Krista Kelly [0:48] In 1969, the world was introduced to Sesame Street. Before long Sesame Street captured the imaginations of 14 million weekly viewers. A fundamental ingredient in their success has been the integration of muppets and music in teaching. Whether it's the count singing his one through 10s, or a grandmother teaching a child to sing the alphabet at home, singing and music have played an important role in the learning and memorization process for centuries. The success of Sesame Street proves that children do learn from what they see role modeled before them. And the combined use of music words and colorful images lie at the heart of this learning. At what age does a child cease to learn from the use of music, words and images?Krista Kelly [1:42] August 1981, ushered in the age of music television. The historic significance of this for the youth of the entire world has become obvious, as millions are now drawn into its dramatic and powerful format. Today with over 29 million families subscribing to MTV, Brandon Tartikoff, president of NBC entertainment remarked, quote, MTV is an institution there is a whole generation out there molded and influenced by it end quote. And there's no question by using MTV superstars like Madonna have sparked fashion trends among adoring fans. From lace gloves to leather skirts, Madonna wannabe select clothing most like that of their hero. But selling fashion is not the bottom line selling records is has MTV boosted record sales. Bob Krasnow chairman of Elektra Records, told Adweek magazine, quote, video exposure on MTV is the predominant vehicle for marketing records end quote, the sales of records, posters, T shirts, fan magazines and concert tickets might be good for the music industry. But concerned parents are beginning to ask in what other ways might my young children be influenced by this powerful medium? A good question. Especially considering the number of hours children spend with music, an estimated four to six hours a day. Z-100 They get up to it, get dressed to it, they do their homework to it and fall asleep to it. That adds up to 11,000 hours of listening to music between the seventh and 12th grades alone, equivalent to the entire amount of classroom instruction a child receives from first grade to high school graduation. Although many musicians are communicating positive, thoughtful messages in their music, all too often what young people are hearing from their favorite musicians from MTV, fan magazines, and from live concert performances is that drug abuse is okay. Casual sex is fine and violence is an acceptable form of behavior. Some would have us believe that the negative elements found in contemporary music are no more shocking than they were when Elvis first shook the nation with his pelvis. Sadly, the themes have degenerated at an alarming rate, especially during the last 10 years. Consider for example, the themes found in heavy metal which is probably the most disturbing element in contemporary music. Much of it dwells on themes that glorify rape, sadomasochism, violence, and suicideKrista Kelly [4:45] And now due to the aggressive marketing of heavy metal music by both major and independent record companies to preteens and adolescents. Heavy Metal Music has become more mainstream in June of 1987, six of the top 10 selling albums listed on Billboard's pop charts were heavy metal groups. In May of 1988, 26% of the top 50 albums were also by heavy metal bands. Ironically in the liner notes of the album Welcome to the Pleasure Dome by the band Frankie Goes to Hollywood we read, quote, manipulation of children's minds in the field of religion or politics would touch off a parental storm and a rash of congressional investigations. But in the world of commerce, children are fair game and legitimate prey end quoteVarious Children [5:30] My name is Kim. I'm 11 years old, and my favorite groups are Prince, Modanna, Cyndi Lauper, and Billy Idol. I'm 10 years old and I like Prince. My name is Robert and I'm in fourth grade and my favorite groups are Def Leppard. And I'm nine and my favorite groups are Motley Crue, and Duran Duran, rap.Dusty Rhodes [5:59] The Parents Music Resource Center was formed in 1985 by Sally Medius, Pam Howard, Tipper Gore, and Susan Baker to provide more information for parents and consumers of rock music. Most parents are aware that there are disturbing themes present in television programming and motion pictures, yet they have access to consumer information which enables them to make choices about what is appropriate entertainment for their family. Since consumer information pertaining to recorded music didn't exist prior to 1985. And with some rock music rivaling the depiction of violence and abuse found in teenage slasher films, the PMRC has urged the music industry to voluntarily label explicit material. Through their research the PMRC discovered five major themes which occurred consistently in some rock music and especially in heavy metal. They are the abuse of drugs and alcohol, suicide, graphic violence, a fascination with the occult, and a sexuality that is graphic and explicit. Substance abuse has been a reoccurring theme in music for a long time, and is found in other forms of popular music including rhythm and blues and country western. However, in these instances, substance abuse is not glorified to the extent that some heavy metal bands glorify it, nor is it marketed as such a young audience. Take for example, Motley Crue. They're in the top 10 For money making concerts and the last three albums have all sold millions of copies. Motley Crue appears like