Grammys make a statement

[GalensGhost 0]

When the Grammy's showered awards on the Dixie Chicks last night for an album that was largely forgettable and a song that sucked monkey nuts it showed once again just how shallow and out of touch the entertainment industry is with "real" America.

While sentiment toward the war may have turned, NOBODY should applaud the ignorant commentary by the empty-headed chicks. To recognize their album as the year's best in a year in which it would not have been nominated save for the controversy they stirred is an affront to the artists who did produce quality music and to the fans who spend their hard-earned money buying CDs.

[Jenny AU-92 0]

I predict it makes zero impact on sales numbers. No awards changes the fact that the allbum sucked. And if I were one of the other nominees, I would be righteously pissed. They should never have been nominated unless the only criteria was political.

[rexbo 104]

I heard a little bit of one of the songs driving in to work this morning; I thought at first it was a replay of a bad American Idol audition...

[Guest Tigrinum Major]

I used to enjoy their music when it was senseless drivel.

I didn't even know they had a new album or song out.

[AURaptor 1,126]

The DC's won 5 Grammy's ? And here I thought they had been arrested , sent to Gitmo and forced to wear Burkas for their outspokenness.

Huh. Imagine that.

[AUesquire 1]

I used to enjoy their music when it was senseless drivel.

I didn't even know they had a new album or song out.

I turned it on last night and they were accepting an award. I looked at my wife and told her I honestly had no idea they had put anything out. And now they're winning a grammy???

The short, little fat one couldn't even put a complete sentence together and just giggled a lot. I watched about 20 more minutes of it and saw where they were up for something else. I turned it off at that point.

[Tigermike 3,054]

I turned it on last night and they were accepting an award. I looked at my wife and told her I honestly had no idea they putting out enough to get a nomination. And now they're winning a grammy???

Fixed that for you Steve.

Maybe that is how or why they were nominated.

[otterinbham 0]

Well, what I love is that these people, just because they have nice voices, big boobs, or the ability to mimic emotions in front of a camera, believe that their political opinions have more validity than my dry cleaner, my plumber, or the girl who rings up my groceries at Piggly Wiggly. After all, I don't give a fig about what Colin Powell or Nancy Pelosi thinks about rock music. Why should I care what Natalie whatshername things about foreign policy?

What they don't realize is that Americans like them for what they do, not what they think. And realize that they live their lives looking through the tinted window of a limousine or having every whim catered to by a battalion of fawning toadies. So little wonder that they feel perfectly entitled to bray their political opinions in public whenever they have a microphone, even when it would be bad manners to do it at a dinner party.

So, if you're good, I'll buy your songs and tickets to your movies. But asking me to buy your political philosophy is just too damned much.

[CCTAU 3,346]

Are these awards given by the librul gurus that "know" music? Or are they based on airtime and sales?

[Jenny AU-92 0]

The DC's won 3 Grammy's ? And here I thought they had been arrested , sent to Gitmo and forced to wear Burkas for their outspokenness.

Huh. Imagine that.

Actually they won all FIVE Grammys for which they were nominated, including record and song of the year for their political bs song "Not Ready to Make Nice." They also won best country album, which was especially ironic considering they say they don't consider themselves country artists anymore. What a crock of crap.

Nothing but another attempt by a group of clueless elitists to take aim at the President. Still won't make them any money - fans dont vote for Grammys - but hey, they got their little statues, huh?

[AU! 0]

So, if you're good, I'll buy your songs and tickets to your movies. But asking me to buy your political philosophy is just too damned much.

Ugh, thats what i hate the most about election years. I have to start hating some of my favorite musicans because they start flapping their jaws, showing their ignorance, and making general asses of themselves. Please please pleeeeease stick to music and let the polititians to the self-imposed ass making.

[TexasTiger 13,026]

How ironic to hear all of you whose ability to assess their music is so slanted by your politics decry Grammy voters allowing politics to influence their votes.

I don't know if they deserved all five-- I suspect the politics helped them-- but this is a damn good album. Some of the lyrics have more meaning because I know about their experience, but it is not a particularly angry album, and the songs would be good without knowing the history. I know you guys were hoping for Justin Timberlake since he brought sexy back

but this album deserved the critical aclaim it got-- and it was a big seller, too. Double-platinum, suckers!

