The Boston-based punk band Dropkick Murphys want Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) to stop using their music because they “literally hate” him.
Walker took to the stage at the Iowa Freedom Summit on Saturday to the band’s “I’m Shipping Up To Boston.” Subsequently, the band tweeted:
@ScottWalker @GovWalker please stop using our music in any way…we literally hate you !!!
Love, Dropkick Murphys
— Dropkick Murphys (@DropkickMurphys) January 25, 2015
The Dropkick Murphys, as the AV Club notes, have had a problem with Walker since 2011, when the Wisconsin governor introduced legislation that limited collective bargaining rights for public sector employees, curtailing union power.
There’s a longstanding tradition of musicians asking politicians to not use their music —as far back as Broadway Producer David Merrick versus Barry Goldwater during the 1964 presidential campaign. Bruce Springstein, in 1984, actually sent a cease and decist request to Ronald Reagan to stop him from playing “Born in the U.S.A.” Every presidential election cycle since has seen clashes of musicians and candidates.
(H/t: Sahil Kapur)
A fair request.
Or at least make him pay substantial royalties.
Not sure Reagan’s handlers knew what Born in the USA was all about.
Once Walker gets his state Supreme Court the way he wants it, his attorney general can target the band’s attorneys for racketeering lol
They didn’t.
I’d have liked to have seen Obama use it just to piss the GOP off.
I am sure they would be happy to let him use their songs - at $10M each time he plays it