Music News
By M&C News Aug 8, 2006, 21:29 GMT
Dixie Chicks face slumping ticket sales again and cancel shows
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Dixie Chicks - View Dixie Chicks Pictures - Dixie Chicks News
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Older Talkback
The Dixie Chicks used to be good.....their current album sucks big time. Play your music and shut up already about your political views.....It used to be that recording artists would include their views in their songs and that's it.....
Smart Chick, I'm a milspouse and I'm curious as to what benefits have been cut. Since my husband's active enlistment in 2000, the base pay as well as the BAH, BAS and the clothing allowance have all continued to increase....along with the added benefit that we're allowed to keep BAS even when he's deployed and receiving rations-in-kind. The SGLI is now $400K. Hazardous Duty/IF (save)pay and hardship have increased permanently and of course TriCare Prime is free.
We not rich by any stretch of the imagination but we own our house, have two nice cars, have little debt and I'm a stay at home. It might not be glamorous but it's a nice life that we owe in large part to the military.
Please expound on what benefits have been diminished.
As far as the Chicks are concerned... I still maintain that it's their disdain for country music and it's fans that's most of the problem. The sisters are embarrassed about their past as cowgirls (I saw them in 95 with their original lead singer, Laura Lynch) and barely acknowledge that they existed prior to 96. They've moved further and further from their roots, which is fine. They're 'growing'..but Nat has had plenty of snotty things to say about country well before the so called 'incident'. Now country is leaving them alone, since they've made it clear they don't want the support of the country music community. You can only be called redneck wifebeaters so long before you kind of get sick of it.
Personally, I dumped them in 2000 when I learned about what they did to their original lead singer and founding member in a Behind the Music or All Access episode. Back then it was clear to me that they have no loyalty to friends, so why would they care about their fans all that much?
Having just seen the Chicks in concert - it's a shame the narrow minded amongst you Americans feel the need to block freedom of expression and freedom of speech.
Having grown up listening to how important these were to you until it bothers you to hear another truth that you do not like. The concert itself itself was fairly apolitical and they truely let the music do the talking.
In these times we are discovering who the true fans are....
What I think is the biggest issue with the Dixie Chicks has not been brought up by the media. I believe the biggest issue with the Dixie Chicks is they continue to throw the 'incident' in the faces of people in their music lyrics. Why come out with a lead song of 'Not ready to make nice?' Why not just let things drop and come out with a song about something else...maybe even a patriotic song. By placing songs like 'Not ready to make nice' on their album, they will continue to rachet up the anger (on both sides) of the 'incident.' (It's like pouring salt on an open wound.) I truly believe that if the Dixie Chicks had come out with an album like their last album, the public would have been quickly reminded just how good their music is, and would have gradually forgotten all about the incident. I also believe that if the Dixie Chicks want to get back into the good graces of Country fans (and I'm not sure this is their wish), then they should leave off any references to bitterness or not ready to make nice, or anger, etc. (around the incident) on their next album. I believe that is the only way they can have the kind of success that they have had in the past!
Anne - this is only one representation - I suggest you educate yourself before you need the veterans benefits Bush is so happily slashing to pay for his war
http://www.veteransforpeace.org/Dishonorable_discharge_112603.htm
Clay - why should the Chicks stop thinking, feeling and having opinions to placate their so called fans - the ignorant people who took their CHILDREN out and taught them to hate while smashing CD's. And for what? Because Natalie Maines had the balls to be a patriot and speak up about what she saw that was wrong in her country? Why should they dumb down? This country is a mess, why shouldn't they care? I'm with her, if the so called 'fans' are that stupid, why would they want them?
Not ready to make nice is NUMBER ONE on the Billboard charts this week. They've made the switch-over from a limited country fan-base (mostly 'southroner' usa) and their international fame is getting bigger all the time. Up up up and outta the south. Nice to see it was able to produce some smart talented and courageous ladies in addition to the dufus in the white house! Congrats, Dixie Chicks. I hope your dissenters continue to publicize you by posting crap about ya!! They are actually helping fuel your popularity.
