Trig Paxson Van Palin, you have a lot to live up to!

Sarah Palin (Aka Tina Fey's evil gunslinging twin) has said “We’ve always liked the middle name Van because, you know, growing up in the ’80s, Van Palin would be a really cool name.”

The McCain-Palin campaign is having a hard time getting its groove on.

For politicians, every public event features a soundtrack of popular music, selected by the campaign staff as anthemic of the message du jour. Bill Clinton used Fleetwood Mac’s Don’t Stop Thinking About Tomorrow until we all ripped our Stevie Nicks posters from walls in violent fits of overload. Hillary Clinton held an internet-based, you-select-my-theme-song contest which, after more than 200,000 electronic votes, somehow chose Canadian schlock diva Celine Dion’s You and I. PUMA must stand for Positively Unlistenable Musical Aesthetics.

But seemingly each time McCain and Palin put the needle to vinyl, they receive a cease-and-desist demand from the recording artists.

Things got ugly, recently, when Senator McCain decided to pander to voters during the vacation driving season by suggesting that offshore drilling is the solution to the nation’s dependence on foreign oil and to ridicule Barack Obama suggestion that energy conservation represented the sustainable approach to energy independence. The television spot produced in support of this gambit featured Jackson Browne’s Running on Empty, which pissed-off Mr. Browne, a lifelong democrat, well-know environmental activist, and apparent non-moron when it comes to energy policy. According to news reports, Mr. Browne sued Senator McCain and his campaign for copyright violation and right of publicity infringement. It was a slight bummer -- not to mention legal setback, until the pleadings were amended -- that the offending ad was produced the Ohio Republican Party, rather than by the McCain campaign directly.

Since then, Van Halen have complained about the use of Right Now at the Republican National Convention, Heart have sought to enjoin Sarah (Barracuda) Palin from making grand entrances to its rocker, Barracuda, and Orleans (fronted by democratic congressman John Hall) have forbidden Senator McCain’s further use of Still the One.

When the McCain camp tried to go hip by uploading a campaign video to the web for viral distribution the piece was removed by YouTube after Warner Music Group flagged the unauthorized use of Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You by Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons.

John Mellencamp forced Senator McCain to stop using Our Country and Pink Houses at his rallies, and even ABBA told him to lay off Take a Chance on Me.

At some point, you’d think they’d ask permission. It’s not just a good idea, it’s the law.

It must be mortifying for a political campaign to face repeated, public rebukes from icons of popular culture. And you would think that a law-maker who aspired to be POTUS would show at least cursory respect for the legal rights of others. No dice on both counts.

Whether Senator McCain’s unauthorized uses of popular music represents a violation of federal copyright law is, perhaps, an open question. The Copyright Act, 17 U.S.C § 106, et seq., gives the author of a copyrighted work, among other privileges, the exclusive right to transmit or broadcast the work. Others who wish to use the work must obtain prior permission. There are exceptions to these strictures, however, under the principle known as “fair use.” The issue for the court, to oversimplify only slightly, will be whether use of the music as non-commercial, political speech outweighs the commercial aspects of the misappropriation. Is there really any difference between selling cars or toothpaste and selling a candidate? Is the non-permitted use of copyrighted music at a campaign event any more legitimate than the use of, say, balloons and confetti stolen from a party supply vendor?

At least one lower court case leans Senator McCain’s way. In a political ad, a candidate used fifteen seconds of his opponent’s campaign jingle. The court ruled it was fair use because only a small fraction of the song was used and the purpose of using it was to further political debate. Keep Thomson Governor Comm. v. Citizens for Gallen Comm., 457 F. Supp. 957 (D. N.H. 1978). The song in that case, however, was an unambiguous signifier of the political opponent and was used as a direct identification of the opponent’s campaign. It was not employed to help develop collateral ideas promoted by the candidate, as in Mr. Browne's case against the Republicans. This was likely a major factor in the fair use determination.

The trademark issues seem even less likely to go McCain’s way. American trademark jurisprudence is designed to protect consumers from being mislead about the origins of goods and services. The same probably holds true for politicians, though it hardly requires weapons-grade cynicism to cast aspersion either on their good, or their services. The Lanham Trademark Act, 42 U.S.C. § 43(a), forbids false implied endorsement in the following terms:

Any person who, in connection with any goods or services… uses in commerce any word, term, name, symbol, or device…or any false or misleading description …or representation of fact, which is likely to cause confusion … or to deceive as to the affiliation, connection, or association of such person with another person, or as to the… sponsorship, or approval of his/her goods, services, or commercial activities by another person, shall be liable in a civil action by any person who believes that he/she is or is likely to be damaged by such act.

