The long-awaited update of the Secret GOP Playlist

One of the strange and recurring things about the GOP – most definitely including their <airquotes>libertarian</airquotes> wing – is that their battle on behalf of law and order, property rights, and the sacredness of the contract lasts only until the next time someone needs a bracing campaign theme:

[Self-styled libertarian Republican presidential candidate Rand] Paul was supposed to be different. One of his pitches for why he deserves a chance to run for president is that he is better at engaging the young crowd than the typical Republican candidate. That may have been merely wishful thinking, because in less than 24 hours, Paul’s team has been revealed to have about as much grasp on the Internet as your grandparents.

His nascent campaign is failing on every corner of cyberspace. As with Cruz, Paul launched a presidential announcement video to coincide with his big speech. Unfortunately for potential voters curious to see it, the video has been blocked by YouTube for copyright infringement. […]

The video uses the John Rich song “Shuttin’ Detroit Down,” which Paul’s team either didn’t get the rights to or failed to notify YouTube of before their copyright flaggers pulled the video. Either way, Paul’s big announcement is a deadlink.

Paul has attempted, with terribly limited success, to position himself apart from the Republican mainstream. But when it comes to boosting pop music for his campaign, he stands in a long GOP tradition.

So, to update the p3 box scores:

Artist: John Rich
Music in Question: "Shuttin' Detroit Down."
Lyric that makes it sound like a bad choice for a Republican anyway: "Because in the real world they're shuttin' Detroit down/ While the boss man takes his bonus paid jets on out of town / DC's bailing out them bankers as the farmers auction ground"
Did they secure permission to use the music? Apparently not.
Did they use it anyway? Yup.

Saturday morning tunes: Rush versus Rush

This isn't a post about Republicans using rock music for their campaign events without getting permission of the copyright holders -- although lord knows there are plenty of those incidents.

This is about one particular Republican using music he has the legal right to use -- rarity of rarities! -- and the artists who object because the Republican in question is, to quote one band, “a racist, misogynist, right wing clown.” (Love their use of the serial comma.)

Unlike, say, the Bush 1992 presidential campaign, or the Dole 1996 campaign, or the McCain/Palin 2008 campaign, when Rush Limbaugh's radio show uses copyrighted rock music as background, or bumpers between segments, they have the legal right to do so, since Clear Channel (through its subsidiary syndication network Premiere, which distributes Limbaugh's show) has already paid for the rights to use the music on its network.

The artists can't sue for copyright infringement, and they can't pull advertising (like around fifty of his sponsors, and counting). But that doesn't mean that the artists whose work can be heard along with some of Limbaugh's recent misogynistic rants are going to go down without a fight.

And so, without further ado, p3 proudly presents:

Artists: Rage Against the Machine [thanks, Ryan, for spotting the error!]
Music in question: Sleep Now in the Fire.
Quote:

Stop using our music on your racist, misogynist, right wing clown show.

If your browser won't display the embedded version, click here.

Artist: Peter Gabriel
Music in question: Sledgehammer
Quote:

Peter was appalled to learn that his music was linked to Rush Limbaugh's extraordinary attack on Sandra Fluke. It is obvious from anyone that knows Peter's work that he would never approve such a use. He has asked his representatives to make sure his music is withdrawn and especially from these unfair aggressive and ignorant comments.

If your browser won't display the embedded version, click here.

The campaign theme song for Gingrich 2012: "It's like we're doing it for Disneyland!"

Here's traditional values supporter Newt's most recent attempt to mount (heh) a defense of his serial adultery:

There's no question at times of my life, partially driven by how passionately I felt about this country, that I worked far too hard and things happened in my life that were not appropriate," Gingrich told CBN's David Brody, in an interview taped at the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition and posted online Tuesday night.

You see, it wasn't that Gingrich was cheating, per se, on his wife (context makes it unclear which wife, and which mistress, he's specifically referring to here). It's that he was driven by how passionately he felt about this country and things got a little, you know, out of hand. (It's easier than you might think.)

It's a new variation on an old ploy: If you didn't want to go all the way, you shouldn't have got me feeling so patriotic.

