As the Dixie Chicks basked in their fifth Grammy win of the night, we remembered the original reason The Dixie Chicks bother us: not politics, but music. In a typical arrangment, three yentas caterwaul about an old horse trailer on a ranch somewhere, while one of them closes her eyes to more "soulfully" stroke an unasked-for mandolin solo. Or, they take a Fleetwood Mac song that was great in the first place and destroy it by adding their trademark, "unneeded pluck and gumption." It's as if the Dixie Chicks were created by someone who thought, "What if we took the Indigo Girls, had more of them, and they didn't sing about wizards?" forgetting that what makes the Indigo Girls great is THEY ALWAYS SING ABOUT WIZARDS! (also, the fact that there's only two of them means we could probably take them in a fight). Sure, it was annoying when the Chicks went abroad and criticized the President, but only because we worried Europeans would think all liberals are country music fans by association.
The Dixie Chicks took home five awards including "Album of the Year," although it should be noted one of the other nominees was James Blunt, who came wrapped in an Armani paper bag that he couldn't sing his way out of.
5 comments:
The awards given to the Dixie Chicks were one thing, sending a message.
As you know, these awards were not given by the people. This was not the People's Music Awards, rather less than 11,000 members of professionals in the music industry. One writer brought up the idea that the vote for the various catagories was so split, that the largest chunk of votes left were the politically active members who had the opportunity to "make a statement" with what amounts to a lackluster album and a really boring song. First of all, there's no way a song like that would take song of the year at the Grammys unless it had help, through collusion or other means, or jury nullification, just like the O.J. trial. And for them to win 5 awards if just not only improbable, but impossible! It looks like the Grammys jumped the shark last night, allowing politics to influence the outcome of not one but 5 awards and I personally could never look at them in any kind of positive light again, though that's been coming for a long time now.
I've been a professional musician for over 35 years, a session player on albums and a touring sideman. I'm hearing nothing, and I repeat nothing, but disbelief at what happened last night. Some are asking for an investigation to see if there was indeed any wrong doing in the "winning" of these awards. And all along, Natalie and the world still actually think that they really won those awards. Sad. Hope they never realize what really happened.
I was shocked to hear that the Chicks had won....mostly because I didn't even know that they had any new music out there. Has the song gone to number one?? I am a country music listener in Pensacola and typically alternate between 2 local stations, one a big Clearchannel outfit and the other a small mom and pop operation. Neither gives the Chicks any play. I'm not really complaining...they have some good music but their impact on the industry to this poing has been really negligible. Is this a way for the industry to boost the record sales for an act that someone has obviously invested alot of money in. I think the fix was in.
Who cares if it was fixed or not. The republican political machine has obviously been fixing votes for years so why not fight fire with fire. If you are so blind to think that the President isn't going to leave us in a pile of crap while he mosies on back down to his ranch life in Texas you are a sad human being. The Dixie Chixs have a voice and an audience. It is their right to use it and use it well they do. Not what I would say for the rest of you.
Nobody has any proof their was an overriding politcal force driving the voting on the awards. Raging neocons are simply unhappy people with talent have gotten an award of any type. They're unhappy they still have an audience, and they're unhappy they are still making money. Getover it. Right now we have troops at war. There are moreimportant thing for chickenhawk armchair warriors to worry about.
Jeeze! What a foul tempered malcontent you sound like. Who else would you like to slag? Luckily no one has ever heard of you so we don't have to spend energy ignoring you. That mean old gravity...that's what's wrong....
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