BUSH'S POPULARITY HAS NOSE-DIVED. THE DIXIE CHICKS ARE BIGGER AND BETTER THAN EVER!
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As happens from time to time, my first IM this morning was from L.A.'s best talk show host, Johnny Wendell, who does Saturday and Sunday mornings on the Air America affiliate in L.A., KTLK (1150AM). Johnny was fuming-- which means the listeners are gonna be in for a treat-- over an AOL front page story on the Dixie Chicks. It's actually an A.P. story, just presented in a typically dumbed-down, hysterical fashion for AOL users.
"WILL DIXIE CHICKS PLAY NICE NOW?" screams AOL's inane headline, which goes on to say that "anti-Bush remark hurt trio; now they want a comeback." The reporting and presentation is so misleading and biased that I'm almost in shock. You might get the impression-- albeit the wrong impression-- from reading this that the extreme right was able to harm the Dixie Chick's career in 2003 with their completely ineffectual boycott of the group's CD and concert tour. Certainly A.P. and their writer, John Gerome, as well as AOL, seem to be trying to make that case. They fail to point out that although the corporately-led boycott by radio stations indebted to the policies of the Bush Regime meant less airplay for the Dixie Chicks, sales of CDs and concert tickets actually increased. In 2003 The Dixie Chicks won 4 Grammy Awards (their first ever): Best Country Album (HOME), Best Country Performance ("Long Time Gone"), Best Country Instrumental Performance ("Lil' Jack Slade") and Best Recording Package (HOME). And the Dixie Chicks went from being a band appreciated by country music fans to being a band appreciated by MUSIC fans-- all over the world.
On the night of the big showdown between the Dixie Chicks and the haters and bigots who were trying to destroy their careers for speaking out, the haters and bigots could only wring their hands while The Dixie Chicks first concert date-- in the heart of Dixie: Greenville, South Carolina-- was a stunning success. It was sold-out, standing room only, with standing ovations for their music and their unbowed independence from fans on both sides of the Iraq issue. (Approximately 15 bucktoothed rednecks also showed up to demonstrate and preach Bush's brand of right-wing hatred and intolerance-- but no one, not even in Greenville, was listening.)
Instead, everyone was listening to the band's great songs. And that's what I'd like to suggest you do right now. This link will bring you to a lyric sheet for "Not Ready to Make Nice," which will play while you read. The song zoomed immediately to #36 on the country charts. Michael Moore wrote a perceptive essay about the impact of these kinds of vindictive, ideologically-motivated boycotts the far right tries mounting. It's worth a read-- and a laugh.
1PM UPDATE: DIXIE CHICKS NEW SONG IS A SMASH
A friend over at Liberal Oasis pointed out that Highway 16, the country hits channel on XM Satellite Radio, is playing the new song and asking listeners if they should keep playing it. The last time he heard a report, the DJ said the response was overwhelmingly positive so far, 95% in favor. The 5% opposing it is even smaller than Dick Cheney's 18% approval rating. And John over at CROOKS & LIARS points out that the over $100 million dollar income since the boycott started isn't exactly the nose dive the far right was looking for. If there's a lesson here to young songwriters it's clear: SPEAK YOUR MIND AND SPEAK IT LOUD AND SPEAK IT CLEAR and if you're lucky enough to get boycotted by the haters, bigots and Nazis, you might even get rich!
posted by DownWithTyranny @ 11:55 AM
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Thanks for this very welcome correction and amplification. I DID see the AOL hype of the AP report, and just assumed it must be so, that the Dixie Chicks had been reduced to rubble and were now trying to come back as "good girls."
K
A friend over at Liberal Oasis pointed out that "Highway 16, the country hits channel on XM Satellite Radio, is playing the new song and asking listeners if they should keep playing it. The last time he heard a report, the DJ said the response was overwhelmingly positive so far, 95% in favor."
Ah, but just the fact that they felt compelled to ask shows you what the authoritarian right has accomplished in this country.
Um, I think you need to think through how a marketing campaign works. Everything you say about the Dixie Chicks' popularity since their diss of Bush is true--and that's why they've released a single called "Not Ready to Play Nice," and doubtless why their label / management / PR firm / whatever is encouraging articles that ask inane questions like "Are the Dixie Chicks Ready to Play Nice?" and answer them "No"! That's their whole strategy--to keep milking it! It's great that a popular band is milking their refusal to toe the line of jingoism for some reason enforced in Country Music, but don't confuse the successful execution of that strategy with the "MSM not getting it." The article you cite is real infotainment, not news descended to the infotainment level.
