Michele Bachmann Defies Tom Petty's Cease and Desist

Tim Mosenfelder/Getty Images(Petty), Steve Pope/Getty Images (Bachmann)

Tom Petty has asked Michele Bachmann to stop playing "American Girl" at her events – but according to Politico, she did it again yesterday at a campaign stop in South Carolina. The song began playing at the end of her speech, but abruptly ended after a mere 29 seconds, leaving only enough time for the lyrics "Yeah, she was an American Girl - raised on promises." "Walking on Sunshine" by Katrina and the Waves then started blasting out as Bachmann greeted supporters. It's unclear why such a short segment of "American Girl" played. Petty's camp says they will not comment on the matter, and a rep for the Bachmann campaign has not yet responded to our request for a comment. 

Michelle Bachmann's Holy War

The trouble started on Monday evening when Bachman played "American Girl" at the end of a speech in Iowa where she officially announced her presidential campaign. The Petty camp immediately sent the candidate a cease and desist letter, but the legal rights of politicians to play music at campaign events without the permission of the artists is unclear. Many legal experts feel that if the campaign buys a license from ASCAP they are allowed to play any song they want without seeking approval from the artist. Others argue that the use of a song at a campaign rally implies that the artist endorses the politician, and thus they must seek approval from the musician. The matter has yet to be tested before a judge, but most politicians stop the moment that an artist complains. 

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Song Stories

“Piano Man”

Billy Joel | 1973

Billy Joel’s first hit, “Piano Man,” was – ironically – an autobiographical lament about how his first album wasn’t a hit. When Cold Spring Harbor didn’t take off, Joel briefly became a lounge pianist in Los Angeles, and this song, about that experience, expressed his frustrations and fears at the time: “And they sit at the bar and put bread in my jar/And say, ‘Man, what are you doing here?’” “It was all right,” Joel said later, about the gig. “I got free drinks and union scale, which was the first steady money I’d made in a long time.”

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