TSOL's Grisham Runs for Gov.

Despite having once recorded a song titled "Abolish Government," TSOL's Jack Grisham has joined Arnold Schwarzenegger and many others in the race for California governor.

"TSOL were always a big anti-government band," Grisham says of punk rockers, who formed in 1978, "but we're a pro-populace band."

A vote to recall the state's current governor, Gray Davis, is set for October 7th, one month after TSOL [True Sounds of Liberty] release their new album, Divided We Stand. If the referendum passes, Grisham would join more than 500 potential candidates. The singer, who is an Independent, is centering his campaign platform on health-care reform and immigrant rights.

Grisham argues that his difficult life experiences make him best able to understand the needs of his potential constituency. "I've been in jail, I've been arrested, I've been screwed up on drugs," he says. "That separates me from the other candidates."

Unfortunately, Grisham may not be able to count on his audience for support. "Most of the people that see our band aren't allowed to vote," he quips, "'cause they're all felons."

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Song Stories

“1999”

Prince | 1982

“I don’t consider myself a great poet,” Prince told Rolling Stone. “I just know I’m here to say what’s on my mind.” In the case of the apocalyptic party anthem “1999,” he was worried about then-president Ronald Reagan’s foreign policies. The song’s melody is based on a riff borrowed from the Mamas and Papas’ “Monday, Monday,” and Prince originally envisioned the first verse with three-part harmony but later split the vocals between himself and members of the Revolution. Because Warner Bros., with whom Prince was locked in a contractual battle, owned the original’s masters, Prince rerecorded the song and appropriately released that version in 1999.

More Song Stories entries »

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