I used to work for an AOL affiliated portal, and I recall that for years AOL has had a relationship with ClearChannel beyond the usual buying adspace kind... So that doesn't really shock.
Toby keith, mediocre country-western singer and right-wing bully, was the central thug in the smear and intimidation campaign against the Dixie Chicks. It was his shameful and spectacularly un-american attempts to demonize and silence Natalie Mains, in very public and mean-spirited ways, that fueled this ugly episode. And now, it is understood by even rabid red-staters that George Bush has brought lasting shame to our great country, and that the Dixie Chicks were dead-on, presciently right and correct, and that Toby Keith was pathetically, small-mindedly, unpatriotically wrong.
Oh and by the way....
BUY THE ALBUN!!!!
I beleive its slated for a 5/23 release
If there's a lesson here to young songwriters it's clear: SPEAK YOUR MIND AND SPEAK IT LOUD AND SPEAK IT CLEAR and if you're lucky enough to get boycotted by the haters, bigots and Nazis, you might even get rich!
Ya think that the Democratic Party might actually learn something from this little object lesson in how to handle the "haters, bigots and Nazis", erm, Republicans?
Naah. Probably not...
and that the Dixie Chicks were dead-on, presciently right and correct,
That actually doesn't make any sense, since all she did was express an opinion, namely that they were ashamed to be from the same state as Bush.
That's what's so ridiculously, insanely stupid and pathetic about the whole spectacle. We had scenes straight out of 1930's Germany, with fanatical crowds smashing CD's rather than burning books. If we had a media worth a shit, they would have pointed out that if you don't even have the chance to express a harmless opinion without receiving death threats, you don't have any fucking "freedom" worth defending, let alone waging aggressive war in its name.
I find it disconcerting that just as the excesses of the Republican Right are becoming fashionable to at least discuss, a distressing number of Democrats are veering rightward. They seem to be diffidently chasing past opinion polls rather than looking to lead. It is disconcerting in that it risks losing an opportunity to put a resounding end to the reign of W and his allies.
As a seller of after market tickets, most of the shows were sold out before she spoke from her heart. I remember the glee I felt that she said what she believed in and if I was from texas would have said the same. However the demand for The Dixie Chicks ended. People came up to me where I was advertising the tickets for sale (an outdoor marketplace) and start calling me a scumbag and anti American. I lost a shitload of dough butI can always get that back. People treated them like they
were bin laden themselves.
The O'Reilly's and Hannity's should be hanging their heads in shame. Since we know that will not happen, how about them washing The Dixie Chicks tour bus!
'aolnews' doing misleading/hypeing stories and netscape news 'indicting' clinton (by sergeant @ arms mehlman, if you read the story)
wouldn't be because both are time/warner vehicles ?? naaa
how many non-governmental institutions are located in dulles, va ??
Ever notice the people from Texas are the ones most disgusted by W. Love the Chicks for their music and their politics.
Meanwhile, Toby Keith just keeps singing songs about getting drunk all the time...it all makes perfect sense.
It's been a while since I heard a "Let's Kick Some Ayrab Butt" songs from TK.
Congrats to the Dixie Chicks and their families who they were nurturing amidst the threats and attacks from those "patriotic" Americans who hate free speech.
The 5% opposing it is even smaller than Dick
Somehow I read that as "that 5% has even smaller dicks."
Works either way.
.
Join the campaign for progressive legislation.
http://www.boycott-republicans.com
Part of the absurdity of the "country" backlash was that the Chicks had already grown way beyond the country field and had a very different fan base than most country acts. "Wide Open Spaces," from their first big CD, was adopted as a coming-of-age anthem by millions of young women all over the world, and their substantive songs, playful good humor and outstanding musicianship make fans for them everywhere. If not one "country music" fan ever bought another Chick CD, they would still be hugely popular and successful.
Ravenwood
'Not Ready to Make Nice' is actually the first Dixie Chick song I've ever heard. I'm not much into country or pop music, tend to buy mostly classical CDs. But this ex-pat in the UK may just go out and buy this Dixie Chick album and help these gals becomes even richer, in the hope that one of them will stand up and say that they are ashamed that the President of the United States is from the same planet as the rest of us, nevermind just Texas.
Yeah the band that wrote and recorded Travelin' Soldier must be anti-American and against the troops.
Toby Keith may be a dumbass but he is/was a Democrat. His bashing of Natalie was ignorant but he is not as bade as you think. Keith wrote Courtesy of the Red, White & Blue about Afghanistan. Not his fault the yahoos adopted it the Iraq War anthem.