This -- along with breech of the performer’s “right of publicity” (that is: to the right to own and exploit one's own fame) -- is the crux of Mr. Browne’s case; and he is fairly well supported by precedent. In 1992, gravel-throated singer/songwriter Tom Waits brought a false-endorsement claim against snack-food giant Frito-Lay, arguing that a copycat singer, imitating his unique vocal stylings, gave a misleading perception that he endorsed its products. Waits v. Frito Lay, 978 F. 2d 1093 (9th Cir. 1992). The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal held that, despite the inauthenticity of the voice used in the commercials, the confusingly Waits-like characteristics implied his celebrity endorsement. The Jackson Browne music, used in its original recording, present an even simpler case.

The music taken by the McCain campaign – as in campaigns before – was selected not only for its catchy and semi-relevant lyrics or bouncy tune, but because it is popular and recognizable. Everyone knows whose songs they are. In a time when politicians make periodic hajj to Hollywood in search of celebrity endorsements, it is impossible to believe that none would think that use of the song was the result of an endorsement of the candidate by the artist.

It is stunning to think that the McCain–Palin campaign would continue to stoop to music piracy, particularly after the repeated embarrassments. Then again, this is the same campaign that comes up with each new theme and slogan by simply stealing them from its adversary. Senator Obama seems to trust the voting public to be able to discern the dishonesty of Senator McCain’s mimicry. The recording artists are putting their faith in the courts.

Palin seems to be exactly what the Republicans needed--a strong conservative voice with small town roots  who provides a historic alternative to the Obama/Biden ticket. Yet, I'm reminded of Barack Obama's 2004 Keynote Address at the Democratic National Convention.  John Kerry followed that speech the next night with a lackluster speech that spilled into the general and ultimately led to his demise. Democrats recognized Obama as the future and they liked the future a lot more than the present, as a result voter turn out was low and Bush won.

I fear the same thing could happen to the Republicans this year. McCain did nothing to generate excitment in me. Sure, I'll end up voting for him because I don't want the United States to end up like a European country, but I've probably voted in more Presidential elections than Obama and I'm only 30. In short, you vote for the top of the ticket, not the VP or the keynote speaker. Yes, Palin will help, but it might not be enough. Regardless, the Republicans have found the face of the future of the Party.

Palin's alleged Pentecostal roots worry me a bit. I desperately hoped that the Republican Party would learn some lessons from the disastrous Bush administration--chief among them, the need to break from the radical religious wing of the party. Watching the RNC this week was like watching a Gaither Family Homecoming concert, not that there is anything wrong with that, but I was waiting for Bill Gaither to join Fred Thompson on stage and lead the delegates in a chorus of "He Touched Me." Let me be clear, I'm not suggesting that Bill Gaither is a religious radical--I like Bill Gaither--but there is a perception among many in our country that the Republican Convention is more like religious crusade. In order to win future elections, we, as Republicans, must distance ourselves from the religious radicals in our party as they do not honor the core value--limited Federal government--of our Party.

Another example of how things haven't changed came from the Left.  Apparently, the bands Heart and Van Halen are pissed at the McCain/Palin ticket for using their music at the Republican National Convention. I aim not to debate the legal aspects of the bands' claims, but to instead point out how pathetic it is of them to bitch and moan about the Republicans using their music. If you have problems with their political views, issue a statement that says "while they may use our music, this is by no means an endorsement on our part of their campaign." Instead, we get, "you think differently than me, therefore you cannot use my music." It proves just how whiney liberals can be and it proves just how dependant upon government they are, threatening to use the court system to seek retributions. Give me a break!

I have found that I have a crush on my professor.  What should I do?

Dear Dumb-dumb-

Do you want to get your prof fired?  Professing your love will not get you a better grade.  I say you keep your mouth shut until you've graduated.  Strap yourself to a chair and watch Van Halen's "Hot for Teacher" about 5000 times. 

Now, your task is to bring back hair metal.  Once your prof sees you on stage in Spandex and is whisked back to his/her youth, watch out.  There will be no stopping him/her from tearing out your extensions and ripping off your synthetic fiber covered bod.

Palin Comparison: Which Ticket Would Be Better for Music? | Listening Post from Wired.com.

Word is that Alaska governor, Republican vice presidential nominee and airborne wolf huntress Sarah Palin gave one of her children the middle name "Van" so that his name would rhyme with Van Halen. After all, one of its best-selling albums, 1984, did come out the same year she competed in the Miss Alaska pageant.

John McCain (who may or may not have been aware of her predilection for the guitar legend) played the ...Read more...

This does not bode well, people. So fire up those DVD burners and start ripping as fast as you can. And check your collection for CDs that Ms. Righteous will want banned. Except Van Halen? She likes them? If I were a fan of Eddie & Co., I would be hiding those tapes and CDs right now!

