Programmers say Dixie Chicks still not welcome on their airwaves

[firepoint525]

why was the American public so angry at the dixie chicks? who promoted this anger? why no American public, or media star outcry over many other things like, loss of American manufacturing base. massive national debt and spending. massive loss of American culture due to illegal immigration etc?

Hmmmm....funny you should ask. The anger about the Chicks came from the exact same place as the anger about the debt and illegal immigration: Conservative talk radio. It started with Michael Reagan, of all people. He was the first one to mention it. He saw it in a newspaper report. Then it got picked up by Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh. They called on their listeners to call their local country radio stations and demand that they stop playing Chicks music. That's where it began. The people calling for their banning had no idea who they were, or what their music sounded like. All they knew was they spoke out against their President in time of war. Seems quaint today when we're still at war, and many of those same people think nothing about attacking the current President.

But how many of us have done so from a stage in London? (Or anywhere else, for that matter.)

 

[TheBigA]

Rimes sort of involuntarily left country music when her version of "How Do I Live" got clobbered in head-to-head comparisons with Trisha Yearwood's competing version on country radio. It went on to be a HUGE pop hit, languishing on the charts for over a year! But nothing else that she did even cracked the pop top ten.

Huh? She had 6 more Top 10s after "How Do I Live." Take a look: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LeAnn_Rimes_discography

Including a duet with Elton John and a Christmas song.

Country has for a long time tried to hang on to stars whose (for whatever reason) career was over.

The feeling among country radio programmers is when they add a song, they're investing in an artist's career. A successful artist can do a lot to bring attention to a radio station. LeAnn has had several lives with country radio. "How Do I Live" was the first. Her lawsuit against her father was another. But she had repaired her image in 2005 when she had a string of country hits. But that all blew up when she cheated on her husband with a married man. That pretty much ended her career with country music.

 

[firepoint525]

Rimes sort of involuntarily left country music when her version of "How Do I Live" got clobbered in head-to-head comparisons with Trisha Yearwood's competing version on country radio. It went on to be a HUGE pop hit, languishing on the charts for over a year! But nothing else that she did even cracked the pop top ten.

Huh? She had 4 more Top 10s after "How Do I Live." Take a look: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LeAnn_Rimes_discography

Go back and read again. I said no POP top 10 hits. I was aware that she had made a brief comeback in country.

Country has for a long time tried to hang on to stars whose (for whatever reason) career was over.

The feeling among country radio programmers is when they add a song, they're investing in an artist's career. A successful artist can do a lot to bring attention to a radio station. LeAnn has had several lives with country radio. "How Do I Live" was the first. Her lawsuit against her father was another. But she had repaired her image in 2005 when she had a string of country hits. But that all blew up when she cheated on her husband with a married man. That pretty much ended her career with country music.

Country needs to develop new talent, not just hang on to has-beens.

 

[landtuna]

Country needs to develop new talent, not just hang on to has-beens.

If "American Idol" is where our new "talent" is coming from I'll continue listening to the Oldies, thank you.

 

[TheBigA]

I said no POP top 10 hits. I was aware that she had made a brief comeback in country.

The 6 hits I mentioned WERE pop hits. Especially that Elton John duet.

Country needs to develop new talent, not just hang on to has-beens.

They do both. Their listeners are the ones who hold on to the has-beens. Go to a Willie Nelson concert some time. He hasn't had a hit in 20 years, gets no current radio airplay, and he still gets huge crowds at his shows.

 

[TheBigA]

If "American Idol" is where our new "talent" is coming from I'll continue listening to the Oldies, thank you.

Country radio hasn't embraced any Idol to a large degree except Carrie Underwood. And they've been lukewarm to a lot of the other reality show winners. Scotty McCreery got more votes than Carrie and his debut single peaked at #15.

 

[firepoint525]

I said no POP top 10 hits. I was aware that she had made a brief comeback in country.

The 6 hits I mentioned WERE pop hits. Especially that Elton John duet.

Are you having reading comprehension issues? I said pop top ten hits. That one only reached #29.

Country needs to develop new talent, not just hang on to has-beens.

They do both. Their listeners are the ones who hold on to the has-beens. Go to a Willie Nelson concert some time. He hasn't had a hit in 20 years, gets no current radio airplay, and he still gets huge crowds at his shows.

"Beer for My Horses"

 

[justpassingthough]

I think what was largely missed above, was the extent to which people and programmers had a backlash against the Dixie Chicks. The ladies claimed death threats, for speaking out against a political leader. Oddly, we entered war in Iraq under the guise of searching for weapons of mass destruction, and Dick Cheney and others in the administration claimed 'we would be greeted as liberators'. Yet, on the home front, almost anyone who spoke out against the war (the Dixie Chicks, Michael Moore, Bill Maher, etc) were ostracized. Didn't we go to war in Iraq to liberate?