I went out and bought 2 of thier CD's as soon as they said what they said about being embarassed about being from the same state as bushie.....
They were pretty good CD's too!
God bless the Dixie Chicks, they had the guts to stand by their convictions and not back down in the face of tremendous pressure.
They were the best thing that ever happened to music, and I applaud them for leaving Country Music behind. I left it behind a long time ago when it began to abandon all of its roots and became bland elevator music. And the gutless bastards like numbnuts Tobey Keith and Bush sycophant Lee Greenwood and even Charlie Daniels - I am so sick to death of their neanderthal "My country right or wrong" bullshit - where are they now with Our Dear Leader in such a pickle. They would be smart to keep their mouths shut.
I'm with Anonymous @ 5:15. I go home to (once-)rural Florida about twice a year, and I remember all of the country stations down there being very vocal about the fact that they weren't playing any Dixie Chicks songs, and I'm sure it wasn't just in middle-FL. So, the Chicks probably took a big royalties hit, and I'm sure that also translated into a ticket- and CD-sales hit. But I believe the harm that was done was short term, and that the Chicks handled it properly --they did not rush prostrate themselves in the Temple of Bush, as their detractors were demanding; they simply continued to make good music (this coming from one who used to hate-hate-hate country). I'll proudly purchase the CD when it's released.
Hey 5:15
You had me at: "The O'Reilly's and Hannity's should be hanging..."
Hang em all.
Death threats from "christians" always crack me up.
I've gotten a few, myself.
They were pretty brave to make those comments and stand behind them.
Now, of course, 60 percent of the country knows Bush is an idiot and people like Tim McGraw, Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson, etc., are all finding it easier to state the obvious.
Back then, though....whew!
I live in Texas, and ever so often, there is a letter to the editor in the local paper that says, "It took x-number of years, but I finally agree with the Dixie Chicks."
The "x-number" is in there because some folks cotton onto the truth faster than others.
i'm pretty sure that the dixie chick in question DID elaborate on her opinion, and was right, both for her shame and her later opinion.
second.
right wingers... you can'd divide us this time. we're acting as individuals.
no machine to break.
(if i'm wrong, can someone send me a union card already)
I am still ashamed George W. Bush is our President.
I note that Dan Wilson is a co-writer of the song. I picked up a sampler of his at the Sundance Film Festival some years back and he is a pretty good artist in his own right.
"Against History" and "Free Life" are great tunes.
This whole Dixie Chicks episode shows the level of fear that the Rovian Republican machine was able to engender. Anger is a reaction based on fear. Bush, et. co., managed make a lot of people afraid in ways that were not needed and were detrimental to the short and long term health of the Republic.
From the Dan Wilson song
"What you gonna spend your free life on?"
Part of the confusion is that the Chicks put their careers on hiatus to have babies. Per their web site no totalling seven (two sets of twins helped). I think some people assumed they had been chased out when really they were just taking some valuable time off.
http://www.dixiechicks.com/news_042305.htm
And the poster who claimed that most of those tickets were pre-sales and that demand actually dropped, well it would be interesting to see statistics on no-shows. I certainly didn't here about seas of empty seats.
Finally, a return to some semblance of sanity? Those of us who opposed the war: Poets against the war, Veterans Against the War, etc; knew with certainty, from readily available web info, that the Bush administration's case against Iraq was a fragile structure of lies. Saddam Hussein and Bin Laden were bitter enemies, and they would have tried to kill each other, had they been confined in the same room. Our news media knew it too, but were doing their part, pimping for the Bush Administration's propaganda machine.
We had descended to the level of a totalitarian state's morals, and are even now, barely on our war to recovery.
The Dixie Chicks were one of the very few moral forces in our country with the guts to defy the mob mentality, which prevailed at the time.
Of course, I felt compelled to do my part, by buying more French Moet&Chandon Champaigne: Support of morality never tasted so good!
But seriously, folks, when the ghouls in our administration began to utilize torture, we started our veteransagainsttorture.com web site. As a former Intelligence Operations Officer of our 4th US Armored Division in Goeppingen, Germany (66-68), and Advisory Team Leader in Vietnam, I had worked closely with many of our fine intelligence people, and know that the use of torture is counterproductive, and produces only useless garbage: Read "Talking With Victor Charlie" by Sedgwick D. Tourison, Jr., Ivy Books, New York.
Check us out, or visit my anti-war site at http://thewararoundus.blogspot.com/ . There is a link to the veterans site on my page.
Keep up the good work! Our country need you!
