Donald's not in tune with music industry

PHILADELPHIA: The Rolling Stones don't want Donald Trump to use their songs in his campaign. Nor does the estate of Beatle George Harrison. And the widow of opera singer Luciano Pavarotti. And Queen and REM and Aerosmith.

Not that their objections matter much to the Trump campaign. Typical of the blustering style of their principal, the campaign has continued to blast out songs even as more musicians are joining the naysayers corner. Neil Young is the latest; his aides are reported to have told the Trump campaign that he is a Bernie Sanders supporter.

It is not secret that the music and entertainment industry leans towards Democrats. Republicans have a few supporters in their corner but they are mostly washed-up has-beens like rocker Ted Nugent, actor Charlie Sheen, entertainment wrestler Hulk Hogan, boxer Mike Tyson and basketballer Dennis Rodman.

Ergo, Trump campaign has been mooching songs from the mainstream, raising the hackles of entertainers all too conscious of their drawing power.“Go f**k yourselves, the lot of you -you sad, attention-grabbing, power-hungry little men,“ REM lead singer Michael Stipe was quoted as saying after the Trump campaign used their anthem `It's the end of the world as we know it' at one of their rallies. While the REM song was appropriate for the kind of bleak scenario that the Trump campaign is trying to project, some of the songs they chose make no sense -or have been inappropriate in the context.

Among those played at the Cleveland convention (when Mike Pence took the stage): Rolling Stones' `You can't always get what you want' ­ ironic, or perhaps appropriate, considering he was not the first choice running mate for Trump. Also on the campaign trail: Stones' `Sympathy for the Devil'.

Democrats have been able to draw on the greater star power. Katy Perry, Christina Aguilera, and Beyonce among others have performed on that side of the political divide, and some big names, including the lead in the Broadway epic Hamilton, is expected in Philadelphia. From Black Eyed Peas to Bruce Springsteen, they are able to call on legends, even though many entertainers are iconoclastic, disappointed with both sides now.