FRIDAY FLASHBACK: Every Friday we set the Hot Tub Time Machine to one year in rock history and give you the best (and worst) music from that year, all day long beginning at 1:00 AM EST and running for 24 hours on Jivewired Radio powered by Live365.
This week: 2003
Next week: 1980
Last Week: 1978
Article & Image Sources: All Music Guide, Amazon.com, Rolling Stone Magazine, Previous Jivewired Friday Flashback Articles, Music Outfitters, The Guardian, UK, Joel Whitburn, Billboard Magazine, WKQX Chicago, Z100 New York City, KROQ Los Angeles, The Village Voice, Pop Culture Madness, Rate Your Music.
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Album art from 2003, Click cover to download
2003 Album I Wish I Owned:Hail To The Thief by Radiohead
2003 Album I'd Give Back If I Could:The Long Road by Nickelback
2003 Nominee For Worst Album Cover Ever:Sumerian Daemons by SepticFlesh
2003 Most Underrated Song: Combat Baby by Metric
2003 Most Overrated Song:Milkshake by Kelis
2003 Most Memorable Song:Bring Me To Life by Evanescence
2003 Most Significant Song: Anything by Damageplan
2003 Most Forgotten Song:I'm Shakin' by Rooney
2003 Album Of The Year:Hail To The Thief by Radiohead
2003 Fan's Choice For Most Popular Song:Hey Ya by Outkast
2003 Most Likely To Start A Party Song:I Believe In A Thing Called Love by The Darkness
2003 Please Don't Play Anymore Song:Roses by Outkast, Picture by Kid Rock & Sheryl Crow
2003 Song That I Like More than I Actually Should:Fuck Me Pumps by Amy Winehouse
2003 Album I Liked More Than I Thought I Would:Thirteenth Step by A Perfect Circle
2003 Song That I Tend To Leave On Repeat: Times Like These by Foo Fighters
2003 Come Back Player Of The Year: Jane's Addiction
One Hit Wonder of 2003:Are You Gonna Be My Girl by Jet
Guilty Pleasure of 2003:Combat Baby by Metric
Breakout Artists Of 2003: White Stripes, Amy Winehouse, Kings Of Leon, Outkast, Evanescence
Overplayed In 2003: Matchbox Twenty
Not Played Enough In 2003: Radiohead
Greatest Single Chart Re-Entry from 2003:California Love by 2Pac (1995)
Best Cover Song Of 2003:It's My Life by No Doubt (Original by Talk Talk)
An unheralded great album from 2003:Keep It Together by Guster
An unheralded great single from 2003: Dosed by Red Hot Chili Peppers
Best Soundtrack of 2003:8 Mile
Jivewired Picks: Top Five Six Songs Of The Year
01. Ball And Biscuit by The White Stripes
02. 2 + 2 = 5 by Radiohead
03. Seven Nation Army by The White Sripes
04. Do You Realize?? by The Flaming Lips
05. Serenity by Godsmack
06. Midnight In Her Eyes by The Black Keys
Jivewired Picks: Top Five Six Albums Of The Year
01. Elephant by The White Stripes
02. Hail To The Thief by Radiohead
03. Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots by The Flaming Lips
04. Meteora by Linkin Park
06. Blackout by The Dropkick Murphys
HONORABLE MENTION #1: Thickfreakness by The Black Keys
HONORABLE MENTION #2: 8 Mile Soundtrack
2003 really toyed with our nerves, musically speaking. It's entirely possible that radio programers and record labels thought we would be content with really bad music - and that's what they gave us - at least as far as mainstream Pop and R&B FM Radio was concerned. Or rather they deemed us simply uncaring. Furthermore, maybe they (or we) were more concerned with the image portrayed by the artists and less concerned with the quality of music. A lot of really beautiful people made some really bad music in 2003. I give you Shania Twain as a perfect example. The Dixie Chicks are another. Kelis, Beyonce and that deadly combination of Kid Rock and Sheryl Crow qualify also. Picture? If I never hear that song again it would be too soon. But that's only half the story.
Take the artist Kelis. The sexy and silly song Milkshake from her Tasty album was easily the most popular song during the summer of 2003. FM Radio, MTV and VH-1 forced it down our throats in sickeningly heavy rotation, and barely a few minutes went by before the song was playing again somewhere. But honestly, the song was really nothing more than a novelty, the type of song that historically exits the mainstream as fast as it enters it, usually leaving the artist with the stigma of being known only for that song. Remember K-Tel'sGoofy Greats? Milkshake is it's 2003 equivalent. Kelis' summer hit went from fun to irritating almost immediately, and the shame of it is that the rest of the album was horribly overlooked. Tasty is a wonderful R&B groove throughout, and it's too bad that only that one, annoying song crossed over with any success, because that is, by far, the least likable song on the album.
