If you've ever drank this tequilla, then you have experienced Mr. Hagar's business genius...
Posted on 09/16/2008 8:46:30 PM PDT by My Favorite Headache
16-Sep-08
Eddie Van Halen Reaches Out To Sammy Hagar Over The GOP's Use Of Their Song "Right Now"
Rolling Stone magazine reports that days before Heart served the GOP campaign with a cease-and-desist letter for playing their 1977 hit "Barracuda" to introduce VP pick Sarah Palin (high school alias: “Sarah Barracuda”) at the August 31st Republican convention, Van Halen sounded off against McCain and Co. for blasting their tune "Right Now" at a rally in Dayton, Ohio. “Permission was not sought or granted nor would it have been given [to use the song]," Alex and Eddie Van Halen said in a statement. But not every VH member agreed.
"I got goosebumps from it — my fur went up," says the band’s ex-frontman, Sammy Hagar, who co-wrote and sang the song — and said he’d be "just as happy" if Obama played it. "I was honored that a potential president of the United States used those words in a positive sense, like, 'We gotta act now!' "
Hagar, who’s tight-lipped on his presidential endorsement ("I vote for the man, not the party," he says) heard that McCain used the tune via a deluge of phone calls. "I got calls from relatives, friends, doctors, lawyers… everyone thought it was so cool," he says. "Then I started getting excited. Those words are an old Zen philosophy — it’s totally cool that they’re timeless." Even former bandmate Eddie Van Halen rang Hagar up.
"I got a message on my cell phone and it was Eddie’s voice," Hagar recalls. "He goes, 'Sam? This don’t sound like you. I got the wrong number.' And he hangs up! So I hit redial. He didn’t answer, but I left a message: 'Ed, it’s me. If you would like to talk about the 'Right Now' situation I'd love to speak to you about it.'"
The two never connected, which raises some lingering questions. "Why didn’t [Van Halen] say no when Pepsi Cola gave us a million dollars to use the song in a Pepsi Light commercial?" asks Hagar. "That’s when you say no. That isn’t the message of this song." But when a potential future president is using it to bring a message to the world, he says, "I’m going, 'Hell, yes!'"
"Right Now" is on Van Halen's 1991 album "For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge."
He's definitely gone downhill since joining Pasadena's premier garage band.
I think many entertainers just assume that conservative Republicans only listen to country music, and that naturally (to them) a rock and roll fan would be a liberal.
Far from the truth, but let’s face it, most rock stars ain’t too bright.
Trig Van Palin? I got the impression she was doing a play on Val Halen’s name.
***
Yep. She has said so.
Ed needs to stop taking himself seriously and enjoy the circus.
This coming from a VH fan.
Is Sarah a VH fan?
Did Eddie van Halen really think that a guy who “can’t drive 55”
would be ticked when a Republican convention used a song he worked on?
Especially when Democrats’ response to bumps in oil price is
to threaten us with a return to Carter’s 55-mph speed limit?
Oh and to check our tire pressure. And to derail the “Drill Here,
Drill Now, Pay Less” outburst of sanity!?
This video should give you the chills...
(Sammy solo song dedicated to Eagle drivers)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIL_AlVpgd4
I guess so; either her or todd.
I just saw Marc Niver (friend of Todd) on Greta.
I grew up with his brother in MN. Small world.
If you've ever drank this tequilla, then you have experienced Mr. Hagar's business genius...
OMGGG I remember that song that came from I can’t drive 55 album
Eddie spends too much time chain smoking to avoid having to think about heroine, how to blew it with a chick as hot as Sarah Palin and how his son looks like him (only smaller. and that isn’t really a compliment...)
Eddie isn’t functioning upstairs for the most part. He wasn’t in the 80s and 90s anyways and the odds that he suddenly found Jesus and began considering the serious issues of life is slim to remote.
Brooks & Dunn does not want Obama to use their songs and Heart and Van Halen does not want McCain to use their songs.
Both candidates should tell these Has Beens to Stfu and play the music they want.
Yep, I wonder if they well demand the Palin’s change their son’s name?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2mQpYG2POM
Dave had plenty of good solo stuff, he did release a couple of bad albums though. Yankee Rose video for your enjoyment.
Ed should stop taking himself seriously.
Maybe soon he’ll be invited to a party at the Navel observatory. lol
I think many entertainers just assume that conservative Republicans only listen to country music, and that naturally (to them) a rock and roll fan would be a liberal.
It was true to an extent, before Gen Reagan (possibly now the Palin Generation?). My wife and I had discussed it before, that our generation will generally rebel against the hippies before us. Thankfully my parents were just a few years older than the boomers to get caught up in the 60s crap.
Great Lyrics. Thanks for posting. I can see why Sammy got goose bumps after seeing this used in such a powerfully poignant active way. Shows he is dialed in. :-).
Question: When a song is released, does it not become part of the public domain? How may any singer, group, etc, protest or file a cease and desist order against the song being played in a public forum?
If I brought my collection of old Heart albums to a GOP rally... or a wedding for a Republican couple, or a beach party given by the local chapter of the Young Republicans, then I am libel to court action?
I am not writing about pirated music here. I am stating the fact that I PAID for that music... it is MY property, and I will play it where ever I damn well please. Why was that argument not made against these idiots?
this is what you get when you name your kid Trig Paxson Van Palin
I amazed the photo of Eddie looking like a homeless hag hasn’t been posted yet.
If I brought my collection of old Heart albums to a GOP rally... or a wedding for a Republican couple, or a beach party given by the local chapter of the Young Republicans, then I am libel to court action?
I dunno but I’d sue you for having such lousy taste in music :P
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