‘Barracuda’ Bites McCain Camp
In what has become a consistent thread in Sen. John McCain’s quest for the White House, a few more of Sen. Barack Obama’s celebrity friends -- at least that’s
Jul 31, 202091K Shares2.1M Views
In what has become a consistent thread in Sen. John McCain’s quest for the White House, a few more of Sen. Barack Obama’s celebrity friends — at least that’s how the McCain camp would wamt to classify them — have requested the campaign stop using a song at events without permission.
Entertainment Weeklyreports that Ann and Nancy Wilson, the sisters who founded the rock band Heart, are none too happy that Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, now the GOP vice-presidential nominee, has apparently adopted their 1970s hit, “Barracuda,” as her theme song. Palin was nicknamed “Barracuda” as a point guard on the Wasilla (Alaska) High School basketball team.
The Wilson sisters said they initially asked the campaign to not use their music Thursday afternoon, the day after the song was played following Palin’s big speech at the Republican National Convention.
However, the song was played again Thursday night as Palin and her family joined Sen. John McCain following his acceptance speech. The Wilsons issued the following statement late-Thursday:
“„“Sarah Palin’s views and values in NO WAY represent us as American women. We ask that our song ‘Barracuda’ no longer be used to promote her image. The song ‘Barracuda’ was written in the late 70s as a scathing rant against the soulless, corporate nature of the music business, particularly for women. (The ‘barracuda’ represented the business.) While Heart did not and would not authorize the use of their song at the RNC, there’s irony in Republican strategists’ choice to make use of it there.”
Just last week, Van Halenchastised McCain for using their song, “Right Now,” without permission at the Dayton rally where McCain announced Palin would be his running mate — though he had been using the song at events for months. Last night, the opening notes of the song were played at the convention before Cindy McCain’s speech. The McCain campaign has also caught flack for using unauthorized material from Jackson Browne, Frankie Valliand “Wayne’s World” creator Mike Meyers.
Since the McCain campaign seems to be having such a hard time with this, I thought it might be a nice gesture to lend a hand and direct the Republicans toward some musicians that share their views and might not be so prickly. There’s always Toby “Boot In Your Ass” Keith. Oh wait…he’s an Obama supporter? And a Democrat?!? No kidding.
All right, scratch that. Fortunately, Paste magazinehas compiled a list of the top five popular musicians from both parties. Here are the Republicans:
- John Rich (Obvious. He’s already written a song for McCain.)
- Ted “The Nuge” Nugent
- Johnny Ramone (Yes, he was a Republican. Joey was an outspoken liberal. Unfortunately, they’re both dead.)
- Kid Rock
- Ricky Skaggs
Honorable Mention: Lee “God Bless the U.S.A.” Greenwood
I would recommend Kid Rock’s “Cowboy,” but Palin should probably steer clear of Nugent’s “Cat Scratch Fever.”
Paula M. Graham
Reviewer
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