Talking Heads front man David Byrne is suing Florida Governor Charlie Crist over the use of his band’s 1985 hit Road To Nowhere on a campaign website and in Youtube ads as he ran for nomination in a Republican senatorial contest. Byrne’s lawyer Lawrence Iser successfully sued failed republican Presidential candidate John McCain for using a Jackson Brown song, with the Republicans then pledging to “respect artists rights and license copyrighted works”. Byrne is hitting up Crist for $US1 million, saying that while he had allowed use of his songs in films and such, he would never allow them to be used in advertisements. “I’m a bit of a throwback that way, as I still believe songs occasionally mean something to people,” Byrne said. “A personal and social meaning is diluted when that same song is used to sell a product or a politician.” Amen to that David.
