The DJ Mike Read, whose “Ukip Calypso” spread across Twitter feeds this week, had to withdraw the song from sale yesterday amid accusations of racism.

But Ukip is not the first party to endure a musical embarrassment. Here are seven other examples of times when politicians should have resisted the urge to press play:

William Hague suffers a Massive Attack (2000)

Then Conservative leader William Hague took the stage to “Man next door” by dance troupe Massive Attack. This was met with anger by the Bristolian outfit, who, Twitter not existing at this point, instead released a formal statement declaring that: “Massive Attack have not and will never support the Conservative party or their policies. If our music has been used by the Tories it is without our knowledge or our permission.” Perhaps concerned the content of the statement was unclear, the band entitled it “We're completely fucked off with The Tories.”

Barack Obama goes Green (2008)

One of the more successful musical renditions by a politician occurred when President Obama performed a snippet of Al Green's “Let's Stay Together” at the Apollo Theatre in Harlem. Al Green was impressed by the President's crooning, telling TMZ “I think he nailed it.. I was thrilled that the President even mentioned my name.” Green had further reason to be chuffed—the 1972 hit enjoyed a sales boost of 490 percent.

BNP's copyright cock-up (2009)

The BNP found themselves under fire not for their policies, but for their illegal use of Dame Vera Lynn's “White Cliffs Of Dover” on an anti-immigration album. While the party advertised the album as “an unforgettable trip down memory lane,” they forgot to get permission for the song's use. If the party had taken the same approach to crossing copyright law as they did on crossing borders, perhaps this gaffe could have been avoided.

Beyonce bottles it (2013)

Mrs Carter added star quality to Obama’s second inauguration, with her rendition of “The Star Spangled Banner.” The performance received rave reviews, with Piers Morgan tweeting; “THAT's why she's the No1 performer in world music.” Unfortunately, it emerged Piers, and everyone else, had been listening to a prerecorded tape. Queen’s B’s backing group, the Marine Corps band, initially played innocent and denied all knowledge, before later revealing to the world's media that they “received last-minute word that Beyoncé wanted to use the recording."

'Send in the Clowns' (2013)

Former television presenter Des Lynam revealed he was a Ukip supporter in May last year. As part of his endorsement, Lynam took it upon himself to rewrite Stephen Sondheim’s “Send in the Clowns,” a song presumably chosen as a response to then-Conservative Minister without portfolio Ken Clarke, who had dismissively referred to Farage and his party as “clowns.” The song was later used to soundtrack one of the less prestigious occasions in the political calendar—Ukip’s south east conference.

No Direction

The Prime Minister’s bid for boyband stardom backfired quite spectacularly after he appeared with One Direction in the video for last year’s Comic Relief single. In theory, it seemed like a golden opportunity—he could help a charity, raise his profile, and engage with hordes of future voters. The problem came when journalists began questioning the band about their political allegiances. When asked about the possibility of their music featuring at the Conservative Party Conference, Niall Horan responded “I'm not sure about that,” while fellow member Harry Styles was more unequivocal, declaring “I'm a Labour supporter. I'm for the people.” The Prime Minister has not featured in any of the band's subsequent work.

Ed Miliband's house of Horrors

Labour leaders have a history of links with indie royalty, with Tony Blair meeting Oasis, and Gordon Brown expressing a (possibly suspect) passion for the Arctic Monkeys. Ed Miliband made a stab at this with his use of “I see you” by The Horrors as the warm up to his speech at the 2014 Labour conference. No stranger to being embarrassed on social media, the Labour leader took another hit when the band tweeted "Fucks sake. Keep your outdated political ideologies away from us." While they later deleted the tweet, band member Tom Cowan took the time to reiterate the message to BuzzFeed.