How big was the airbrush they used on her???
Posted on 04/16/2006 11:35:26 PM PDT by BJungNan
If you don't mind giving your money to people who think you're stupid then, more power to you.
Personally, I don't feel any of the "famous" people mentioned on this thread are talented enough for my money if they're going to laugh at me on the way to the bank.
Bach? Sure. Led Zeppelin? Pink Floyd? Maybe, ya. OK.
But the Dixie Chicks? The Beattles? Arlo Guthrie? lol. Right.
It is different.
Except for early bublegum of the Beatles, the ones you listed made their audience because of their politics. The Dipsy Chicks made a following by playing decently with lyrics that red-staters could tolerate. Then, they announce their politics. They risked losing their audience and came up on the losing end. Had they started out with political statements, they would have built a loyal following.
My beef with them is a little deeper. I liked their music, but won't play it, ever. My intolerance oncludes the fact that as a banjo player, I was happy to see someone bring it back into fashion and fun to listen to, just to destroy that by opening her mouth.
I just wish like their song, they would stay "Long Time Gone".
Long time gone
And it ain’t coming back again
I said a long time, long time, long time gone
Well it’s been a long time
Long time, long time, long time gone
Oh, it’s been a long time gone
Long time, long time, long time gone
Yeah yeah
How big was the airbrush they used on her???
And Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd HAD politics? Whoa.... and here I though all those "music enhancing" chemicals were supposed to make one be "inside" the music and understand all the complexities? (Hey, it worked for Traffic's "John Barleycorn Must Die" and The Lord of the Rings!)
I guess my point is that I think one's convictions, past a certain age, can not (hopefully) be influenced by entertainers.
"Big Breasted Women With Childbearing Hips" was the name of a duet band in East Sussex, England.
Were they any good? Could they sing?
I've hated them from day one. But I have perfect pitch and since The Beatles insisted on singing out of tune 75% of the time, they sound like fingernails on a chalk board to me.
Plus, counterpoint is pretty important to my musical tastes and since they never mastered it, I find their music flat and boring: nursery songs with drums. And they were pretty sloppy as an ensemble.
But that's all just personal taste.
As for the politics of Zeppelin and Floyd, I was speaking hypothetically.
I used to love to hear Streisand sing too. I knew she held different political views from my own. I bought her music and watched her movies UNTIL she made her political views her priority and used her celebrity to bash those who hold views different from her own. Paying to see her, or to listen to her, then became a matter of helping to support her political views. I refused to do that. After a short period of time I became so disgusted with her that her music and her movies disgusted me, so I never listen to the ones I had purchased.
The Chicks deliberately used their celebrity to bash the POTUS on foreign soil in a time of war. They are attempting to use their "popularity" as a wedge to cause disunity, and opposition to this President, and to his Party. They have made their political views the issue. It's no longer about their music. It was never about denying them free speech and, if the subtleties need to be explained to them, they'll just have to suffer the consequences until they can figure it out.
In the meantime, they'll have to depend on those who support their views to write their paychecks, along with the occasional "lover of the music", like yourself, who can ignore the fact that the money spent buying that music is used to help destroy the defenders of their own political views.
Hey, how wide is that paintbrush, anyway? So even tho I love Bush, respect the military and think we are doing a great job in Iraq, I'm helping to destroy the defenders of my views?
Wow, first I find out there's no Easter Bunny, then I find I'm a traitor. Whatta Monday!
LOL. Interesting that you focused on the one thing to which you could attach a personal connotation, and missed the WHOLE point of the post. ;-)
Dixie Chicks have made their fame on being slick, pop music with a twang and being called "country" for the formulaic music radio and fans. When they have taken on an "issue" before 2004, their thinking has been shallow and simplistic.
So, neither their music nor their philosophy has been my cup of tea. I'll continue to ignore their music and their public statements. As far as I'm concerned, they've never given me much reason to pay attention to anything that they do.
Natalie said they were swept up in the anti-American sentiment that they were experiencing while traveling in Europe and that’s why she made the comment.
These are HER words:
"the anti-American sentiment that has unfolded here is astounding."
"it was a joke and it wasn't planned. And it was really funny at the time. It got lots of cheers, and that's what it was meant for."
