo.")
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the thing about mellencamp and the truck commercials is that mellencamp himself pitched those songs - it was his idea.... i think i read somewhere that he had no idea the songs would be so oversaturated, but that's his burden to bear.
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anna log says:
Yup.
"Be careful what you ask for - you might get it."
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Republicans are, as a rule, anti-Art, at least when it comes to public funding. That is unless there are fees to be collected by a big business for compensation, unless, that is, unless they want to use it fr their own means.
(Ducks before the riot.)