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Classic Rock Briefs For November 6, 2008

Queen’s Brian May Baffled By Missing Tracks on Guns N’ Roses Album

Already making news with the release of a new album, Brian May, of the group we now know as Queen And Paul Rodgers, is also making news with his reported exclusion from an album by another group that is soon to be released.

May recorded some guitar tracks for the long-awaited Guns N’ Roses album Chinese Democracy, but has recently learned that those tracks may not have been included. Recorded in 1999, May’s work was to be included on a song entitled “Catcher N’ The Rye,” and was indeed heard on a leaked version of the album a while back.

Since then, a fan who claims to have seen the album’s liner notes reported on May’s personal website that there is no mention of May’s contribution. Full Story.

Oliver Wakeman Set To Make Father Proud on Yes Tour

With legendary keyboardist Rick Wakeman bowing out of the upcoming Yes tour, his son Oliver will be sitting in for him, and doing his best to recreate the Yes experience that fans expect. A feat that is probably more difficult in view of the fact that Yes frontman Jon Anderson will not be touring with the group this time.

According to bassist Chris Squire, the younger Wakeman is living up to his dad’s reputation, and despite the uncertainty over whether he will don his father’s trademark silver cape, his performance is otherwise described as realistic.

“Don’t know if he’s going to go as far as the cape but he’s pretty realistic with the rest of the way of handling the big keyboard," Squire said after time spent rehearsing with their new keyboardist.

Carrie Underwood Cuts Loose On Politically Active Celebrities

This is one of those times when we take a little detour away from classic rock news and veer a little into the realm of another genre. Besides, I’m actually a fan of Carrie Underwood’s music. She is my favorite America Idol winner so far. She had me when she belted out Heart’s “Alone” during season four.

This time however, what we are hearing from Underwood has more to do with politics, and less to do with music than might otherwise be expected. The hugely successful country star is speaking her mind about fellow celebrities that publicly support political candidates.

Although Underwood does not name names, for some reason a voice in my head keeps whispering, “The Boss, The Boss.” Seriously though, he stands out as one of the most – if not the most – active celebrity campaigners of this recently (and mercifully) completed campaign.

Carrie Underwood’s recent comments are relevant here for two reasons. First, I happen to like her and her music. I don’t listen to a lot of country music, but when I do, it’s likely to be Carrie Underwood. Secondly, I happen to think she’s right on the money with her stance on this subject, which makes me like her even more. Full Story.

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Tags: Brian May, Carrie Underwood, Celebrities, Chinese Democracy, Guns N Roses, Oliver Wakeman, Politics, Yes Tour

Rockers Continue To Protest McCain Campaign’s Use Of Their Material

I’ll admit that my memory isn’t quite what it used to be, but I don’t recall a Presidential campaign in which we have heard this much complaining from certain musical luminaries as we have this time around. Perhaps “W” did not use that much controversial musical material during his two campaigns. But again, I’m working with the memory of a middle-aged classic rock fan here, who was around before it became known as “classic.”

The latest artist to hop aboard the “Stop using my music, John McCain” bandwagon is Jon Bon Jovi. This certainly comes as no surprise since he’s very well known as a supporter of Senator Obama, and has even hosted a fundraising dinner at his home in New Jersey for Obama.

It seems that the McCain campaign’s use of the Bon Jovi song “Who Says You Can’t Go Home” a few times within the last day or two does not sit well with Mr. Bon Jovi, and he says that he was “…surprised to hear that our song ‘Who Says You Can’t Go Home’ was used by the McCain campaign at rallies yesterday and today. We wrote this song as a thank you to those who have supported us over the past 25 years."

OK, so we add Jon Bon Jovi to the list of ticked of rockers who do not appreciate their music being in any way connected with the Republican party. But before we’re done, we may as well add the lesser-known, but apparently no- less-ticked-off Survivor to the list.

Remember “Eye of The Tiger?” Personally, I’d rather forget, but there was a time back around 1982 when the song racked up its share of airtime on radio stations across the country. The song was written at the request of Rocky star Sylvester Stallone and was used as a theme song for the movie Rocky 3.