This highlights the way in which music is contextually placed and how that context can change and shift reception over time. Van Halen--cool when they came out, not cool later, wicked cool as old guys (when they're straight anyway), and possibly pariahs or maybe heros now, depending on your political orientation. And poor old Abba. They've really ridden the roller coaster of taste. They were high again, but McCain may have given them the kiss of death.

Jackson Browne, Van Halen and Heart are all upset about John McCain using their songs at campaign rallies. Jackson Browne is even suing. Check out the stories:

- Heart to McCain Campaign: Stop Using "Barracuda"

- McCain Offends Van Halen, Sucks at Music

- Jackson Browne Sues John McCain

Redação No Plural

O ex-vocalista do Van Halen, Sammy Hagar, criticou abertamente a atitude da banda ao não ir de encontro a vontade dos fãs. A opinião de Hagar veio a público, depois que o Van Halen substituiu o baixista Michael Anthony por Wolfgang Van Halen, filho de Eddie.

"Eles continuam cometendo cada vez mais erros. A reunião com o Dave Lee Roth foi a melhor coisa que poderiam ter feito, mas por que é que não continuaram com o Michael? São incapazes de fazer a coisa certa pelos fãs", analisou Hagar em entrevista ao programa de rádio "The Tour Bus".

A última turnê do Van Halen terminou no dia 2 de junho, na oportunidade o conjunto reuniu os irmãos Eddie e Alex a David Lee Roth. Estas últimas apresentações da banda geraram uma receita em torno de US$ 93 milhões. Ao todo, aproximadamente 1 milhão de pessoas assistiu aos 74 shows da turnê mundial.

On August 14, singer-songwriter Jackson Browne filed suit against John McCain and the Ohio and national Republican committees for using his song "Running on Empty" without his permission. The Ohio Republican Party used the song in a campaign ad that makes fun of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama's suggestion that U.S. drivers could save gasoline by simply getting regular tune-ups and making sure they have properly inflated tires. Browne claims that the use of his song constitutes copyright infringement and incorrectly implies that Browne, a lifelong liberal and Democratic supporter, endorses McCain. A spokesman for the McCain campaign stated that the Ohio Republican Party was behind the ad and that McCain had nothing to do with it. Later, the Ohio Republican Party pulled the ad from the Internet in response to a cease-and-desist demand from Browne.

Browne is not the only musician that the McCain campaign has recently crossed. McCain also offended the band Van Halen by using its song "Right Now" in Ohio on August 29 when he announced that Alaska Governor Sarah Palin would be his running mate. The band issued a statement asserting that the campaign did not ask for its permission to use the song and that it would not have granted permission had it been sought.

Copyright laws are ambiguous regarding this type of "campaign" use. Political campaigns maintain that in order to play a song at a live event they only need a public performance license from a performing rights organization such as BMI, ASCAP, or SESAC. These organizations pay royalties to songwriters and publishers for performances of their songs at live events.

Other musicians are more accepting of their song's unauthorized use in the political arena, even when a candidate who the artist does not necessarily support uses one of their songs. For example, Obama's speech at the Democratic National Convention in Denver ended with "Only in America" sung by Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn, who are both Republicans. Ironically, President Bush used the same song at the Republican National Convention during his 2004 re-election campaign. Although Brooks and Dunn's record label had not received notice that the song would be used at the Democratic National Convention, Brooks said it was "flattering to know our song crossed parties and potentially inspires all Americans."

Regardless of how the relevant copyright laws apply to this issue, asking for permission to use a song during any part of a political campaign might be a good idea simply as a matter of courtesy. From a campaign's perspective, an artist's complaints may result in bad publicity, even if the artist never files suit.

-Allyson Brown

Image Source

Today was a fairly typical day for me. I boarded the bus as usual, so I could go to school. This is important to me. School, in fact, is the only way that I can get a job in the future, assuming that by then I will be under the control of a 13-year-old boy named Xi Juangdi who currently lives in China. I will likely be making gruel for lonely coal miners, just so you know.

The thing about a bus is that it is full of people, many of whom are clearly "out of their gourd", in that they are the type of people who would want to go out with me. This right here is one of the many criteria I use to find potential mates. If a person likes me, it is a sure sign that they would also like things like Van Halen, and might even vote for John McCain, or (God forbid) Ralph Nader, and this is something I cannot tolerate.

Today, though, I will not talk about being propositioned by a man on the bus, because he was joking, as far as I know. What I will talk about is the aftermath, which was much worse.

