Sparks on Chicks and dicks; Chicks respond
Dixie Chicks' controversial bi-musicality: Natalie wears Jimi |
Jack Sparks takes a report that The Dixie Chicks might be changing teams and runs with it:
From LAUNCH Radio Networks:
The Dixie Chicks want out of the country music scene, according to comments group member Martie Maguire made to German magazine, Spiegel. She said, "We don't feel part of the country scene any longer, it can't be our home any more."
Like nobody saw this coming...
Mainstream Nashville is a whore. If it were suddenly cool to be a cross-dressing, gay, Republican, Toby Keith would fly to the White House wearing eye-shadow and lipstick to fellate the President at a press conference in the Rose Garden with a Ford pickup in the background.
Natalie Maines responds rather well to the “controversy”: (click "Letter From Natalie")
G. Gordon Liddy, Rush Limbaugh, and Don Imus all called again to ask about the plane crash. Listen guys this is really getting old. I'm sorry, but no we did not die in a plane crash. But look on the bright side…we fly all the time.
Or maybe that's something else she's responding to. Anyway, it's worth following the links to read both pieces in full.
Wear black today
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Johnny Cash, Singer Known as 'The Man in Black,' Dies at 71
Johnny Cash, a towering figure in American music spanning country, rock and folk and known worldwide as "The Man in Black," died Friday. He was 71.
Jack Sparks continues his list
Jack Sparks has been posting a list of top country songs... HIS version, to counter that lame-ass countdown that the Country Music Channel is or was doing (it's hard to tune in to that station for long enough to determine exactly what's on.)
Shania Twain is the single most damaging thing ever to happen to Country Music. She is NOT talented, She is NOT dynamic, She is NOT important, She is NOT fun. She is a robot. She's just a pretty face in a pink halter top and cowboy hat looking for her next check. She has dragged the music I love into the gutter of "what sells must be what is." These people live in a fucking palace in Switzerland. Last time I checked, June Carter Cash died at home on the farm motherfucker. If you like that boyband, canned bullshit, then you were probably all broken up when Rob and Fab turned out to be fakes too. Fuck. How long, Oh Lord, how long?
Top Country Songs?
Jack Sparks continues his good list of top 100 country songs:
There's a certain amount of irreverence involved in this list. That is to say, there are acts that I like that I don't revere, and vice versa. Second, this list is about to get really weird now that we're out of the top 20. I rant a lot about this, that, and the other thing, but, I firmly believe that, OUTSIDE OF A FEW EXCEPTIONS (note, to all you folks in the 615 area code, that means some of you are doin okay), the Nashville recording industry has been an ARTISTIC wasteland since about 1982. So, no, Garth Brooks just isn't going to show up on this list anywhere. He's made more money than God, Getty, and Johnny Cash, but that doesn't mean he contributed anything. If anything, he's created a bigger hole for everyone to crawl out of. So he can kiss my ass.
New Country Music Bible?
Jack Spark's The Other Side of Country is smoking, as usual, this week. He is reviewing a new book, Heartaches by the Number: Country Music's 500 Greatest Singles, by David Cantwell (DC) and Bill Friskics-Warren (BFW), which he actually likes, despite the tone of this quote:
To whit...Number 358, "Any Man of Mine," by Shania Twain. I applaud DC and BFW for finding a way to speak intelligently about her music. On the other hand, if my gig is to have any validity whatsoever, I HAVE to err on the side of paranoia. This woman is nothing. Her music, persona, the whole bit is all engineered. Where they see an injection of pop-diva sensibility and feminine strength, I see pure evil. This woman's existence is dictated by her scumbag husband, who designs every song, every note, every inflection of her computer generated voice to create "alternate income streams" for one of the many rooms in their Swiss chalet. If as author, you've decided to limit your song pool only to singles, then you're almost forced to give credence to these acute pop incursions into the genre, especially if they sell a lot of units.