this in fan magazines, and lead vocalist Vince Neil appears like this in press photos. Vince was convicted of killing the drummer of another heavy metal band Hanoi Rocks and critically injuring two others in a drunk driving accident in California in 1985. Later in February 1986 interview with Kerrang magazine, Vince Neil explained his thoughts on alcohol after his conviction, quote, I love to drink I love to be fucked up, but I'm not going to drive anymore and I think we should tell our fans don't drink and drive. Not don't drink. Do whatever you want to do man shoot up heroin. I don't care do it have fun. It's your life end quote, in a day and age when alcohol related traffic accidents are the number one killer of kids between the ages of 16 and 24. It's incredible that these rock stars would be encouraging kids to drink, especially when they have to drive home from concerts. In Creem magazine February 1984. Nikki Sixx bases for the Crue states quote, we've always been serious alcoholics no kidding around. While Vince Neil adds quote, I used to smoke Angel Dust in school in my math class, I'd sit in the back, I had this pipe that looked like a pen. Here's Motley Crue pretending to snort cocaine in a magazine targeted to young people. They seem to be encouraging and endorsing the idea of cocaine use at a time when cocaine is an epidemic at high schools.Dusty Rhodes [9:07] The Beastie Boys have sold over 4 million copies of their debut release Licensed to Ill. Having happened number one selling album in the nation for seven weeks is no small accomplishment. Unfortunately, these three New York City rappers have in many ways given rap music, a bad name. A lot of rap music deals with life on the street, decrying the injustices and pointing the listener to positive alternatives. But the beasties rely on gratuitous sexual perversion, violent themes, and especially drug and alcohol abuse to sell their albums while insisting it's all a big joke. Aside from the dozens of implicit and explicit sexual exploits contained on Licensed to Ill, The album includes some 95 references to drug and alcohol consumption, including freebase and crack, marijuana, Angel Dust, glue sniffing and LSD. One reason these fast talking rappers have escaped public criticism is the lack of printed lyrics on their album. Consider for example, these excerpts from their song Hold It Now Hit It.Dusty Rhodes [10:36] Writing for Newsweek Jim Miller and Bill Rabkin state quote, among other things the boys lustily hymn the joys of girls gunplay and getting high, a frosty brew and Angel Dust of the drugs of choice in their lyrics end quote, adding that this trio agrees quote that the band wants only to bring a little fun into the lives of all the 13 year old girls who buy their records end quote, their so called fun in concert displays had included spring beer, the audience, simulated masturbation, obscene comments and gestures, mouthing the exposed breasts of a bikini clad cage dancer, encouragement for girls in the audience to expose their breasts and a hydraulic penis reportedly 20 feet in length. Writing for Creem magazine Bill Holdship reflected quote, part of the problem too is some of the Beasties audience might not take it as a stupid joke. They might buy it lock stock and barrel as real life I'm gonna go out take some crack beat up people who aren't as cool as me rape some women and shoot some guy in the face above everything else is just not funny. In fact, it's extremely mean spirited, end quote. One Columbia Record spokesman explained in People Magazine quote, it's good to be bad when it makes money. End quote, Recent statistics published by the US Department of Health and Human Services found 55% of the children surveyed had first experimented with alcohol by the ninth grade. According to a report filed by the University of Michigan on January 13, 1988, 66% of high school seniors surveyed are current users of alcohol, with 37 and a half percent reporting at least one occasion of heavy drinking in the past two weeks. Heavy drinking was defined as having five or more drinks in a row. Sadly, a Weekly Reader survey found that 10 year old children now feel pressured to try crack.Krista Kelly [12:30] This is Ozzy Osbourne. He says he doesn't advocate suicide and yet he appears like this in fan magazines. In 1985 John McCollum committed suicide after listening to Osborne's Suicide Solution, Ozzy claims the song is about alcoholism judge for yourself. Here are the words to Suicide Solution. Suicidal Tendencies a cult band from Los Angeles whose latest album sold over 500,000 copies, sings Suicides and Alternative on their debut album. Two Illinois teenagers committed suicide in 1987. Police report that the suicide note they left contain the lyrics to this song Fade to Black by the band Metallica.Krista Kelly [14:16] Speaking at the annual conference in 1988 of the American Society of Suicidology, Dr. Mark Rosenberg noted, quote, it was thought that the way to prevent suicide among teens was to treat depression, then you'll cure it. That's a fallacy. It's not the case with these kids. Rather than being clinically depressed. These young suicide victims are impulsive, acting out fantasies end quote, we realize that a normal healthy child will not commit suicide after listening to a song. However, for a child who is disturbed under the influence of drugs and alcohol are predisposed to suicide messages encouraging suicide can legitimize thoughts of suicide and add further to a child's conviction. The latest statistics released from the US Justice Department shows that the suicide rate has tripled among teenagers in the last three decades, but has remained the same among adults. 