Donald Trump....Cease & Desist
It happens every four years. Election season. Politicians pick songs that they think describes themselves and their candidacies. They try to pick tunes that the public thinks are cool and hip. The voters like the songs, maybe they'll like the candidate.
One problem with this is that most Republican candidates find songs from artists that have different beliefs and values than them. Let's face it, it's a small pool to work from. There are only so many Kid Rock and Ted Nugent songs to go around.
So we always hear the words, cease and desist from playing our music. We'd never let our music be used to support your campaign. This year was worse than ever. During the primary season, Donald Trump heard from Adele, Twisted Sister, Neil Young, Steven Tyler and REM. All had the same message. CEASE AND DESIST!!
This week it hit the fan. It started Monday night with Queen and The Turtles. Apparently Freddie Mercury is rolling over in his grave thinking Donald Trump is going to be playing "We Are The Champions" in November. Plus you'd think it would be hard to piss off The Turtles. Founding band member Howard Kaylan tweeted, "We never approved this use. Now we call the lawyers."
Getting two bands mad at you on the first day...not too bad. Who knew the best was yet to come.
On Tuesday and Wednesday, the Trump folks heard from Earth, Wind & Fire and The O'Jays. Same thing...not authorized...cease and desist! The O'Jays story is interesting because their song "For The Love Of Money" was the theme to Trump's television show, "The Apprentice". It looks like there's no "Love Train" between Trump and The O'Jays.
Thursday was the final day of the convention and this is where it got really good. Trump heard from the estate of legendary Beatles musician George Harrison. It was the same story as the other. Hey Don, quit playing "Here Comes The Sun" but we don't mind if you use "Beware of Darkness". George always had a dark sense of humor.
After his acceptance speech, The Donald family left the stage to "All Right Now" by the band Free. It didn't take long songwriter Paul Rodgers to say those famous words....Cease and Desist.
All of this leads to the finale of the night and the convention. The playing of the Rolling Stones epic tune "You Can't Always Get What You Want". I'm not sure why they decided on this song because he pretty much did get all he wanted. The Stones weren't happy and made a statement that they do not endorse Trump and the song was used without permission. You would think Trump would know better because he has been down this road before with this band. He used "Start Me Up" during a primary rally event and Mick & Keith told him to stop.
So let's get to the math. Four convention days/six musical artists doing a cease and desist about unauthorized music + one plagiarized speech = one bad bad week!
Maybe Mick and Keith will let up a little. Hopefully they'll be happy to let Donald use "You Can't Always Get What You Want" on November 8.
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