17% of British people heard some of the UKIP Calypso song – and most of them didn’t like it
The former BBC Radio 1 DJ Mike Read released a song to iTunes and Amazon this week called ‘UKIP Calypso’, a satirical tune with steel drums and a mock Caribbean accent which teases the Prime Minister and sings the praises of Nigel Farage. UKIP had hoped its supporters would push the song to number one, raising money for the party and boosting its profile, but the next day Mike Read requested the song be withdrawn from sales following complaints that it was racist.
A new YouGov survey finds that during its short life, the UKIP Calypso really was not popular.
14% of British people heard some part of the song, while only 3% say they listened to the whole thing. 7% of UKIP supporters say they listened to the whole song.
Of those who heard at least some of the song, which contains lines such as the below, most people (57%) say they did not enjoy what they heard, however a significant minority (43%) did.
Compared to Labour voters who heard the song, twice as many Conservatives enjoyed what they heard (46% compared to 24%). The song was an unsurprising hit among UKIP voters, with 82% approving.
A UKIP spokesman said: “This is Mike’s song and it is obviously his decision what to do with it. We do think it is a shame that he has been treated so harshly by many in the ‘right-on’ media, but we respect his decision. We thought it was just a bit of fun, as did thousands of people, evidenced by how well it has been selling. Were it not for the synthetic outrage, the song would have generated a lot of money for charity, as profits were to be split with the Red Cross for their Ebola Outreach programme. It’s a pity those so concerned with political correctness have trodden all over this.”
