John McCain Will Stop Playing Mellencamp Songs at Rallies

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Four days after John Mellencamp's reps asked John McCain to stop playing his songs "Our Country" and "Pink Houses" at his rallies, the Republican frontrunner's campaign spokesman announced today that Mellencamp's songs would no longer be played as McCain's rallying cry. Mellencamp, a noted liberal who was supporting John Edwards, took umbrage with McCain using his music as he traveled from primary state to primary state trying to prove to his party that he is a "true conservative." According to Mellencamp's publicist, "If you're such a true conservative, why are you playing songs that have a very populist pro-labor message written by a guy who would find no argument if you characterized him as left of center?" McCain's people agreed, and have ceased playing the songs.

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Song Stories

“Everyday People”

Sly and the Family Stone | 1968

"Everyday People" managed to trailblaze in two different ways -- it was one of the first pop hits to deal with the subject of racial harmony, and it utilized Larry Graham's "slap" technique on the bass guitar, which would soon be copied by countless other bassists. Graham once said about his pulsating style, "I'd never done that before … that's where the freedom of creativity came in for the band, that we'd be allowed to do that." In 1978, the song's line "Different strokes for different folks" would be borrowed for the title of the hit television show Diff'rent Strokes.

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