Posted on 05/31/2006 6:22:50 PM PDT by Pharmboy
Musicians (L-R) Emily Robison, Natalie Maines and Martie Maguire of the group
The Dixie Chicks arrive for Time's celebration of the magazine's '100 Most
Influential People' in New York May 8, 2006. Country trio the Dixie Chicks,
the darlings of Nashville until their singer criticized President Bush
three years ago, opened at No. 1 on the U.S. charts on Wednesday with their first
studio album since then, but sales were sharply lower. (Keith Bedford/Reuters)
Country trio the Dixie Chicks, the darlings of Nashville until their singer criticized President Bush three years ago, opened at No. 1 on the U.S. charts on Wednesday with their first studio album since then, but sales were sharply lower.
"Taking The Long Way," their third chart-topper, sold 525,000 copies in the week ended May 28, according to tracking firm Nielsen SoundScan. The figure ranks as one of the biggest openings of the year, and exceeds industry expectations by more than 100,000 copies.
But it paled against the 780,000 copies that their last studio release, "Home," sold during its first week in August 2002. It spent three weeks at No. 1, and has sold 5.8 million copies to date. In April another country trio, Rascal Flatts, opened at No. 1 with 722,000 copies of its new album.
The lower sales for the new Dixie Chicks album were not unexpected given that country radio is largely ignoring the Texans. The first single, the defiant "Not Ready To Make Nice," stalled at No. 36 on Billboard magazine's Hot Country Songs chart.
On the other hand, the trio has garnered plenty of attention in the mainstream media, with a Time magazine cover story, and a segment on CBS newsmagazine "60 Minutes."
All the attention -- or lack thereof -- stems from a throwaway comment made by singer Natalie Maines during a London concert in March 2003. She told the crowd that the band was embarrassed to come from the same state as Bush. If one critic had not mentioned it in his review, she might have gotten away with it, but it quickly escalated into a major incident.
Radio stations stopped playing their songs and organized public destructions of their discs, sales slumped, death threats ensued, and country stars like Toby Keith bashed them. The women have largely laid low in the past few years to focus on their expanding families, and recording the new album in Los Angeles with rock producer Rick Rubin.
At this stage, it's possible the Dixie Chicks are abandoning their country music base, rather than the other way around. Rubin is best known for his work with funk-rock band the Red Hot Chili Peppers, who had ruled the charts for the previous two weeks, and with deceased Nashville renegade Johnny Cash.
"I'd rather have a smaller following of really cool people who get it, who will grow with us as we grow and are fans for life, than people that have us in their five-disc changer with Reba McEntire and Toby Keith," Dixie Chick Martie Maguire told Time. We don't want those kinds of fans."
As for their other albums, their 1998 debut, "Wide Open Spaces," peaked at No. 4 a year after its release, and has sold 8.5 million copies. Their 1999 follow-up, "Fly," opened at No. 1 with 341,000 copies and has sold 8.2 million copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
The Dixie Chicks are signed with Columbia Records, a unit of Sony BMG Music Entertainment, which is a joint venture between Sony Corp (NYSE:SNE - news). and Bertelsmann AG.
"I'd rather have a smaller following of really cool people who get it, who will grow with us as we grow and are fans for life, than people that have us in their five-disc changer with Reba McEntire and Toby Keith," Dixie Chick Martie Maguire told Time. We don't want those kinds of fans."
So now you get to choose who your fans are?
And they call conservatives arrogant?
Translation: "A lot of the people who buy our music are just morons. I hope they shrivel up and die. Oh! Hey! We'll be in Memphis next week! C'mon out and see us play!"
All they'll have are liberals who buy their music out of solidarity, but who never unwrap the shrink wrap. Oh, and a small minority of country fans who don't care about the Dixie Chick's meddling in politics.
She is a retard, just like the other two dingbats.
If you want your band to be a political movement, you at least have to be intelligent. You're not. You're stone cold stupid.
And if you'd rather not have fans, keep up this shtick. It's kinda funny thinking the Michael Moore crowd is buying your brand of lousy music because "you get it."
And dissing your fellow artists is REALLY bad form...
I wouldn't do ANY of 'em on a bet.
( I fear they would want to compare members... and being male...)
"than people that have us in their five-disc changer with Reba McEntire and Toby Keith," Dixie Chick Martie Maguire told Time. We don't want those kinds of fans."
Kinda makes me wanna go out and buy some Reba and Toby CD's.
I think Reba is hot...and she's got a set of lungs.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/eo/20060531/en_music_eo/19158
Bias? We report, you decide...
"And dissing your fellow artists is REALLY bad form..."
And who in their right mind would want to diss Reba McEntire, a class act and great person?
Anybody know the bio and history of Natalie Maines? Did I read that her family is big in the music business in Nashville and she had a lot of help "making it" in the biz?
Starbucks is featuring them on their CD sales racks....what a shocker, huh?
I'd take Reba over Natalie "The Short, Ugly One" Maines any day.
I'd take Reba over Natalie "The Short, Ugly One" Maines any day.
Whoops...pardon the double post.
It was worth saying twice, friend...
And the funny thing is, no one even knows who the other two are.
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