Out to Pasture

The day after the Grammy awards, the KUSS (95.7 FM) morning team of Tony and Kris talked about the previous day's on-air stunt: urinating into adult diapers. They didn't play any Dixie Chicks music, even though the group had just become the first in 13 years to win awards for best record, best song, and best album (plus best country album).

Tony and Kris (who drove a bulldozer over Dixie Chicks CDs in 2003, after the band criticized George W. Bush) complained that their station didn't receive a promotional copy of the Taking the Long Way album because the Dixie Chicks hate the country-music establishment.

Also boycotting the Chicks was KSON (97.3 and 92.1 FM).

"The Grammys wouldn't recognize a country record if it hit them on the head," says KSON program director John Marks. "Zamfir and Slim Whitman sell millions [of discs] too, but that doesn't mean I'm going to play them. Sales are one indicator, but that does not necessarily point to a demand for airplay."

KSON general manager Darrel Goodin says the band's exclusion from his station's playlist is a business decision:

"When you have ten women sitting in a room discussing country music and you ask them should [KSON] be playing the Dixie Chicks and not one person says 'yes,' the question becomes answered for you. We've had music tests with hundreds of people. When our focus groups tell us we should play the Dixie Chicks, we will play them."