Well I guess John McCain, or whoever is responsible for choosing his music, decided that their campaign could use a little bit of well-known fightin’ music to energize the crowd, and decided that “Eye of The Tiger” would fit the bill nicely. Survivor does not agree, and has asked the McCain campaign to stop using the song.

I think a lot of people, including myself, have wondered if these protests — and in the case of the Wilson Sisters from Heart, a cease and desist letter — really have any legal weight behind them. Well, I may have stumbled upon the answer today.

According to this article, the songs were used mostly during campaign events inside venues like large convention centers, and in those cases, the venues have paid the appropriate entities for the use of those songs as part of a licensing agreement that allows the venues to play a rather large list of songs for various artists.

However, as the article from E! Online points out, the McCain people might actually have some trouble on their hands where the Jackson Browne case is concerned. Since Browne’s material was used during a television commercial, there are different rules and restrictions involved.

Browne has actually filed a lawsuit which is claiming copyright infringement, which I presume will convince whoever McCain has hired to craft his television commercials to study up a bit on copyright law.

With just a little over two weeks to go before this is all over, I’m wondering if there is enough time to hear from at least one more disgruntled artist. This campaign just won’t be the same if we don’t.

Tags: Bon Jovi, Copyright, Heart, Jackson Browne, lawsuit, McCain, Obama, Politics, Survivor

The Politics of Rock

As we draw nearer to the Presidential election, the rhetoric and attacks flying back and forth between the McCain and Obama camps is intensifying. But the political candidates and their campaign teams are not the only ones who are out there in the public eye making their voices heard.

National campaigns in the past have traditionally been accompanied by public support from various celebrities, who, for one reason or another, are convinced that the rest of us really need to know who they are voting for. I’m not sure if it’s just me, but doesn’t this kind of activity seem to be cranked up a notch this time around?

I first started paying attention to this when the Wilson sisters of Heart complained about the McCain camp’s use of their hit song “Barracuda,” which was said to have been chosen because “Sarah Barracuda” was a nickname that Republican Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin picked up in High School as a result of her aggressive style while playing sports.

Later we heard that Jackson Browne had his knickers in a twist over the use of his song “Running on Empty” as part of a McCain television advertisement.

In addition to those well-known rockers, by digging back just a little bit in history, we find that John Mellencamp asked the McCain campaign to stop using his music back around February.

Since then we’ve heard from Van Halen, who was not happy about the use of their song “Right now,” which was written during the “Van Hagar” days, and apparently did not present any problems for Sammy Hagar who thought it was just fine, but Hagar is known as a GOP supporter.

More recently, it seems that the Foo Fighters are angry with the McCain people over use of their song “My Hero.” In a statement the group said the following: "The saddest thing about this is that ‘My Hero’ was written as a celebration of the common man and his extraordinary potential. To have it appropriated without our knowledge and used in a manner that perverts the original sentiment of the lyric just tarnishes the song."

In response, McCain spokesman Brian Rogers said: "The McCain-Palin campaign respects copyright. This campaign has obtained and paid for licenses from performing rights organizations, giving us permission to play millions of different songs, including ‘My Hero.’”

I guess that’s probably something that some famously politically active rockers are not too happy to hear, but if the McCain campaign did indeed follow the proper procedures and pay to use those songs (any appearance of doubt on my part is a result of the fact that we are dealing with politicians and their cronies here), it seems there is little that the flustered artists can do except whine to the press about the use of their material.

I guess it also explains why the McCain campaign continues to use many of these songs despite the requests from the artists who wrote them to stop.

But the vitriol that has been flowing freely from some artists in the direction of John McCain and his supporters is just one side of the story. There are a few artists out there who are very willingly lending their music, as well as their celebrity status to the causes of their chosen candidate.

Bruce Springsteen and Billy Joel are very vocal supporters of Barrack Obama and have even been out performing in support of their candidate. Not to to be outdone, Jon Bon Jovi hosted a $38,000-a-plate dinner with Obama, although those of lesser means had the chance to opt for the more reasonable $2,300 ticket which did not include dinner with the Presidential candidate.

