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CNN Live Saturday

Interview With Josh Holstead

Aired April 26, 2003 - 16:47   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: The fighting may be mostly over in Iraq, but the controversy surrounding the Dixie Chicks, believe it or not, is not. The country crossover trio has been under fire for an anti-war statement by singer Natalie Maines. Now, at a concert in London before the war started, she told the audience, as you all probably know by now, quote, "we're ashamed that the president of the United States is from Texas."
That resulted in a wave of criticism, and some radio stations stopped playing the band. Maines offered a partial apology this week, telling ABC, quote, "Am I sorry I said that? Yes. Am I sorry I spoke out? No. Am I sorry that I ask questions and that I don't just follow? No." That was on ABC "Primetime Thursday." Joining me from Houston to talk about all things Dixie Chicks, John (sic) Holstead, better known as country radio personality Rowdy Yates. John, (sic) thanks for being with us.

JOSH HOLSTEAD, KILT RADIO'S ROWDY YATES: Well, it's Josh, actually.

COOPER: Oh, I'm sorry about that, Josh. It's been a long day for me.

HOLSTEAD: I understand, and I figured if this is my only shot on national television, I want to get it right.

COOPER: Understandably. Kyra Phillips, by the way, calls me Cooper all the time. I don't know why, but I'm glad you corrected me, Josh. So are your listeners still up in arms about the Dixie Chicks?

HOLSTEAD: Well, they are, but not near to the number that they were whenever the comments were first made a few weeks ago. Whenever the comments were first made, the telephone lines lit up, the Internet poll that we conducted showed better than 85 percent of them saying, absolutely not, we don't stand for this, we don't want them on your radio station anymore.

COOPER: Do -- I don't know if you saw the interview on "Prime Time Thursday..."

HOLSTEAD: Yes, I did.

COOPER: Did some of your callers see it? I mean, is there a sense that they should have just remained quiet, that they didn't need to come forward like this, because not only are they on "Primetime Thursday," but they are also on the cover of "Entertainment Weekly" posing naked with slogans written all over their naked bodies.

HOLSTEAD: Well, let me take that last part first and say I probably fielded 300 phone calls on Friday's show, and only one person even raised an issue about the "Entertainment Weekly" cover. So I think that's kind of a non-event, that's something we would probably expect for the Dixie Chicks to do anyway, just because they're kind of wild and crazy.

COOPER: But do you think they needed to come out on national television and continue this, because I mean, it does sort of...

HOLSTEAD: Yes.

COOPER: ... one might say, you know, they're trying to put this to rest, they're trying to get their side across. The other side might say, well, look, it's just continuing the controversy.

HOLSTEAD: Yes, I think they definitely needed to go in the public somehow. I don't think it needed to be an hour of prime time live on ABC. You know, they talked about the 15 words that were said. You know, I think we would have been satisfied -- and I say we as a representative of our audience at KILT here in Houston -- if they would have said, hey, that was stupid, I shouldn't have said that. I think all would have been forgotten. And I still think that there were some questions left unanswered after the prime time special.

COOPER: Questions like?

HOLSTEAD: Well, especially, whenever Diane asked the question, well, what would you like to say to the president, and Natalie said, "there's not enough time on your program." And you know, you could certainly misconstrue that, or take it one way or the other. Oh, I'd like to take an hour and apologize and tell him how much I appreciate him, or oh, boy, I've got an hour's worth of time, I'm going to tell you what I really feel about you, George.

COOPER: Is there resentment among your listeners just to the fact that they're speaking out, or is it just particularly the tone of what they said, the venue where they said it?

HOLSTEAD: I think it's probably more. You know, you can talk about free speech all you want, but when you're 3,000 miles away from the country that made it so popular, that was probably more the issue than really what was said.

COOPER: All right, Josh, as a talk radio guy, are you going to be sad when this controversy goes away? Because, you know, talk radio has made hay out of this. A lot of people have been riding this thing pretty hard.

HOLSTEAD: Well, you know, being a disk jockey at a music radio station, I think the Dixie Chicks are great for country music. And, you know, I think they've paid the price, and I think eventually people will forgive and forget. And I think they're great for country music. You certainly can't deny that they're incredibly talented ladies, writers, singers and musicians. And I would like to see them come back. I hope one day they do. I think they're great for radio.

COOPER: All right, Josh Holstead, also known as Rowdy Yates, KILT, I appreciate you joining us. Thanks a lot.

