Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, May 22, 1990 TAG: 9005220280
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: E6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RICHARD HARRINGTON THE WASHINGTON POST
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
"Are they kidding? It stinks," Missouri state Rep. Jean Dixon told the Associated Press. "This plan doesn't even touch most of the music we're talking about." Dixon is perceived as the major architect of a campaign that at one point prompted consideration of labeling bills in 21 states, though her own mandatory bill recently died in committee. Dixon criticized the size, color and content of the RIAA label; her bill would have mandated a bright yellow label with a laundry list of offensive subjects.
The RIAA's black-and-white sticker will be permanently affixed to the front, lower right-hand corner of certain releases, under the cellophane wrapper. The advisory is aimed at helping parents identify potentially objectionable material, though no specific standards have been set as to what constitutes explicit lyrics. No monitoring or advisory panel will be created to establish guidelines, and it remains up to record labels and artists to decide which albums to sticker, and to retailers to decide whether to restrict sales of stickered albums.
Critics of both mandatory and voluntary labels insist that they stigmatize controversial recordings under the rubric of explicitness, making them targets of either retailer boycotts or consumer protests. This is apart from the issue of obscenity, which has dogged groups such as 2 Live Crew, and so far the various music industry groups that have fought against mandatory labels have not been particularly eager to defend the rap group, whose "As Nasty as They Wanna Be" has now been declared obscene in counties in six states (Florida, Tennessee, Wisconsin, Ohio, Indiana and Pennsylvania). 2 Live Crew on trial
\ In Fort Lauderdale, Fla. on Monday, members of 2 Live Crew defended their sexually explicit lyrics as humorous and artistic during the first day of a federal trial to determine whether the group's album should be banned in Broward County, Fla. The rap group sued Broward Sheriff Nick Navarro in March after he threatened to arrest anyone selling the album. Navarro's order was prompted by a state court opinion that "As Nasty as They Wanna Be" bordered on the obscene. Since then, the album has been pulled from record store shelves throughout the county.
Band members rolled an X-rated video, called on a sex therapist to read aloud from a collection of "feminist pornography," handed the judge a stack of raunchy magazines and books (all bought in Broward County) and played recordings of comics Eddie Murphy and Andrew Dice Clay. The group sought to show that "Nasty" is mild by comparison and ought to be returned to record store shelves. The magazines were intended to show the judge what pornography is, and what it does, said 2 Live Crew's attorney, Allen Jacobi. "Nasty," he argued, does not appeal to "prurient interest," which is one of the criteria that must be met for banning the album.
Greg Baker, a music writer at the New Times weekly newspaper in Miami, described the 15-year development of rap music, calling it "important music . . . good music. That is why we have written about it and continue to write about it." Baker's testimony is critical to the group's case, because under a 1973 Supreme Court ruling, if any material-no matter how offensive to a community-is deemed to have "serious artistic value," then it is protected by the First Amendment.
by CNB