My first class on Tuesdays is Macroeconomics. For those of you who don't know, macroeconomics entails dealing with lots and lots of money, which is why I chose to take the class in the first place. The name comes from two words: Macro, meaning "the study of", and "Economics," meaning "lots of nations with names like China and India that are going to take all of our jobs and women and eventually roast General Motors President Rick Wagoner on an unusually large spit." As is usual in this class, there was an argument between the teacher and a student who I will refer to as "Obnoxious Orange Sherbet Man." I call him this because he always wears a bright orange striped T-shirt, so that his overall fashion statement appears to be "I wish I were a Creamsicle". The conversation, as far as I remember it, went as follows:

• Teacher: Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah I'm an economist and I don't use morals to make economic decisions, SLAVERY MAKES SENSE FROM AN ECONOMIC blah blah
• Obnoxious Orange Sherbet Man: Blah blah taking our jobs blah blah poor Maytag workers in blah blah Chinese blah blah Third World blah blah

This conversation only lasted until the end of class, which in macroeconomics is something of a huge success. Unfortunately for me, the bigger challenge was only to begin.

My next class was Art Studio 2D, which involves looking at a great many pictures of colored rectangles and trying to figure out whether you like the rectangles or not. This does not sound difficult ("The orange one disgusts me, as it reminds me of orange sherbet"), but it is in fact quite the challenge, according to our art teacher, who I am obliged to mention is from San Francisco. Our art teacher discussed, as just one example, Piet Mondrian, whose paintings all look as if a laboratory scientist was magnifying circuit boards five thousand times their actual size, but small colorful insects that just happened to be square kept getting in the way of his lens.

Challenge: See if you can find information on Piet Mondrian. Pay special attention to any time he spent in a microprocessor lab, and whether the French government was investing in genetically engineering geometrically-square mosquitoes. This would have to occur around 1919. If so, you might have what it takes to write a bestselling exposé on great Dutch artists.

The real challenge for me, today, was after the teacher was done with showing us pictures of magnified graph paper. Now, she expected us to make our own little paintings. She called them "Four Black Square" paintings.

-The Concept of a Four Black Squares painting-

1. First, you must make four black squares of equal size.

2. Then, you have to arrange them to illustrate certain artistic concepts. For example, to illustrate congestion,

With tension, you might use a different approach:

And, of course, to illustrate a concept like playfulness, you would

You should take into account proper perspective and line qualities, of course.

Now, that all seems well and good, but I would end up, as usual, unable to finish the entire project in class, and that meant I'd have to take my unfinished drawings on the bus with me. Now, we are not dealing with notebook paper here. We are dealing with at least medium grade drawing paper, which is therefore by my estimate the most expensive paper I have ever used in my entire life. Excepting, of course, the special paper I needed for an architecture project, which would only have been justified in price had it been imported via first-class mail from Taiwan, but this was close. Plus, it had the collective scribblings of an entire Sharpie pen on it, which is at least four dollars and several exhausting minutes of labor.

So, basically, if I got anything on these pictures, I would be left with no choice but to commit ritual seppuku. I did not want to do this. But I knew I might have to.

I almost felt like I was in a video game. The screen would go black, and a single phrase would appear on screen:

MISSION OBJECTIVE I: GET PAINTINGS HOME WITHOUT SPILLING STUFF ON THEM

This would prove difficult, as I was dealing with Albuquerque buses here, which are notorious for erupting into spontaneous bloody gunfights and projectile-vomiting wars. I tried to figure out what I could do in case of an emergency, and finally came up with solution I saw another person at the bus stop use, namely, take off my shirt, sit back and roll a cigarette. That would solve my anxiety problem. Then I'd commit ritual seppuku.

And then the screen would go black, and two phrases would appear:

MISSION COMPLETE. YOU ARE NOW DEAD.

Unfortunately, I wound up getting all the way home alive, and that meant I'd wind up playing Super Smash Brothers Brawl with my cousin, Josh, and this would mean I would have to kill him, because he would end up winning every match. Although I am good at many video games (such as Wii Bowling) I am very bad at fighting, whether in real life or in a video game. Whenever my uncle comes over and pretends as if he's about to hit me on the shoulder, as just one example, I jump and crawl into a fetal position and scream like a little girl and start whimpering unintelligibly for the next minute or so. This is what is known as a "Fight or flight" response by psychologists. In my case, it is more like "Fight or scream like a little Japanese schoolgirl in a horror movie", but whatever. Same difference.

Anyway, in the end, we all laughed at me for being so wussy, and for using the word "masculine" as an interjection, and my cousin left to celebrate the rest of his birthday, because I had not killed him, because I was afraid of having to see blood. And thus does another day begin. One in which I will learn how the solar system was formed. I'm assuming it involves flatulence.

