Let Obama have his Dylan and the Boss; McCain’s got ABBA!
June 8th, 2008 at 01:52pm Pat Cunningham
OK, my headline could be a bit misleading: Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen have actually endorsed Barack Obama; I don’t think ABBA has (have?) endorsed John McCain. Besides, they’re not Americans.
But McCain’s a big ABBA fan, a fact he’s now TOUTING on one of his Web sites in a curious effort to attract “disaffected Hillary supporters.”
Some folks, of course, are going to mock this angle on the premise that ABBA, the long-defunct Swedish vocal quartet, is not hip.
Well, screw hip! I’m not afraid to admit that I’ve always liked ABBA. No, I don’t like them nearly as much as I like Dylan and the Boss – but, hey, I like lots of different kinds of music.
Stick with ABBA, Sen. McCain. Don’t let the self-appointed ministers of popular culture tell you what’s cool. I will tell you what’s cool. Your speech last Tuesday night, for example, was not cool.
Entry Filed under: ABBA, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, John McCain, Barack Obama
8 Comments Add your own
1. arron chambers jr. | June 8th, 2008 at 2:14 pm
abba probly has more money than what you will ever dream of
2. Kaus | June 8th, 2008 at 2:20 pm
You’d think he’d choose an American Band, instead he picks Abba, a bunch of socialists….it makes my stomach turn.
3. Orlando Clay | June 8th, 2008 at 4:01 pm
Yes, your headline is very misleading. Whereas Dylan and Springsteen have both entusiastically endorsed Obama, NONE of the four members of ABBA have endorsed McCain. In fact, ABBA songwriters Bjorn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson earlier denied the McCain camp’s request to use “Take a Chance on Me” as it’s campaign song. There’s nothing, of course, preventing McCain from posting the Lasse Hallstrom-directed film clip (this was after all, produced 3 years before MTV came into existence!) on his Web site, although some could consider it an implied endorsement. Since none of the four members of ABBA are household names in the US, however, it’s unlikely that it could turn into an embarrassment for the McCain camp. What is embarrassing, however, is the fact that ABBA has sold more records worldwide (the last official count was 370 million) than any other recording act except The Beatles and Elvis, and yet they remain standing on the outside of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. But, then again, ABBA never did appeal to Jann Wenner and the intelligentsia at Rolling Stone, so their omission shouldn’t come as a big shock.
4. hokumboy | June 8th, 2008 at 4:19 pm
Fitting!
When I heard McCain would be the Republic candidate all I could say was, “Mamma Mia!”
5. kaus | June 8th, 2008 at 7:46 pm
When I heard that Jimmy-Carter-revisited-Obama was crowned as MR. Hope, all I could say was…..S.O.S.
6. Tasiyagnunpa Livermont | June 8th, 2008 at 9:51 pm
LOL. Not only was McCain’s speech not cool; it honestly made my liberal heart bleed a bit for him. The “you-may-clap-now” smile ceased being funny and honestly became very, very sad in a grotesque sort of way. Especially, when watching Hillary’s and Barack’s speeches, which as usual, were quite well done. Seriously, what happened to McCain? He wasn’t painful like that during the debates…
Who cares about ABBA. McCain’s got bigger problems.
7. Leatherneck | June 9th, 2008 at 9:37 pm
It is important not to let the campaign coverage digress into “silliness” such as this. (favorite bands, fist bumps, and this kind of rubbish) Some of us out here can still think and some of us out here respect the dignity of the office. Give me a break.
8. Orlando Clay | July 25th, 2008 at 2:26 pm
McCain doesn’t even have ABBA anymore!
Excerpts from an article appearing in Stern magazine:
Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, the two B’s of ABBA, are not as close to each other as in their band’s name right now. They’re expected to give interviews throughout the whole hot day in a Greek luxury resort. The “Mamma Mia!” movie was shot a bit further away. But Benny - grey beard, cozy tummy and sun glasses - who through all the years had hardly ever spoken to the media, suddenly enjoys the whole thing so much that the more ascetic Björn, on the road as Abba’s ambassador for years now, hardly gets to say a word. Björn demands: from now on only one to one conversations. After some convincing however the two Swedes sit down at a table together.
Stern: John McCain has just used “Take A Chance On Me” for his presidential campaign.
Benny: Only once or twice, then we prohibited this. We would never allow him to do this. Not a Republican who’s a friend of George Bush.
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