Speaking of supporters, most recently we heard from Alice Cooper, who is known as a Republican supporter, and has been quoted during an interview saying that he thinks Sarah Palin is “…totally a breath of fresh air. When they say she has no experience, maybe that’s what Washington needs. I still don’t know who I’m going to vote for. But in a shooting war, I want a pit bull, not a poodle. I’m gonna go for the hawk,” Cooper said.

There is certainly an element of the citizenry that is not too pleased with the attention and money that celebrities are lavishing on their candidate of choice. For example, a letter to a New Jersey newspaper from a reader makes her views on the subject quite clear.

Personally I tend to agree with the author of that letter, and I wish celebrities, who have a distinct advantage over the common citizen when it comes to getting the message out in support of the candidate, would keep private the choices they intend to make when they enter the voting both.

That is a message I would direct at both political parties (the only two we appear to be stuck with for eternity, by the way), since I am a true independent, and could go on at length about the problems I have with both Republicans and Democrats. However, this is Real Rock News and not a Washington Times or New York Times editorial column, so I will leave it at that.

What do you think? Does the political activism of celebrity rockers annoy you or do you see it simply as their right to free speech?

Tags: Biden, Billy Joel, Foo Fighters, Heart, Jackson Browne, McCain, Mellencamp, Obama, Palin, Politics, Springsteen, Van Halen

Alice Cooper Takes Celebrities To Task For Political Activism

Veteran rocker Alice Cooper is in the news again, and once again he’s got a few things to say about something that’s been getting on his nerves. Recently, Cooper had a few not-so-kind words for TV talent shows like American Idol, saying that they are seeking only artists that are "totally disposable."

This time the shock rocker is fed up with celebrities that choose to involve themselves in political issues. This sore spot is not a new one for Cooper, who let it rip back in 2004 when he referred to celebrities who were openly supporting John Kerry for President as "treasonous morons."

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Speaking specifically about fellow rockers, Cooper says that they can take themselves too seriously and that they deserve no more credibility than anyone else. "We can’t keep giving them this credibility, as if they know more than anybody else. We don’t. That’s why we’re rock ‘n’ rollers," he says.

He is also concerned that celebrities that publicly support a political candidate may actually damage the political process, citing a hypothetical instance where a voter who actually knows little about politics decides to vote for a particular candidate because of the support of a celebrity whose movies the voter in question happens to like.

Alice Cooper seems to be in the news quite a bit lately, and although he has been making some controversial comments, he might just be providing some valuable food for thought for his fans, and perhaps influencing them in a positive way by urging them to think more for themselves and make their own decisions, particularly where politics are concerned.

Thanks to Contact Music for the heads up on this latest Alice Cooper news.

Tags: Alice Cooper, Celebrities, Politics

Bon Jovi Rocks Australia And Talks Politics

Rumors have been swirling around recently regarding Jon Bon Jovi’s future and his alleged plans to get more involved in politics. Like so many others in the entertainment industry, he is a staunch Democrat and has been active in politics but denies he has any plans to become a politician.

Arriving in Australia to rock their fans in the land down under, Bon Jovi took a few minutes to talk with the media about his thoughts on politics.

Like so many others, he is not happy with the direction of the country during the Bush years and true to his Democratic roots, he plans to support a candidate from that party for President but will not reveal which one he as thrown his support behind.

No matter what is political leanings are, Bon Jovi the band is still hot in Australia these days. Having not performed there in about five years or so, Australian fans were anxious to snap up tickets to the show which sold out in 10 minutes. Some tickets were being offered on eBay for as much as $500.

It’s easy to understand why there has been so much speculation about a career in politics being the next big thing for Jon Bon Jovi since it appears to be a subject he is quite passionate about. Whether or not his denials about planning to get more involved are genuine or not remains to be seen.

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Tags: Australia, Jon Bon Jovi, Politics