You almost start to feel kind of sorry for GOP candidates out there on the stump. As we’ve reported here on the Riff before, Republicans tend to have a tough time finding tunes to play at their public events, since the artists, once they find out, tend to make very public rejections and denouncements of said candidates using their songs. Presidential candidate John McCain has himself acknowledged the problem, joking that the campaign has been using Chuck Berry’s 1958 classic “Johnny B Goode” only “because it’s the only one they haven’t complained about us using.” Well, scratch another one off your playlist, Johnny, since Mr. Berry has just announced his support for Barack Obama. Duh:
“America has finally come to this point where you can pick a man of colour and that not be a drawback,” Berry said. “It’s no question, myself being a man of colour. I mean, you have to feel good about it.” The anointment of Mr Obama as the Democratic presidential candidate was, he added, “definitely a proud and successful moment for all the people of this country – not just black people, but Americans in general.” Berry, known as the “father of rock ‘n’ roll”, recounted: “In the Fifties there were certain places we couldn’t ride on the bus, and now there is a possibility of a black man being in White House.”
Oh well.
After the jump: If you change your mind, I’m, uh, the first in line?
After this snub, McCain apparently decided to head in a completely different musical direction; last Friday, he appeared on an Arizona radio station and declared his “secret passion” for Swedish superstars ABBA:
“ABBA was the largest selling (recording act ever) … Nobody likes them, but they sold more records than anybody in the history of the world, including The Beatles. But everybody hates them. You’re a no-class guy if you like ABBA. Why does everybody go see ‘Mamma Mia?’ Hypocrisy! Rank hypocrisy! I’m not embarassed to say I like ABBA, ‘Dancing Queen.'”
McCain has apparently hinted at this secret passion before, promising last year that if he’s elected, ABBA would be played in “elevators all over the white house.” Unfortunately, the members of the long-defunct Swedish combo apparently refused McCain’s request to use “Take a Chance On Me” at rallies. Jeez, poor guy; maybe I could suggest using “Singin’ in the Rain,” or something else whose copyright has expired?
ABBA – “Money, Money, Money”
