Dixie Chicks

[Pa(b)st Prime]

A very nice well researched post. Bravo.

I never got the whole Garth/Chicks 90's Country phenomena. I guess I'm alt.outlaw......

IMO it wasn't what Maines said, it was where she said it. I found her, Lange, Robbins etal to be in poor taste when speaking out against America on foreign soil. Particularly within days of the wars inception. And in an ally country to boot.

I'm as right-wing as they come. My all-time favorite American artist? Springsteen. Do his political statements make me cringe? Surely. Do they effect my enjoyment of his genuine, emotional (listen to Backstreets or Streets of Fire, you youngsters) recordings? Not a bit. In fact I respect that Bruce walks the walk.

Politics effected the Chicks sales no more than Jesus slowed down John Lennon's royalty checks......

Quote from Pekelo:

So many idiots, so little time...



Let's look at the numbers, shall we? Before the Bush comment here are their sales:

Wide Open Spaces(1998) 12x Platinum
Fly (1999) 10x Platinum
Home (2002) 6x Platinum

That is 28 million records for your info...So apparently country music loving people LOVED them. They are among the top 50 best selling artists in the USA...Probably because their music sucks...

Then came the Bush comment and they pretty much were shut off of country music playing radios. Their live album still went gold (that is 500K for you).

Their latest album sold 2 million copies still without much airtime in countryland, and yes, they got 5 Grammys for it...

But hey, it is all a left wing conspiracy...

Oh yes, they had 9 PREVIOUS Grammys...Probably because voters knew what they gonna say later about Bush...

For extra credit:

Country Music Association Awards
2002: Vocal Group of the Year
2000: Album of the Year - Fly
2000: Entertainer of the Year
2000: Vocal Group of the Year
2000: Music Video of the Year - "Goodbye Earl"
1999: Single of the Year - "Wide Open Spaces"
1999: Vocal Group of the Year
1999: Music Video of the Year - "Wide Open Spaces"
1998: Horizon Award
1998: Vocal Group of the Year

 

[Pekelo]

Quote from drmarkan:


They obviously knew that their comments would alienate their fan base, but they were looking to reach out to a different group in hopes of creating a new base.

Sure they did not and I am sure they regreted it but they are defiant. Why would they try to switch from a huge country base to a small liberal base? After all very few people buy music records just because they agree with the artist's political views. They buy the records because they like the music...

There is a trend for American artists to speak their minds abroad, just to regret it when it gets quoted in the mainstream media in the US. The Dixie Chicks' comment was meant to a concert audience in London and not for the patriotic rednecks buying their albums. But once it was said, what could they do???

So to think that it was a planned PR move, that is just naive...(after all if it was, it sure didn't work)

 

[bigarrow]

Quote from Pa(b)st Prime:

I found her, Lange, Robbins etal to be in poor taste when speaking out against America on foreign soil.

Poor taste maybe but who cares.
I just don't know how one can equate being against Bush or his war to being against America. Using that logic at LEAST 60% of Americans are against America now.