In a bid to win over potential supporters in the under-thirty crowd, Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton is asking young Americans to exercise their freedom to choose — hot licks, that is. The New York senator’s website is currently hosting a contest to select Clinton’s official campaign song. Voters can choose from nine tunes, including Jesus Jones’ “Right Here, Right Now,” KT Tunstall’s “Suddenly I See” and Smashmouth’s cover of the Monkees’ “I’m a Believer.”
While these tunes have a certain fire-up-the-soccer-moms power, we’re wondering about the absence of Bachman Turner Overdrive, — whose stutter-laced “You Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet” Hil blasted at her Senate re-election victory party in November. Ever since the song shook speakers as Al Gore’s 2000 campaign song, President George W. Bush and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi have filched BTO’s tunes — including the working man’s anthem “Takin’ Care of Business” — for their own purposes. What is it about BTO — a trio of Canucks — that makes ‘em so popular with American politicians?
“The songs are catchphrases,” says frontman Randy Bachman, who penned both 1970s hits. “You’re hearing something that’s familiar, warm, makes you feel good. And you used to dance to it.” The rocker — who is mum on his own presidential endorsement — wants to see some financial compensation from the politicos who spin his tracks. “You should contact the songwriter and say, ‘I want to use this song,’ just like you do for a movie or car commercial,” he says. “If we love you, it’s a dollar; if not, it’s $1,000.”