Here at p3 we urge the disgraced former speaker, purported intellectual, and eternal presidential campaign tease to turn lemons into lemonade by adopting this as his 2012 campaign theme song:

Let's do it for our country,
The red, white and the blue.
Its Uncle Sam who's asking,
So your mother will approve.
Tomorrow I'll be fighting and I'll win this war for you.
Let's do it for our country --
Our country wants us to.
Bullets are exploding --
They'll soon be at the door.
It's something to America you never gave before.

Yeah, let's do it for our country --
The red, white and the blue.
If the president were standing here,
I'm sure he would approve.
I'll be a mighty soldier before this night is through.
Let's do this for our country --
Our country wants us to.

All honors to Morgan for the idea, and h/t to longtime p3 friend and correspondent, proud Doctor Beyond, for passing it along.

(By the way, with this post I'm officially launching a new content label: GOP secret playlist.)

GOP and property rights: The ongoing musical struggle

Republicans are so peculiar: They don't want the Internet to be free, but they never saw a pop song with a catchy refrain that they didn't think should be liberated for the people.

We've covered this quite a bit here at p3, (most recently here, but also here and here); one more post, and I'm going to go ahead and give it its own tag. With the campaign season heating up, it's a pretty sure bet.

The irony this time is especially piquant, since Rand Paul is all about the property rights. At least, some people's property rights.

Songs: "The Spirit of Radio" and Tom Sawyer, by Rush.

GOP campaign wanting it: Rand Paul's US Senate campaign.

Lyric making it an unlikely choice for a GOP campaign: "One likes to believe in the freedom of music / But glittering prizes and endless compromises / Shatter the illusion of integrity." (Note, however, that Paul likes to use the last two phrases in his speechifying, but not the first, perhaps preferring to avoid the whole touchy subject of "freeness.")

Other warning signs: Dude -- they're Canadian!

Quote: "This is not a political issue -- this is a copyright issue," [record label general counsel Robert] Farmer said in an interview. "We would do this no matter who it is."

Did the GOP have permission to use it? No.

Did they use it anyway? Yes.

I'm going to have to put together the "Stolen by the GOP" playlist.

Republicans and property rights: One rule for lunch counters, another for rally music

As I've documented before (here and here), there are two consistent patterns when Republicans select pop music for campaigns and rallies:

(1) They tend to listen too much to the chorus and not enough to the verse.

(2) They mostly couldn't care less about the intellectual property rights of the music's owner.

Here's the latest example:

Song: The Talking Head's "Road to Nowhere" (1985)

GOP campaign wanting it: Florida governor Charlie Crist, for an attack ad against 2010 GOP primary rival Marco Rubio.

Lyric making it an unlikely choice for a GOP campaign: "They can tell you what to do / But they'll make a fool of you / And it's all right, baby it's all right . . . We're on a road to nowhere."

Other warning signs: [Talking Heads front man David] "Byrne's lawyer Lawrence Iser also represented [Jackson] Browne when the singer sued John McCain over his unauthorized use of 'Running on Empty.' (The suit that was eventually settled for an undisclosed sum.) In Browne's settlement, the Republican Party was ordered to 'respect and uphold the rights of artists and to obtain permissions and/or licenses for copyrighted works where appropriate.'"

Quote: "'I was pretty upset by that,' Byrne told Billboard. Even though Warner Bros has managed to get the campaign ad pulled, Byrne says that 'the damage had already been done by it being out there. People that I knew had seen [the ad] so it had gotten around. It's about copyright and about the fact that it does imply that I would have licensed it and endorsed him and whatever he stands for.' Byrne is suing for $1 million because it's the amount he's typically offered for use of his songs in commercials."

Did the GOP have permission to use it? No.

Used it anyway? Yes.

GOP anti-property rights playlist: Update

(See here for more of the playlist of songs used by the GOP in violation of the copyright owners' intellectual property rights.)

And, once again, the problem also seems to be that Republicans know a great chorus, but never get around to listening to what the song's about.

Song: Heart's "Barracuda" (1977)

GOP campaign wanting it: McCain 2008, following Palin's speech at the RNC convention (an allusion to Palin's nickname as a high school basketball player)

Lyric making it an unlikely choice for a GOP campaign: "If the real thing don't do the trick / You better make up something quick"

Other warning signs: The group's from Seattle, never known to be a hotbed of support for the hardcore right in general or McCain in particular.

