Posted on 04/24/2003 4:36:37 AM PDT by L.N. Smithee
This thread is inspired by this response on the thread
Drudge Sirens: TEARS ON TV: DIXIE CHICKS EXPLAIN BUSH BASHING
by usastandunited:
To: Pro-Bush
Their record sales have been not hurt at all. Its all been a pack of lies. Why did they even do this interview ?.....
My source ? Michael Moore..
Here's a snippet taken directly from his website:
They have not been hurt at all -- but that is not what the media would have you believe. Why is that? Because there is nothing more important now than to keep the voices of dissent -- and those who would dare to ask a question -- SILENT. And what better way than to try and take a few well-known entertainers down with a pack of lies so that the average Joe or Jane gets the message loud and clear:
<sarcarsm OK/>
31 posted on 04/23/2003 10:58 AM PDT by usastandsunited
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Indeed, here is the snippet. From MichaelMoore.com, dated April 7, 2003 (bold mine):
So, says the only Oscar winner within memory booed off stage, "The truth is, their sales are NOT down." Of course, this is the same guy whose definition of truth seems to be "What I want to be true." For details of the massive deception and outright lies in Bowling For Columbine, click here.
Take the Dixie Chicks. I'm sure you've all heard by now that, because their lead singer mentioned how she was ashamed that Bush was from her home state of Texas, their record sales have "plummeted" and country stations are boycotting their music. The truth is that their sales are NOT down. This week, after all the attacks, their album is still at #1 on the Billboard country charts and, according to Entertainment Weekly, on the pop charts during all the brouhaha, they ROSE from #6 to #4.
[snip]
They have not been hurt at all -- but that is not what the media would have you believe. Why is that? Because there is nothing more important now than to keep the voices of dissent -- and those who would dare to ask a question -- SILENT. And what better way than to try and take a few well-known entertainers down with a pack of lies so that the average Joe or Jane gets the message loud and clear: "Wow, if they would do that to the Dixie Chicks or Michael Moore, what would they do to little ol' me?" In other words, shut the f--- up.
But, let's stay focused on the current controversy. Moore cited New York Times columnist Frank Rich's April 6 notation that Entertainment Weekly magazine's music section (sourced by Billboard magazine, the record industry bible) had Home rising from #6 to #4 on the charts. But Rich was apparently looking at the charts from the Billboard issue of the week of March 29, 2003, when Home was at #4.
From the hardly right-wing MTV News, March 26, 2003: [...]Dixie Chicks Backlash Hits "Home" On Albums Chart; Sales Down 42% This Week
The MTV News article was making reference to the way the Billboard 200 chart -- which tracks all CD's across all different genres of music -- would look for the following Billboard issue, April 5, 2003. One week after that was published, Home dropped another NINE spots to #16.
The disparaging remarks the Dixie Chicks' Natalie Maines made about President George W. Bush in London two weeks ago ("Just so you know, we're ashamed the president of the United States is from Texas ..."), has hit Home, so to speak. In response to outrage from many Bush supporters, the country trio's songs were pulled from several radio stations' playlists, despite Maines' public explanation ("My comments were made in frustration ...") issued almost immediately after the news broke. The controversy took its toll at retail, as sales of Home fell by more than 42 percent, from 123,000 copies to 71,000. The LP, which has resided near the top of the chart for 30 weeks, will slide three spots to #7.
In addition, just because the Dixie Chicks are the number one selling act on the Billboard Country Album charts doesn't necessarily mean that their sales increased during the previous week.
To illustrate: the DixChix are back atop the Country Album charts this week (ending April 26, 2003). Last week, they dropped to second behind the new CD from Chris Cagle. But the Dixie Chicks sales STILL declined from the previous week. How do we know? Because on the Billboard 200 chart, Home sunk from last week's position of #17 to #33. This continues a free fall of Home over the past four weeks position-wise: from #4 on the album chart the week of March 29, 2003 to #7 April 5, to #16 on April 12, to #17 April 19, and currently, #33, April 26.
Cagle's self-titled CD was in the top fifteen on the Billboard 200 last week, (second from last paragraph), but dropped out of the top 50 on the album chart completely this week. Chris Cagle dropped to fifth on the Country 100 album charts in its second week. Meanwhile, Unleashed, the latest CD from Toby Keith (whose performance of "Courtesy of the Red, White & Blue" was banned from an ABC broadcast by Peter Jennings), took the second position on the country chart, and was that chart's "Greatest Gainer", meaning that it had the greatest increase in sales of all charted CDs. That distinction took Unleashed to only #34 on the Billboard 200, up from #35 and four spots behind the Dixie Chicks.
This is a lesson on how remarkable the DixChix's success has been heretofore. Their dominance of the country charts is less notable than their crossover popularity, consistently selling six figures' worth of CDs in an atmosphere dominated (for the time being) by every type of artist except country. Garth Brooks' seemingly unstoppable reign at the record stores is last century's news -- other than the Chicks, the top ten are made up mostly of hip-hop, pop, and metal artists, with an occasional brief appearance by a Tim McGraw or Toby Keith.
Any suggestion that the Dixie Chicks' entrenchment at the top of the country charts is an indication of not having suffered a backlash is uninformed. All the above facts notwithstanding, the greatest evidence that the trio has been hurt by the controversy are the hysterical statements of their manager and the fact that they are willing to bring the entire situation up before a national audience rather than to let it die down.
In the case of Michael Moore, however, it is my opinion that based on his track record, it is fair to presume that he didn't simply fail to inform himself -- he intended to deceive everybody else.
Home is NOT #33 on the Billboard 200. It is #30. It has been on the chart for 33 weeks.
Of course lies, deception, and half truths are standard operating procedure for communist like Moore.
Well written article. Thanks Smithee
I'm not sure what you would accomplish hitting one sack of manure with another sack of manure...
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