Election Day here in the U.S. is just three weeks away. And if you forgot, or thought you'd just sit this midterm election out, rapper Lil Jon and the Rock the Vote campaign would like to encourage you to, well, turn out. (For what?)

All this singing about voting has got us thinking about what happens when politics and music collide -- something that's touched on in a new off-Broadway play called Tail! Spin! Created by Soundcheck contributor Mario Correa, the play is a look at four real-life political careers gone horribly and hilariously wrong. In a conversation with Soundcheck host John Schaefer, Correa talks about some of the more musical moments from his play -- and to share some other examples of elected officials pursuing their musical dreams. 

Interview Highlights

Mario Correa, on The Singing Senators, a.k.a. "The Beatles of Capitol Hill": 

It's funny how many singing and performing politicians there have been. Senator Larry Craig was one of the members of The Singing Senators, a foursome that included then-majority leader Trent Lott, Jim Jeffords, a senator from Vermont, and John Ashcroft, who was then a Missouri senator. These guys formed a barbershop quartet. They first performed at a birthday party for Bob Packwood, the senator who was kicked out for basically harassing women. So it started well and just got better. 

Then, years later when Senator Jim Jeffords switched from the Republican to the Democratic party, they kicked him out and tried to perform without him. He would hunt them down in the Capitol and try to perform with them. It was the typical breakup. 

On Senator Everett Dirksen's spoken word hit "Gallant Men": 

He had a No. 29 hit back in 1967. His album went to No. 16 on the pop charts -- he had four albums, but he won a Grammy for this one. "Gallant Men" was written by Charles Osgood from CBS Sunday Morning, who at the time was in the Army band, and would write this song under his given name, Charles Wood. [Everett Dirksen] was the oldest person at the time to have a top 40 hit. If you like this, you'll love his Pledge of Allegiance and his Gettysburg Address -- also on that album! 

On John Ashcroft's solo singing career, post-Singing Senators:

"Let the Eagle Soar" is a fantastic little ditty penned by John Ashcroft. He performed it at George W. Bush's second inauguration -- not on the actual stage, but during the festivities. It's something else. 

On Utah senator Orrin Hatch's singing and songwriting career: 

He actually used to manage a Mormon band back in the '60s and '70s, but then continued as a songwriter and has written lots of songs. He performs sometimes -- but most of the time he's just the songwriter. He has a parter named Janice Kapp Perry, who apparently is quite big in Mormon singing circles. "My God Is Love" is his big one, and by big I mean not very big. But you know what I'm saying.