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What is "Party Country"?

F

fordranger797

There is apparently a new(er) radio station in Portland, OR dedicated to playing what some like to call "Party Country"

While this station is nothing more than a HD-2 signal using a translator to broadcast, there none the less are people interested in the programming. Check it out:

http://www.tailgate1037.com/main.html
 
I would guess Gretchen Wilson's reprehensible "Here for the Party" would fit.

Why someone with her reputation would come up with such absolute sewage is beyond me.
 
vchimpanzee said:
I would guess Gretchen Wilson's reprehensible "Here for the Party" would fit.

Why someone with her reputation would come up with such absolute sewage is beyond me.
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Because songs like that are must-adds in the current era of lowest-common-denominator country and it's better to go slumming than go hitless?
 
Both were #1 hits, and continue to test well among country listeners. Don't blame the artists or radio. Blame your fellow country fans.
 
TheBigA said:
Both were #1 hits, and continue to test well among country listeners. Don't blame the artists or radio. Blame your fellow country fans.
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If people like it, they like it. Judging by how country music continues to gain popularity, those of us who dislike it probably have no place to speak.
 
fordranger797 said:
If people like it, they like it. Judging by how country music continues to gain popularity, those of us who dislike it probably have no place to speak.
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We speak here.

But you're right. This is what sells because Nashville is targeting people it never targeted before the 1990s -- young, female, non-Southern. The lower half of 25-54 has never mattered more to country radio (and the labels) than it has now. Even in the '90s, when Garth Brooks was selling zillions and drawing zillions and the Cashes and Haggards had been tossed aside, there was still room for acts that targeted a more mature audience: Vince Gill, Kathy Mattea, Patty Loveless, Alan Jackson. Now, country has pretty much lost 40-54 and many of the males, but it doesn't matter because (except for places New York City and LA, where ethnic preferences for more rhythmic genres will always hold country back) it's taken hold in places like Connecticut and Massachusetts and upstate New York in an unprecedented way. In sheer numbers, it is stronger than ever, but it's gotten that way by telling a huge number of very loyal fans that they don't matter anymore.
 
CTListener said:
We speak here.

But you're right. This is what sells because Nashville is targeting people it never targeted before the 1990s -- young, female, non-Southern. The lower half of 25-54 has never mattered more to country radio (and the labels) than it has now. Even in the '90s, when Garth Brooks was selling zillions and drawing zillions and the Cashes and Haggards had been tossed aside, there was still room for acts that targeted a more mature audience: Vince Gill, Kathy Mattea, Patty Loveless, Alan Jackson. Now, country has pretty much lost 40-54 and many of the males, but it doesn't matter because (except for places New York City and LA, where ethnic preferences for more rhythmic genres will always hold country back) it's taken hold in places like Connecticut and Massachusetts and upstate New York in an unprecedented way. In sheer numbers, it is stronger than ever, but it's gotten that way by telling a huge number of very loyal fans that they don't matter anymore.
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I agree. As soon as Luke Bryan and Jason Aldean began to catch popularity (2010?) it seemed like the landscape of country music changed rapidly. Although they may be trying to target 25-54, they definitely have a stronghold among adolescents who traditionally did not follow the genre.
 
And Gretchen Wilson doesn't just do country. Her latest album has tracks that include blues, songs that sound like they'd be done by Jackson Brown and Norah Jones.

Just thinking out loud, if I was marketing music I'd want the younger demographics and likely skew more female than male. If you think about people who buy music, go to concerts, etc., are the younger demos. Later on there are kids, squeezed budgets and other issues that take the focus away except for those passionate about music.
 
fordranger797 said:
I am always astounded by the popularity of the song "Redneck Woman". You have to give Wilson credit, as she has probably made an ungodly amount of money from that one song.
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But it is a good song. I don't like the language in it. You could say that word fewer times and it would get the message across.
 
fordranger797 said:
I agree. As soon as Luke Bryan and Jason Aldean began to catch popularity (2010?) it seemed like the landscape of country music changed rapidly. Although they may be trying to target 25-54, they definitely have a stronghold among adolescents who traditionally did not follow the genre.
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Sounds like what happened 25 years ago, too.
 
CTListener said:
and the Cashes and Haggards had been tossed aside
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Johnny Cash hosted "SNL" this past Saturday night. I find this confusing because he performed about a half-dozen songs, all good, and yet Elton John was the musical guest. I like a lot of Elton's stuff, but he did two songs I had never heard and didn't like.

At least then, Johnny Cash must have been considered "cool" by young people because that's what "SNL" was supposed to be. Now I did not recognize most of the names of the cast members. I've heard of Christine Ebersole and Brain Doyle-Murray but don't really know who they are. Eddie Murphy was the only cast member I knew. But even then surely "SNL" was "cool" with the young people.
 
vchimpanzee said:
At least then, Johnny Cash must have been considered "cool" by young people because that's what "SNL" was supposed to be.
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At the time, he was promoting the American Recordings albums, produced by rocker Rick Ruben. They were promoting him as cool, although Johnny was still Johnny, same as he always was.
 
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