Tom Scholz, leader and primary songwriter for the band Boston, is upset with presidential candidate Mike Huckabee. According to Sholz, Huckabee is using his 1970s smash hit song “More Than a Feeling” as part of his presidential campaign without his permission. Barry Goudreau, a former member of Boston, has appeared with Huckabee at campaign events, and they have played the song with Huckabee’s band, Capitol Offense.
In reading this AP story, there was one particular segment that caught my attention….
Fred Bramante, who was chairman of Huckabee’s New Hampshire campaign, called the allegations ridiculous. He said he attended dozens of Huckabee rallies in New Hampshire and other states and never heard Huckabee play “More Than a Feeling,” other than when Goudreau campaigned with him in Iowa in October.
“Governor Huckabee plays ‘Sweet Home Alabama.’ Does that mean Lynyrd Skynyrd is endorsing him? He plays ‘Louie Louie.’ Does that mean The Kingsmen are endorsing him? To me, it’s ridiculous,” he said. “Never once has he said, ‘The band Boston endorses me.’
OK, my fellow LOUIE-tics out in cyberspace…. could someone please send me a recording of Mike Huckabee and Capitol Offense doing LOUIE LOUIE?
For the record, Scholz notes that Boston has never endorsed any political candidate, and “would not start by endorsing a candidate who is the polar opposite of most everything Boston stands for,” adding that he is supporting Democratic Senator Barack Obama.
As a sidenote, the opening riff of “More Than A Feeling” borrows from the same chord structure as LOUIE LOUIE. Blame Bruce Springsteen for pointing this out to Dave Marsh, who wrote about such things in his LOUIE book.