Posted on 07/31/2002 4:11:32 PM PDT by Libloather
'Angry American' Toby Keith Tops Pop Charts
Wed Jul 31, 6:46 PM ET
By Steve Gorman
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Country singer Toby Keith topped the U.S. pop charts on Wednesday with his new album featuring a controversial song celebrating the U.S. bombing of Afghanistan, "Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue (The Angry American)."
Keith's album, "Unleashed," sold more than 338,000 copies its first week in stores, knocking the Dave Matthews Band and its latest album "Busted Stuff," off the No. 1 spot, according to sales data by album-sales tracker SoundScan.
"Busted Stuff" fell to No. 4 with sales of 212,000 copies in its second week, SoundScan said. The various-artists compilation "Now 10" opened at No. 2 for the week ended July 28, with 288,000 copies sold, while hip-hop star Nelly slipped one spot to No. 3 on the charts with his sophomore album "Nellyville," selling 271,000 copies in its fifth week.
Rapper Eminem's third major-label LP, "The Eminem Show," rounded out the top five in its 10th week of release, upping its cumulative sales tally to more than 4.5 million copies.
Keith, 41, obviously benefited from attention drawn by his Sept. 11-inspired single "Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue," which contains such lyrics as, "You'll be sorry that you messed with/The U.S. of A./'Cause we'll put a boot in your a--/It's the American way."
The brawny Oklahoma native helped stir a ruckus over the song by accusing ABC of dumping him from the network's Peter Jennings-hosted July Fourth music special, saying Jennings objected to the song's strident lyrics.
ABC News officials have said the invitation for Keith to perform was dropped because the network was unable to accommodate his insistence that he open the show and be provided with a jet to whisk him to another gig that night.
One network spokeswoman also told Reuters that producers did not want to open their three-hour celebration of American music with what Keith himself described as an "angry song."
Some have criticized the lyrics as crossing the line from patriotism to jingoism and suggested Keith stoked the controversy with ABC, a unit of the Walt Disney Co. to help promote his record.
Keith has denied seeking to cash in on a controversial song in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks. He told the New York Daily News: "My Dad was a G.I. ... I wanted (soldiers) to know that any American that supported this song was behind them."
Keith's previous album, "Pull My Chain," debuted at No. 9 last September with 119,500 units sold in its first week. It has gone on to sell 1.8 million copies.
"Unleashed" marks the third country album to top the pop charts this year, following Kenny Chesney's April release, "No Shirt, No Shoes, No Problems," and Alan Jackson's January release, "Drive."
After all, the murderous events of 11 September 2001 doesn't warrant anger, only introspective reflection. /sarcasm>
And the spin continues...
The song does not celebrate anything. Here is Toby's explanation of the song, straight from his website:
This was written a few days after the September 11th terrorist attacks. My father was a soldier in the Army in the ‘50s and always flew a flag to show his patriotism. I had just lost him in a car wreck six months before the attacks took place, so I wrote my feelings down. I never really intended for this to be a song. It was originally titled “Angry American.”It's so sad that the press can't and / or won't take the time to get to the truth of the matter on most issues. It's even sadder that most people don't expect them to anymore.
Could you ever imagine what this song must be like in concert? Bring a flag...
Where is here? (Please say NY, NY!)
The Media 'Libs STILL have NO CONCEPT of the POWER & RAGE of "Ordinary Americans!!" The Current "Crop" of "Media Shills" are too young to remember WWII--they have NO CONCEPT of the Capacity of America to unite & DEFEND when attacked!
The PEOPLE are ENRAGED!
Those who have attacked us (or support them) are "The Enemy!!"
Our "Attackers" deserve only PITY!,--but America will ONLY "Pity Them" AFTER we have UTTERLY DESTROYED them!!
NO ONE murders Americans & survives--as a person, a culture, or a "Civilization!"
THAT is the "Promise" which protects our Culture--& THAT is a Threat which WE Must make "Real" to the "Barbarians" surrounding us!
Most of "America" understands this; the "Liberal Media" is, as usual, "Oblivious!!"
Doc
These same some wear "Mickey Mouse" ears, and congregate in the NorthEast Corridor...
As far as accusing Toby Keith of self-promotion... "Pot, meet kettle...kettle, this is pot..."
Here's to hoping that the next terrorist incident takes out ABC/NBC/CBS/CNN/NewYorkTimes/Washington(Com)Post...I'd love to see their reactions on camera...right until it was reported to be "all about them"...
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