HOLSTEAD: Thanks, Anderson, appreciate it.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired April 26, 2003 - 16:47   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: The fighting may be mostly over in Iraq, but the controversy surrounding the Dixie Chicks, believe it or not, is not. The country crossover trio has been under fire for an anti-war statement by singer Natalie Maines. Now, at a concert in London before the war started, she told the audience, as you all probably know by now, quote, "we're ashamed that the president of the United States is from Texas."
That resulted in a wave of criticism, and some radio stations stopped playing the band. Maines offered a partial apology this week, telling ABC, quote, "Am I sorry I said that? Yes. Am I sorry I spoke out? No. Am I sorry that I ask questions and that I don't just follow? No." That was on ABC "Primetime Thursday." Joining me from Houston to talk about all things Dixie Chicks, John (sic) Holstead, better known as country radio personality Rowdy Yates. John, (sic) thanks for being with us.

JOSH HOLSTEAD, KILT RADIO'S ROWDY YATES: Well, it's Josh, actually.

COOPER: Oh, I'm sorry about that, Josh. It's been a long day for me.

HOLSTEAD: I understand, and I figured if this is my only shot on national television, I want to get it right.

COOPER: Understandably. Kyra Phillips, by the way, calls me Cooper all the time. I don't know why, but I'm glad you corrected me, Josh. So are your listeners still up in arms about the Dixie Chicks?

HOLSTEAD: Well, they are, but not near to the number that they were whenever the comments were first made a few weeks ago. Whenever the comments were first made, the telephone lines lit up, the Internet poll that we conducted showed better than 85 percent of them saying, absolutely not, we don't stand for this, we don't want them on your radio station anymore.

COOPER: Do -- I don't know if you saw the interview on "Prime Time Thursday..."

HOLSTEAD: Yes, I did.

COOPER: Did some of your callers see it? I mean, is there a sense that they should have just remained quiet, that they didn't need to come forward like this, because not only are they on "Primetime Thursday," but they are also on the cover of "Entertainment Weekly" posing naked with slogans written all over their naked bodies.

HOLSTEAD: Well, let me take that last part first and say I probably fielded 300 phone calls on Friday's show, and only one person even raised an issue about the "Entertainment Weekly" cover. So I think that's kind of a non-event, that's something we would probably expect for the Dixie Chicks to do anyway, just because they're kind of wild and crazy.

COOPER: But do you think they needed to come out on national television and continue this, because I mean, it does sort of...

HOLSTEAD: Yes.

COOPER: ... one might say, you know, they're trying to put this to rest, they're trying to get their side across. The other side might say, well, look, it's just continuing the controversy.

HOLSTEAD: Yes, I think they definitely needed to go in the public somehow. I don't think it needed to be an hour of prime time live on ABC. You know, they talked about the 15 words that were said. You know, I think we would have been satisfied -- and I say we as a representative of our audience at KILT here in Houston -- if they would have said, hey, that was stupid, I shouldn't have said that. I think all would have been forgotten. And I still think that there were some questions left unanswered after the prime time special.

COOPER: Questions like?

HOLSTEAD: Well, especially, whenever Diane asked the question, well, what would you like to say to the president, and Natalie said, "there's not enough time on your program." And you know, you could certainly misconstrue that, or take it one way or the other. Oh, I'd like to take an hour and apologize and tell him how much I appreciate him, or oh, boy, I've got an hour's worth of time, I'm going to tell you what I really feel about you, George.

COOPER: Is there resentment among your listeners just to the fact that they're speaking out, or is it just particularly the tone of what they said, the venue where they said it?

HOLSTEAD: I think it's probably more. You know, you can talk about free speech all you want, but when you're 3,000 miles away from the country that made it so popular, that was probably more the issue than really what was said.

COOPER: All right, Josh, as a talk radio guy, are you going to be sad when this controversy goes away? Because, you know, talk radio has made hay out of this. A lot of people have been riding this thing pretty hard.

HOLSTEAD: Well, you know, being a disk jockey at a music radio station, I think the Dixie Chicks are great for country music. And, you know, I think they've paid the price, and I think eventually people will forgive and forget. And I think they're great for country music. You certainly can't deny that they're incredibly talented ladies, writers, singers and musicians. And I would like to see them come back. I hope one day they do. I think they're great for radio.

COOPER: All right, Josh Holstead, also known as Rowdy Yates, KILT, I appreciate you joining us. Thanks a lot.

HOLSTEAD: Thanks, Anderson, appreciate it.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com