Oh, yeah! I've never done it myself -- that I know of. But I do recall a major social "Oops!" that occurred one evening in summer of 1962.

One of the most popular happenings at the Seattle World's Fair was the Spanish Village, which featured several dancers and three Flamenco guitarists (a few of us took some Flamenco guitar lessons from these guys -- they charged some pretty outrageous money for lessons, but since it was a rare opportunity, we paid it). One evening, when the whole troupe had the evening off, they were invited to a party. Now, as far as I know, these folks were all pretty apolitical -- just dedicated dancers and musicians -- but Franco was still in power, of course, and if any of them had spoken ill of him (even if they hated his guts) they wouldn't have been able to get passports.

The hostess, wanting them to feel right at home (only a couple of them could speak English), put some music on the phonograph. But the only record she had that was in Spanish was from her collection of folk records. Songs of the Lincoln Brigade, by the Almanac Singers, containing such goodies as Los Cuatros Generales, Viva La Quince Brigada, Si Me Quieres Escribir, and Venga Jaleo. The political implications had never occurred to her.

Suddenly, all conversation stopped and the temperature in the room went down about fifteen degrees. Someone else stepped very quickly to the phonograph, took the record off, and put something bland and innocuous on. Political discussions and discussions of recent Spanish history would have been very interesting, but this wasn't the time for it. The room soon thawed out and the party got festive again.

Don Firth