Lily Allen left a message for her fans on her blog about the comments she made about President George Bush at the V Festival. She said this wasn’t the first time she had talked about the President and it had nothing to do with her recent troubles with getting a US working visa.
“I just want all my fans to know this, I have called george bush a c**t at pretty much every show i have played over the past year , that is because I think he is one and i stand by that,” she said.
Lily Continued: “You can make up your own mind as to whether you agree with me or not , thats just how i feel . Just because i hate george bush doesnt mean I hate America, quite the opposite , I think the US is a great place and I am really sad that I cant be there for my commitments scheduled for the near future . what i said about George Bush this weekend bears no relation to what happened a couple of weeks ago with my visa , that is an issue with the US immigration service.”
Wow, I’m glad we got that cleared up, because for a minute I was still on the fence about her true feelings. Somewhere, the Dixie Chicks must be feeling a little vindication.
Source: “Lily Allen Defends V Festival Rants” [femalefirst]
The Dixie Chicks have been known more for their politics than their music the last four years, so it should have come as no surprise that they won five Grammy awards last night.
After death threats, boycotts and a cold shoulder from the country music establishment, the Dixie Chicks gained sweet vindication Sunday night at the 49th annual Grammy Awards, capturing honors in all five of the categories in which they were nominated.
[...]
The Dixie Chicks took home Grammys for the top three awards: record, song and album of the year. Their “Taking the Long Way” (Open Wide/Columbia) won best country album and “Not Ready to Make Nice” also captured best country performance by a duo or group with vocal. That song is an unapologetic response to the furor set off in 2003 when the band’s lead singer, Natalie Maines, made an off-the-cuff antiwar remark to London concertgoers: “Just so you know, we’re ashamed the president of the United States is from Texas.”
But Sunday’s awards were the Recording Academy’s rejoinder to the country music radio establishment, which ignored the album. Accepting the award for song of the year, Ms. Maines joked, “For the first time in my life, I’m speechless.” But she found her voice on later trips to the stage. “I’m very humbled and I think people were using their voice the same way this loudmouth did,” she said, self-referentially, after “Taking the Long Way” was named album of the year. The Dixie Chicks’ sweep of the major Grammy categories served as a sharp counterpoint to their shut-out at the Country Music Association awards in November. The Recording Academy consists of members across the nation who work in all genres of music. The Country Music Association’s membership is concentrated among artists, engineers and executives tied to the Nashville establishment.
The Grammys have a long tradition of giving their country category awards to artists with relatively little appeal to country fans, like k.d. lang, Mary Chapin Carpenter, and Lucinda Williams. They also have a history of making political statements with their awards, most notably the bizarre award to Hillary Clinton for her narration of “It Takes a Village.”
Then again, the Grammys have a habit of finding a favorite and sticking with it, especially in the country category. Vince Gill has won the Best Male Country Vocal Performance award nine times and Johnny Cash, Ronnie Milsap, and Willie Nelson–all favorites with the critics and fans alike–have won repeatedly. Similarly, the Chicks won for “Fly” in 2000, before their political activism, and “Home” on February 23, 2003 and didn’t make their big statement in London until March 10. So, while there’s little doubt that politics played a role here, Grammy voters always liked the Chicks.
Still, as Lorie Byrd points out, their nomination and award in the “best country album” category is rather much, “since the Chicks said this was NOT a country album and it got practically no play on country stations.”
Duncan Black uploaded the video of their performance of “I’m Not Ready to Make Nice” at the show to YouTube:
The Chicks still sound great but this song is hardly their “A” material, let alone “Song of the Year.”
The politics of this is all rather odd, generating wild overreaction from both sides. Dissing the president at a concert in the capital of our biggest ally is hardly tantamount to Jane Fonda’s activity in Hanoi. On the other had, we get nonsense like Mickey Hart of the Grateful Dead’s remark: “I think people are paranoid. I think that if they speak out, they think they’re gonna get whacked by the government. It’s pretty oppressive now. Look at the Dixie Chicks. They got whacked.” As Betsy Newmark points out, “The government didn’t ‘whack’ the Dixie Chicks. Their fans did. Is the position of the cognoscenti now that fans can’t express their opinions of musical artists by deciding not to buy their music?”
Sean Hackbarth and Dan Riehl both think the Hollywood establishment’s open antagonism to Red State America constitutes a large reason that the music industry is in so much trouble. While I don’t doubt that there’s some minor backlash, it seems far more likely that the wide availability of digital music and the record industry’s clinging to a decades-old album packaging system is the main issue. Red Staters have been making fun of “Hollyweird” for as long as I can remember, yet they continue to go to the movies. And it’s unlikely that people will quit buying Toby Keith and Gretchen Wilson albums to teach the Grammy people a lesson.