[SLAG-91 1,483]

Keep in mind that the Grammy folks are the same idiots who gave Jethro Tull a Grammy for best HARD ROCK/HEAVY METAL performance in 1989.

If Jethro Tull is heavy metal, then I'm a monkey's bastard uncle.

[TexasTiger 13,026]

Keep in mind that the Grammy folks are the same idiots who gave Jethro Tull a Grammy for best HARD ROCK/HEAVY METAL performance in 1989.

If Jethro Tull is heavy metal, then I'm a monkey's bastard uncle.

They're also the same idiots who gave a Grammy to Milli Vanilli. Doesn't change the fact that this is easily the Chicks best, most complete album ever.

[SLAG-91 1,483]

I don't really have a dog in this fight because I don't listen to the DCs and I haven't watched the Grammys in half-a-month of Sundays, maybe longer...I do wish, though, that the average citizen could filter through the pablum that celebrities offer up as informed opinions. Ah, well.

[CCTAU 3,346]

How ironic to hear all of you whose ability to assess their music is so slanted by your politics decry Grammy voters allowing politics to influence their votes.

I don't know if they deserved all five-- I suspect the politics helped them-- but this is a damn good album. Some of the lyrics have more meaning because I know about their experience, but it is not a particularly angry album, and the songs would be good without knowing the history. I know you guys were hoping for Justin Timberlake since he brought sexy back

but this album deserved the critical aclaim it got-- and it was a big seller, too. Double-platinum, suckers!

This album ONLY sold as well because of the libruls that ran out and bought it for their heros. They have alienated their base. Let's hope all those libruls continue to love the Dixie Thicks' future offerings, cause country music fans as a whole are just about through with them.

Found this after I made the above statement:

Country radio still cold to Dixie Chicks By KRISTIN M. HALL, Associated Press Writer

Mon Feb 12, 6:10 PM ET

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Country radio still isn't ready to make nice with the Dixie Chicks.

ADVERTISEMENT

With a haul of Grammys Sunday, the Texas trio topped their comeback from their 2003 Bush-bashing comment that turned them from superstars to pariahs — but Music Row isn't welcoming them back into the country-music fold.

"Most country stations aren't playing the Chicks, and they aren't going to start now," said Jim Jacobs, owner of WTDR-FM, a country radio station in Talladega, Ala.

The awards might have the opposite effect, sparking another radio backlash against the group. Country broadcasters said Monday that the group's five Grammys show how out of touch the Recording Academy is from the average country fan.

"I think (the listeners) are outraged," said Tony Lama, program director for KXNP in North Platte, Neb. "This is rural, conservative America. They are just disgusted."

Country stations quit playing the Chicks in 2003 after singer Natalie Maines told a London audience: "Just so you know, we're ashamed the president of the United States is from Texas.

Almost overnight, Maines became a lightning rod in the debate over the Iraq war, with conservatives blasting her for criticizing the president, especially while on foreign soil.

The Chicks sang about the controversy in their single, "Not Ready to Make Nice," which won Grammys as record and song of the year. Their album, "Taking the Long Way," won album of the year.

"I'm not ready to make nice. I'm not ready to back down," Maines sang. "I'm still mad as hell, and I don't have time to go round and round and round."

Country radio may not be ready to embrace them again, but the Grammy runaway suggests that a significant portion of the rest of the country has come around to their way of thinking. The president's approval ratings are down, and his party was ousted in the midterm elections.

"I'm slowly getting my faith back in mankind," Maines said Sunday.

But the rift with country-music radio seems impossibly wide. The Chicks have said they never felt at home on Music Row, even when they were a top-selling country act.

"If you're trying to offer an olive branch to country radio, that's not the way to do it," said Ken Tucker, Billboard country music correspondent. "The Chicks are celebrating being the outlaws."

The Grammy for best country album almost never goes to a mainstream Nashville act.