Great post DWT!! I have been following this Dixie Chicks controversy very closely since it first happened and have even written an article about it for a Louisiana paper I used to work for. I think a lot of these pro-war clowns were shocked, SHOCKED, that a good country girl -a mere subject - from Texas dared speak out against her glorious leader, Lord Bush. I think a lot of these people don't like opinionated women and when they do speak up, attack them mercilessly. That's what these Bush-worshipping cretins did to Natalie Maines. But Natalie, God bless her, stood her ground and she and Martie and Emily came back swingin'! Too cool! And the song is absolutely terrific! I'm trying to get through to my local country station to start spinnin' some platters that matter - like "Not Ready to Make Nice."
Also, I recommend Chris Willman's (Entertainment Weekly writer) new book "Rednecks and Bluenecks" which addresses the Dixie Chicks controversy and other aspects of the politicization of country music from Toby Keith to Steve Earle. It's a great read.
Have also been writing a bit about the Chicks over at my blog. Drop on by.
Minor quibble: I wouldn't call Greenville, SC the heart of Dixie. It's probably one of the more progressive towns in SC. A good number of the population there are not originally from South Carolina. Many are from out of the country.
Red-staters congregate in the rural areas. See your purple maps in detail, and you'll notice that even in Dixie, the cities voted for Kerry.
Country music sucks, I never listen to it but I might actually go buy a dixie chicks album after this....
Here is a good historical article on this subject:
http://foi.missouri.edu/firstamendment/radio.html
In addition to their rotation on XM, on Sirius Satellite Radio's Channel 60 (New Country), Dixie Chicks came in at #25 on this weekend's New Country Hot 30 list, which charts Channel 60's listener request activity. They probably would have done better pre-1993, but they made the list anyway. I should add that my wife and daughter are both big DC fans (me I'm strictly into modern and classic rock plus reggae), and all their female friends - including those who were at least initially for the war back in 2003 - are planning to buy the CD or at least download songs via iTunes.
I can't say exact what the future will bring to the Dixie Chicks - sorry, my psychic abilities are really lacking today - but I think they'll do as well or better than they did last time, regardless of country radio's feelings on the matter. The Chicks don't need country radio anymore, but country radio sure needs them, because the country radio soundscape has turned into a huge ghetto of pre-fab sounding wannabes (George Strait excepted of course...), and other than maybe Toby Keith (jingoism notwithstanding) and Montgomery Gentry, the rest can't hold a candle to the Dixie Chicks for sheer talent and passion.
Actually let's not act like the right and immediately tag everyone that we think we disagree with terms like redneck and the like. While Toby Keith and Natalie Maines did have a feud, it was Miss Maines that started it and escalated it. She didn't like TK's song and called him something derogatory, and Mr. Keith responded, she then wore a shirt to an awards show that said FUTK on it. Now Mr. Keith's song was written right after 9-11 and was about Afghanistan. I think most of us were pretty pissed about 9-11 and very few people were against going into Afghanistan and kicking the ass of Al Qaeda and the Taliban. Mr. Keith has said publicly long ago that he is a Democrat, and that he has never come out in public as being for the invasion of Iraq. So maybe TK doesn't deserve your wrath and Miss Maines deserves some of the vitriol that she has received from Mr. Keith considering she decided to single him out for derision and felt the need to continue the feud.
Toby Keith? A Democrat? The only reason he gave a mere $9,000 or whatever to the Bush campaign in 2004 was because that was the maximum amount he was legally allowed to give.
I still hate that song he wrote, even if it was for Afghanistan. It encompasses every American shortcoming. In the face of an attack, it's our duty as patriots to stoop to the same level and wear our asses on our shoulders rather than simply doing what needs to be done and being proud of ourselves for that alone.
Besides, it wasn't long after that that he began slapping together CD after CD with leading singles designed to kiss the administration's butt ("The Taliban Song," "American Soldier," whatever the heck else he released). It was abominable how much he was capitalising off of the bandwagon mentality. He didn't put his neck out on the line; Natalie did.
I was glad Natalie trashed him first before anyone else could because I was beginning to get sick of how much mutual buttkissing goes on in the country industry. The Chicks have always had something to say about the sameness in the musical output and the quality of the music videos shot (they never used the same director twice -- and Trey Fanjoy, who seems to direct every country video made now, has never done a video for them).
Keith also retaliated by claiming that Natalie's opinion doesn't mean anything because she can't write a song, which he obviously said without bothering to look up the tracks on Fly that she co-wrote with the girls.
