Oldest people who liked rock music

[kphoger]

Ronald Reagan (born 1911) claimed to be a Bruce Springsteen fan. He played "Born in the USA" at one of his rallies for the 1984 election, which left the Boss fuming.

I've wondered about this kind of thing.  Especially when Trump would use music for his rallies, the musicians would be all "I won't allow you to do that".  But, is it even the musician that the White House contacts for permission?  Isn't it the record label?  Can't the label do basically whatever they want, whether the musician likes it or not?

[hotdogPi]

For anyone who's not Trump, the song will generally be allowed as long as it actually fits. The problem with Born in the USA is that everyone thinks it's a patriotic song when it's not.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

For anyone who's not Trump, the song will generally be allowed as long as it actually fits.

It's a little more than that. John McCain's campaign used Heart's "Barracuda" in 2008 and the Wilson sisters spoke out against it. Other artists might generally ask a campaign not to use their music just because they don't want to feel associated with the candidate, regardless of whether they approve or disapprove of the candidate themselves.

[kphoger]

But that's not my point.  Is it even the musician's decision to make?

[adventurernumber1]

Ronald Reagan (born 1911) claimed to be a Bruce Springsteen fan. He played "Born in the USA" at one of his rallies for the 1984 election, which left the Boss fuming.

I've wondered about this kind of thing.  Especially when Trump would use music for his rallies, the musicians would be all "I won't allow you to do that".  But, is it even the musician that the White House contacts for permission?  Isn't it the record label?  Can't the label do basically whatever they want, whether the musician likes it or not?

For anyone who's not Trump, the song will generally be allowed as long as it actually fits.

It's a little more than that. John McCain's campaign used Heart's "Barracuda" in 2008 and the Wilson sisters spoke out against it. Other artists might generally ask a campaign not to use their music just because they don't want to feel associated with the candidate, regardless of whether they approve or disapprove of the candidate themselves.

But that's not my point.  Is it even the musician's decision to make?

While record companies often own the rights to music (unfortunately), it is usually the musicians themselves who are actually associated with the music in question in the public mind. Songs being used in movies and shows, and even video games as well, can often be quite beneficial for both parties (the music and the work of art the music is being used in), and even forge pop cultural connections and lasting nostalgic associations, especially if the music works really well in the medium. However, politics is a completely different animal, and if a politician decides to use a work of music in their campaign they should expect a high probability of opposition to that. The musicians blocking the candidates from using the song is an effective form of protest against said candidate if the purpose is because the artist wants no association whatsoever, which would be very understandable. And then, as mentioned, there's also the irony of using "Born in the USA" as a song for candidates that espouse "patriotism," when the song is actually a heavy critique of the happenings in America. It would probably usually be best to keep music and art out of the machinations of politics, but political candidates seem to find that out the hard way time and time again.     

[kphoger]

So, it sounds like I was thinking correctly.

– Hello, copyright holder for Tom Petty's Famous Song?  We'd like to use the song for our Midwestern Whirlwind Political Rally Tour.

– Yes, of course, Mister Campaign Dude.  That will be $8550 per rally, please.

– Great!  It's been a pleasure doing business with you.

– ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫

– Hey, this is Tom Petty here, and I hate your candidate.  I refuse to let you use my Famous Song at your rallies.

– Uh, nobody asked you.

[jgb191]

Wasn't the electric guitar invented in the 1930's?  Its inventor, Beauchamp, was born around 1900, so he's the earliest known Rock music pioneer I would believe.

[1995hoo]

What kphoger suggests has more or less happened on occasion when a candidate has validly licensed a song through ASCAP or BMI and then the musician objects.

One of the more reasonable comments I've heard came from Tom Scholz (who is hardly known for being one of the more reasonable rock musicians, to be sure) when Mike Huckabee used a Boston song. Scholz asked him not to play it and said, "I'm flattered that you like my music, but I ask you not to play it at your rallies so as not to imply that I support you." Compare to famously liberal Jackson Browne, who rushed to sue John McCain after he played "Running on Empty" to refer to Obama's energy policy.

[roadman65]

From what I understand when you publish a song you have written, the song technically is no longer your personal property. It belongs to them and is public domain after one obtains ASCAP or BMI.

The same happened with Galveston when Glen Campbell covered it. He made it more conservative from what the author intended the song to be, and there were some sparks there as well.

[kphoger]

Wasn't the electric guitar invented in the 1930's?  Its inventor, Beauchamp, was born around 1900, so he's the earliest known Rock music pioneer I would believe.