Bluegrass siren Alison Krauss and Union Station won the award last year for "Lonely Runs Both Ways," and Loretta Lynn won in 2005 for "Van Lear Rose." Neither got airplay on country radio.

The last time a country album won album of the year was 2002, for the movie soundtrack to "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" — a collection of old-time country that didn't fit the Nashville formula.

Johnny Cash won best country album in 1998 and then made headlines when his record company took out an ad showing a much younger Cash flipping his middle finger and thanking "the country music establishment in Nashville."

Wes McShay, program director of KRMD-FM, in Bossier City, La., said country fans understand that the big stars don't win Grammy awards.

"If you're talking about who's selling out 15,000-seat auditoriums, those acts are not awarded at the Grammys year after year," McShay said.

Consider the Country Music Association awards handed out a few months ago in Nashville: Entertainer of the year went to Kenny Chesney; the other big winners were radio favorites Brooks & Dunn, Brad Paisley, Keith Urban and Rascal Flatts.

That the Chicks weren't even nominated for a CMA award shows how narrow-minded and parochial Nashville's Music Row can be, Maines said.

"Country music, as far as radio and the industry, they are all right there on four blocks in Nashville," Maines said after the show Sunday.

The Dixie Chicks peaked at No. 36 on the Billboard country charts with "Not Ready to Make Nice." That ought to disqualify them from winning best country album, said Jacobs, the Alabama radio station owner.

"How do you win country music album of the year, when country music radio is not playing you?" he said.

Dixie Chick Emily Robison said the Grammy organization is known for recognizing great albums that don't necessarily get played on the radio.

"Especially in country, it does have that tradition of honoring the unsung great albums," Robison said.

[Tiger in Spain 0]

These bimbos learned that free speech ain't a one way street. I remember the President saying that the Dixie Chicks were free to speak their minds, and people were free to stop buying their records if they wanted to. The peoples revolt had already begun, and grass roots Americans still aren't buying their stuff.

This album peaked at #36 or something like that on the billboard country list. The numbers hardly seem to justify 5 Grammys.

[BamaGrad03 0]

Their album wasnt bad. But it wasnt 5 grammy worthy. This is nothing new though. Anyone who has ever watched the Oscars knows awards are more politics than they are for merit.

[GalensGhost 0]

For what it's worth, I liked their sound. Some of their older work was listenable and I despise country music. But this album? LOAD-O of CRAP-O. I gave them the benefit of the doubt and checked it out when it was released. It was dreck. That ignorant "Not Ready to Make Nice" was probably the worst song in their entire catalog. And not because of the subject matter. It was just crap. The only thing that gave it any play was the subject. Musically it was a turd.

[Tiger in Spain 0]

It's sad when "My Humps" is apparently the best performance by a duo or group. Society's descent into the crapper continues. That's a slap in the face to pretty much every duo or group in existence.

The Dixie Chicks can kiss my seat cushion. Frick them, even that cute banjo playing one.

I am okay with their political views. They are entitled to them. The things that upset me about the whole deal was they didn't have the balls to say what they said in the US. They punked out and ran their mouths to a bunch of Europeans. They also pissed off their fans by calling them stupid rednecks. That will never help record sales or mend rifts.

[TexasTiger 13,026]

For what it's worth, I liked their sound. Some of their older work was listenable and I despise country music. But this album? LOAD-O of CRAP-O. I gave them the benefit of the doubt and checked it out when it was released. It was dreck. That ignorant "Not Ready to Make Nice" was probably the worst song in their entire catalog. And not because of the subject matter. It was just crap. The only thing that gave it any play was the subject. Musically it was a turd.

Okay, you miss "Earl." Obviously alot of people think you have no taste in music.

[Jenny AU-92 0]

Another blog writer had this to say...

"Five Grammys. One for each radio station that still plays their music..."

[TexasTiger 13,026]

Another blog writer had this to say...

"Five Grammys. One for each radio station that still plays their music..."

Double platinimum, baby.

Clear Channel owned over 1,200 stations at the time and banned the Chicks. Cumulus radio followed suit. His comment has more to say about the lack of independent radio than the Chicks' fan base or the quality of their music. If you are counting on radio to tell you what's good, you're in sad shape. Of course, you like people who fall into step.

