Grammys? Who cares? Country radio still hates the Chicks!

"I think (the listeners) are outraged," said Tony Lama, program director for KXNP in North Platte, Neb. "This is rural, conservative America. They are just disgusted."


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070212/ap_en_mu/music_dixie_chicks_revenge

 

The only people who seem to care about this are people who don't like country music to begin with and aren't listening to country radio. So big f'n deal.

 

You and your listeners are also morons. That's awfully patriotic of you guys, refusing to play an act because it disagrees with your narrow world view.

Keep spinning Lee Greenwood, Tony.

 

Yawn.

 

I listen to country radio (or did) and I care, Pallister.

 

The Grammy Awards don't mean shit and should never be taken seriously by anyone. The first year saw the Kingston Trio win for best country performance. Ever since then, head-scratching decisions have abounded, from Jethro Tull to "My Humps." Spare me.

Regarding country radio stations, if they were to start playing the Dixie Chicks again, I'm sure there would be righteous outrage from those who would think radio was just trying to cash in on the fact that the group is once again in the news.

As it is, radio stations of all genres are free to play or not play whatever they want, and you're free to listen or not listen. It's that simple.

 

The Dixie Chicks are entertainers. They rely on garnering the good opinion of their audience.
They're still selling plenty of records. They ain't starving.

 

SC, I think you're kind of an exception (I'm guessing the 'did' is because of the DC thing). But this story is pushed, for the most part, by people who don't like country music, don't understand it and assume, in such an open-minded and tolerant way (Hi, BYH) that people who listen to country music are all racist rubes. Not much different from the idiots who get on here and assume all Southerners are truck-drivin' yahoos with rebel flag tattoos and cousins for wives. The DCs give such people an excuse to perpetuate that foolishness and the related poltical implications.

BTW, I really liked some of the DCs' earlier stuff ("Traveling Soldier" is an incredible song), but this latest album smacks more of (as even BYH pointed out in another thread) attention-grabbing than anything about their beliefs or commitment to music. "Not Ready to Make Nice" is an anthem for the self-absorbed, not a heroic response from serious artists.

 

Hence why I quit listening to country radio.

 

I don't listen any more mainly because the music in general is shit, not because of any official or unofficial Dixie Chicks policy. But I still like good (usually old) country music and will listen to it pretty much anytime.

 

Have to agree that mainstream country radio sucks. If the Grammys were interested in good country music, they'd seek out the plethora of singer/songwriters carrying on the Hank Williams/Merle Haggard tradition -- without the drug addictions and jail time, of course.

 

Pallister, I'm not calling country fans racist Confederate flag flyers. I just think it's incredibly narrow-minded for people to preach patriotism and then refuse to play this band's records because it is not in favor of the war.

Nobody's organizing a boycott of Ted Nugent or Toby Keith over the war. Nobody's picketing outside movie theatres because Bruce Willis supports the war. (Of course, I guess a station would actually have to play the Nuge to boycott him)

I believe the Chicks are legitimate in their views of the war. They voiced their opposition at an inconvenient time, unlike Toby Keith, whose beliefs change with the wind. The validity of their position doesn't diminish because their now-trademark song is something less than eloquent.