]]> http://the360ofrock.wordpress.com/?p=56 Wed, 03 Sep 2008 02:48:15 +0000 sweetelectricity http://the360ofrock.wordpress.com/?p=56 I love this weeks shows! I hope you guys are enjoying them as much as I am.  Today is 80's Tuesday, and the songs just keep getting better.  This is the era of hair and glam, and the music was full of emotions.  Some say this is one the best periods for Rock and Roll.  I agree. Heres the playlist!

Tainted Love – The Cure

Panama – Van Halen

Another One Bites The Dust – Queen

Pour Some Sugar On Me – Def Leppard

Train in Vain – The Clash

Livin' on a Prayer – Bon Jovi

Dont Stop Believing – Journey

Every Breath You Take – Sting and The Police

Girls Girls Girls – Motley Crue

Rebel Yell - Billy Idol

Another Brick in the Wall – Pink Floyd

Sweet Child O' Mine – Guns N' Roses

You Shook Me All Night Long – ACDC

Nombres como Van Halen, Europe, Scorpions, no se pueden pasar por alto, estemos hablando de bandas viejas o actuales. Sus logros son díficiles de discutir, y tan conocidos son que no me los voy a poner a enumerar acá.

Lo único sí, les pido que vean los videos que siguen a continuación si tienen alguna duda de la veracidad de lo que digo. Lo dejo a su criterio...

Enjoy!

Van Halen - Dreams

Europe - Rock The Night

Scorpions - Still Loving You

Poison - Unskinny Bop

Warrant - Cherry Pie

Montley Crue - Dr. Feel Good

Twisted Sister - We´re not gonna take it

WASP - FUCK like a beast

Sights and smells will trigger memories in an individual but the sense of sound seems to trigger them best and especially when they are in musical form. Often enough, hearing an old song will automatically take us back to a place that no longer exist anywhere but in our memories, whether good or bad.

Dave Munger presents us with some research on why this is the case in Music and Memory: How the Songs We Heard Growing Up Shape the Story of Our Lives. Here's an excerpt:

Matching our intuitions about music, researchers have found that music is an important influence on our memories. We associate songs with emotions, people, and places we've experienced in the past. This isn't to say that music is the only influence on memory: the photos I took, the sights I saw, and the words I wrote about my hike will also help to preserve it in my mind for many years to come.

But it's not easy to parse out exactly how music evokes memories. If I listened to "Rock Lobster" on the drive down from Hart's Pass where we finished our hike, will "Rock Lobster" be associated with that memory, or with my birthday party in college where I danced wildly to the same song? Does music have a more powerful effect on memory than other influences, like images, words, or smells? We don't know, but a group led by Petr Janata has taken an important first step in understanding how music can affect memory.

On that note, I'd like to present to you the soundtrack of my youth. Feel free to share yours with us.

Elvis Presley - My Way

David Bowie - Modern Love

Joy Division - Transmission/She's Lost Control

Depeche Mode - Everything Counts

Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five - The Message

Simple Minds - Waterfront

China Crisis - Black Man Ray

Van Halen - Jump

The Smiths - This Charming Man

M.A.R.R.S. - Pump up the Volume

Eric B. and Rakim - I Ain't No Joke

Happy Mondays - Wrote For Luck

Dead Milkmen - Punk Rock Girl

World Party - Way Down Now

Ned's Atomic Dustbin - Kill Your Television

Nitzer Ebb - Join in the Chant

The Stone Roses - Waterfall

The Charlatans - The Only One I Know

Public Enemy - Don't Believe the Hype

EPMD - Sowhatchusayin'

Marley Marl and the Juice Crew - The Symphony

BDP - Criminal Minded

Ministry - N.W.O

Happy Mondays - Step On

Blur - There's No Other Way

Wu-Tang Clan - Da Mystery of Chessboxin'

Brand Nubian - Slow Down

The Chemical Brothers - Three Little Birdies Down Beats

The GZA - Liquid Swords

It was a little hard to get through when you know Cavendish is going to win three stages of a 5 stage tour.  The competition wasn't top notch for this event, but it was on and I watched it.  I guess it's like watching the Tour of Qatar.

Anyway, before that was even on it was time for the D-Tour!  A nice ProTour event to cleanse the palate.  The competition is top-notch, even if there is a dearth of Americans; I think Jason McCartney is the only one, and he's been invisible so far.  The Beijing Olympics really put the Germans over the barrel for scheduling.  Normally this race would have been ridden a couple of weeks ago.  Now it has to contend with the Vuelta and the US Pro championships.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Some observations: This race is being covered by WCSN-Universal Sports.  They have Frankie Andreu as a color commentator, and he does his usual solid job.  I'm still trying to figure out if I like Steve Schlanger or not.  First impressions are ok, but he has kind of an over-polished weasel-y tone.  Maybe I'll warm up to it.