[AU! 0]

Alright, here's the breakdown for the grammy's won by the DC's and all other nominee's for each category. You be the judge.

Song of the Year:

# Be Without You

Johnta Austin, Mary J. Blige, Bryan-Michael Cox & Jason Perry, songwriters (Mary J. Blige)

# Jesus, Take The Wheel

Brett James, Hillary Lindsey & Gordie Sampson, songwriters (Carrie Underwood)

# Not Ready To Make Nice

Martie Maguire, Natalie Maines, Emily Robison & Dan Wilson, songwriters (Dixie Chicks)

# Put Your Records On

John Beck, Steve Chrisanthou & Corinne Bailey Rae

# You're Beautiful

James Blunt, Amanda Ghost & Sacha Skarbek, songwriters (James Blunt)

Album of the Year:

# Taking The Long Way

Dixie Chicks

# St. Elsewhere

Gnarls Barkley

# Continuum

John Mayer

# Stadium Arcadium

Red Hot Chili Peppers

# FutureSex/LoveSounds

Justin Timberlake

Record of the Year:

# Be Without You

Mary J. Blige

# You're Beautiful

James Blunt

# Not Ready To Make Nice

Dixie Chicks

# Crazy

Gnarls Barkley

# Put Your Records On

Corinne Bailey Rae

Best Country Performance by a duo or group:

# Not Ready To Make Nice

Dixie Chicks

# Heaven's My Home

The Duhks

# Boondocks

Little Big Town

# What Hurts The Most

Rascal Flatts

# Leave The Pieces

The Wreckers

Best Country Album:

# Taking The Long Way

Dixie Chicks

# Like Red On A Rose

Alan Jackson

# The Road To Here

Little Big Town

# You Don't Know Me: The Songs Of Cindy Walker

Willie Nelson

# Your Man

Josh Turner

If you ask me, Song of the Year should go to James Blunt, Album of the Year to the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Record of the Year to *cringe* Gnarles Barkley (the song got on my nerves, but it deserves respect), Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group to Rascal Flatts, and Best Country Album to Josh Turner but I'm biased for my all-time favorite country artist.

[AU! 0]

on a side note, the most deserved Grammy was the Best Short Form Music Video to OK GO for Here it Goes Again. (The treadmill video for those that are wondering.)

EDIT:see the following...

In fact, not to hijack the thread but as I'm looking through the list of Grammy winners, here are some of the most well-deserved grammy's IMHO.

Best Compilation Soundtrack Album For Motion Picture, Television Or Other Visual Media:

Walk The Line

Joaquin Phoenix (& Various Artists)

T Bone Burnett, producer

Best Contemporary Jazz Album

The Hidden Land

Béla Fleck & The Flecktones

Best Rap Solo Performance

What You Know

T.I.

For those of you who don't respect rap and those associated with it, check out T.I. he is a breath of fresh air in a culture that was on its way down. And he has a musical backround having played the piano most of his life.

Best Rap/Sung Collaboration

# My Love

Justin Timberlake Featuring T.I.

Best Female Country Vocal Performance

Jesus, Take The Wheel

Carrie Underwood

Best Country Song

Jesus, Take The Wheel

Brett James, Hillary Lindsey & Gordie Sampson, songwriters (Carrie Underwood)

Question of the Day concerning the Grammys' validity: Why is it that Carrie Underwood wins Country song of the Year, a category that the DC's weren't even nominated for, but does not beat them out in Song of the Year overall? It is obvious that the DC's are considered country see that they won Country Performance for the same song nominated and chosen as song of the year.

Best Female Pop Vocal Performance

Ain't No Other Man

Christina Aguilera

I don't care what you think of the way she acts, dresses, or sings, that song kicks it back old school and sounds great. I really like that song.

Best Pop Collaboration With Vocals

For Once In My Life

Tony Bennett & Stevie Wonder

Best Rock Album

Stadium Arcadium

Red Hot Chili Peppers

Best Male R&B Vocal Performance

Heaven

John Legend

Best Urban/Alternative Performance

Crazy

Gnarls Barkley