Get out and vote on Tuesday!
I had an idea to do a program of political themed songs for the weekend before the election, and then just kind of let it sit there. A playlist was sporadically amended, I found an album of old campaign songs at Goodwill. I happened upon the German version of Peter Gabriel's third album so I could include the German version of Not One of Us. I could portray that sketch by the State as a precursor for today's CNN (seriously, replace "men can not grow beards in space" with "human activity does not cause global warming" and you'll get the idea.) Things were looking good. But, I became more and more tired of this campaign, I found a welcome distraction from reading about the election (hooray, Cubbies!), had a really nasty cold, and found myself with the idea not quite finished. But, it's here, although not quite as sharp as I was hoping.
There's not a lot specifically about this campaign. There's a lot about racism, ever present in the campaign and without. Sadly, nothing about the similarly ever-present sexism, which is my bad, especially on the (hopefully) eve of electing our first woman president. It does give a general reflection of my point of view, floating between snark and skepticism, and wide-eyed optimism
The input on the in studio recorder was turned all the way down, so the first two mic breaks were not recorded, which somewhat changes the impact of the segue from Simi Valley Blues into Through Being Cool.
I've thought that Through Being Cool should be the Democrat's theme song ever since I (embarrassingly recently) realized the Devoes meant by "cool" not "hip" or "popular" but rather "accepting" or "complacent" (as in "I'm cool with that'). Sadly, the Democrat's never seem to be all that enthusiastic about eliminating the ninnies and the twits among the opposition, or themselves. As for my proposed Republican theme, Not One of Us seems intended as satire of right wing rhetoric, and having it in German just twists the knife a bit more.
| artist | song | album | comment | label / date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Life Magazine Singers | Fair and Free Elections | Sing along with Millard Filmore | special guest 1st part of theme | Life Magazine 1964 |
| John McEuen | The Stars and Stripes Forever | String Wizards | special guest 2nd part of theme | Vanguard 1991 |
| Ornette Coleman; London Symphony Orchestra; David Measham | The Men Who Live in the White House | Skies Of America | more on this piece here |
Columbia 1972 |
| Charlie Haden | Circus '68 '69 | Liberation Music Orchestra | Perry Robinson (clt) Gato Barbieri, Dewey Redman (ts) Mike Mantler (trp) Roswell Rudd (tbn) Bob Northern (hrn) Howard Johnson (tba) Paul Motian, Andrew Cyrille (d, prc) Carla Bley (org) Charlie Haden (b) | Impulse! 1970 |
| The Life Magazine Singers | Van Buren | Sing along with Millard Filmore | to the tune of "The Right Man" | Life Magazine 1964 |
| Lead Belly | Bourgeois Blues | Classic Protest Songs from Smithsonian Folkways | Smithsonian Folkways 1938 |
|
| Branford Marsalis | Simi Valley Blues | I Heard You Twice the First Time | Branford Marsalis (ts) Robert Hurst (b) Jeff 'Tain' Watts (d) |
Columbia
1992 |
| Wayne Horvitz | This New Generation | This New Generation | music behind DJ |
Nonesuch
1985 |
| Devo | Through Being Cool | New Traditionalists | proposed Democratic Party Theme Song |
Warner Bros.
1981 |
| Peter Gabriel | Du bist nicht wie wir | Ein Deutsches Album | proposed Republican Party Theme Song |
Charisma
1980 |
| Digital Primitives | The People | Hum Crackle and Pop | Cooper-Moore (voc) Assif Tsahar (ts) Chad Taylor (d) |
Hopscotch
2007 |
| Chris Butler | Millions & Millions | Easy Life | Chris Butler (voc, g) Peter Stuart (b, voc) James Mastro (keys) | Future Fossil Records
2014 |
| Frederic Rzewski | 36 Variations on "The People United Will Never Be Defeated!" - Thema (2) | Rzewski Plays Rzewski | based on the song ¡El pueblo unido, jamás será vencido! by Sergio Ortega and Quilapayún |
Nonesuch
2002 |
| Victor Jara | El Derecho de Vivir en Paz | El Derecho de Vivir en Paz | the right to live in peace |
Sucesión Víctor Jara
1971 |
| Spaceheads | Trip to the Moon | Trip to the Moon EP | music behind DJ | Electric Brass 2014 |
| Los Lobos | Politician [Live] | Just Another Band from East L.A.: A Collection | song by Jack Bruce and Peter Brown | Warner Bros. 1992 |
| Yo La Tengo | Georgia vs. Yo La Tengo | Summer Sun | music behind DJ | Matador 2003 |
| The State | Bearded Men of Space Station 11 | Complete Series | Tom Lennon, Michael Schowalter, Michael Ian Black, Todd Holoubek, David Wain, Robert Ben Garant | 1994 |
| Billy Bragg | It Says Here (alternative version) | Between the Wars | YepRoc 1985 |
|
| Erin McKeown | The Politician | CIVICS | 2013 | |
| The Relatives | Speak to Me (What's Wrong With America?) | The Electric Word | Yep Roc 2013 |
|
| Nadia Sirota and Nico Muhly | Etude 1 | First Things First | music behind DJ | New Amsterdam 2010 |
| Robyn Archer | Ballad of Approving of the World | Cabaret Songs | song by Hanns Eisler and Bertolt Brecht | HMV Classics 1986 |
| Tom Lehrer | I wanna go back to Dixie | Songs by Tom Lehrer | self released 1953 |
|
| They Might Be Giants | Your Racist Friend | Flood | Elektra 1990 |
|
| William S. Burroughs | No More Stalins, No More Hitlers | Dead City Radio | John Cale at the synthesizer | Island 1990 |
| The Bears | Robobo's Beef | Rise and Shine | song by Bob Nyswonger | Primitive Man Recording Co. 1987 |
| Joe Jackson | Right and Wrong | Big World | Joe Jackson (p, voc) Vinnie Zummo (g) Rick Ford (b) Gary Burke (d) Joy Askew, Nikki Gregoroff, Peter Hewlitt, Curtis King Jr. (voc) | A&M 1986 |
| Daryl Hall and John Oates | Mano a Mano | Private Eyes | Daryl Hall, John Oates, Ray Gomez, G. E. Smith, Charlie de Chant, Larry Fast, John Siegler, Mickey Curry | RCA 1981 |
| Bright Eyes | at the bottom of everything | on the then Craig Kilborn-hosted Late Late Show | M. Ward for President! | 2008 |
| Carbon/Silicon | The System | The Crackup Suite | song by Tony James and Mick Jones | 2007 |
| The Maya Baiser / Steven Schick Project | Gada Yina African | Caught by the Sky with Wire | music behind DJ | oo records 2001 |
| Zappa's Universe | Hot Plate Heaven at the Green Hotel | Zappa's Universe | Rock group: Mike Keneally (g, key, voc) Mats Öberg (keys, voc) Scott Thunes (b, voc) Morgan Ågren (d) Jonathan Haas (prc) Marc Ziegenhagen (keys) The Persuasions (Jimmy Hayes, Jerry Lawson, Joe Russell, Jay Otis Washington) Rockapella (Sean Altman, Barry Carl, Elliot Kerman, Scott Leonard) Orchestra Of Our Time / Joel Thome |
Verve 1991 |
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