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Dixie Chicks at a Crossroads (more detail on the F.U.T.K. t-shirt)
Washington Dispatch ^ | May 28, 2003 | CK Rairden

Posted on 05/28/2003 8:25:09 AM PDT by fightinJAG

Dixie Chicks at a Crossroads

Exclusive commentary by CK Rairden

May 28, 2003

The Dixie Chicks were doing so well. Lead singer Natalie Maines had finally shut up, and the country artists had been cheered on their American concert tour for their music. Then came the prestigious American Country Music Awards in Las Vegas. The very mention of their name drew a chorus of boos from the crowd.

“Just so you know, we're ashamed the President of the United States is from Texas, lead singer Natalie Maines told a London audience in March. The Chicks took heat for that remark for weeks, so much so that they went on a ‘victim tour’ to attempt to garner sympathy from their fans. They cried on the ABC magazine show “Prime Time.” They sat for an interview that ran in the magazine Entertainment Weekly, and posed for an apparently heavily airbrushed nude cover shot with slogans transcribed all over their bods.

They claimed they were being harassed and threatened and released information that they would hire off duty police officers to protect them. The victim card was played then the Chicks then held their breath and opened their tour in Greenville, South Carolina.

It went well as those who paid to see the Chicks greeted the band with cheers and not jeers.

It continued that way for all of their tour dates. Folks who paid to see them generally cheered, the Chicks kept their mouths shut except to sing and their fans supported them.

Then came the prestigious Academy of Country Music Awards in Las Vegas. It started out poorly for the Chicks as hostess Reba McEntire joked about them in her open monologue twice to a howling response from their peers.

This crowd in Las Vegas seemed less forgiving as none of them paid to see the Chicks perform. At the mention of the Chicks name, boos scattered down from the crowd.

But it still wasn’t all that bad.

The big problem for the country music trio came when they were asked at the last moment to perform via satellite from Austin, Texas. Silence greeted the band in the Vegas auditorium as they were introduced. They played a tune that was broadcast on screen and as the camera zoomed in on lead singer and political commentator Natalie Maines you could see the letters F.U.T.K on her homemade t-shirt.

Most believe the T.K stands for Toby Keith, a country music superstar in his own right and singer of the very patriotic song “Courtesy of the Red White and Blue” (The Angry American.) It doesn’t take much to figure out what the F.U. stood for.

The patriotic country music fans in Vegas didn’t like the vulgar statement.

Toby Keith wrote that song after 9/11 in honor of his late father and it became an anthem for music fans that believed America had to defend itself after the attacks on the Pentagon and the World Trade Center towers.

It was also a song that former POW Pfc. Patrick Miller sang to his captors while being held in Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Toby Keith even met Miller at his homecoming parade in Valley Center, Kansas and struck up a duet of the tune with the private. He then gave Miller his guitar from that day. It was a nice gesture by Keith, and fans appreciated it across America.

So once again, with her petty message to Keith, Natalie Maines gave the appearance of being ungrateful and unpatriotic.

The Vegas crowd would soon let her know about it.

Their name was then mentioned for entertainer of the year and the boos were thunderous. Presenter Vince Gill tried to quiet the crowd, but to no avail. This entire ceremony was a celebration of music and patriotism, and the Chicks were still perceived to be the exact opposite of that.

The show saluted the armed forces several times, including a standing ovation for three freed POWs of the Iraq war who were invited on stage. Pfc. Miller was there along with Chief Warrant Officer Ronald Young Jr. from Fort Hood, Texas and Spc. Shoshana Johnson, from Fort Bliss, Texas.

Johnson was shown misty-eyed as Darryl Worley sang his patriotic anthem for the soldiers “Have You Forgotten?”

The crowd had no patience for the Dixie Chicks and their anti-war stance.

The Dixie Chicks lost the entertainer of the year award to none other than Toby Keith, which pleased the Vegas fans. In fact they failed to win any awards.

Launch YAHOO! caught up with host Reba McEntire and asked her if she thought the Chicks' helped themselves to win back any support of the fans or fellow performers who were not happy with Maines' unpatriotic comment. McEntire made her opinion clear, “(It) didn't sound like it. I announced it, and it was a pretty big negative response. It was very, very bad. I don't think it's over.”

Reba is right.

The Chicks have lost respect from many country fans, many country artists, and many people who had never heard of them. Maines’ vulgar t-shirt showed clearly that she learned very little from her statements, or doesn’t mind the loss of respect.

It will be amazing if Maines doesn’t once again slip up, make another foolish statement and cause her band grief from country music fans and her peers. These three women are very talented musicians, but they are losing quite a few would be fans with perceived anti-American antics. The Chicks are at a crossroads. They can make a stand and attempt to become a political and social force with their music, words and t-shirts to a select anti-American crowd. Or they can continue to be country superstars. If they choose the latter--time can heal this, if that’s what the Chicks want.

All they have to do is shut up and sing.


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To: tame
The problem with the Pet Sounds album, besides being dorky, is that it totally represents the ground-breaking music inside.

If the cover actually had conveyed that the music was an incredibly innovative mix of Brian's pet sounds, it would not have had the uphill marketing climb it did.
181 posted on 05/28/2003 10:37:55 AM PDT by fightinJAG
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To: fightinJAG
FUNM!
182 posted on 05/28/2003 10:38:27 AM PDT by Redbob
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To: valleygal
Well said. "OK fine, for sure, for sure, she's a valley girl and there's no cure," Heck I miss Zappa.
183 posted on 05/28/2003 10:38:31 AM PDT by Conspiracy Guy (When you don't know where you're going, any road will take you there.)
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To: fightinJAG
I also love 2nd Chapter of Acts.