I can't tell if he actually personally liked rock and roll or not.

[Otto Yamamoto]

The nursing home I work in runs Spotify or suchlike on the overhead in the daytime. Usually 70's and 80's hits. Nobody seems to mind, and it's contemporary music for a lot of the residents. Just a note, Peter Crowley, who produced a lot of shows at Max's Kansas City is in his 70's, and keeps threatening to retire from producing Max's Kansas City tribute shows. Walter Lure literally played Heartbreakers songs until he passed away, Mickey Leigh (Joey Ramone's brother) has started a new group and has an album out. Phillipe Marcade(The Senders) shows up at the Bowery Electric now and again.

[hbelkins]

From what I understand when you publish a song you have written, the song technically is no longer your personal property. It belongs to them and is public domain after one obtains ASCAP or BMI.

This. If you pay the royalties, then you have a license for public use. There's also SESAC, in addition to BMI and ASCAP. If a politician pays the licensing fees, there isn't a whole lot the artist can do other than complain publicly.

It's how Rush Limbaugh was able to use The Pretenders' "My City Was Gone" as his theme music. He had paid the licensing fee, much to the chagrin of Chrissie Hynde. There was a brief period when the license had expired and he experimented with other theme songs -- Ted Nugent's "Stranglehold" being one I remember -- but eventually he regained usage rights to the song.

Same with some of the tunes he used as bumper music. Some artists objected, some for specific political reasons while others on the premise that they didn't want to be connected to any political movements or opinions, but in the end those objections were treated as requests and not legal "cease and desist" orders.

[roadman65]

That's the perks. You write a song. Sell it to the publishers. Then anyone can buy the rights to the song including political adversaries of yours.

I'm sure they're songs out there that have been covered in the industry by artists who the original disliked the way the song was taken. I imagine that many rappers who covered rock songs are not appreciated by their original authors.

I'm sure Dean Martin would be rolling in his grave if he heard his version of Jingle Bells used as part of a rap song. Of course Christmas music is exempt from being used unless its Mariah Carey's All I Want For Christmas Is You, which she co-wrote herself and I'm sure Michael Buble had to acquire the rights on his last Christmas Album to use when he covered the track.

[Scott5114]

My understanding is that most of the time candidates will comply with cease-and-desist orders issued by musicians even though they have no legal basis to issue them. Even if the candidate has a legal right to play the song, if the musician sues, there is the potential of negative publicity for the candidate since the musician is more likely to have a bigger fan base than the politician does. It also means that coverage of the court case will probably drown out whatever the politician wants to communicate about their candidacy. It doesn't really serve the candidate's interest to have their right to play the song validated in court but lose the election, so it's easiest to just pick a different song.

[kphoger]

And see, I figured it would be bad publicity to have the whole country know that no musician out of the twenty you've tried will let you play his song.

[Scott5114]

And see, I figured it would be bad publicity to have the whole country know that no musician out of the twenty you've tried will let you play his song.

Most of the time, I think it's handled on the down low. Candidate plays Song A by Musician X, Musician X issues cease-and-desist to campaign lawyers, the campaign switches to Song B by Musician Y without so much as acknowledging it publicly, and it never hits the news. For all anyone knows the campaign manager simply thought Song B was a better fit for the campaign.

And, well, worse comes to worst, there's always royalty free/public domain music! The author can't object if they're dead! (It might be kind of funny for a candidate to use "Swan Lake" just to see how much Putin freaks out.)

[Henry]

Wasn't the electric guitar invented in the 1930's?  Its inventor, Beauchamp, was born around 1900, so he's the earliest known Rock music pioneer I would believe.

I can't tell if he actually personally liked rock and roll or not.

I just googled him:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Beauchamp

He was actually born in 1899, and his creations were nicknamed "frying pans" based on their resemblances to the cooking apparatus. In addition, he also invented the electric bass, electric violin and instrument amplifiers. Sadly, he didn't live to see the birth of rock & roll itself, as he died in 1941, two days after his 42nd birthday and at least a decade before his inventions truly took off, thanks to companies like Fender and Les Paul.

[roadman65]

I wonder if Christine McVie approved of Bill Clinton using her song when he won the 1992 election?

[skluth]

I wonder if Christine McVie approved of Bill Clinton using her song when he won the 1992 election?

I'd assume she did based on Fleetwood Mac playing at Clinton's inaugural.