Am I the only one to think the Volksbank logo looks like they ripped it off from Van Halen?

Whatever.

Found at Hard Rock Hideout.

I have never been a fan of the Sammy Hagar-led Van Halen, with the exception of the Balance album, but I love Sammy's solo stuff. Well, he's got new solo stuff. It's called "Cosmic Universal Fashion" and it rocks.

Props to Hard Rock Hideout for uncovering this gem.

I was worried that Van Halen, like Jackson Browne, John Mellencamp, Bruce Springsteen and Rage Against the Machine, was another one of those mindless liberal bands. Turns out, Van Halen is not endorsing either candidate and simply prefers their music not to be used for political purposes.

I know from her book Losin' It that Eddie Van Halen's ex-wife Valerie Bertinelli learns to the left. Her name also appears as a Nobama contributor, unfortunately. However, former frontman Hagar is heavily rumored to be a Republican due to his contributions to GOP candidates--including President George W. Bush in 2004. Then there's one-time frontman Gary Cherone who's outspokenly pro-life and even wrote two public letters to Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder criticizing his abortion stance.

When John McCain used the Van Halen song in the Sammy Hagar era "Right Now" for his presidential campaign on the night he announced Sarah Palin his running mate for Vice President, Eddie Van Halen himself wasn't happy about it, saying that the presidential hopeful used the song without the band's permission. Eddie fired back at McCain saying he had no right to use the song.

TMZ reports:

http://www.tmz.com/2008/08/29/van-halen-to-mccain-no-you-cant/

However, the man that wrote the song himself, Sammy Hagar, responded to Van Halen saying that Sammy is all cool with McCain using the song. Sammy defended the song saying that he wrote the song because "Right Now" is a political song, he says the song is basically about if you want something in life, don't sit around and go out and get it. The song is about making changes.

"Right Now" is a hit single that was recorded for the album "For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge" released back in 1991. The song became one of the biggest Van Halen hits ever made.

Blabbermouth reports:

http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=103798

Kudos to Sammy, I'm glad he spoke out and stepped in before Eddie threatened lawsuit on McCain. McCain don't need anymore lawsuits by musicians 'cause he already got one by Jackson Browne. If Sammy Hagar is the one who wrote the music and lyrics to "Right Now", Sammy owns the copyright, that means David Lee Roth has no control over that song since David Lee Roth was no part of it.

Kev

Back in February, John Cougar Mellencamp asked McCain to stop using "Our Country" and "Pink Houses" at his rallies.  Four days after the request, he stopped using them.  Lesson learned, right?  WRONG.

Earlier this month, Jackson Browne - who we in the ad business know as one of the untouchables that WILL NOT license his music for advertising - filed a lawsuit against the Ohio Republican Party, the GOP and McCain himself for using is classic song "Running on Empty" in a commercial.  The lawsuit claims copyright infringement as well damages for creating the false impression that he in any way endorsed John McCain.  

The Tool  MUST have figured it out by now, right? 

Nope.

Yesterday he strutted out on stage in Ohio with Van Halen's "Right Now" blaring out over the loudspeakers. And guess who didn't approved the use and is pissed about it?  That's right, our friends in Van Halen.

WTF?  It's like his camp is just picking songs from a vending machine and not even thinking twice about any rights that may be associated with the use of it.  There's not just the band, but the record label, the publisher, performing rights, singer rights, musician rights, union rights, implied endorsement issues.... the list goes on and on.  How he/they can have no respect for the intellectual property rights of these songs is shocking.  And frankly, as a musician, would you want this guy in the White House having anything to do with copyright issues right now with all the controversy of illegal downloads?  He clearly doesn't give a shit.  Tool.

There will be a pilot show and if the pilot show is successful, then Bertinelli will be able to continue on with the show playing a single-mom who is doing all that she can to turn around her small business.

Turner Broadcasting (TBS) had this to say about Bertinelli's return:

"Valerie Bertinelli became a popular fixture on television playing one of two children being raised by a single working mother [on 'One Day at a Time']," said Turner programming czar Michael Wright says.

"Now she's exploring that world from the opposite angle, playing a single working mother raising two children. Between Valerie's comic skills and Dave Caplan's highly relatable humor, we're very excited to watch this pilot take shape."

Good luck to Miss Valerie Bertinelli in the upcoming season...

p.s. My friends and I had a huge crush on you in grade school! ;)

I am no doctor of the head (yet) but I do know how to get people out of a funk. 80’s music. 80’s hair rock, power pop, and ridiculous ballads. Today, if you’re in a shitty mood because you’re back at work, or you’re pretty sure you’re in love with your best friends girlfriend, or you just watched Sixteen Candles and want to be 16 again, make yourself these CDs, and the world will seem just fine.