600,000 Teenagers attempt suicide annually with over 5,000 succeeding at least 14 teenagers a day kill themselves.Dusty Rhodes [15:21] Wasp is a band whose concert violence is graphic and explicit. Lead singer Blackie Lawless simulates drinking blood from a human skull, while their stage show often includes the simulated execution of a nude woman. In the November 1987 issue of Circus Magazine Blackie Lawless boast quote, The rack is bad, but it gets better the song after we use the rack out, cut the girl down, throw her over my shoulder, take her to the center of the stage and drop her in this contraption. It's like a meat grinder, it'll spray her all over the audience we'll even pass out raincoats the sicker they get the sicker we'll get end quote. This is the cover of their first release Animal Fuck Like a Beast. And this is the proposed new cover of the live version of the same song. Wasp is an example of a band that was on an independent label and fairly unknown. Then in 1984, Capitol Records, a major recording company signed was to a one and a half million dollar deal. A new band which seems to be following in the footsteps of Wasp is Guns and Roses. Their major label debut was originally released with this rape scene on the cover. Later this photo was relegated to an inside liner note. In an interview with the Los Angeles Times in 1986, lead singer Axl Rose remarked quote, our first video is going to be realistic and it might show a lot of violence. There's a lot of violence in the world. That's the environment we live in and we like to show what we live in rather than hide it end quote. Clearly their songs show an attitude toward women that is both violent and derisive consider their song Anything Goes from Appetite for Destruction.[17:09] And these lyrics from It's So Easy.Dusty Rhodes [17:22] Appetite for Destruction has sold over 8 million copies and became the number one selling album in the nation. In May of 1988, a report released by the Rhode Island Rape Crisis Center found that a majority of sixth to ninth grade students felt that a man had the right to rape a woman, particularly if he had spent money on her. Winnie Allen coordinator for the Center remarked, quote, we as a society need to look at the messages our children are receiving. If we assess the level of violence, sex that's being presented through the media and through television, perhaps we can find at least one source for the findings of the survey. According to statistics released by the US Justice Department, one in four women will be sexually abused before reaching the age of 18. And rape has increased 700% In the last five decades. At what age does a child cease to learn from the use of music, words, and colorful images?Krista Kelly [18:29] Satanism is on the rise. television specials are reporting it. Newspapers and magazines are carrying horrifying stories of ritualistic killings, cemetery desecration and infant molestation. County prosecutors and law enforcement officials across the United States are beginning to make the connection between some heavy metal music and satanic crimes. Bands like AC DC offer fans an invitation to join them on the highway to hell. Other bands such as Venom, Slayer, Megadeth, and Merciful Fate, provide how tos on everything from Virgin sacrifice to necrophilia, sex with the dead. When the band Venom who is currently on [K Tel] Records Rock and Roll label Quill sings sacrifice, they virtually offer a play by play description of satanic sacrificeKrista Kelly [19:50] Slayer not only sings about human sacrifice, they sometimes enact it on stage as well in their song altar of sacrifice from the album Reign in Blood.Krista Kelly [20:19] Many young fans are tempted to experiment with the satanic practices these bands describe and some troubled or bored teens go much farther. Whether or not the bands are themselves serious about the occult, the image they project can have a serious impact on some of their young fans as reporter Tom Jarrell on ABC 2020 said quote, The Satanic message is clear both in the album covers and in the lyrics, which are reaching impressionable young minds end quote.Dusty Rhodes [20:48] Rock'n'roll has always been associated with sex. In recent years, however, some musicians have gone from innuendo and suggestion to graphic and explicit descriptions. Even radio has undergone a dramatic shift in what is considered acceptable for airplay. In the early 60s The Rolling Stones released Let's Spend the Night Together which when played on radio caused quite a stir. Today's radio uproar is sparked by George Michaels I Want Your Sex. Prince for example stormed in the nation in 1984, with his Grammy Award winning album, Purple Rain and his movie of the same title, having sold over 14 million copies of Purple Rain as well as millions of other albums to preteens and adolescents. It's time parents examine the superstars message to young children concerning sex. Darling Nikki from the multi platinum Purple Rain album[21:48] Sister from The Dirty Mind album.