Spitball Army

Blender magazine, while not necessarily perched at the top of the quality heap of music magazines, (But what is, anyway?  Rolling Stone?  No.  Spin?  No.  Does Tiger Beat still publish?) has released lists of the top ten favorite songs of the two main U.S. Presidential candidates.  There are surprises among the highly predictable lists:

• Obama is a “deep cuts” kind of guy, choosing “City of Blinding Lights” by U2 and “I’m On Fire” by The Boss.  But, sorry, Barack.  You have to lose a turn on this one – many would sell their mother for an endorsement from either Bono or Bruce, and I’m afraid these choices are just too transparent.
• All of McCain’s choices were recorded before 1978 (I guess that is not really a surprise), the latest being “Take a Chance on Me” by ABBA, released in 1977.
• Speaking of ABBA, McCain chose two songs by the Swedish band: the aforementioned song whose title itself is a plea for votes, and “Dancing Queen” (some American Idol-watching staffer in the McCain camp must have suggested this as an overture to the gray-haired vote, knowing that it is a favorite cover in the concert repertoire of Season 5 winner Taylor Hicks).
• “One-term” McCain is burdened by the spectre of Father Time, choosing topical songs “If We Make It Through December” by Merle Haggard, and Dooley Wilson’s version of “As Time Goes By.”
• I really want to know if Obama really listens to hip-hop…I mean, really.  will.i.am?  OK.  The Fugees?  They’re as much R&B as hip-hop, I guess.  But Kanye West?  Kanye “George Bush doesn’t care about black people” West?  I’m not buying it.  But, at least all three of these artists are current.
• Both candidates chose a song by Frank Sinatra, but neither used that choice to target a voting block (“New York, New York” or “Chicago”…hello, Mr. Senator from Illinois!) or, again, comment on his age (“It Was a Very Good Year”).  Missed opportunities, fellas, especially you, Senator McCain.  Instead we get covers of Cole Porter love songs: “Easy to Love” (Obama) and “I’ve Got You Under My Skin” (McCain).
• Obama gets “cool” points by choosing “Sinnerman” by Nina Simone, a choice that would have been even cooler if he had chosen the remix of that song by Felix da Housecat (audio clip below).  Can a Starbucks Senator Selects CD be in this man’s future?

[audio:Nina_Simone_with_Felix_da_Housecat___Sinnerman.mp3]
Is she singing “What’s the matter with you,  ‘Rack?”

• Obama chose the Stones’ “Gimme Shelter,” with its refrain, “War, children, it’s just a shot away, it’s just a shot away.”  Remember that.
• I also give a pass and a high-five to McCain for choosing Louis Armstrong’s version of “What a Wonderful World” over the beaten-to-death mash-up of “WAWW” and “Over the Rainbow” by Israel Kamakawiwo’ole.  In my past life as a music retailer, I sold so many copies of Iz’s CDs that I can now spell his serpentine surname in my sleep, but…if I hear that medley featured in just one more movie soundtrack, or playing overhead in one more MOR strip-mall eatery, my head will implode.  And it will be ugly.
• “Good Vibrations” is, of course, not Senator McCain’s favorite Beach Boys song, as we have all heard him sing “Barbara Ann” with vigor on the nightly news.
  
• What! No Elvis Presley?!  Guess neither one of these guys cares too much for the Southern vote.

I would like to send Senator Obama a copy of Kathleen Edwards’ Asking for Flowers, for clarity, and maybe a Nick Drake album to soften that hip-hop edge a little bit.  To Senator McCain, I bequeath my 1970’s box set Flower Power: The Music of the Love Generation.  My 81-year-old Uncle Ernie in California has a copy and likes it – why shouldn’t that youngster from Arizona let his freak flag fly, as well?

The lists follow:

Barack Obama
1. “Ready or Not” by Fugees
2. “What’s Going On” by Marvin Gaye
3. “I’m On Fire” by Bruce Spingsteen
4. “Gimme Shelter” by Rolling Stones
5. “Sinnerman” by Nina Simone
6. “Touch the Sky” by Kanye West
7. “You’d Be So Easy to Love” by Frank Sinatra
8. “Think” by Aretha Franklin
9. “City of Blinding Lights” by U2
10. “Yes We Can” by will.i.am

John McCain
1. “Dancing Queen” by ABBA
2. “Blue Bayou” by Roy Orbison
3. “Take a Chance on Me” by ABBA
4. “If We Make It Through December” by Merle Haggard
5. “As Time Goes By” by Dooley Wilson
6. “Good Vibrations” by The Beach Boys
7. “What a Wonderful World” by Louis Armstrong
8. “I’ve Got You Under My Skin” by Frank Sinatra
9. “Sweet Caroline” by Neil Diamond
10. “Smoke Gets In Your Eyes” by The Platters