Campaign Soundtrack: Romney Rally Music
Music can be like the 12th man in football. How the Romney campaign set the tone and mood at his Main Line Rally.
Nashville recording artists Baillie and the Boys performed as the warm act for the Romney Rally Friday at Valley Forge Military Academy in Wayne.
Photos (1)
Photos
Music is an important part of any campaign rally event. It sets the tone and the mood and can sometimes even become a campaign theme.
Ronald Regan had Proud to be An American by Lee Greenwood. Bill Clinton had Don't Stop Thinking About Tomorrow by Fleetwood Mac. Friday at the Valley Forge Military Academy Mitt Romney's campaign had the Burger King Song.
To be fair, the Burger King Commercial Song (Have it Your Way) was only about 45 seconds out of about 90 minutes of music that set the musical tone for the rally. This rally featured a music trio flown in from Nashville for the event. "Baillie and the Boys" played for about 45 minutes of the warm-up time after the doors opened but the before the candidate speeches began.
During their concert Baillie explained that while the group, who originally met through connections at the University of Delaware, may not be a household name much of their commercial theme song recordings are very familiar. At the top of the list is a version of the Burger King song which they performed.
Self-proclaimed fans of Mitt Romney and his campaign themes, Baillie and the Boys sang for about 45 minutes. Their songs are a folksy/pop/country blend mix of upbeat and inspirational tunes.
The rest of the morning featured a soundtrack played off a laptop playlist at the back of the room. It did not appear to be a rigid list and the guy at the console seemed to have some leeway from the songs on the list which were primarily country and upbeat popular/classic rock.
Among other recorded songs in the short set that preceeded Baillie and The Boys:
(Editor's Note: We have linked to versions of the songs by the artists played Friday but that are not necessarily the exact version played at the rally. No music videos were played at the rally)
- Ours by Taylor Swift
- Ain't No Mountain High Enough by Diana Ross and the Supremes
- My Kinda Party by Jason Aldean
- Life is a Highway by Rascal Flats
- Get Together by the Youngbloods
- Hollywood Nights by Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band
The crowd did see a couple of Romney Campaign commercials and the Romney Bio Pic/Introduction video that was played to introduce the candidate, his family and his vision for the country at the Republican National Convention in Tampa.
After Romney spoke he took to the floor of the ballroom to shake hands as Kid Rock's Born Free blasted from the speakers in the room and patio are where Romney went to address several hundred more people in an onverflow area.
Kaari Burrows Davies
8:39 am on Monday, October 1, 2012
It was a great event! The music was only part of the excitement. Senator Toomey, Congressman Gerlach and several other GOP leaders reved up an already enthusiastic crowd of over 4,000 Romneyites in a packed auditorium. When Romney walked out on the stage, the applause was deafening and a couple thousand iPhones set on record went up over crowd. Romney delivered a couple of great one liners and told a heartwarming story about a WW2 veteran he met during a campaign stopover. The meat of his speech was an outline of his plan to add 12 million jobs over the next four years, his energy plan and his commitment to saving 39,000 jobs in PA that are being threatened by the current administration's massive defense cuts. On his way out Romney stopped to speak to a crowd of several hundred more folks who could not fit in the main auditorium. By comparison to a modest rally I attended for McCain in 2008, Romney looks like he's gearing up for a landslide victory in November.
.
11:31 am on Monday, October 1, 2012
LOL! Thanks for the laugh.
Landslide victory huh?......man that is a good one.
Bob Byrne
1:47 pm on Monday, October 1, 2012
Hi, Just a point of clarification on the crowd size: the room was packed wall to wall by very enthusiastic and vocal supporters. I have not gotten an official crown estimate but I think 4,000 is probably a little too high a number based on the capacity of the room. I would certainly agree on the enthusiasm of the crowd, especially compared to a McCain event I attended during the 2008 campaign at Strath Haven High School. The crowds were about the same sizes, but the Romney crowd seemed (obviously there's no scientific way to gauge) far more fired up than the McCain's crowd..and McCain spoke on a Sunday morning, two days before the election. In my opinion there was a sense of "it's kinda over for us" at the McCain rally back in 2008. In my observation and -obviously- opinion, the vibe at the Romney rally was the polar opposite. The Romney crowd was fired up, loud, and very enthusiastic on Friday at VFMA. Nobody I spoke with in the crowd is giving up anything, in fact they, like Romney, were predicting a GOP victory.
Maria
8:20 am on Tuesday, October 2, 2012
Agree Kaari.
I was there, too.
The 2010 elections, the Chick fil A backfire support, are all leading up to election day.
The Obama team is very nervous and getting desperate.
Lucy Bennett
11:41 am on Monday, October 1, 2012
A comment was removed from this story because it violates Patch's terms of service. We welcome debate and discussion about issues big and small, but please refrain from attacks and unfounded allegations.
brian
1:40 pm on Monday, October 1, 2012
"stand with me. work with me". obama's slogan. the only problem is... nobody's workin'.
Maria Hurley
3:59 pm on Monday, October 1, 2012
What Bob may not have known was that they had to cut off people coming into the building. There was an overflow crowd on the lawn. Several people I know were there and they said it was enormous.
Agnes
4:45 pm on Monday, October 1, 2012
Get facts straight. It was republicans who cut defense funding as part of budget control act of 2011. Toomey and Ryan played a big role in ensuring that. Now they and Romney are going to "rescue" the nation from a problem they created.
Agnes
6:45 pm on Monday, October 1, 2012
They should have played CCR's song "Fortunate Son" for Romney, who dodged the Vietnam war on a religious deferment (after protesting in favor of war).
Mike Shortall
7:24 pm on Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Like that's an issue? Geez, shall we count the Presidents who never served?
Steve A
10:35 pm on Monday, October 1, 2012
Agnes, in what branch of the service did Obama serve?
David Rogers
4:35 pm on Tuesday, October 2, 2012
And in which did Rmoney?
Agnes
10:50 pm on Friday, October 5, 2012
Oh lets think...Obama was only Commander-in-Chief of all four branches of the U.S. military for the past three and a half years. He has run it smarter too by using special ops and military intelligence to disrupt terrorist networks. Romney on the other hand was photographed protesting for war then ran away to hide in France. He does not deserve to be Commander in Chief.
PLD220
4:19 pm on Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Obama wasn't old enough to serve in Viet Nam. Romney was, and like the coward he is went off to France on his Mormon mission. Chickenhawk.
Berwyn Neighbor
5:33 pm on Wednesday, October 3, 2012
What a poor commentary on the blind loyalty to Obama. "Not old enough to serve in Vietnam" .... but Romney doing a Mormon mission makes him a coward? Obama worked as a community organizer -- he didn't join the Peace Corps, or enlist in the military...and he had no war to fear! This isn't politics anymore...facts aren't important..it's religion, and it only matters what people believe. By the way -- I find it interesting that Obama supporters in general cannot support their own candidate -- just tell us what's wrong with Romney. And after 4 years, it's still about GWB for them . Romney is a flawed candidate to be sure -- but imho, Obama is a flawed leader. As a community organizer, people followed him. As a President, they stand around applauding him. For who, for what?
Tim Again.
6:04 pm on Wednesday, October 3, 2012
RobMe sent five bucks to the salvation army to get military experience.
Mike Shortall
7:26 pm on Wednesday, October 3, 2012
How disingenuous can you get? How many Presidents have never served in the military? And why do Liberals not care a twit for the military services unless they can use them to a political end?