Quote: (Heart's email to fans) "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."

Did GOP have permission to use it? No

Used it anyway? Yes (twice, the second time after they'd already been called on it publicly by TMC.com)

Saturday playlist: Songs the GOP never secured permission to use

Song: Frankie Valli's "Can't Take My Eyes Off of You" (1967)

GOP campaign wanting it: McCain 2008, in an Obama parody video

Lyric making it an unlikely choice for a GOP campaign: "I love you baby, and if it's quite all right/I need you baby, to warm the lonely night"

Other warning signs: Valli's career was spent singing falsetto

Quote: (Gonzo Republican rocker Ted Nugent) "McCain seem[s] to be catering to a growing segment of soulless Americans who could care less what they can do for their country, but whine louder and louder about what their country must do for them. That is both un-American and pathetic."

Did GOP have permission to use it? No

Used it anyway? Yes

__________

Song: Composer Bill Conti's "Gonna Fly Now" (Theme from "Rocky") (1976)

GOP campaign wanting it: McCain 2008

Lyric making it an unlikely choice for a GOP campaign: "Getting strong now/Won't be long now/Getting strong now"

Other warning signs: Statue of Rocky Balboa made for "Rocky II," originally on display at the top of the iconic steps to the Philadelphia Museum of Art and later moved to the Spectrum, misspelled "its" in its inscription.

Quote: (From Boston.com) "'It wasn't a formal complaint or a letter. Someone just called on the phone and said "Hey, that's our property,""' [McCain] said."

Did GOP have permission to use it? No

Used it anyway? Yes

__________


Song: Jackson Brown's Running on Empty (1977)

GOP campaign that wanted it: McCain 2008

Lyric making it an unlikely choice for a GOP campaign: "I look around for the friends that I used to turn to to pull me through/Looking into their eyes I see them running too"

Other warning signs: No Nukes

Quote: Browne's lawyers: "In light of Jackson Browne's lifelong commitment to Democratic ideals and political candidates, the misappropriation of Jackson Browne's endorsement is entirely reprehensible."

Did the GOP have permission to use it? No

Used it anyway? Yes

__________


Song: Bruce Springsteen's "Born in the USA" (1984)

GOP campaign that wanted it: Reagan 1984

Lyric making it an unlikely choice for a GOP campaign: "Come back home to the refinery/Hiring man says 'Son if it was up to me'"

Other warning signs: From CNN: "[Springsteen] who spent much of 1984 on a huge concert tour, dedicated 'Born in the U.S.A.' to a union local at one stop."

Quote: Springsteen: "You see in the Reagan election ads on TV, you know, 'It's morning in America,' and you say, 'Well, it's not morning in Pittsburgh.'"

Did the GOP have permission to use it? No

Used it anyway? No

----------

Song: John Mellencamp's "Little Pink Houses" (1987)

GOP campaign wanting it: McCain 2008

Lyric making it an unlikely choice for a GOP campaign: "And there's a woman in the kitchen cleanin' up the evening slop/And he looks at her and says: hey darling, I can remember when you could stop a clock"

Other warning signs: Mellencamp was a regular performer at Farm Aid.

Quote: (From Rolling Stone) "And does McCain really want to associate himself with those 'Pink Houses' lines about the 'simple man' paying for the 'the thrills, the bills and the pills that kill'?"

Did GOP have permission to use it? No

Used it anyway? Yes

----------

Song: Van Halen's Right Now (1991)

GOP campaign wanting it: McCain 2008, at rally naming Sarah Palin as running mate

Lyric making it an unlikely choice for a GOP campaign: "The more things you get, the more you want/Just trade in one for the other"

Other warning signs: Sammy Hagar rumored to be Republican, but never as good a front man as David Lee Roth.

Quote: From TMZ: "For the record, Dubya used the same song during a bunch of his campaign speeches back in 2004, but sources close to the band tell us, 'They're not political, they're just rock and roll.'"

Did the GOP have permission to use it? No

Used it anyway? Yes

----------

Moral: Republicans like a chorus with a strong hook, but never, ever listen to the lyrics. And they love property rights, as long as it's not the intellectual property rights of musicians.

Meanwhile, Abba, watch your backs.