As for other stats: The band won Grammys before The Incident. The tour sold out before The Incident. The six time platinum mark happened before The Incident.
Post-Incident: A live CD is released and barely makes Gold. The tour was already sold out for them so all they had to worry about was attendance and boycotts. The boycotts were irregular and the attendance was mostly full, but some shows had fewer show-ups than others. As for "Home," the album stalled at 6 million after the Incident, and their singles dropped off the charts at a shockingly quick rate.
So the point is that there is nothing post-Incident that can reliably predict what's going to happen to them, and if it did, it would be bleak. So I have yet to jump into the kind of thinking that "Bush is losing, the Chicks are winning!"
I think that the CD does stand a chance for success; they have been laying low and not shoving their controversy down everyone's throat all these years and their publicity campaign is very strong. But I don't expect much more than a 2 or 3 million selling CD.
WHETHER IT BE NATALIE, TOBY, OR REBA, OF COURSE YOU'RE ENTITLED TO YOUR OPINION, BUT NOT AT YOUR CONCERTS OR AWARD SHOWS. THAT'S NOT WHAT THE PEOPLE AR THERE FOR AND HAVE PAID FOR.I THINK I WAS BOTHERED EQUALLY AS MUCH BY THE TEE SHIRT NATALIE WORE A FEW YEARS BACK AIMED AT TOBY KEITH. VERRRRY TACKY!!
A question? Do citizens of the U.S. only have 1st amendment rights on US soil? I think not.
So? Natalie has responded to a previous poster (and others who tell her to 'shut up') by not being "nice" and silent on US soil.
We all can and must have our opinions and express them freely or we will surely lose the remaining freedoms we have.
God Bless the Dixie Chicks for standing up for what they believe in, and for Natilie because she spoke her mind when everyone else was afraid to. I became a fan after it was all said and done. I repect the group for not being cowards and doing what was expected of them. They stood their ground! Oh, and the only Toby Keith CD I owned, went in the trash a long time ago.
Had to see who these Dixie Chicks were after they bad mouthed Bush and soon found out how good they sound and look.All I can say is every person seeking office in the U.S.A.
should have to perform a I.Q.test.Sure would solve a lot of problems.
first of all the heart of Dixie is in Alabama, not in South Carolina. Second, regardless of your political views, Natlie's comments about Tobey Keith were uncalled for and was basically an attack on Tobey Keith's free speech and a song he wrote in memory of his father. His songs continue to top the charts and his cd's sell more than the Dixie Chicks. Americans have a right to be mad and if they refuse to attend concerts, then more power to them. THe socialists on this sight need to understand people can make decisions without being hounded for it. I know the dixie chicks have freedom of speech, but the moment someone actually had the balls to get mad about what happened to our country that day, their character is attacked. Tobey Keith did not even start the feud with Natalie and it was her big mouth and obscene t-shirt that kept the fight going on. Tobey Keith eventually had to take the high road and publically say he refused to continue the feud when more important things were going on. pratically the whole CMA sided with Tobey Keith and that should say something.
The last Dixie Chicks CD I saw was in the discount bin at Wal-Mart.
The song "angry American" was popular and was on the "Top 20" charts for over half a year for a reason. It expressed the emotion that all real Americans were feeling; anger. TO say that it is wrong to want justice done is a slap in the face to all the soldiers out there fighting the war on terrorism. I am a Tobey Keith fan, and contrary to all the bull on this site, I am not a redneck, I am college-educated, and suprise! I actually love my country. Probably anyone on this sight would say that they love it to, but when you are willing to align yourself with a group that openly states that they hate one of the few singers willing to say they want justice done, I must question your patriotism.
And if you believe that all Tobey Keith's songs are about whiskey and women remember that one of the DIxie Chicks most popular songs was about killing a man named Earl. Plus Whiskey and women are part of country music and if you want to get angry at every singer that does that you would have to yell at Brad Paisly, Brooks and Dunn, Reba, Hank Jr. and Sr. Charlie Daniels, and you get the point. The Chicks couldn't even play here because no self-respecting music fan would hear them, as is there right, so they had to go sell their b.s. in England. By the way Americans have every right to bash the Chicks, its called freedom of speech and it works both ways. You have the right to agree or disagree and express both equally without being called "nazis". Progressive is just a p.c. term for socialists and every body knows it. Last time I checked, that was the opposite of what America stood for, so saying that the Chicks are good for America is like saying the a-bomb was good for Nagasaki.
I think the Dixie Chicks are dumb and as patriotic Americans, we should boycott them out of their pathetic careers.
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