Then there was the odd crossover of Country and Western into Mainstream Pop. Crossing over is a time-honored trend in the country and pop music business, with artists moving in both directions, from pop/rock to country and back again. Even today, television shows like CMT's Crossroads encourage the pairing of the two genres. And we've seen this as cyclical phenomena in years past, as far back as the 1940s and 1950s. Elvis Presley serves as an example of an artist who crossed both ways. But 2003, however seemed to offer music that was more of a pop-country amalgam rather than roots country crossover, and Shania Twain led the charge. Ten country songs charted in the Billboard Pop Hot 100 in 2003:
- Landslide by The Dixie Chicks
- Forever & Always by Shania Twain
- It's Five O' Clock Somewhere by Alan Jackson and Jimmy Buffet
- Beer For My Horses by Toby Keith and Willie Nelson
- Red Dirt Road by Brooks & Dunn
- What Was I Thinkin' by Dierks Bentley
- Have You Forgotten? by Darryl Worley
- No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problem by Kenny Chesney
- Real Good Man by Tim McGraw
- I Love This Bar by Toby Keith
It may be easy and convenient to pair the aftermath of the events on September 11, 2001 with the proliferation of country crossover. Country has always had an underlying theme of patriotism attached to it, but most of the songs listed above are anything but patriotic. However, despite it's specific market, with a very large and loyal audience, country music has been the most popular radio format in the United States. It truly is America's music. In that respect, there is a commonality in being a proud American and supporting America's music. That may have been reason enough for the escalation in popularity and crossover of many of those songs.
But then the Dixie Chicks just killed it for everybody.
During a concert in London, England on March 10, 2003, Dixie Chicks lead singer Natalie Maines said that the band was "ashamed the President of the United States is from Texas." The comment sparked intense controversy and universal outrage among most Americans, including a large share of old and new-school country music fans.
Still fresh off the wounds suffered during the attacks of 9/11 and it's immediate aftermath, the comment was nationally upsetting on a number of points, the most significant being that the United States was then on the verge of declaring war on Iraq and that Maines made the comments while performing in England. Dixie Chicks' supporters, meanwhile, cited their right to free speech.
Radio stations – perhaps riding the wave of fan sentiment and increased patriotism – refused to play their music on the air, including their then-current hits Travelin' Soldier and Landslide. Further many radio stations went as far as to sponsor anti-Dixie Chicks promotional events, such as disposing and destroying Dixie Chicks' compact discs and other merchandise. Maines, meanwhile, defended her stance during a televised interview with Diane Sawyer.
It gets worse.
Maines and her bandmates – Emily Robison and Martie Maguire – appeared nude (with private parts strategically covered) on the May 2 cover of Entertainment Weekly. Their bodies were covered with words such as Boycott, Dixie Sluts, Saddam's Angels and Traitor. Attempting to capitalize on that comment and it's controversy made things infinitely worse.
Crash. Burn. Nothing to see here. The Dixie Chicks never recovered and the crossover of country into pop mainstream quickly scaled back toward historic normalcy shortly thereafter. Perhaps they should have made their point musically rather than by making a definitive statement.
Because........
Also of some concern in 2003 was the fact that music was no longer challenging previous dogmas, an alarming trend that had started in the late 1990s. Listeners were no longer defiant within their generations and therefore migrated seamlessly between previous and current musical eras. The 2000s lacked any true musical icon, something that had been prevalent in every decade since the inception of rock and roll, from Elvis Presley in the 1950s to U2, Madonna and Michael Jackson in the 1980s and 1990s. Digital sampling, particularly in rap and hip hop, certainly promoted awareness to previous generations, and that may have been one reason. More likely the cause was a paradigm change in our listening and purchasing habits.
Thanks to an increasing popularity in digital downloading, 2003 was a benchmark year in the demise of the album as a concept and a full circle return to an era when single releases were the norm and full albums were the exception, particularly for emerging artists.
Audiences were no longer investing the time it took to absorb a whole album. During the vinyl era, splitting up the album into two sides made it easier for listeners to digest and connect with the artist. The advent of the CD allowed listeners to easily toggle back and forth between favorite songs. Digital downloads allowed the listener to only pay for or listen to the songs that they actually liked. As artistically discouraging as that sounds, the shift put the focus on recording powerful singles. The end result, however, was a lack of staying power for artists, creating that one-and-done mentality that permeates throughout music to this day.
Continuing, as listeners consolidated within the mainstream we certainly felt little need to diversify our tastes. During 2003, eleven acts achieved a U.S. number-one single on the Billboard Hot 100, all either rap, hip hop or R&B except for a two week period where Clay Aiken held the top spot. R&B singer Beyoncé Knowles earned her first U.S. number-one single as a solo artist with Crazy in Love. In fact, Beyoncé, 50-Cent, P. Diddy, and Sean Paul each had two number one entries in 2003, either as a lead artist or as a featured guest.
