In another instance of political campaigns and musicians not making the best of bedfellows: The Los Angeles alternative rock band Silversun Pickups has issued Mitt Romney's campaign a cease-and-desist order.
Turns out the Romney campaign was using the band's 2009 hit (above) "Panic Switch" from their second album "Swoon" at the beginning of events.
Here's what the band, who according to the letter "has no intention of endorsing the Romney campaign" had to say on the issue:
“We don’t like people going behind our backs, using our music without asking, and we don’t like the Romney campaign. We’re nice, approachable people. We won’t bite. Unless you’re Mitt Romney! We were very close to just letting this go because the irony was too good. While he is inadvertently playing a song that describes his whole campaign, we doubt that ‘Panic Switch’ really sends the message he intends.”
Romney's spokeswoman Andrea Saul responded in an email, saying "As anyone who attends Gov. Romney’s events knows, this is not a song we would have played intentionally. That said, it was covered under the campaign’s regular blanket license, but we will not play it again."
This type of thing almost seems par for the course in every election cycle, and it's happened once to Romney prior to this. Campaigns, often Republican campaigns, use songs, and artists request that these campaigns no longer do so.
However, the AP also points out that soul singer Sam Moore (once part of the legendary duo Sam & Dave) asked then-candidate Obama to stop using his song "Soul Man" in 2008.