SOCIAL: Heart: Back off, Sarah Palin

[Tom Radulovich]

Still love the Wilson sisters, even in Renaissance Faire drag (Okay –  
especially in Renaissance Faire drag):



Heart to McCain/Palin: Back off on 'Barracuda'
Posted by David Beard, Boston.com Staff September 5, 2008 09:03 AM
The rock group Heart has sent a message to John McCain and Sarah  
"Barracuda'' Palin: quit playing our 1977 hit ''Barracuda.''
Soon after the presidential nominee finished his acceptance speech  
late Thursday and running-mate Palin joined him on the Republican  
National Convention stage in St. Paul, the sound system pumped the  
throbbing introductory guitar licks to "Barracuda.''

It seemed the cleverest musical choice of both conventions. Heart's  
Ann and Nancy Wilson, like Alaska Governor Palin, are outspoken  
products of the Pacific Northwest, and the sisters's tune also could  
refer to Palin's Dazed-and-Confused-Era nickname of Sarah Barracuda,  
given for her intense high-school basketball play.

But the Wilsons condemned the usage then and earlier in the  
convention, adding that Universal Music Publishing and Sony BMG have  
sent a cease-and-desist notice to the McCain-Palin campaign, according  
to CNN.

UPDATE Friday morning: here's a statement by Ann and Nancy Wilson from  
EW.com:

"Sarah Palin's views and values in NO WAY represent us as American  
women. We ask that our song 'Barracuda' no longer be used to promote  
her image. The song 'Barracuda' was written in the late 70s as a  
scathing rant against the soulless, corporate nature of the music  
business, particularly for women. (The 'barracuda' represented the  
business.) While Heart did not and would not authorize the use of  
their song at the RNC, there's irony in Republican strategists' choice  
to make use of it there."
No word so far on whether the tune would be dropped from the GOP  
playlist. "If the real thing don't do the trick,'' Ann Wilson sang in  
"Barracuda,'' "You better make up something quick.''

The song seemed a much better fit than several played during the  
Democratic convention in Denver. After ailing US Senator Ted Kennedy  
made it to Denver for a pro-Obama speech, the Denver house band played  
"Still The One,'' the 70s hit from Orleans. (Clearly intended to  
reflect Kennedy's vigorous effort, it was still risky to evoke any  
possible reference to ''The One,'' being used as anti-Obama term.  
After former President Bill Clinton's ringing speech last week, the  
band struck up the intro to Robert Palmer's 1985 hit, "Addicted to  
Love.'' C-Span showed a group of delegates dancing to the opening  
strains and singing along until stopping on the chorus, "Might as well  
face it/I'm addicted to love.''
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