Trashcanman's Pop Nightmares: Week 2

[trashcanman]

Remember the other day when The Curmudgeon asked if there was any good pop country and everyone was like "HELL NO!" Well, we were probably right, but I'm picking a controversial one this week to test that theory and suggest that even when they do it right down in Nashville, they still get it wrong.

This country act consisted of three women who wrote their own tunes, played their own instruments, and were not afraid to piss people off. Sounds like good stuff and on occasion it was, but having cultivated an audience of ignorant hicks, maybe acting like Rosie O'Donnell in a Republican or GTFO industry wasn't the best idea when you are thin of skin. Say hello to country music's patron saints of childish martyrdom, The Dixie Chicks.



Yeah, they are that over the top edgy. And wha brought this on? Well, they flew over to the UK on the eve of the Iraq war and unleashed a tirade against the president of these United States on foreign soil. As a result of this, mainstream country radio pulled their support of the band and their career died overnight. The Chicks kicked and screamed First Amendment rights having not read that it only tells them that it is perfectly legal for them to say what they want with no legal repercussions. There is no Amendment that states your music has to be played on any radio station if people don't want to listen to you because of your obnoxious politics.

It took years for the media to stop covering them trying to stoke up interest in an act without an audience -who were now trying embarrassingly to be a rock band- by throwing Grammys at them when their album had sold almost nothing prior (which led to one of them cringe-inducingly directing a Nelson Muntz style "ha ha" to their critics from the stage) and interviewing them about how horrible it is that...I don't know, that their career was built on such a shaky foundation?

Anyways, the music. It wasn't always entirely terrible. It was lame and cutesy, but there was at least one song that captured my interest when it came out. It was the beginning of the Dixie Chicks' flirtations with controversy as it celebrated murder in a...let's say lighthearted manner. I'd have thought that practically naming your band after slavery would be an issue, but no.

I enjoyed this song when it came out because I thought the chorus had a good energy for a modern country tune and I thought it was about time that the genre got back to the darker-tinged storytelling that defined it during its classic eras. Say "Goodbye, Earl".





Funny thing, I thought about this song when the title "Pop Nightmares" came up and just now I watched the video for the first time and it's pretty horrible. Not only does it make murder seem lighthearted, but spousal abuse too. If you need any proof that these ladies were about as authentic as Shannon Tweed's breasts, I'd say it's on display in their trying-too-hard demeanor here. They REALLY make it a chore to try and like them.

[The Curmudgeon]

I'd only ever heard of the Dixie Chicks through, of all things, WWE, when the commentator at the time mentioned them about four times in one night via back-handed insults. I was like, "who the fuck are the Dixie Chicks? And what did they do to piss off America?"

Career suicide aside, this is just the sort of stuff that never even makes a dent in the UK. It's an actual story more than just a standard pop song, so I like that about it. It is kinda irritating, though, and that fucking terrible video sure doesn't help. If I heard it often enough I daresay I would be caught humming along to it, but I wouldn't go out of my way to do that. Pass this week, Trash.

On the subject of Dixie Chicks, have you heard this cover one of the, er, Chicks, did of the Beach Boys classic "God Only Knows?" It was recorded for the ending of (brilliant) drama Big Love. A fine, fine job.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4xpn_aM4kk

[lemex]

Yeah, they never did make a dint in the UK charts. Now I do not wonder why. What the, what was that exactly? I've heard of the Dixie Chicks before, but I thought they were something ... else, I was not expecting that. It was the first time I have ever heard that song to be honest. And also, to be honest, I don't like it - and I'm really trying to work out why, too. I don't honestly know, but I can't say that a song I have only just heard and didn't really 'get' could be bad. I don't know, guys. :/ I guess I'm going to 'meh' this one. I feel like I've had my first glimpse of some strange new world. Country music really is not my thing.

[trashcanman]

I was into this song for a while when it came out and my wife owned the album so I heard it quite a bit, but that video makes me kind of hate it. Maybe I should have posted a non-video version to get a more unbiased assessment of the music itself.

I do like that Beach Boys cover. A lot. They did a cover of Fleetwood Mac's Landslide that wasn't terrible and got a shitload of airplay on that. Oh, and fun fact: that F.U.T.K. shirt she's wearing in the image accompanying the God Only Knows vid stands for Fuck U Toby Keith. Toby Keith being arguably the shittiest country singer/songwriter of this generation who was particularly nasty in his criticisms of the Dixie Chicks.

Speaking of which, here's a really interesting article about the whole thing that really puts it into perspective.


www.savingcountrymusic.com/destroying-the-dixie-chicks-ten-years-after

I actually respected the Chicks as musicians and I think they were the closest thing to classic country at the time and I suppose their blackballing really did signal the death of real country. Interestingly, I sided with them politically and musically in the controversy, but they were so goddamn childish in the way they handled the whole thing that I lost every bit of respect I ever had for them and that's kind of shitty all around.

Bands like Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young and even classic country acts mentioned in the arrticle made big stinks on stage and in their songs about the same war, but the worst they got was some bad reviews on Amazon. Those guys didn't depend on pop culture to sell records. It was always about the music and people bought the music whether it was on the radio or not because those artists cultivated genuine fanbases. The Dixie Chicks relied on image and media to build their career in a genre with the most ignorant fans and when the media forsook them, they had nothing aside from the bone the Grammys tossed them.

[The Curmudgeon]

Reading that, you can't help but feel bad for them. Bands like Green Day rejuvinated their careers and actually appealed to a mainstream audience for the first time with American Idiot which was a direct pop at the War On Terror (tm).

Difference being, of course, that the people buying Green Day's records and the people buying Dixie Chick records could not be any more different. A gross sweeping generalisation, of course, but Dixie Chick fans, that being fans of pop country, want songs they can sing along to and play in their cars, they don't want a group of hussies bad-mouthing 'Murica or the President. When you appeal to THAT fanbase, your hands are pretty much tied. A real shame.

[trashcanman]

Dookie was the number one album in the country for like a year straight or something so American Idiot wasn't their first mainstream success, but it is funny how different the audiences are. That's part of why I never felt too sorry for the Dixie Chicks; they should have built a better career than they did in a genuine music scene instead of chasing fame in a fake one.

[Mrs_C]

So there is not much to say really except that I really don't like country and this is not convincing me otherwise.

[trashcanman]

To convince you otherwise, I'd have to take you back at least three decades. "Listenable" is as good as country gets since the 80's finished.

[Quillford]

Y'know this is one of those tracks where I genuinely don't know what I thought of it the first time round. Hadn't heard the song before or the band - had heard OF them though. I must of been in the kind of mood that swung with this. I remember thinking - yeah I could do this. However had I voted today, I would of give it a Whatever - Next. It's not my kind of thing and I think it's pretty average sounding stuff - it's not a sound that hasn't been done to death and I wouldn't keep the channel on if I was flicking through music. But it did appeal to me initially and I think that was down to the fact that I was drawn to the vocals. So Swoon but hesitantly.

[trashcanman]

You may consider going back in time if you,'re interested in country at all. The vocals of a Loretta Lynn, for instance, were pretty fantastic back in the day and the songs used to have....you know.... FEELING and stuff.