Christina Aguilera
Beyoncé
Chris Brown
the Dixie Chicks
Gnarls Barkley,
Wyclef Jean,
John Legend,
John Mayer,
Corinne Bailey Rae,
Rascal Flatts,
the Red Hot Chili Peppers,
Lionel Richie,
Smokey Robinson, Shakira,
Justin Timberlake (solo performance and with the winner of the “My GRAMMY Moment” competition),
the Police,
TI,
James Blunt, and
Carrie Underwood.
PRESENTERS:
Joan Baez,
Natasha Bedingfield,
Tony Bennett,
Lewis Black,
the Black Eyed Peas,
Nicolas Cage,
Ciara,
Ornette Coleman,
Melissa Etheridge,
Nelly Furtado,
Terrence Howard,
Jennifer Hudson,
Samuel L. Jackson,
Queen Latifah,
Pink,
Rihanna,
LeAnn Rimes,
Chris Rock,
Nicole Scherzinger (of the Pussycat Dolls),
Seal,
David Spade (”Rules of Engagement”),
and Stevie Wonder.
The 49th Annual Grammy Awards take place this Sunday, February 11th.
Cindy Margolis, the self-proclaimed most downloaded woman in the history of the Internet, has finally gotten completely naked for a Playboy photo shoot. That’s after twenty years of being nearly naked on the Web and elsewhere.
Oh, yeah: There are also articles about the Dixie Chicks (who, unfortunately, aren’t nude) and Al Gore (who, thankfully, is fully dressed, probably in earth tones).
The magazine hits newsstands November 7th but the photos are available to Playboy.com subscribers now. And probably everybody else by this afternoon.
Here’s some older Cindy Margolis pics to tide you over until then:
UPDATE: I was right. It’s afternoon and the pics are available at various sites. I’ve thumbnailed them below the fold. Obviously, NSFW.
UPDATE: Playboy has claimed copyright infringement and has asked that we take down the nude Cindy Margolis photos. We have complied, leaving only the thumbnails above.
UPDATE: Apparently, the folks at Playboy think that even thumbnails of photos of the nude Cindy Margolis photos is an infringement of their copyright. Presumably, they figure people will jerk off to the tiny images of Cindy Margolis’ naked body rather than buying the magazine. Or looking for full sized images on a server where the owner isn’t as easy to locate.
The international press won’t get their first look at the documentary Dixie Chicks: Shut Up and Sing until its gala premiere at the Toronto Film Festival tonight. But EW.com got an early look at the sure-to-be-controversial doc in Los Angeles and can attest that the film will continue to bring the (ex?) country trio more plaudits from progressives and further condemnation from conservatives. And if you think singer Natalie Maines had some harsh words for President Bush in public, wait till you hear what she had to say about him behind the scenes.
In one memorable scene, Maines watches news footage of the president being interviewed about the furor that followed the singer’s on-stage comment that she was ”ashamed the President of the United States is from Texas,” which resulted in the group being dropped from most radio stations, as well as protests and plummeting sales. ”The Dixie Chicks are free to speak their mind,” Bush told Tom Brokaw at the time, adding, ”They shouldn’t have their feelings hurt just because some people don’t want to buy their records when they speak out. You know, freedom is a two-way street.”
After watching this footage, Maines repeats the president’s comment about how the group shouldn’t have their ”feelings hurt,” incredulous, and then says, ”What a dumb f—.” She then looks into the camera, as if addressing Bush, and reiterates, ”You’re a dumb f—.”
[...]
Initially, sisters Emily Robison and Martie Seidel seem downcast over their apparently nose-diving popularity, but Maines assures them, ”I think this is better for our career.” And when whether to stay quiet or get their backs up becomes an issue, the singer jokes, ”Now that we’ve f—ed ourselves, I think we have a responsibility to continue to f— ourselves,” amid gales of laughter.
[...]
Cameras are rolling when the three women and their cowriters are working on the lyrics for the title song of Taking the Long Way, their latest album — including the moment of creation of a key line: ”Wouldn’t kiss all the asses that they told me to.” One of the band members proposes adding an addendum, quickly scotched: ”Gave a lot of [oral sex], but wouldn’t kiss all the asses!” ”We did kiss SOME asses,” another member adds, in full disclosure. Clearly, though, the days of butt-smooching are over for this gleefully contentious group.
Several concerts on the Dixie Chicks’ “Accidents & Accusations” tour have been canceled after slow ticket sales, but the group says it has replaced them with other dates. Kansas City, Houston, St. Louis, Memphis and Knoxville are among 14 cities no longer on the original schedule released in May, according to a revised itinerary posted Thursday on the Dixie Chick’s Web site. Other shows, including Nashville, Los Angeles, Denver and Phoenix, have been pushed back to later dates.
The North American leg of the tour kicked off July 21 in Detroit. Billboard magazine and other trade publications have reported lackluster sales in some markets, particularly in the South and Midwest. Group spokeswoman Kathy Allmand said Monday that the total number of North American dates remains the same, with several Canadian cities added in place of the U.S. shows.
The trio released a statement last week attributing the changes to attempts to “accommodate demand” and said more dates might be added next year. The group also said the adjustments will allow them to promote the documentary “Dixie Chicks: Shut up and Sing,” for the Toronto International Film Festival in September.
