What do David Byrne, Rush and Don Henley all have in common? They've told Republican candidates to stop playing their songs without permission in the last few months. As this story in the Talking Points Memo details, GOPers keep getting their hands slapped by classic rockers who won't allow their tunes to become campaign anthems. The most recent is Rush, which told Tea Party icon Rand Paul to stop using "Tom Sawyer" and "The Spirit of Radio." Byrne went as far as suing Florida governor Charlie Crist for using "Road to Nowhere" in an Internet ad. He is asking for $1 million from Crist, who switched his affiliation to Independent to avoid a tough primary battle for the Republican nomination for Florida's U.S. Senate seat.
Henley's gripe is with Senate candidate Chuck DeVore (R-CA), who swiped "The Boys of Summer" and "All She Wants To Do Is Dance" for his web advertising.
This is really nothing new. Getting a cease and desist order from a musical icon seems to be a rite of passage for top Republican politicos. John McCain got Heismanned by Jackson Browne, Heart, Van Halen and John Mellencamp in 2008. Before him George W. Bush got a similar treatment by Tom Petty and Sting.
However, no musician reacted quite as strongly as John Hall, of the marginal 70's band The Orleans. When he heard Bush use their hit "Still the One" without permission, he got so pissed off that he ran for Congress. You can now call him Representative John Hall (D-NY).