Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, July 10, 1990 TAG: 9007100473
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A/2 EDITION: EVENING
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: ARLINGTON LENGTH: Medium
The Parents Music Resource Center founded by Elizabeth "Tipper" Gore says it is promoting truth-in-packaging to help parents and their children deal with an entertainment culture that is increasingly violent and sexually explicit.
"Part of our problem is [that] our culture tends to look at children as miniature adults," said Jennifer Norwood, executive director of the parents group. "We expect them to handle things they're not ready to handle yet at their age. Groups like 2 Live Crew are dealing with adult issues."
But some opponents say the labels are censorship because artists and record companies are pressured to use them.
The labels are "an invitation to be prosecuted and persecuted. It's a guilty plea," said Dave Marsh, editor and publisher of Rock & Roll Confidential, a monthly magazine.
The Arlington-based parents group has made big strides since its founding in 1985 by Gore, the wife of Sen. Albert Gore, D-Tenn.
Four years ago, the Recording Industry Association of America, under pressure from the group, added warning stickers to certain albums. The association's members produce about 90 percent of the recordings made and sold in the United States.
That effort led to a wide variety of warnings, some smaller than a postage stamp, before the industry settled earlier this year on a standardized sticker that reads, "Explicit Lyrics - Parental Advisory." The records with the black and white labels are due out this month.
Norwood said parents in her group realize from their own experience as teen-agers that there always will be a musical generation gap.
"The purpose of rock 'n' roll has always been, to a degree, to shock parents," she said.
But the ground rules have changed, she said. Some of today's music promotes bigotry, rape and murder, she and others charge.
"Five years ago I had transcribed lyrics and a lot of them were pretty raunchy and pretty extreme," said Maryland legislator Judith Toth. "But what I'm seeing now is really something else. A lot of it is racist. A lot of it is very clearly against women. It's not just obscene. It's downright filthy."
For example, a song by Rigor Mortis graphically describes cutting off a woman's legs, arms and head after sex. A song by N.W.A. uses a derogatory word for blacks and describes gunning them down.
Opponents of labels say they inhibit artistic creativity.
Several polls have shown that about 75 percent of adults want some kind of information on records and tapes describing the contents, Norwood said.
by CNB