Courant.com

08.27.08

Big Head Todd provides soundtrack for Hillary Clinton at DNC

By Author Eric R. Danton

 

Big Head Todd provides soundtrack for Hillary Clinton at DNC
By Eric R. Danton on August 27, 2008 3:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, the presumed Democratic nominee for president, has been using U2's "Beautiful Day" at campaign rallies, and his pick for vice president, Delaware Sen. Joseph Biden, entered to Bruce Springsteen's "The Rising" at a rally last weekend in Springfield, Ill.

New York Sen. Hillary Clinton went with a lesser-known choice for her speech Tuesday night at the Democratic National Convention in Denver: She came out (and exited) to "Blue Sky" by Big Head Todd & the Monsters -- a fitting choice, given that the band hails from nearby Boulder.

"It's an honor just to be a part of it," singer and songwriter Todd Park Mohr said in a statement sent out by the band's publicist. "I had no idea to what extent they were going to play the song. I thought it sounded great, but more importantly we're proud of Hillary and thought her speech was truly historic. Her campaign was a big part of the Democrats' success this year. More than anything, it really was an honor."

Presumptive Republican nominee John McCain, the senior senator from Arizona, has had a little more trouble with theme music: In February, John Mellencamp asked the McCain camp to stop using his songs at rallies, and singer Jackson Browne recently sued McCain's campaign for copyright infringement after Browne's 1977 hit "Running On Empty" appeared without permission in a McCain campaign ad.

McCain has used Brooks & Dunn's song "That's What It's All About" and Tina Turner's "Simply the Best" at rallies, and Neil Diamond's "Sweet Caroline" has apparently popped up a time or two, also. Diamond wrote the song about Caroline Kennedy.