(Alternatively, ask me, and I’ll do it for you. I’m good like that)

Title: Closed Box’s Guide to Happy Times

CD 1: Pretty in Pink

01.  Highway To Hell – AC/DC

02.  Here I Go Again – Whitesnake

03.  Any Way You Want It – Journey

04.  Talk Dirty To Me – Poison

05.  Shout At The Devil – Motley Crue

06.  Pour Some Sugar On Me – Def Leppard

07.  Why Can’t This Be Love – Van Halen

08.  Don’t Stop Believing – Journey

09.  The Best Of Times - Styx

10.  God Gave Rock ‘n’ Roll To You – Kiss

11.  Every Rose Has Its Thorn - Poison

CD 2: Some Kind of Wonderful

01.  Jesse’s Girl – Rick Springfield

02.  Somebody’s Baby – Jackson Browne

03.  Little Bitch – The Specials

04.  Pump It Up – Elvis Costello

05.  Dancing In The Dark – Bruce Springsteen

06.  We Got The Beat – Go-Go’s

07.  It’s Different For Girls – Joe Jackson

08.  Edge Of Seventeen – Stevie Nicks

09.  Boys Don’t Cry – The Cure

10.  Ashes To Ashes – David Bowie

11.  Is She Really Going Out With Him? – Joe Jackson

If they don’t put you in a good mood, nothing will!

How were your collective weekends? Fun? Exciting? Downright depressing? All Of The Above? I think I managed to break a thumb, that’s my big news.

I somehow managed to swing a 5 day weekend – taking Thursday and Friday as ‘holiday/vacation time’ and with Monday being a bank holiday here, but I want to start today’s blog with a relaying of what came to be a rather heated conversation on Sunday night, and has sufficiently pissed me off enough that I still feel a need to rant a little about it this Tuesday morning.

And it is about this: the correlation between money and happiness.

I will begin by making my opinion very clear: Money has NOTHING to do with happiness. It might make life easier on a very superficial level, but make you more happy? Hells no.

It all sprung from a conversation I was having with my friend, who I will call Jane (for anonymity purposes) on Sunday night. Jane is yet another episode in my continuing quest for reconnection with old friends, and we were having dinner at ‘Balams’- http://www.balans.co.uk/soho.html,  a 24-hour restaurant (well, virtually) in London’s Old Compton Street.

As has become to the usual pattern of play, I explained to Jane that I had undergone a massive period of change, the why, and what the ‘new’ David was all about.

The conversation, as it inevitably does, swayed towards people’s own history – it never fails to amaze me just how much people want to ‘talk’ – and then, as it does, the inevitable clashing of what makes a person happy, and my (again) inevitable repeating of what seems to have become my mantra ‘ whatever makes you happy’.

Now, Jane is a pretty together person, and a pretty happy one. She has what most would consider a pretty nice life, so there would be no reason for her not to be.

However, she made a comment during our evening, which made me wonder actually how happy she really is, and having recently read ‘Affluenza’, I was all too happy to delve as deep as physically and mentally possible.

Jane contended that she was happy because she always left the house looking ‘her best’, and was always best representing herself. She did this, so she said, so that she was constantly ‘high’ or thereabouts. I enquired that if she considered this ‘high’, and did it all the time, was it not that her ‘high’ was actually her ‘norm’.

I enquired, simply, that if we accept her constantly feeling a need to best represent herself as her ‘norm’, at what point did she actually experience a ‘high’ – that point where, on a Saturday night (for instance) someone will look in a mirror and say to themselves ‘I look good’ – a form of self love.

Jane’s reply was that this only happened when she went shopping and bought something fabulous – but with an interesting difference, Jane made clear that this ‘high’ only occurred when she bought something ridiculous, like a Gucci shirt, Armani trousers, or a Prada bag.

Jane comes from a relatively affluent background, but by no means is she a ‘Daddy’s Credit Card’ girl, and she explained to me how the high worked. She would save for a month, maybe two, and THEN allow herself the pleasure of the shop. Immediately, I wondered about the need to ‘belong’ – how the Gucci/Prada/etc shopping experience wasn’t necessarily about the quality of garment, but rather the need to feel the high of belonging to an exclusive club, or designs on a lifestyle, or indeed, as she had mentioned the need to always look her best, the projection to the outside world.

