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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsDizzy Gillespie Runs for US President, 1964. Promises to Make Miles Davis Head of the CIA
(this is an old, but wonderful piece)
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Gillespies campaign had Dizzy Gillespie for President buttons, now collectors items, and Dizzy for President became the title of an album recorded live at the Monterey Jazz Festival in 1963.
A take on his trademark tune Salt Peanuts, Vote Dizzy was Gillespies official campaign song and includes lyrics like:
Your politics ought to be a groovier thing
Vote Dizzy! Vote Dizzy!
So get a good president whos willing to swing
Vote Dizzy! Vote Dizzy!
Its definitely groovier than either one of our current campaigns. Dizzy believed in civil rights, withdrawing from Vietnam and recognizing communist China, and he wanted to make Miles Davis head of the CIA, a role I think would have suited Miles perfectly. Although Dizzys campaign was something of a publicity stunt for his politics and his persona, its not unheard of for popular musicians to run for president in earnest. In 1979, revolutionary Nigerian Afrobeat star Fela Kuti put himself forward as a candidate in his country, but was rejected. More recently, Haitian musician and former Fugee Wyclef Jean attempted a sincere run at the Haitian presidency, but was disqualified for reasons of residency. Its a little hard to imagine a popular musician mounting a serious presidential campaign in the U.S., but then again, the 80s were dominated by the strange reality of a former actor in the White House, so why not? In any case, revisiting Dizzy Gillespies mid-century political theater may provide a needed respite from the onslaught of the current U.S. campaign season.
http://www.openculture.com/2012/10/dizzy_gillespie_runs_for_us_president_1964_.html
malaise
(268,998 posts)I was actually playing Dizzy the day the died before we heard the announcement.
Rec
MerryBlooms
(11,769 posts)every aspect of his life. An American treasure.
malaise
(268,998 posts)Thanks
MerryBlooms
(11,769 posts)pangaia
(24,324 posts)I heard Dizzy numerous times in the city.. in HS and college summers...... how fortunate I was....
MerryBlooms
(11,769 posts)Skink
(10,122 posts)U4ikLefty
(4,012 posts)jtuck004
(15,882 posts)Warren DeMontague
(80,708 posts)Too heavy for em.
jtuck004
(15,882 posts)was better?"
Warren DeMontague
(80,708 posts)That our government needs.
(Of course, thanks to several decades of the drug war, the world's best weed is now produced domestically. USA! USA!)
Warren DeMontague
(80,708 posts)MerryBlooms
(11,769 posts)Not My Job: We Quiz Funk Legend George Clinton On The British Parliament
http://www.npr.org/2015/01/24/379326224/not-my-job-we-quiz-funk-legend-george-clinton-on-the-british-parliament
Awesome!! One of my favorite Wait Wait episodes of all time.
Warren DeMontague
(80,708 posts)MerryBlooms
(11,769 posts)panader0
(25,816 posts)MerryBlooms
(11,769 posts)klook
(12,155 posts)Thank you! I love this guy and his incredible music.