Stolen Heart
I was pleased to see that Ann and Nancy Wilson have publicly repeated their demand to the Republican Party to not mis-use Heart's Barracuda as theme music for McCain's sorry excuse for a running mate, Sarah "Barracuda" Palin. This was after the GOP disregarded the earlier notice and continued to attempt to use the still-popular '70s hit as a way to lend Palin a positive, pseudo-edgy, familiar association. (Thanks to CryptLeak for this pass-along on a busy Friday.)
Follow the link even if it's just to see the questionable nature of many of the talking points responses from GOP tools and dupes that follow the piece. I have little doubt that these same people, had it turned out that the band members were sufficiently morally- and mentally-deficient to embrace Ms. Palin and her platform, would be lauding the tune as a fondly remembered and often-heard rock classic instead of pretending they'd never heard it before being played at the convention.
Update: Word is now that the McCain/Palin camp is paying royalties and continuing to play it, and that Heart guitarist Roger Fisher is sending a portion of the monies to the Obama campaign.
Republicans Take Heart; Heart Takes It Back
Today 7:47 AM PDT by Gina Serpe
Sarah Palin AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato
Ann and Nancy Wilson are hoping the Republicans change their tune—and aren't planning on waiting until November to find out.
The sisterly duo known as Heart sent a cease-and-desist notice to the McCain-Palin campaign Thursday afternoon after their hit "Barracuda" was used—twice—without permission as the official rallying cry for the vice presidential candidate after her nomination acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention.
The song was chosen as a would-be cute tie-in to Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's past—"Barracuda" was her high school nickname.
Only problem, campaign officials failed to ask either the group, Universal Music Publishing or Sony BMG whether the song was fair game to use. It wasn't.
"We have asked the Republican campaign publicly not to use our music," the Heart duo said in a statement. "We hope our wishes will be honored."
The Wilsons added that permission to use the song was never requested, nor would it have been granted.
Then came Thursday night, and following John McCain's acceptance speech at the RNC, Palin joined her running mate onstage, once again to the strains of the '70s classic.
The Wilsons wasted no time in getting to the, well, heart of the matter in a rant to Entertainment Weekly.
"I think it's completely unfair to be so misrepresented," Nancy Wilson told the magazine Thursday night. "I feel completely f--ked over."
Nancy and Ann Wilson of Heart Randee St. Nicholas
Her reaction was followed up by an email sent by her and Ann to EW.
"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...[It] was written in the late '70s as a scathing rant against the soulless, corporate nature of the music business, particularly for women...There's irony in Republican strategists' choice to make use of it there."
There's also a bit of precedent.
John Mellencamp, Jackson Browne and Boston have all previously made noise about the GOP's unauthorized use of their songs during this year's campaign.
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