Shut Up and Sing (or Just Shut Up)
Tom Scholtz of Boston (the group and the city) whined that Mike Huckabee shouldn’t play his song because Huckabee is the polar opposite of most everything BOSTON stands for. The snarky side of me is thrilled to know that what’s left of an overrated (assuming they still get rated at all these days) 1970s band wants to lower your taxes, end parole for violent predators, continue the Bush Administration’s foreign policy and secure the border, and is only supporting the Obamessiah because, like most of his other supporters, they has no clue what he is about. The other says that that anyone clueless enough to deride a former band member for “performing with us for only three years,” when discussing a group that only managed to release that many albums, is probably too clueless to know what Phuckabee is or isn’t the polar opposite of. This is only the latest of similar outbursts from self-important musicians who have declined Laura Ingraham’s sage advice to shut up and sing. Others include Petty Tom, who raised similar objections when Dubya used “I Won’t Back Down” at fund raising events in 2000, and Abba and John “Mellencamp” Cat who exhibited similar dickishness toward John McCain in 2008.
As one who owns almost 1,000 albums, including three of the four that are the subject of this post (I wouldn’t accept an Abba album if you paid me), I did so with the understanding that once I had paid my money for these albums, “their” property became mine, and I was now free to play these albums into the ground, whenever and wherever I felt like it. Now these guys tell me thanks for the money, but I haven’t really bought anything except the right to ask them permission to play then when it suits them. So they have my money, and I have diddley squat. In other words, I think we’ve been ripped off, dudes!
March 3rd, 2008 at 12:25 am
Add Bruce Hornsby to that list… whining that Hannity was using his song.
March 3rd, 2008 at 1:17 am
When you refer to owning their property, you only own a physical manifestation of what these musicians created. They still own the intellectual property they created, as they should. That is why Tom Scholtz is requesting for Huckabee to stop playing his music at campaigns.
March 3rd, 2008 at 10:58 am
To elaborate on #2, is playing the song at a campaign event analogous to playing the song on the radio? Are there restrictions/prior (artist) permission issues for “public” performances?
On the snark side, Hornsby should be happy that anyone is playing his music.
March 3rd, 2008 at 12:07 pm
Sundown: what is a “physical manifestation?” Are you saying that all I bought was a couple photos and a little piece of plastic, with no right to play the music? If so, I’ve really been ripped off, dude.
Dave S: probably, but AFAIK almost all artists give up the right to negotiate with each individual radio station. If this were just a matter of seeking royalties, I wouldn’t have a problem with it. But in that case, every commercial song that is allowed to be played at a political rally should either be charged royalties at the going rate, or be deemed an in-kind contribution. Can’t have it both ways.
March 3rd, 2008 at 7:13 pm
Liar.
You’d totally take an ABBA album if you were paid enough.
March 3rd, 2008 at 10:40 pm
Try me.