
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, June 6, 1990                   TAG: 9006060213
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: E-6   EDITION: STATE 
SOURCE: DAVID BAUDER ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: ALBANY, N.Y.                                LENGTH: Medium

LEGISLATURES TAKING AIM AT LIVE ARTISTS WHO AREN'T

At many pop music concerts these days, a listener can hear intricate horn riffs and vocal harmonies with no brass in sight and only one singer at the microphone.

The growing use of canned music and "lip-syncing" at concerts has drawn the ire of lawmakers in New York and New Jersey, who say listeners should be told if the live performances they're paying for aren't entirely live.

The lawmakers are going after big names. Artists like Madonna and Milli Vanilli are among those who have been accused of augmenting their live shows with tapes.

"The more we get into it, the more I hear it's very prevalent," said Democratic Assemblyman Joseph Mecca, who proposed the New Jersey bill.

The New Jersey bill would require concert promoters to warn ticket buyers in advertisements and on ticket stubs if an artist is using recordings in place of live lead vocals.

New York's bill, sponsored by Republican state Sen. Eugene Levy, goes even further. It would require disclosures in advertisements for all music that has been recorded or otherwise reproduced.

Lip-syncing isn't particularly new. Neither are musical tapes - artists as diverse as James Taylor, David Byrne and Sinead O'Connor have performed onstage with only a tape player behind them.

Carl Freed, executive director of the North American Concert Promoters Association, estimated that 90 percent of the rock or rap artists out on the road either use tapes or reproduce instruments through synthesizers.

Dance pop duo Milli Vanilli, winners of this year's Grammy for best new artist, speak in heavily accented English between songs but sing with amazing clarity in concert, said Chris Willman, a pop music critic for the Los Angeles Times. He says it's clear they're faking.

"Most people - a vast majority of people - don't care," Freed said. "But when it comes to people who lip-sync 100 percent of their shows, people do care. They feel ripped off."

But those cases are unusual. And promoters complain that the New York bill doesn't differentiate between a complete miming act and occasional augmentation.

The Rascals, who recorded "Good Lovin"' in the 1960s, can't afford a horn section on the road so they use a synthesizer to duplicate horn riffs on some songs, said their manager, Keith Beccia.

Beccia said the New York bill would leave many bands with several unpleasant options - cut their hits from the show, turn off tapes or simply avoid playing in New York altogether.

by CNB