Country stations stopped playing the group's songs. Talk-radio hosts urged listeners to complain about Ms. Maines’s remarks. And a Nashville audience of 18,000 booed the host of a music awards show who urged forgiveness.
None of that was lost on Music Row. Democratic songwriters say that they have since hesitated to express political views, for fear of being "Dixie Chicked."
give credit to theo emery for getting the above right in his article about an effort by non-right wingers to write about the world around them in country music form.
though it's rather obvious, you'll remember (i do) that while various journalists of various ilks weighed in on the dixie chicks latest cd (get it, it's worth having) they kept repeating the lie that disc jockeys wouldn't play the group's records. they're all an old, tired and uninformed bunch. c.i. refused to note a program friends were asking to have a heads up for (tv program) due to the fact that it repeated that lie. it was as though every 1 thought it was 1950.
when ralph nader bought into the lie (a lifelong consumer advocate), c.i. did weigh in and point out the obvious: disc jockeys do not pick what they play. the playlist comes from corporate's programming director. your average dee jay on a commercial station has no say in whether the dixie chicks get played or not. (and a number wrote into the common ills to thank c.i. for noting that basic fact - 1 that 'journalists' failed to grasp as they repeated the lie that the disc jockeys were preventing the dixie chicks from getting played.)
so maybe we've all gotten a little smarter?
let's hope.
but then in the article we get an entertainment weekly 'writer' which is such a poor term. ew started when the coup at tv guide led to an exodus. for many years, they provided reporting, commentary and actual writing. now they just offer vague scribbles with lots of photos. the 'writer' also disgraced himself on a radio program where he went on and on about the politics of the dixie chicks without a) ever understanding what he was talking about and b) being patronizing to the 'little ladies.'
where is the lively, engaged coverage of the arts? not in ew and not in rolling stone. (kat and i have howled over the portrait of 'lefty' bill maher in the current issue.) crawdaddy, cream, jazz & pop and others used to add to the dialogue and they also made rolling stone take itself more seriously. with them gone, you get the nonsense of the most current issue of rolling stone where pip-squeak justy timberlake abounds in the pages (fawning passages) and his laughable 'sexy back' is praised by a magazine that should be ripping it apart. (and, in the past, would).
it's probably why tired, old and useless opinions of dylan continue to corner what passes for free exchange of ideas in today's public square. and low to the ones who refuse to toe the line. that's how sorry the music coverage is today. the thought of questioning the apparent god bob dylan is now an extreme opinion. that's because we've lost critical coverage with each publication that's died over the years. (and crap like tracks - quickly gone - only compounded the problem with sorry ass writing.) that's part of the problem with music today and part of the problem that the music people in theo's article are addressing. (i don't know the writer but i've always loved the name 'theo' and felt it should be as popular as 'john' or 'michael' so i'll just call him theo throughout. i also love 'nikolai' as a boy's name. and for those needing personal info, yes, fly boy and i are on adoption list.)
as theo's article points out (without naming names) not every 1 in country music is on the bully boy bandwagon and applauding the illegal war.
there's a laughable section (a quote, not theo) where it's offered that musicians shouldn't inject policits. theo goes to a war supporter to reject that argument. but it's really sad that it has to be rejected by a war supporter.
country music is the big long whine. truly. pop is about wishing you could get laid. (rock used to be about many things but, when it came to sex, it was about getting laid.) country, like the blues, was about the state of the world around you. some 1 cheated, some 1 died. it was headline news set to a beat. yes, there were joyous country songs but the classics most think of are the laments.
since when did lamenting a war become controversial?
since the bully boy. you can be damn sure if bill clinton were president there would be no fear of objecting to war. but with the bully boy and his corporate friends (cox, clear channel, go down the list) what's 'playable' is narrowed down. it's not just a question of 'commercial' in the sense of will people relate, it's now 'is it going to upset the conventional wisdom of the bully boy'?
if you doubt that considered clear channels 'suggestions' for songs to stop playing after 9-11 which included john lennon's massively popular 'imagine.' what's the objection there? that every 1 won't lust for 'war'?
in that climate, every 1 who believed in bully boy (or wanted to cash in - hello, toby keith!) rushed to weigh in. and the others silenced themselves or made quiot statements. so we arrive at the point where country music has to struggle to say maybe sending american troops to die in a foreign land for reasons that never panned out.
'die for lies.' that should be toby keith's next single. 'thank god i can die for lies, thank god you can die too!, gonna get me a gun, gonna go die for lies, cause i'm country, country red-white-and-blue!'
this is from aaron glantz' 'Bush Must Negotiate to Make America Safer, Say Former Generals:'
Twenty-one former generals and high ranking national security officials have called on United States President George W. Bush to reverse course and embrace a new area of negotiation with Iran, Iraq, and North Korea. In a letter released Thursday, the group told reporters Bush's 'hard line' policies have undermined national security and made America less safe.
Of particular concern for the generals was increased saber rattling between Washington and Tehran over the development of an Iranian nuclear program.
former generals can raise issues that music is scared to. that shows how dixie chicked the nation still is. it won't stop until we all get some of the dixie chicks' spirit and decide 'i'm not ready to make nice.' these aren't nice times. the war won't end via niceties of: 'well i see your point, however, when i reflect upon ...' people need to speak clearly and with bravery. mike points out that john edwards appears to be finding his voice.
so maybe nashville will as well? probably not any time soon. they've still got a lot of fake posers as 'stars' including one non-southern boy who speaks in the most obviously fake accent but we're all supposed to pretend not to notice.
it'll be struggle.
theo mentions that music row democrats have a 20 song compilation. he doesn't give the title and i don't see a title to the compilation online. you can get the 20 songs for 20 bucks (or just find out more info) by clicking here. probably a big mistake not to give it a title. kind of hard to build word of mouth with: 'yeah, i'm listening to this new thing. it's got 20 songs and it's incredible.' 'what's it called?' 'huh? don't know.' 'use your voice' is the organization's slogan. to get the slogan out and to market the compilation, they should probably consider calling it 'use your voice.'