Find me an agenda-free site and we'll talk. Veterans for Peace is not what anyone would call, 'agenda-free.' My Dad is a retired Vietnam/ career Air Force vet and he has no problem with his access to benefits. Part of the left's problem is they expect to be taken care of for life no matter what...yes people fall through the cracks and there's no excuse for it but there are tons more people out there that don't take it upon themselves to find the resources needed to help themselves. I spend a lot of my time educating myself and my FRG about what's available and what the future holds for us. We're not fools and we have no delusion that Uncle Sam is going to take care of us after our 20.
God Bless the dixies for having the courage to speaqk out. the purple bandaid party is ruining America. Fortunately, Christain conservatives can see through the lies and deceptions.
What has happened in this country? After having had a heinous act of terrorism occur, resulting in a temporary unification of people not seen since World War II, why are we now at each others' throats over free speech issues? I like what Willie Nelson said last week, that the Dixie Chicks have gotten a raw deal. There is a level of hatred against them that doesn't begin to match the original statement made by Natalie Maines. If anything, it was the TIMING of her remark, just before the invasion of Iraq that has caused all of this backlash, when no one dared to criticize the Government or risk being called unpatriotic, (in an ingenious campaign by Karl Rove). And why are some Country music fans so insular and unforgiving? I'm a country music fan but I don't claim exclusivity of either the American Flag or the Republic for which it stands. I think the hatred of the Chicks is more about their branching out from Country Music than anything Natalie Maines has said about George Bush, and that is where the insularity and unforgiving aspect comes into play. As someone said above, it is okay for Toby Keith or Alan Jackson or anyone else to wave the flag in a song and pocket the proceeds, as long as you don't rock the boat and upset the passengers. But isn't that a double standard? I saw the
Chicks in Washington last week, and they blew the roof off the joint. Not only was there some serious country music being played, it was being played with pride. Pride in wanting to pay homage to a terrific genre, pride in Texas roots, and yes, pride in this country, whether you want to accept that or not. These girls love this country, and it showed. And they got the crowd on their feet for the entire show. Let's just go back to embracing our diversity, and leave this hatred out of it, for it will end up being more destructive than any act of terrorism could ever do.
Freedom of speech: Freedom to express information, ideas, and opinions free of government restrictions based on content.
Natalie and company are free to say what they want -- without the GOVERNMENT stepping in to say or do anything about it. The Constitution does not guarantee the speaker any 'Freedom of Consequence' from other citizens who may not agree with what they say. Hence, everyone (including the Chicks) who are claiming they're 'victims' of a backlash have no grounds to stand on. Freedom to speak your mind is not a one-way street. You say what you want, I'll say what I want. The GOVERNMENT can do nothing about it (unless it poses a 'clear and present danger' to national security.
Bottom line -- If you agree with 'em, go see their concert. Buy their records. If you don't agree with them (or just don't care for their music) then don't.
But either way (and this especially goes for all of the posters here who are not from America and have no idea what they're talking about), stop quoting 'freedom of speech' -- it has NOTHING to do with the fallout from the 'Chicks statements. Freedom of Speech is ONLY freedom from GOVERNMENT action on your speech. Not freedom from anyone else speaking THEIR mind (either vocally or through their actions -- i.e., not buying albums or tickets).
A message to all people who sing for a living: Shut up and sing!!
re: freedom of speech
So the gov't can't tell them to shut up, but regular citizens can say 'shut up', 'you had no right to say that, you're just a musician' and 'shut up and sing or your life will be over'?
I don't see the comments I've just quoted as being an opinion, I see them as trying to quash the freedom of Nat and the Chicks to speak of what they will. Those comments aren't disagreements, or differences of opinion ...
So when the US gov't allows people to speak their mind, it is free speech. When the general public says people shouldn't be allowed to speak their mind, would you call it being closed-minded?
