Feel the Love...

From John Gerome of the Associated Press:

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Country music sales fell nearly 10 percent last year, outpacing a decline of less than 1 percent weathered by the industry overall, officials said.

The 2003 showing reverses a trend from 2002, when country sales spiked and were the lone bright spot in an otherwise dismal year for the music industry.

Ed Benson, executive director of the Country Music Association, blames the slump on a dearth of new releases by blockbuster artists.

"We face the same challenges as all musical formats, but in 2003 we didn't have the same number of superstar releases that we had in 2002 when Kenny Chesney, the Dixie Chicks, Faith Hill, Tim McGraw and Shania Twain all had new releases," Benson said.

Country album sales fell from 76.9 million to 69.3 million units - a 9.8 percent drop, according to figures released Monday by Nielsen SoundScan, a group that monitors music sales.

Total album sales declined 3.6 percent in the same period, but the figures do not include Internet and digital sales. When those are included in total sales, the decrease from 2002 to 2003 is less than 1 percent, the CMA reported.

In 2002, country sales grew 12.2 percent while the overall recording industry fell 10.7 percent.

Joe Galante, chairman of RCA Label Group/Nashville, said fallout from the Dixie Chicks' comments about President Bush was another blow.

The life of a delusional, obsessed, jock sniffer is never dull. Out all night, sleep all day, using the blood of innocent suburban children named Tray and Rachel to oil the chassis of our hybrid cars, as we drive to the co-op to buy organic cigarettes and coffee from Belize.

We know that independent labels enjoyed a spike in sales in 2002, when the mainstream music industry was slumping, and blaming internet downloading for it. It'll be interesting to see how 2003 went for them. Maybe I'll send a few emails around and see.

As wizards like Ed Benson and Joe Galante scratch their heads, it's a good time to reprint one of my favorite quotations from the novel, Fight Club, by Chuck Palahniuk:

To warm her up, to make her laugh, I tell Marla about the woman in Dear Abby who married a handsome successful mortician and on their wedding night, he made her soak in a tub of ice water until her skin was freezing to the touch, and then he made her lie in bed completely still while he had intercourse with her cold inert body.

The funny thing is this woman had done this as a newlywed, and gone on to do it for the next ten years of marriage and now she was writing to Dear Abby to ask if Abby thought it meant something.

Jack's Specious Ad Hoc Top Ten

1. Post to Wire, by Richmond Fontaine
If you live in Portand, Oregon, call your local Country station and request either "Through" or "Post to Wire."
2. Famous Anonymous Wilderness, by Graham Lindsey
If you live in Madison, Wisconsin, call your local Country station and request either "My Museum Blues" or "Emma Rumble."
3. Warmth & Beauty, by Thad Cockrell
If you live in Charlotte, North Carolina, call your local Country station and request either "Warmth & Beauty" or "Taking the View."
4. Live at Billy Bob's, by Jack Ingram
If you live in Austin, Texas, call your local Country station and request "Flutter."
5. My Baby Don't Tolerate, by Lyle Lovett
If you live in Houston, Texas, call your local Country station and request "On Saturday Night."
6. Oh the Stories We Hold, by Anna Fermin's Trigger Gospel
If you live in Chicago, Illinois, call your local Country station and request "My Town."
7. Fought Down, by Ken Layne & the Corvids
If you live in Los Angeles, California or Reno, Nevada, call your local Country station and request "Sun Don't Shine."
8. Just For The Record, by Bobby Flores
If you live in San Antonio, Texas, call your local Country station and request "Bubbles in My Beer."
9. Railings, by Frog Holler
If you live in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, call your local Country station and request "Virginia."
10. ring, by Big Ditch Road
If you live in Minneapolis, Minnesota, call your local Country station (even though there aren't any) and request "City Girls" or "Father's Son."