Out of tune
The use of a song, ‘Love Natural’ by the Crystal Fighters, at the launch of the Labour manifesto backfired when the band’s drummer urged people to vote Green instead. Some other campaign songs whose writers disowned the campaign:
— Ronald Reagan used ‘Born in the USA’ by Bruce Springsteen for his re-election campaign against Springsteen’s wishes.
— In 2008, Barack Obama was asked to stop using ‘Soul Man’ by Sam Moore.
— In the same year Jackson Browne sued the Ohio Republican party for using his ‘Running on Empty’ for John McCain’s election campaign.
— The Conservatives in 2005 used ‘Everybody’s Changing’ by the band Keane at rallies, though drummer Richard Hughes said he would not be voting for the party.
Spending time
Viv Nicholson, who declared that she was going to ‘spend, spend, spend’ after her husband won £152,300, 18s 8d on the pools in 1961, died aged 79.
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