Presidential iPod reveals 'filthy' taste
By Geoff Elliott in Washington
The Australian
April 13, 2005
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,12836047-38198,00.html

WHATEVER your politics, listening to The Knack's 1979 hit My Sharona
and Van Morrison's classic Brown Eyed Girl may never sound the same:
they are on George W.Bush's iPod.

        "Ooh, my little pretty one, pretty one.
        When you gonna give me some time, Sharona?"

In the US, they are calling it the "first iPod". The President was
given one of the highly successful Apple music players by his twin
daughters last July. It has become an indispensable exercise toy for
the leader of the free world.

Unlike the early-morning constitutional walk John Howard enjoys, Mr
Bush is partial to a mountain bike ride around his ranch at Crawford,
Texas. The iPod helps him stay revved up, keeping his heartbeat above
170 beats a minute.

        "Ooh you make my motor run, my motor run.
        Gun it comin' off the line, Sharona."

Mr Bush's iPod boasts only 250 songs, well short of the 10,000 or so it
can store. They were downloaded by Mark McKinnon - chief media
strategist for Mr Bush's 2004 presidential campaign and a part-time
biking buddy - and his personal aide, Blake Gottesman.

The New York Times reported yesterday that Mr Bush's playlist is heavy
on traditional country and western singers, such as George Jones, Alan
Jackson and Kenny Chesney.

But Morrison's Brown Eyed Girl is a favourite, and then there's the
infamous My Sharona, which Joe Levy at Rolling Stone magazine told the
New York Times was "suggestive if not outright filthy".

        "When you gonna give it to me, give it to me?
        It is just a matter of time, Sharona."

At the weekend, ahead of his meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel
Sharon, Mr Bush was at it again, pedalling around a 30km circuit on his
ranch listening to his iPod.

And strapped to his wrist was a heartbeat monitor that also calculates
how many calories the weight-conscious President has expended.

Asked to give his take on Mr Bush's playlist, Mr Levy said: "One thing
that's interesting is that the President likes artists who don't like
him.

"What we're talking about is a lot of great artists from the 60s and
70s. This is basically boomer rock 'n' roll and more recent music out
of Nashville made for boomers. It's safe, it's reliable, it's loving.

What I mean to say is, it's feel-good music. The Sex Pistols it's not."

Also on the presidential iPod is Van Morrison's New Biography, Joni
Mitchell's (You're So Square) Baby, I Don't Care, Stevie Ray Vaughan's
The House is Rockin and John Fogerty's Centerfield.