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 listen to someone who looks great and supports our troops instead!
Well helloooooo...she is certainly (as the Brits say) "a bit of all right."
You got that right!
these chicks are fugly, especially the fat one.
My husband said that he heard that Reba said something about the DC's like, "I didn't know it was possible to cut another album with their foot in their mouth."
Wish granted.
Kind of looks like that guy that was on Survivor.
When I'm in bookstores, I sometimes accidently leave some books in front of other books and sometimes I accidently leave some books upside down or backwards on their displays. You know, books by Dr. Phil or Noam Chompsky or other lying leftists, etc. like Al Franken or Michael Fat Ass Moore.
Yes, I know it's childish.
Glad to know I'm not the only one that does that!
Wow. Their CD was produced by Hagrid?
...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...
If their album really does do well, it is probably because Rick Rubin has the golden touch. The man is an amazing producer.
That or because George Soros bought 500,000 copies :)
Ha, just saw your post (see my #35). If I were a musician, I would be doing everything I could to have Rubin produce my album. He is amazing.
Count me in too. I can't help myself. I get the urge in video rental stores too.
I do it all for humanity's sake.
Well, politics aside, the Chicks are not without talent.
I hate to comment on (and thus bump) any thread regarding the Dixie Chicks, because it's obvious that their current business model is based around garnering negative publicity from people like us here at FR, but I just have to comment that those chicks look old and ugly.
My two cents.
Point taken. I will not start anymore DC threads.
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