The Canadian, lesbian singer k.d. lang said years ago that when she told people she was a country singer, they asked “What country.” Apparently, for the Dixie Chicks, the answer is “Canada.”
In fairness, it should be reiterated that, by any reasonable standard, the Chicks are still wildly successful despite backlash over their political statements about the president and the war. Indeed, their views are probably closely aligned with the American public’s at this point. Not so much with the core country music audience, though.
Initial ticket sales for the Dixie Chicks’ upcoming tour are far below expectations and several dates will likely be canceled or postoned. Ticket counts for the 20-plus arena shows that went on sale last weekend were averaging 5,000-6,000 per show in major markets and less in secondaries, according to sources contacted by Billboard. Venue capacities on the tour generally top 15,000.
In contrast, the band’s new album, “Taking the Long Way,” sold 526,000 units in its first week, according to Nielsen Soundscan, the third-largest sales week of 2006. The album logged a second week in the period ended June 4, according to sales data issued Wednesday. Despite those numbers, early ticket sales are clearly not meeting projections. The plug was pulled on public on-sales for shows in Indianapolis (August 23), Oklahoma City (September 26), Memphis (September 27) and Houston (September 30) because of tepid pre-sales in a national promotion with Target stores. The Memphis show has been pulled off the route and the status of the shows in Indianapolis, Houston and Oklahoma City remains uncertain. Industry speculation has it that much or all of the tour may be postponed. At the very least, it is likely routing and capacity will be reconfigured.
Early ticket sales for this tour are in marked contrast to the Chicks’ last proper outing in 2003 when a national on-sale moved some 867,000 tickets the first weekend, and second shows were added in several markets. The Chicks ended up with the top-grossing country tour of 2003 at $62 million.
But not all shows on this tour are below projections. “We’re happy (with our on-sale) and comparatively seem to be ahead of most,” says John Page, Global Spectrum COO/GM at Wachovia Center in Philadelphia, where the trio is booked for July 25. A second date was added for the Air Canada Center in Toronto, where the first show sold out in eight minutes. “Canada loves the Chicks,” says ACC booking director Patti-Ann Tarlton.
Needless to say, the primary fan base for country music is not Philadelphia or Toronto. (Canadian k.d. lang used to joke that when she told people she sang country music they’d ask, “Which country?”)
Jonathan Adler cites recent reports that the Dixie Chicks’ new CD has debuted at #1 on the album charts as evidence of political acceptance: “Although some country stations refuse to play their music, the Dixie Chicks seem are doing okay. Their new album hit number one in sales on the Billboard charts this week, and also topped the country album charts. Either their fans don’t care about the trio’s politics — or they do care, and the Chicks are more popular than President Bush.”
Yet, as a recent Reuters report notes, this is far from clear. All emphases added:
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.”
So, while the Chicks are still quite successful by any measure, they’ve become alienated from a large part of their “base” and are now crossing over into pop with the help of tremendous media exposure. That’s fine–and I applaud them standing by their views, even one’s I find insipid, rather than caving to pressure–but hardly evidence that their former fans admire their politics.
That they are more popular than President Bush, though, is quite likely. Then again, who isn’t?
Meanwhile, Chris Lawrence observes, “Things are clearly topsy-turvy when Michelle Branch has gone country while the Dixie Chicks have gone rock-and-roll. Not that the two genres are all that distinct these days, mind you (or, for that matter, historically).”
The Dixie Chicks’ new album, “Taking The Long Way” has debuted at #1 on the Billboard charts, breaking their own record.
As Taking The Long Way debuts at #1 on the Billboard Top 200 best-selling albums chart this week, with first week’s sales of 525,829, the Dixie Chicks have become the first female group in chart history to have three albums debut at #1, breaking the record the Chicks established in 2002 when the group’s last studio album, Home, debuted at #1 and made them the first female group ever to have two albums debut at #1.
[...]
Taking The Long Way arrives in the midst of an incredible media blitz surrounding the Dixie Chicks, who were honored with a profile on CBS’s “60 Minutes” and appeared on the cover of Time magazine an unprecedented two times in May. The group was featured in a five-part series of interviews, culminating with an SRO live concert at New York’s Bryant Park on Friday, May 26, on ABC’s “Good Morning America.” The Dixie Chicks will sit down for an in-depth interview on “Larry King Live” tonight, Wednesday, May 31.
Now records for “female group” are somewhat dubious, much like Brooks & Dunn’s numerous achievements as “vocal duo.” Those are very small categories and there’s not much competition currently or historically in either.
Still, having three consecutive albums debut at #1 is an impressive enough achievement. Even more so considering how much the Chicks alienated their fan base three years ago with a series of derogatory comments about a then-wildly popular President Bush.
“I just want all my fans to know this, I have called george bush a c**t at pretty much every show i have played over the past year , that is because I think he is one and i stand by that,” she said.
