Online videos coming from many sources in support of Obama
What is it about Sen. Barack Obama that makes everyone want to sing?
If the presidential race were won by the number of voters who step up to a microphone to sing about their candidate, Obama would have it in a landslide. And as the Democratic primaries drone on, more and more celebrities and nobodies are singing, playing and rapping in support of his campaign.
(AP file)
The latest is Jay Jay French, guitarist for the glam-metal band Twisted Sister. (Yes, thank heavens he finally weighed in.)
French has rerecorded the heavy metal band’s anthem, ‘‘I Wanna Rock,’’ turning it into ‘‘I Want Barack.’’
A lifelong liberal Democrat whose mother campaigned for John F. Kennedy, French said Obama has energized a new generation of voters who previously felt left out of politics.
‘‘He has excited so many people,’’ said French, who founded Twisted Sister in 1973, in an interview Tuesday with the Associated Press. ‘‘He has given sincere hope to people who have been out of the arena for years.’’
French plays guitar on the track, which features Paulie Z., singer for the band Z02, on vocals and lead guitar. They call the band Jay Jay French and Friends and stress this isn’t a Twisted Sister project because that band’s members are split on the presidential candidates.
The Obama camp had no immediate comment on the song.
And it’s not on YouTube yet.
But plenty of others are.
Black Eyed Peas frontman will.i.am has recorded and released two music videos, ‘‘Yes, We Can,’’ which has garnered more than 5 million hits on YouTube, and the more recent ‘‘We Are the Ones.’’
It may have started months ago with the infamous Obama Girl, a young woman who made a music video called “I Got a Crush … on Obama” that became a hit on YouTube. The video shows Obama Girl making phone calls to the candidate, declaring her love — both personal and political.
Hillary Clinton has her songbirds online, too, including “Hot 4 Hill,” a video in which a young woman declares her love for the former president’s wife.
Obama, meanwhile, has hardly commented on the phenomenon — and he has yet to adopt any of these creations for his appearances. Before an official Obama speaking engagement, the sound system usually plays Motown hits, including Stevie Wonder’s ubiquitous ‘‘Signed, Sealed and Delivered.’’
And we’re waiting for the Obama song from Chicago pop-punk band Fall Out Boy. Bassist and band figurehead Pete Wentz appeared in the March 6 issue of Rolling Stone sporting an Obama ’08 T-shirt under his blazer. He’s also thrown fundraisers for the candidate, who he says he decided to support after the South Carolina primary. "It was at that point where I thought, 'Why would I not put everything that I had behind this?'" Wentz tells Rolling Stone. "Otherwise, come November, I could be cursing myself under my breath and going 'This is what you could have done.' "