Rational people, regardless of which side of the political spectrum they're from, realize that an overreaction to someone questioning political authority and exercising their free speech, makes us no better than those from whom we claim we are trying to liberate others from in the Middle East and other parts of the world.

So, yes, fans have every right to stop listening to or buying Dixie Chicks albums, or even protesting at their concerts, but death threats and equally low brow forms of intimidation makes us look foolish to the rest of the world and are a violation of our own principles.

 

[johnnyu]

Who cares????????????????????????

 

[Goat Rodeo Cowboy]

Who cares? Interesting question.

Some day when you wake up to the fact you don't have enough years left in your life to lead the fight and make a difference, and you recognize that America has turned out to be different than you thought it was, different than you dreamed it would be.... then you throw up your hands and retreat within what ever circle of friends you still have, and you walk off stage muttering that bumper sticker I saw pasted on the big red Snap-On tool box of an auto dealer mechanic:

Life's a bitch. And then you die. ​

The really great singers.... sing because they are driven. How disappointing it must be to know you are driven, but the public tells you to go get lost in a soggy Corn Maze somewhere.

But, who cares. ​

 

[FRR]

I think what was largely missed above, was the extent to which people and programmers had a backlash against the Dixie Chicks. The ladies claimed death threats, for speaking out against a political leader. Oddly, we entered war in Iraq under the guise of searching for weapons of mass destruction, and Dick Cheney and others in the administration claimed 'we would be greeted as liberators'. Yet, on the home front, almost anyone who spoke out against the war (the Dixie Chicks, Michael Moore, Bill Maher, etc) were ostracized. Didn't we go to war in Iraq to liberate?

Rational people, regardless of which side of the political spectrum they're from, realize that an overreaction to someone questioning political authority and exercising their free speech, makes us no better than those from whom we claim we are trying to liberate others from in the Middle East and other parts of the world.

So, yes, fans have every right to stop listening to or buying Dixie Chicks albums, or even protesting at their concerts, but death threats and equally low brow forms of intimidation makes us look foolish to the rest of the world and are a violation of our own principles.

I find it humorous that you are concerned about the US looking foolish to the rest of the world when many people in the rest of the world actually behead folks who don't agree with them, or bomb and disfigure children who dare to try to go to school. The backlash against the Dixiechicks had more to do with aid and comfort to an enemy. Who cares who still listens to their stuff. It is the same thing today when Sean Penn is out taking credit for the release of the hikers that were held in Iran by claiming to talked Chavez into helping. I that happened during WW II his fanny would have been in jail.

 

[johnnyu]

Who cares? Interesting question.

Some day when you wake up to the fact you don't have enough years left in your life to lead the fight and make a difference, and you recognize that America has turned out to be different than you thought it was, different than you dreamed it would be.... then you throw up your hands and retreat within what ever circle of friends you still have, and you walk off stage muttering that bumper sticker I saw pasted on the big red Snap-On tool box of an auto dealer mechanic:

Life's a bitch. And then you die. ​

The really great singers.... sing because they are driven. How disappointing it must be to know you are driven, but the public tells you to go get lost in a soggy Corn Maze somewhere. Guess what? "I still do not care."

But, who cares. ​

I do not care!

 

[justpassingthough]

I think what was largely missed above, was the extent to which people and programmers had a backlash against the Dixie Chicks. The ladies claimed death threats, for speaking out against a political leader. Oddly, we entered war in Iraq under the guise of searching for weapons of mass destruction, and Dick Cheney and others in the administration claimed 'we would be greeted as liberators'. Yet, on the home front, almost anyone who spoke out against the war (the Dixie Chicks, Michael Moore, Bill Maher, etc) were ostracized. Didn't we go to war in Iraq to liberate?

Rational people, regardless of which side of the political spectrum they're from, realize that an overreaction to someone questioning political authority and exercising their free speech, makes us no better than those from whom we claim we are trying to liberate others from in the Middle East and other parts of the world.

So, yes, fans have every right to stop listening to or buying Dixie Chicks albums, or even protesting at their concerts, but death threats and equally low brow forms of intimidation makes us look foolish to the rest of the world and are a violation of our own principles.

I find it humorous that you are concerned about the US looking foolish to the rest of the world when many people in the rest of the world actually behead folks who don't agree with them, or bomb and disfigure children who dare to try to go to school. The backlash against the Dixiechicks had more to do with aid and comfort to an enemy. Who cares who still listens to their stuff. It is the same thing today when Sean Penn is out taking credit for the release of the hikers that were held in Iran by claiming to talked Chavez into helping. I that happened during WW II his fanny would have been in jail.