OK...let's just get this out in the open...the Dixie Chicks are ENTERTAINERS who have an opinion. They live in a totally different realm of reality then us 'regular' people. They are on the worldwide stage and have access to many people. They are not experts nor are they knowledgable of the intricacies of foreign affair. They are paying the price for their opinion. And I guess they are willing to pay the price. I'm was a big Springsteen fan. I still am, even though he is a socialist and a liberal. I try to block out his political view and focus on his older material. I choose not to see him in concert. Still love his music.
Smart Chick,
You're right, it is 'you're'. You're also right, I'm not a Soldier, as I am an Airman, but didn't think most would know the difference, as I'm called 'Soldier' most of the time. I've been in the service over 25 years and can tell that most of your points come from poeple with no understanding of the military and it's budgeting. But never mind that. Did you go read the UN report? Didn't think so. Most won't, as it's easier to believe what the leaders of their party think, instead of thinking for themselves. Believe as you will. I can hardly change your mind.
Troy K. Schleben, MSgt
USAF
jones,
That's correct. Freedom of Speech is ONLY related to the government's ability to silence you. It has NOTHING to do with another citizen telling you to shut the hell up...(that's actually the other citizen exercising their freedom as well). Freedom of Speech is ONLY A GOVERNMENT guarantee.
Actually the folks that stopped going to their concerts did everybody a favor. If they’d continue to do go, the dumb chicks would have mistakenly thought that crowds were all supporting their trash mouths and would still be carrying on. Now apparently they’ve dropped the rhetoric from the shows and the people that still want to see them don’t have to listen to that crap.
'It turned my whole world around
And I kind of like it'
'I made my bed and I sleep like a baby
With no regrets and I don't mind sayin''
'It's a sad sad story when a mother will teach her
Daughter that she ought to hate a perfect stranger'
'And how in the world can the words that I said
Send somebody so over the edge
That they'd write me a letter
Sayin' that I better shut up and sing
Or my life will be over'
I don't think the chicks are bothered by their detractors at all, judging by their lyrics, their sensational and profitable success in the international market, and some of the barely literate negative posts in this thread, heh!
#1 on Billboard - that's just US numbers, isn't it? Looks like they have lots and lots of US support no matter what the few negative posters think. LOL
So, the right wingnut radio jockstraps were right about steering clear of certain areas of the South/Southwest, which was originally where they were made famous. What a bunch of idiots surround those of us in Knoxville who no longer will see them locally. (I notice that they are still on in Nashville ... good for the Middle State of Tennessee ... but Cancelled in Memphis - why there? After all, isn't it Harold Ford Country?)
I don't blame our East Tennessee neighbors for not wanting to pay to see someone whose political viewpoint is substantially different than their's and I know they're going to have that view preached at them from the stage in music and commentary, but I blame them for their stupidity in not seeing the truth in the message.
Who cares? Who cares? Who cares? I'd never even heard of the Dixie Chicks before all this absolutely moronic hoopla. Who cares if they talked about the President or bashed him? People do it everyday. Bush, Clinton, Gore, Cheney. All you partyliners, whether you're Republican or Democrat are at fault for not thinking for yourselves. If you actually thought for yourself once in a while, you might actually realize that there are a whole lot more important things to worry about in life than a musician who speaks out about the President... more important things like raising the level of education in America's children and helping them realize that musicians/actors/sports stars aren't the people who should be revered or esteemed. We need to show children that real role models are their parents, ministers, volunteers, teachers, academes, etc. This topic is interesting but you're all focusing on the wrong thing.
Julie, thanks for the real perspective. You probably haven't heard of the Dixie Chick because they pretty much suck. Musically, that is. Natalie voice sounds like a whiny teenager complaining because she didn't get what she wanted for her birthday - no depth whatsoever.
The entire 'not ready to make nice' posture was a marketing ploy to get media attention, gain new fans from the left of the political spectrum, and hopefully pull their house-of-cards career out of the ashes. No such luck. This was also the reason they chose to try and gain fans by watering down their music and going stale-pop. Didn't really work for them, all reviews I've seen say the new album bites, and bites hard. They're phonies. Their new songs are all about themselves, and their persecution. Cry me a river. This abyssmal tour is the end of their career - except for the occasional Canadian coffee house gig on Sunday afternoons.
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