Don&#039;t Stop Thinking about the Music: The Politics of Songs and Musicians in Presidential Campaigns

Benjamin S. Schoening; Eric T. Kasper

doi:10.5771/9780739172995

Summary

In this insightful, erudite history of presidential campaign music, musicologist Benjamin Schoening and political scientist Eric Kasper explain how politicians use music in American presidential campaigns to convey a range of political messages. From “Follow Washington” to “I Like Ike” to “I Got a Crush on Obama,” they describe the ways that song use by and for presidential candidates has evolved, including the addition of lyrics to familiar songs, the current trend of using existing popular music to connect with voters, and the rapid change of music’s relationship to presidential campaigns due to Internet sites like YouTube, JibJab, and Facebook. Readers are ultimately treated to an entertaining account of American political development through popular music and the complex, two-way relationship between music and presidential campaigns.

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Bibliographic data

Edition: 1/2011
Copyright Year: 2011
ISBN-Print: 978-0-7391-6547-8
ISBN-Online: 978-0-7391-7299-5
Publisher: Lexington, Lanham
Language: English
Pages: 294
Product Type: Monograph

1. Contents No access
2. Acknowledgments No access
3. Preface No access
Introduction: Why Music Matters No access Pages 1 - 27
1. 1 The Early Use of “Campaign” Music (1789-1840) No access
2. 2 Campaign Music Post Tippecanoe (1844-1916) No access
1. 3 Women’s Suffrage&“Wireless” Technology (1920-1948) No access
2. 4 Good Night, And Good Luck (1952-1968) No access
3. 5 Campaign Music Transitions to the Pop Era (1972-1984) No access
1. 6 The “Canned” CampaignSong (1988-2004) No access
2. 7 Facebook, YouTube, & MySpace, Oh My! (2008 and Beyond) No access
3. 8 Campaign Music of the Past, Present, and Future No access
Bibliography No access Pages 258 - 281
Index No access Pages 282 - 293
About the Authors No access Pages 294 - 294