I love a song titled I wonder where the wind blows. It's on a "live concert" album titled To The Bride by 2 Chapter of Acts and Barry McGuire--BEautiful song!

184 posted on 05/28/2003 10:39:25 AM PDT by tame (...or a gentleman!)
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To: Flurry
ROTFLMAO

Q. Why are tanning beds in Video rental stores?
185 posted on 05/28/2003 10:39:54 AM PDT by CyberCowboy777 (In those days... Every man did that which was right in his own eyes.)
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To: valleygal
Well said: what would life be like without a little clever lampooning once in a while?

Only Moby Dick doesn't like lampoons.
186 posted on 05/28/2003 10:40:08 AM PDT by fightinJAG
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To: Flurry
Are you familiar with the musical"Pump Boys & Dinettes"? There's a great song called "Farmer Tan" in it.
"Farmer tan, on my neck and arms!
Farmer tan - secret of my charms!
Every girl wants a man with a farmer tan- farmer tan!..."
187 posted on 05/28/2003 10:41:01 AM PDT by talleyman (Proud composer of "Bubba the Redneck Reindeer")
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To: tame
I was going to say that was my fav 2cA song, you beat me to it! Also that "hear the bells ringing" song. Is 2cA still around? I had that album 20 years ago. (Am I old?)
188 posted on 05/28/2003 10:41:25 AM PDT by fightinJAG
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To: fightinJAG
"... they were asked at the last moment to perform via satellite from Austin, Texas."

'Nuff said.
It's just not cool to be patriotic in The Peoples' Republic of Austin.

189 posted on 05/28/2003 10:41:45 AM PDT by Redbob
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To: CyberCowboy777
It seems so natural. Here in Alabama you can pull into a service station, get a tank of gas, an oil change, get your tires rotated and your taxes prepared. All of that while you lounge in the tanning bed. I love America. I love the South.
190 posted on 05/28/2003 10:43:07 AM PDT by Conspiracy Guy (When you don't know where you're going, any road will take you there.)
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To: valleygal
Don't forget:

Bitchy Chimps

Drippy T*ts

etc., etc., etc.

191 posted on 05/28/2003 10:43:40 AM PDT by tame (...or a gentleman!)
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To: CyberCowboy777
Your right we Americans worship our entertainers. (I wouldn't give a wooden nickel for the bunch of them.) Most Americans can name the 'Friends', but can't tell you the recent history of Afghanistan or how we beat the U.S.S.R.

That is why we must expose the idiocy and hope for even one awakening.

Know what you mean...my kids, all four of them, can recite minutes of dialogue from movies they've seen. And sometimes it's pretty funny to hear them do it. But my dh and I have said to them on several occassions, "Try doing that with portions of the Bible or a historical document...then we'll really be impressed!"

192 posted on 05/28/2003 10:45:16 AM PDT by valleygal
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To: Liberty Tree Surgeon
Carfax Abbey ... Adrian Pasdar. Bio:Also Credited as: n/a. Born April 30, 1965 in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Married to Natalie Maines of the Dixie Chicks. Contact Information: ... www.carfax-abbey.com/ ActorSearchResults.cfm?ActorVar=724 - 7k - Cached - Similar pages

There are many more sites/sources through google etc. His father was Iranian MD who moved to the US.

193 posted on 05/28/2003 10:45:26 AM PDT by zip
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To: tame
You have superb taste! Do you know if Vince Gill's version of "Warmth of the Sun" is available on CD anywhere? I don't have a DVD player. Thanks!
194 posted on 05/28/2003 10:45:45 AM PDT by Nea Wood ("If a President of the United States ever lied to the American people, he should resign." -- Bubba)
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To: tame
Blimpy Chimps

LOL, hadn't heard that one!

195 posted on 05/28/2003 10:46:43 AM PDT by valleygal
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To: fightinJAG
I had that album 20 years ago. (Am I old?)

Well, as the bumper sticker on my car says, Your not old. The music just sucks:o)

AFAIK, 2chActs is not together as a group. I met Annie Herring around 1998-99. They record solo.

That is wild that you were going to name the same song!

My brother had the live album, and I copied some of the songs to tape, and then later to CD.

The "Hear the bells ringing" song is titled The Easter Song.

196 posted on 05/28/2003 10:48:39 AM PDT by tame (...or a gentleman!)
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To: Joe Whitey
"On another thread, a while back..."

A while back? Were you signed up under another name before?

197 posted on 05/28/2003 10:49:39 AM PDT by valleygal
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To: fightinJAG
Only Moby Dick doesn't like lampoons.

And I thought my puns were bad. lol

198 posted on 05/28/2003 10:49:49 AM PDT by zip
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To: headsonpikes
Your post bears repeating:

Fascination with mere celebrity and celebrities is the least admirable characteristic of modern American life. That large numbers of people apparently give a rat's *ss about the uninformed opinions of an entertainer is a depressing thought.

From it flow so many unintended consequences - the devaluation of actual accomplishment being the first.

199 posted on 05/28/2003 10:51:01 AM PDT by Revolting cat! (Subvert the conspiracy of inanimate objects!)
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To: talleyman
I'd like to know more about it but it is new to me. Kind of reminds me of a little for sale poem I learned as a kid, "I've got a real fine dog, he's sound as a ring. He'll be eight years old, if he lives til spring. He'll pee on your carpet, crap on your grass. He's got 4 white legs, and a hole in his a$$. He's a calm little fella, seldom barks or growls. Lest he bumps his nose, then he howls and howls." Nose wasn't the original word.
200 posted on 05/28/2003 10:51:05 AM PDT by Conspiracy Guy (When you don't know where you're going, any road will take you there.)
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