BOSTON Guitarist 'Ripped Off' by Huckabee

http://news.aol.com/political-machine/2008/02/15/boston-guitarist-ripped-off-by-huckabee/

BOSTON Guitarist 'Ripped Off' by Huckabee
By Brandon Barker
Feb 15th 2008

Mike Huckabee has plenty to worry about. With Sen. John McCain quickly gathering delegates in the 2008 primaries, and the memory of Chuck Norris' nun-chucks now a blur, the former Arkansas governor doesn't need anyone--like, the rock band BOSTON's mastermind guitarist and songwriter Tom Scholz, for instance--bursting his bubble.

Rolling Stone reports that Mr. Scholz, who holds the trademark to the BOSTON name, recently sent a letter to Gov. Huckabee asking him to stop playing the Boston song "More Than a Feeling" at his political rallies. Scholz, who happens to be an Obama supporter, comes close on the heels of a similar move by John Mellencamp--a longtime Democrat--who asked John McCain to stop playing his heartland hits "Pink Houses" and "Our Country" at his events.

Huckabee, according to the letter, has been performing the BOSTON song with onetime BOSTON guitarist Barry Goudreau, telling crowds that Goudreau is "the guy who originally did it." According to Mr. Scholz, Barry Goudreau never actually played on the "More Than a Feeling" single and in fact left the band more than 25 years ago.

The letter is not without compliments--Mr. Scholz appreciates the fact that Huckabee successfully "learned my bass guitar part" in the song--but he still feels "ripped off, dude!" and "damaged" by this experience. "BOSTON," he writes, "has never endorsed a political candidate, and with all due respect, would not start by endorsing a candidate who is the polar opposite of most everything BOSTON stands for."

B. Brandon Barker is the author of the novel Operation EMU.