I'm less concerned about how we look to the rest of the world and I'm more concerned that we live up to our founding principles and values. The rest of the world be damned as long as we live up to the moral imperative that we try to instill in others. When the extremes, on both sides of the aisle in this country, threaten our liberties and our core principles because of their reactionary viewpoints and short-sighted thinking, then I get incensed. It was an extreme reaction to 9/11 that allowed us to go into Iraq- as people and the media stopped asking questions. Its an equal extremism on the other side that is naive and thinks that war is never just or necessary. The right answer, if anyone knows what that is, probably lies somewhere in the middle. When rational and level-headed Americans are not allowed to have a dialogue about what is in the best interests of our democracy, we all lose. Sadly, it feels this sort of reactionary extremism has a chokehold over our country for the past decade.

 

[scott salvatori]

Country has for a long time tried to hang on to stars whose (for whatever reason) career was over.

one of the more stupid sentences ive read in some time! name some names. when you say "country", what is that in reference to? country radio programmers/consultants, record labels, radio listeners?

are you talking reba mcentire, alan jackson, george strait, or what?

hmm.. i can think of so so many great country talents in the last couple decades, who deserved a long career in country music and radio, but were fazed out of new single rotation(which killed their record contract, and career) for the the latest candy coated crack music singer pushed/disquised as country. daryle singletary, mark chesnutt, marty stuart, gretchen wilson, suzzy boggus and patty loveless, just to name a few.

 

[Goat Rodeo Cowboy]

We no longer live in the world of Merle Travis.

 

[scott salvatori]

what a coincidence.....

merle travis was the next one i was gonna mention after patty loveless

 

[TheBigA]

If a recording artist's career is so dependent on radio airplay, why does the recording industry want a royalty for OTA airplay?

My view is that if an artist's career can't continue without regular radio airplay, then maybe it wan't much of a career to begin with. That also applies to the Chicks. A lot of these artists make choices in their career that determine their future on the radio. Patty Loveless wasn't "fazed out" of radio airplay. At the height of her career, she made a professional decision to pull back from the rat race of commercial country music to make bluegrass, and take care of her husband. That was her choice. Meanwhile, George Strait has delivered quality commercial music consistently over his career. No blow-ups with the media. No going on tilt. And it's paid off. A lot of the other singers on your list made choices to write their own material, which proved to be sub-par in the long run, or they were simply average singers in the first place and couldn't stand up to the competition.

 

[nocomradio]

If a recording artist's career is so dependent on radio airplay, why does the recording industry want a royalty for OTA airplay?

My view is that if an artist's career can't continue without regular radio airplay, then maybe it wan't much of a career to begin with. That also applies to the Chicks. A lot of these artists make choices in their career that determine their future on the radio. Patty Loveless wasn't "fazed out" of radio airplay. At the height of her career, she made a professional decision to pull back from the rat race of commercial country music to make bluegrass, and take care of her husband. That was her choice. Meanwhile, George Strait has delivered quality commercial music consistently over his career. No blow-ups with the media. No going on tilt. And it's paid off. A lot of the other singers on your list made choices to write their own material, which proved to be sub-par in the long run, or they were simply average singers in the first place and couldn't stand up to the competition.

Thank you. That is a very good assessment that pretty much sums up where things are today.

To add to that, the public loves a good drama. The more the better, and if an artist doesn't provide enough of that, the audience doesn't seem to look at the talent anymore and moves on with the typical 3-second attention span of today.

 

[sdh483]

Really? Bands and artists can't have a career if they can't break it on corporate-owned 200 songlist McRadio? Please. Numerous bands and artists are doing just fine with little to no airplay on the radio. Radio is nothing but an outdated source that caters to the lowest common denominator. I could care less if country radio is still stubborn to put aside their "political stance" to play Dixie Chicks, while they play songs about drinking and driving (Dirt Road Anthem) and adding rap lingo to their songs. Screw country radio.

 

[firepoint525]

Country has for a long time tried to hang on to stars whose (for whatever reason) career was over.

one of the more stupid sentences ive read in some time!

Taking my comments out of context and calling them "stupid" is itself stupid! I have read in Country Weekly about the hand-wringing in country radio because last year's "one-hit wonder" doesn't have any "new" material.

name some names. when you say "country", what is that in reference to? country radio programmers/consultants, record labels, radio listeners?
are you talking reba mcentire, alan jackson, george strait, or what?
hmm.. i can think of so so many great country talents in the last couple decades, who deserved a long career in country music and radio, but were fazed out of new single rotation(which killed their record contract, and career) for the the latest candy coated crack music singer pushed/disquised as country. daryle singletary, mark chesnutt, marty stuart, gretchen wilson, suzzy boggus and patty loveless, just to name a few.

Let me guess, you never forgave the Opry for adding drums to the band, did you? :