>What hot country and western tunes? Contemporary country is mostly pop
>music, and it's not even good pop. Nashville's been overrun by producers
>who look at artists' photos before they listen to their demos and session
>musicians like Pig Robbins, who played piano for everybody in the old days,
>including Patsy Cline and Bob Dylan, sit around waiting for the phone to
>ring.
No kidding. 'New Country' is all bubble gum crap, and Barf Brooks is the worst.
>A couple years ago Johnny Cash, who gets minimal airplay these days, took
>out a big ad in _Billboard_ with a famous old photo of him flipping off the
>photographer backstage at one of his California prison shows. The text
>said "Johnny Cash would like to thank country radio for all its help.">
That was a great add -- I think I've still got it in a drawer somewhere.