I asked Jane why it was that rather than go and buy something once a month, she didn’t do what the vast majority of people across the country do, which is economise, or feel the fun of shopping on a more regular basis, and do so in Top Shop or one of its many equivalents – for the pair of £200 Armani trousers she told me she had recently bought, and recalled as her last ‘high’, she could buy any number of trousers, admittedly, they might be a slightly worse cut – but why did she feel the need to deprive herself?

She looked at me in disgust. In fairness, she is a self-confessed snob. She explained to me that if she had the money, why shouldn’t she do what she likes? I countered that it was fairly obvious that (a) she didn’t have the money since it took her a month or two to get to the point where she could buy something, and (b) that it was a case of relative values – that a £30 pair of trousers in Top Shop were only a £170 worse off than the Armani ones by the label on the price tag. Sure, maybe the Top Shop ones cost £1 to make, and the Armani £10, but the relative increase was dependant only on the label, and that’s what you were paying for. Jane simply answered that if she shopped in Top Shop or Primark, she would be desperately unhappy, and probably wouldn’t leave the house.

By pulling Primark out of thin air, I immediately thought she was making an interesting point without realising it. Primark is generally considered a budget store, but is ridiculously popular due to it place as the ‘disposable fashion house’ on the high street – that you can buy things in there for next to no money, that look ok, but you know you’ll throw it out after a couple of times wearing it. Jane basically believed that it was either designer labels, or she was scraping the barrel, and I wondered if it was the seemingly mental black hole she invented in-between that signalled just how insecure or otherwise she was in the way she looked.

In the car on the way home, I argued the case of a person having relative value, while Jane continued to argue her point that to her, it was the luxury that equalled satisfaction, while I argued that satisfaction, and happiness, came from within.

Jane posed a question – if I were to become an overnight millionaire, would I want the luxury Mercedes driving in front of me over the Polo I was driving? My answer was simple: No. I said that I understood that the Mercedes was probably a better car, with more features, was more luxurious, and was, in the eyes of others, probably a nicer car, but that I was comfortable in my Polo, and didn’t see the need.

Jane really couldn’t understand it. And became quite animated. She then posed another question.

She had been desperate to see George Michael in concert, and asked me if, in a hypothetical situation where my favourite band was playing, and it was a once in a lifetime opportunity to see them, that I would pay over the odds to see them. I answered, again, that I wouldn’t – a noted a time when this had actually happened.

Last year, Pearl Jam (my favourite band) came to play in London at the Astoria, a significantly smaller and more intimate venue than their usual arena shows. Tickets sold out within minutes, and eBay prices went from £500 to £800 to £1400 in 24 hours. I explained to Jane that, as I believe in relative value, that never, in a million years would I even have thought for one moment of paying £500 for a ticket, let alone what they went for in the end.

Jane couldn’t understand – why, she asked, if I had the money, would I not want to see them?

This argument went on for quite some time, as this mammoth diatribe can probably attest to, and the fundamental difference in values are probably apparent. But I wonder, and perhaps you can help – is relative value relative to what you have? Or should you follow Jane’s mantra of desiring the best, and using money as power? I know (very firmly) my ideals.

That will most certainly do for today. Again, if you are reading, my thanks to you.

Keep well, and fill your hearts with love and 80’s Hair Rock, all of you

Closed Box

Starship's, "Built this City" always rubbed me the wrong way.  It was so false, so snooty and so self important.  That song was yet another preachy bit from tired bunch of 60's retreads.  It was like those "Difference Maker" teachers we all had to endure from time to time.    San Francisco had lost its soul and Starship was big and important enough to bring it back.

Even the band was just a repackaging of Jefferson Airplane to avoid suit from former members.  It was the last ditch effort of Grace Slick and Mickey Thomas.  Grace was nearing the end of her career and Mickey couldn't ride "Find your Way Back" for another penny.

Sure, I know, I need to chill out.   Nobody forced me to listen to that song.  But, it still sucked.

I can't leave you with that taste in you mouth.  So enjoy.

Sammy's big beef is Van Halen's diss of Michael Anthony as far as a real "reunion" was concerned. On a rock radio station show, The Tour Bus, Sammy vented:

"They just keep going, making more and more mistakes. The reunion with Dave was the greatest thing they could have done, but why didn't they just keep Mike one more time?! They just can't do the right thing by the fans. I don't know why that band… There's just something quirky to where they… It's almost like they wanna just push 'em [the fans] as far as they can and see if they'll still come back."

What is Sammy talking about?! To tell you the truth, the fans loved the last reunion tour. It was very successful (cha-ching), and fans enjoyed seeing the father and son team of Eddie and Wolfgang up on stage together. Personally, seeing David Lee Roth back was worth every penny for me, even if it was 20 years past the band's prime.

No offense, Sammy, but a lot of "fans" could care less about Van Halen when you were in the band.