“We Are The World” (Tea Party Edition)

By <a href="http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://lh3.ggpht.com/_a2_I8uxeZsU/ScWNe9Ja1nI/AAAAAAAAAZs/UqwQL42co4c/DSC_0262.JPG&imgrefurl=http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/wkNAg7z8fPxP0b61liynCQ&usg=__aWMNhox97VTn8xQibXLa9j_cmeg=&h=1063&w=1600&sz=139&hl=en&start=1&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=oANSK4yyGZxmFM:&tbnh=100&tbnw=150&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dlloyd%2Bmarcus%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Dactive%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26sa%3DG%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26as_st%3Dy%26tbs%3Disch:1,iur:f">Ted</a> under a CC license.

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.


Last month Mother Jones spoke with Lloyd Marcus, the black Tea Party musician who’s come to enjoy rock-star status at Tea Party rallies, thanks to hits like “Twenty Ten” and “We the People.” We had a nice conversation, but one thing I somehow neglected to ask him was whether he had any plans, in the near future, to put together a charity album modeled on 1980s pop ballads like “We Are the World” and “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” Now we have our answer:

In an event that’s one part “American Idol” audition and one part “We Are The World” recording session, conservative singer-songwriter Lloyd Marcus is planning to bring together the musical voices of Tea Partiers from across the country to sing the movement’s unofficial anthem, “Take Back America,” on a charity album to benefit the families of soldiers.

Marcus says he’s hoping to get big shots like SNL star Victoria Jackson and Time contributor Ted Nugent on board, which, if Nugent and Jackson’s recent appearances are any indication, should turn out swimmingly. But this is mostly about the little guys, like the mostly unknown artists we featured here back in March.

Anyway, because it’s Monday, here’s a clip of Michael Jackson and Tipper Gore singing “We Are the World” together on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. Simpler times:

WE'LL BE BLUNT:

We need to start raising significantly more in donations from our online community of readers, especially from those who read Mother Jones regularly but have never decided to pitch in because you figured others always will. We also need long-time and new donors, everyone, to keep showing up for us.

In "It's Not a Crisis. This Is the New Normal," we explain, as matter-of-factly as we can, what exactly our finances look like, how brutal it is to sustain quality journalism right now, what makes Mother Jones different than most of the news out there, and why support from readers is the only thing that keeps us going. Despite the challenges, we're optimistic we can increase the share of online readers who decide to donate—starting with hitting an ambitious $300,000 goal in just three weeks to make sure we can finish our fiscal year break-even in the coming months.

Please learn more about how Mother Jones works and our 47-year history of doing nonprofit journalism that you don't find elsewhere—and help us do it with a donation if you can. We've already cut expenses and hitting our online goal is critical right now.

payment methods

WE'LL BE BLUNT

We need to start raising significantly more in donations from our online community of readers, especially from those who read Mother Jones regularly but have never decided to pitch in because you figured others always will. We also need long-time and new donors, everyone, to keep showing up for us.

In "It's Not a Crisis. This Is the New Normal," we explain, as matter-of-factly as we can, what exactly our finances look like, how brutal it is to sustain quality journalism right now, what makes Mother Jones different than most of the news out there, and why support from readers is the only thing that keeps us going. Despite the challenges, we're optimistic we can increase the share of online readers who decide to donate—starting with hitting an ambitious $300,000 goal in just three weeks to make sure we can finish our fiscal year break-even in the coming months.

Please learn more about how Mother Jones works and our 47-year history of doing nonprofit journalism that you don't find elsewhere—and help us do it with a donation if you can. We've already cut expenses and hitting our online goal is critical right now.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate