Say Anything Blog

Amen Rob!…

As she travels on the road to obscurity.

I predict the next time we hear about her is when her picture’s on the Smoking Gun.

I used to enjoy them too, but just like when I hear some of Micheal Jackson’s old stuff (which was good), I just can’t listen to it anymore. The artist has ruined the medium.

Besides, it doesn’t take much brain power to figure out that when your core audience is conservative, as most country fans are, that you probably shouldn’t bash the red, white, and blue…

Perhaps I should be ashamed of this, but I used to enjoy some of their songs.  Decent voices, nice harmonies, good backup.  It was always clear (marry/divorce pattern in their lives, trying to look “tough"), though, that they were on a self-destructive pattern.

Par for the course for C&W--why again are they leaving it?  :^)

In effect, Natalie Maines is a spoiled little girl who never learned that along with “rights” come “responsibilies”.

...and I apparently never learned how to spell responsibilities....

They did a poor copy of Fleetwood Mac’s—Stevie Nick’s “landslide”.  What did one author say?  Shut up and sing!

What goes up must come down, I don’t think there’s much more to it.  I worked at an amusement park the summer of 1992; by the end of the summer, I knew a substantial part of Garth Brooks’ catalog, much to my dismay.  But what’s he doing now?

Her plight should serve as a warning to other celebrities who would use their celebrity as a soapbox for their opinions.

Tell that to Ronald Reagan.  And Arnold Schwarzenegger.  And Lynn Swann.  And Charleton Heston.  And Mel Gibson.  And Ron Silver.  And Steve Largent.  And Sonny Bono.  And Gopher from Love Boat.

Tell that to Ronald Reagan. And Arnold Schwarzenegger. And Lynn Swann. And Charleton Heston. And Mel Gibson. And Ron Silver. And Steve Largent. And Sonny Bono. And Gopher from Love Boat.

Natalie Maines’ problem is, she wants to have her opinion and she wants to be able to express it, but she doesn’t want there to be any reprecussions for expressing that opinion.

IOW, in addition to freedom of speech, she wants freedom from consequences. None of the examples you cited fall into that category. Each of them was, or is, willing to accept the consequences of their expressing their opinion.

In effect, Natalie Maines is a spoiled little girl who never learned that along with “rights” come “responsibilies”.

responsibilies

That would be the dueling banjo kids from “Deliverance”.

Natalie Maines problem was that she either didn’t understand who her audience consisted of or knew it and didn’t think about the consequences of her actions.

Fair nuff.  My point is that, while her comments may have accelerated it, the decline of the Chicks’ popularity was inevitable.  When were those comments anyway, 2003?  If the backlash were that significant, I doubt it would have taken 3 years to have an effect.

I don’t recall any of the celebs you mentioned making any kinds of comments that approached the stupidity of Maines’ comments given the demographics of the Dixie Chicks fanbase.

The intellectual content is immaterial if you’re telling celebrities to not use their celebrity as a soapbox.

demographics of country music fans are solidly conservative.

Koby Teeth banks on it!

MI: Simple physics.  According to Ike Newton: “For every action, there is a reaction, equal in force and opposite in direction.” Natalie Maines is a whiner.  Good riddance.

Natalie Maines problem was that she either didn’t understand who her audience consisted of or knew it and didn’t think about the consequences of her actions.

Tell that to Ronald Reagan. And Arnold Schwarzenegger. And Lynn Swann. And Charleton Heston. And Mel Gibson. And Ron Silver. And Steve Largent. And Sonny Bono. And Gopher from Love Boat.

I don’t recall any of the celebs you mentioned making any kinds of comments that approached the stupidity of Maines’ comments given the demographics of the Dixie Chicks fanbase.

Country music is unique from the standpoint that unlike the movie and television entertainment industry and sports whose demographics span the political spectrum, the demographics of country music fans are solidly conservative.

Is that the hockey arena?  I hear it’s pretty sweet.  I’ve been to a few University of Michigan hockey games, the crowd is insane.

Today, Natalie Maines.

Tomorrow.... Linda Ronstadt?

Shut Up and Sing is by Laura Ingraham. It highlights the bait-and-switch that so many entertainers think is their right. When you pay to hear good music, only to be told how stupid you are for thinking that freedom in Iraq is a good idea… well, you do the math.

gus3, Thanks.  I’m on my way over to your blog for a visit.

Koby Teeth banks on it!

He’s coming to the Ralph on the 10th in fact.

Yep that’s the hockey place.  It’s nice enough if that’s what you like. 

As far as the crowds at the Sioux games it seems that we were louder in my day but I think everyone thinks that.

What goes up must come down, I don’t think there’s much more to it. I worked at an amusement park the summer of 1992; by the end of the summer, I knew a substantial part of Garth Brooks’ catalog, much to my dismay. But what’s he doing now?

I believe Garth retired.  I also believe he released a 6 disc set around Christmas that was hugely popular. 

My point is that, while her comments may have accelerated it, the decline of the Chicks’ popularity was inevitable.

Reminds me of this from Trainspotting:

Renton: Right. So we all get old and then we can’t hack it anymore. Is that it?
Sick Boy: Yeah.
Renton: That’s your theory?
Sick Boy: Yeah. Beautifully fucking illustrated.

So yeah, a decline in their popularity was inevitable.  However, it seems like they were really peaking about the time that she made those comments.  As someone pointed out, they covered ‘Landslide’.  That cover actually got a lot of play time on a lot of non-country stations, breaking that group out somewhat from being just a country band.  I think her comments really stopped the bands’ forward progress.

I’ve been to a few University of Michigan hockey games, the crowd is insane.

I don’t know about the crowd being insane, but I do know that the parking is insane in that small city. I wish I could have all of my five and ten dollar parking tickets back.

“So I’m pretty much done. They’ve shown their true colors

More likely, Natalie, you have shown your true colors.  When entertainers voice their politics at their shows, they are asking for trouble.  How stupid is that?  You’re entertainers, so entertain and leave the rest to others.  Besides no one in your audience really cares how you feel about the prez or Iraq or anything else, they simply can to be entertained.

I believe Garth retired. I also believe he released a 6 disc set around Christmas that was hugely popular.

He’s got a new album due out in February.  First new stuff in a few years (outside of a single or two, I believe).

The first CD I ever bought for myself was a Garth Brooks album.  No Fences, in fact.

The war against illegal plunder has been fought since the beginning of the world. But how is… legal plunder to be identified? Quite simply. See if the law takes from some persons what belongs to them, and gives it to other persons to whom it does not belong. See if the law benefits one citizen at the expense of another by doing what the citizen himself cannot do without committing a crime. Then abolish this law without delay … If such a law is not abolished immediately it will spread, multiply and develop into a system.

Frédéric Bastiat, The Law

Rob’s recently listened-to songs:

The intellectual content is immaterial if you’re telling celebrities to not use their celebrity as a soapbox.

Ooooh.. no.  must fully disagree.  The content is everything.  Celebrities, like everyone, should rightfully have a voice.. but, it’s not the message—it’s how you deliver the message.  Us conservative rednecks are actually pretty quick to pick up on that.

C-Mom, would you happen to be Coastiemom from over at Gunny’s Grinder? If so tell the crew from the Darkside to come on over. I miss you guys, my computer still kicks out because of that flash ad. As for Natalie, her personal politics are in direct conflict with her fan base. She should have known this to begin with. Notice she said this across the water, apparently thinking it would slide by. Well, it did not. I wonder if she will return all those royalty checks as a protest against the war. Should we hold our breath?

Sorry, I am not her. I run a political humor/my own little opinion .(Shameless self-plug.)

Don’t hold your breath for her to give back her royalties. It won’t happen, especially now that she’s basically unemployed!

Thanks for the tip. I will drop in and check you out. And welcome to SA. There are mines over there and over there, and watch those monkeys, they bite!

Nashville Pines for Dixie Chicks Country stations eagerly await new music from formerly banned trio When the Dixie Chicks’ Natalie Maines made her infamous anti-Bush, anti-war comments almost three years ago, she exposed a shocking truth: Country music, as it turns out, is not 100 percent Republican.

With radio stations across the nation boycotting their music and outraged commentators predicting walkouts at their concerts, the Chicks were made to seem like very lonely liberals in the love-it-or-leave-it world of country. In hindsight, however, the group set off a political bombshell of an altogether different sort: They blew open the door for a remarkable number of closeted Music Row Democrats.

In fact, that’s the name of a high-powered Nashville advocacy group that sprang up in the wake of the controversy. The blackballing of the Dixie Chicks was a prime motivation in the founding of the left-leaning political action committee, says co-founder Bob Titley, a prominent talent manager (Brooks and Dunn, Kathy Mattea) and a confirmed Democrat. "There was a failure in our community to step up to their defense," he says.

The Music Row Democrats now claim more than 1,300 members, including key Nashville executives, songwriters and artists such as Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell. "The organization grew spectacularly fast," says country music historian Robert K. Oermann, a founding member. "People were hiding in corners, afraid to come out. Now the community is more mobilized."

As the political tides turn—not just in Nashville but nationally—the Chicks are preparing to release their long-awaited follow-up to 2002’s Home, an as-yet untitled album recorded with renegade producer Rick Rubin. "Instead of making a country album with a rock side," Rubin recently told Rolling Stone, "we wanted to do a rock album that leaned country, like [Tom] Petty or Gram Parsons."

Hints like that have unnerved some in the country industry, where sales were recently reported to be down about ten percent from 2004. From an economic perspective, it’s tough to argue with an act that has sold more than 22 million copies of its first three major-label studio albums, according to SoundScan.

"We need them," says Clay Hunnicutt, Clear Channel’s vice president of country programming nationwide. "Radio is always looking for great artists with great music, great hits."

Yet the Dixie Chicks—Maines, Emily Robison and Martie Maguire—may have already moved on. "We don’t feel a part of the country scene any longer," Maguire told the German magazine Der Speigel in September 2003. "We now consider ourselves part of the big rock & roll family." (The group, lying low in anticipation of the new release, declined to comment for this story.)

There are a few hardcore holdouts who continue to boycott the Chicks. In Lubbock, Texas—Maines’ hometown—the staff at KLLL 96.3 ("Country for Texans" has recently tried spinning an occasional Chicks track after more than two years of banishment. Many local listeners, says PD Jeff Scott, are still upset that a hometown product would declare she was "ashamed the president of the United States is from Texas," as Maines did.

Lubbock, Scott notes, recently took second place in a poll of the most conservative cities in the nation. "People still have a lot of anger over what was said. It’s been a real lightning rod for us."

Elsewhere, however, there are nagging questions about the legitimacy of some of those complaints. Titley is one of several people interviewed who claimed that the rash of angry calls demanding boycotts were at least partly the result of a coordinated effort by conservative political activists.

Despite the controversy—or perhaps because of it—the Chicks continued to prove their commercial viability, selling almost six million copies of Home and mounting the top-grossing country tour of 2003. Now, as they prepare to reenter the spotlight, some speculate that the group might be poised to shun the industry that shunned them.

"If I were the Chicks," says Oermann, "I wouldn’t give a rat’s behind if [country] radio played us."

Titley, too, thinks a little payback may be in order. "Now that things have fallen apart politically on the right," he says, "there might be a certain vindication."

But industry gatekeepers say it will be hard to ignore the Dixie Chicks’ commercial track record when the new album comes out. Mike Peterson, program director for Chicago’s WUSN ("America’s Country Station", says he’s keeping his fingers crossed that the new album will work for his station’s format. "I can’t wait to hear it," he says. "I want to own the Dixie Chicks in this market."

"It doesn’t matter to me which side of the political spectrum pulls for them," says Brian Phillips, executive vice president and general manager of country music network CMT. "The Dixie Chicks captivated the limelight to the extent that it caused a lot of conversation."

And he says that’s good for business: "We’re not looking for wallpaper."

JAMES SULLIVAN

Posted Jan 20, 2006 12:00 AM

Natalie chose to voice her opinion, much like the rest of us....only she chose the wrong place to do it...in front of a microphone.  I agree, quite inappropriate when fans are paying to hear some entertainment.  Her opinion, however, was taken a bit out of context.  Myself, I’m on the fence a bit about war.  Mostly because politics take a huge stronghold and it seems to be entirely in a nutshell....about money.  Notice how we’re still paying the price....no matter what happens out there, we end up paying out.  Our government seems to benefit regardless....lets get our oil/fuel  somewhere else.....for example.....but, as many often warn me:  if you want an endless debate, start talking politics and religion.

Yes, defend our country....but in my opinion....putting  my head out there on the chopping block.....lets worry about saving our own country instead of trying to help everyone else...withdraw our troops from all over the world and station them at our borders where they belong.  Send the illegal aliens home and stop paying their way!  I’m a struggling American with 3 children who can barely afford their medical bills....but the guys next door, who don’t even speak english....found their way here...and our wonderful government pays for all of their medical needs.  Makes it kind of tough to swallow when we watch our troops coming home in body bags.  

Personally, the Chicks have been beaten, pummeled and severely burned at the stake.....but seem to have dusted themselves off, and are about to release a new album.  We’ll have to see how the public reacts....in my opinion, forgive, forget and move on for pete’s sake!

I think the DC girls simply exercised their right to free speech, and now so many people are taking jabs at them.  I’d like to send all the people boycotting them to live in Communist China and see how they like that.  After all, the US is the home of freedom and liberty, and being able to criticize a President certainly is one of those rights.  I would think everyone can agree about that.