Al Kamen’s “In The Loop" column in Thursday’s Washington Post carries just the latest in a long thread of left-wing musicians being upset at their music being liked by Republicans. In this case, Devo co-founder Gerald Casale hates House Majority Whip Steve Scalise creating a fundraising committee called “Whip It Good.” Scalise has also used Devo’s “Whip It” at events.
The Post wanted to manufacture a Scalise controversy, and Casale was ready to bring the pain to the allegedly evil right wingers.
“I think there’s a history of Republicans with a right wing M.O. appropriating things from pop culture to try and look hip,” he said. This, from a 66-year-old man who co-wrote a one-hit wonder in 1980.
Then he turned meaner:
“I’m just guessing,” he said, but “I think [Scalise and his tea party friends] went for the S&M angle” because “they like to inflict pain on the masses with their politics.”
....If this all sounds harsh, Casale is not one to go easy on politicians. You may recall in 2012 he wrote a song: “Don’t Roof Rack Me, Bro” — an ode to the pet dog that Mitt Romney infamously strapped in a carrier on his car’s roof for a 12-hour drive.
Almost no one noticed that crazy satire – except Kamen, who promoted it back on August 15, 2012:
Launch date for the song and the game is Aug. 26, according to a publicity blurb, which is National Dog Day and the day before the Republican National Convention. The game is being launched as an app on iTunes.
Goofy as all this is, it could be electorally of note. Devo, fans may recall, is from the epicenter of the "battleground" - Kent and Akron, Ohio. Not as important as Canton, but still significant.
Kamen and his colleague Colby Itkowitz failed to mention that Casale isn’t as miffed when “Whip It” gives him a royalty check when it’s exploited in commercials by Yoplait...or...Swiffer...or Apple's iPad. Or his cameo complete with dome-hat in a Delta safety video with an '80s theme. How “hip” and anti-corporate does that make him?
Maybe Casale just wants Scalise to pay up.
The Post also ignored Casale’s Bush-era musical project “Jihad Jerry and the Evildoers.”
Casale was quoted as saying that didn’t go over so well: “People are kind of freaked out by the Jihad Jerry stuff. I thought they’d all think it was really funny and get off on it, but people are really offended and scared.”