Still, veterans like Dave Matthews, Coldplay, The Flaming Lips and the Red Hot Chili Peppers churned out some remarkable albums. The White Stripes' Elephant , Franz Ferdinand's Darts Of Pleasure EP and Thickfreakness by the Black Keys offered some of the freshest sounds of the year. 2003 also had its share of great debut albums led by Amy Winehouse, Joss Stone, Evanescence and Kings Of Leon.
Hard Rock and Metal saw a huge resurgence thanks to great albums by Godsmack, The Mars Volta, Deftones, Anthrax and Black Label Society, and underrated efforts from Queensryche, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and Iron Maiden. More significantly, Darrel "Dimebag" Abbot's project, Damageplan, unleashed an almost unholy album as 2003 turned into 2004. Unfortunately, Damageplan would be short lived following Dimebag's untimely death in late 2004.
The bottom line, however, is that 2003 will forever be remembered more for what was wrong with music rather than what was right. Kelis’ aforementioned Milkshake, OutKast’s irritatingly upbeat Hey Ya!, and utterly ridiculous Roses, the Darkness’ unapologetically over-the-top I Believe in a Thing Called Love, and 50 Cent’s regrettably simple-minded In da Club ultimately best represent what we popularized as listeners that year.
Gone Too Soon:
- Mickey Finn of T-Rex, aged 55 (January 11)
- Maurice Gibb of The Bee Gees, aged 53 (January 12)
- Johnny Paycheck, aged 65 (February 19)
- Ty Longley of Great White, aged 31 (February 20)
- Hank Ballard, aged 74 (March 3)
- Edwin Starr, aged 61 (April 2)
- Little Eva, aged 59 (April 15)
- Nina Simone, aged 71 (April 20)
- June Carter Cash, aged 73 (May 15)
- Barry White, aged 58 (July 4)
- Warren Zevon, aged 56 (September 7)
- Johnny Cash, aged 71 (September 12)
- Robert Palmer, aged 54 (September 26)
- Elliot Smith, aged 34 (October 21)
- Bobby Hatfield of The Righteous Brothers, aged 63 (November 5)
- Arthur Conley, aged 57 (November 17)
- Soulja Slim, aged 26 (November 26)
- Dave Dudley, aged 75, December 22
Not So Happy Jack:
After a four-month investigation, London police cleared Pete Townshend of child pornography charges in 2003 after he was falsely arrested by Scotland Yard on suspicion of possessing and making indecent images of children and of incitement to distribute such images, though no such photos were found following a search of his home and computer. Though the charges were dropped, Townshend was still forced to spend five years on a U.K. register of sex offenders. Townshend was so distraught he was allegedly suicidal. Simply a ridiculous incident.
In fact, Townshend wrote that he accidentally discovered a photo of a two-year-old boy being raped when he typed the words "Russia," "orphanages," and "boys" into a search engine. Townshend claimed that he reached for his telephone and "intended to call the police and take them through the process I had stumbled upon--and bring the pornographers involved to [jail]," but that he decided not to contact authorities after discussing the issue with an attorney. Townshend's treatise on the subject, which he once posted on his official web site, also noted that the "pathway to 'free' paedophilic imagery was--as it were--laid out like a free line of cocaine at a decadent cocktail party: only the strong willed or terminally uncurious can resist."
It's All Fun and Sex Games Until Someone Gets Killed:
On February 3, 2003, actress Lana Clarkson was found dead, killed by a firearm, in Phil Spector's mansion in Alhambra, California. Spector stated that Clarkson's death was an "accidental suicide" and that she had "kissed the gun." The emergency call from Spector's home, made by Spector's driver Adriano De Souza, quoted Spector as saying, "I think I've killed someone." According to some women who were said to have met Spector previously, there would come a point when they wanted to leave Spector's home, whereupon he would hold them at gunpoint. Spector had just finished producing Starsailor's album Silence Is Easy at the time of the incident. Spector was eventually found guilty and given a sentence of 19 years to life in prison. No one knows which, if any, hairpieces and wigs Spector was allowed to take with him to the can.
Catfight Much?
Madonna sparked media controversy by kissing popstars Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera at the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards. The situation even ignited a quick war of words between Spears and Aguilera over the kiss and which was better. Perhaps Spears was more angry over the fact that Aguilera had four nominations while Spears only had one, however she did take home as many awards as Aguilera did - zero.
Go Forth, For You Are The Future Of Rock & Roll:
The following bands all trace their roots to 2003: Arcade Fire, Damageplan, Dresden Dolls, El Ten Eleven, Pussycat Dolls, Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, Silversun Pickups, Sugarland, Tapes 'N' Tapes, and Wolf Parade. Also, in 2003, The Stooges reformed.
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