She later went on to explain that she didn’t even think it would get back to the United States.
" We were going into this hotel...and he [the Dixie Chicks' manager] got a call ... he's pacing back and forth. "Oh, no!" You know, we're automatically going "What? What happened?" And then he says, you know, he gets off the phone and I was like, "What? What happened?" "Well, the AP picked up what was said the other night... But don't worry, it's going to blow over in three days." And I looked at him and I go, "No, it's not." He goes "Yes, it is, yes. Don't worry about it." You know, giving the old manager spiel. And I said, "Oh, I don't think so."
She wanted to win favor with them , so they would in turn financially support her and lavish her with adoration. She pandered to them and took aim at the President.
I believe had she felt the crowd that night was anti-tooth fairy, like she claims they were anti-American, she would have announced her shame of teeth and fairies.
Everything that happened in the wake of her comments was just spin, including the scab picking she is now doing 3 years later.
She is the Varuca Salt of our time and if you do not agree with her, or financially support her, she throws tantrums. At least we can be thankful she kept her clothes on this go around.
As for the effects it had on their career:
They have yet to sell a million of anything since the comments. 'Home' which was the album on the charts when it happened, was certified at 6 million a week following the incident. It has yet to be certified for another million and it’s a double cd so each sale gets counted as two. Top Of The World was a live greatest hits package they released in 11/03. It has yet to sell a million copies. In comparison Garth Brooks Live greatest hits concert album has sold 20 million. Concerts that were organized after the incident, they could not sell out. Not even Vote for Change which had only 3000 seat venues.
As for Boycotting:
I don’t understand why so many people think boycotting the chicks is wrong, when the chicks themselves are in favor of targeting and boycotting companies for exercising their rights. On 10/18/04 the chicks posted a message on their website asking anyone who would listen to BOYCOTT Sinclair media for running a documentary against Kerry. (I can post the text if you do not believe me) The chicks obviously live by a double standard. They have every right to speak out. But to bemoan about people no longer wanting to financially support them as they use the stage afforded to them by their fans to preach to their fans, is hypocritical to me.
They hold others to standard that they themselves refuse to live by. While in concert, Natalie encouraged people that couldn’t get a refund on their tickets to Boo her. They did. She yelled back at them, {"Yeah well I still got you $65". I am willing to bet it will be the last time she gets their $65.
As for the death threats:
The chicks have yet to report the death threats to the proper authorities. When asked about it, the Sheriff (San Antonio) said NO death threats were ever reported. He did however say one of the girls had their front gate toilet papered. He did not speculate as to whether or not the toilet paper was "life threatening". LOL! Its just more spin by the chicks to paint themselves as martyrs.
As for the First Amendment:
Amendment I
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
Free Speech does not guarantee the right to be heard nor is it a guarantee of airplay nor does it mean one is free from consequence. Their rights were NEVER in jeopardy.
In The end:
The chicks were used as pawns by the fringe left of society who they now want to remind that they are somehow obligated to financially support them. So they have decided to pick their scabs over 3 years later and try to perpetrate as martyrs when in fact all they ever were to begin with were pawns.
The drive-by media presents the case that the Dixie Chicks woes began with Natalie Maines criticism of President Bush and the war in Iraq.
In reality, their problems began in the summer of 2002, when Natalie criticed Toby Keith's song "Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue" and in so many words, criticized the GWOT at a time the main focus of the war was still Afghanistan (and other places covertly I'm sure.) But the media pretends that the Chicks are against the Iraqi part of the war, when actually they are against the war as a whole.
I saw the Chicks in 1993 before Natalie was their lead singer, and I wish they had kept their original lead.
There's a lesson in here, somewehere. I think it's "just shut up and sing"...
The lesson is the sweet satisfaction everyone the was offended by them can feel: They had it all and lost it. That must be tearing at them. Now the media and their managers are trying to get them back. Fat chance. They are doomed. As someone else said, the Liberals are not going to carry them.
They will have to go to dreadlocks and rap. Maybe that will work for them. They could do a remake of "It's hard out there for a pimp." (why do I feel a cartoon coming on...)
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