[22:08] Enduring Love from the LoveSexy album.Dusty Rhodes [22:42] Mainstream rockers Van Halen sing a song and titled Black and Blue on their 1988 release OU812.Dusty Rhodes [23:27] Street rappers 2 Live Crew sparked a media controversy with the release of their debut album in 1987. One Florida store clerk was arrested for selling obscenity to a minor due to the explicit nature of this album's lyrics. She was later released. Their new album Moves Something was released in two versions X rated with a warning label and one without the obscenity. Here's the song S&M from the X rated version.Dusty Rhodes [23:51] The Dead Kennedys. A punk rock band released an album in 1986 with a warning label about an enclosed poster. The label described the poster as a work of art that some may find shocking or offensive but life could sometimes be that way. This hardcore pornographic poster entitled Penis Landscape crosses the line from art to hardcore pornography. The album and poster was sold to children regardless of age until one mother in California took legal action to protect her young children. Sadly, the case was dropped when a split jury could not reach a unanimous decision. Ironically, Playboy Magazine when reporting the story blacked out At the explicit parts of the poster, there was a time when such hardcore pornographic material was available only through porn shops to those over age 21. But a growing number of musicians and record companies have succeeded in making explicit material readily available to young children. Punk rocker Wendy O Williams in Playboy in 1986. Wendy O Williams on an album cover? Pop musician Samantha Fox in this fan poster, Samantha Fox in Playboy April 1988. The cover of Bizarre Bitches a hardcore porn bondage magazine, the band Bitch in Concert photo taken from Creem, another teen fan magazine, hardcore pornography, record albums, posters, fan magazines, concert stage, it's hard to distinguish between the two except for one thing, hardcore pornography is not legally available to our youngsters. These are.Krista Kelly [26:03] In 1985, the Parents Music Resource Center and the recording industry met before a senatorial hearing to discuss their concerns. Musicians Frank Zappa and Twisted Sisters D Schneider echo the it's only rock'n'roll anthem. However, in the wake of these hearings, the PMRC in a coalition with the National PTA reached an agreement with Stan Gortikov president of the Recording Industry Association of America to voluntarily label records containing explicit lyrics. In that agreement. 20 major record companies agreed to voluntarily label their own products with a generic warning, explicit lyrics parental advisory, or print the lyrics on the back covers so parents could be aware of the content before a purchase was made. A public opinion poll released in 1986 by the Simmons Market Research Bureau showed overwhelmingly that US adults supported such a move. 80% of those polled wanted printed lyrics 75% wanted warning labels, and this support appears to be growing even among the baby boomers. A Rolling Stone magazine poll conducted in 1988 show that 48% of those polled felt that albums with explicit materials should be labeled at a symposium sponsored by the PMRC in cooperation with the American Academy of Pediatrics, the National Mental Health Association and the youth suicide National Center. United States Surgeon General C. Everett Koop expressed this concernC. Everett Koop [27:26] In the past we've been concerned almost exclusively with adult bookstores in the movie theaters that have specialized in pornography, but it's no longer quite that simple. Now we have rock videos without control and frequently viewed without parents even being aware of their children's activity. And many that I have seen are a combination of senseless violence and senseless pornography to the beat of rock music. Krista Kelly [27:54] Dr. Richard [Markowitz] president of the American Academy of Pediatrics speaking for the Academy at this symposium stated,Dr. Richard [Markowitz] [28:01] The American Academy of Pediatrics Executive Board has voted to support the Parents Music Resource Center, and the coalition with the National PTA in their efforts to increase parental awareness of sexually explicit and violent lyrics and performances available to children in records, tapes, and compact discs. Krista Kelly [28:27] Not surprisingly, the United States Secretary of Education William Bennett, encourages parents and educators to direct children toward positive and thoughtful musical expressions.William Bennett [28:37] I'm a former rock and roll guitar player. And I believe for a long time that rock and roll is not incompatible with a sound education. But we have to distinguish between music which is basically harmless, and music which can be harmful to young people. Some of the lyrics and some of the songs I've heard recently, obviously aren't any good for anybody. They celebrate suicide, incest, violence, that's not a good message for young people to hear. If we believe that good music is good for young people, if we believe that good lyrics like good poetry, helped to elevate young people elevate their aspirations, then we know that bad lyrics bad ideas, can't do anything but harm our young people. I think the music industry can help here, they ought to take some interest in regulating themselves and being if you will, better examples than they perhaps had been in the past. But the real job, of course, is for those of us whose task it is to educate young people, parents and teachers. We need to counter the bad with what's good. We need to counter bad ideas and bad music with good ideas and good music. Let's give our children the best we have to offer so that they'll see there's more value in the good than in the bad.Krista Kelly [29:50] Writing for Psychology Today. Ann Rosenfeld reflects on the power of music when she writes, quote, music can move us to tears or to dance to fight or To make love, it is created by people to affect and communicate with other people. In one sense, it's no surprise that music grabs us. It's supposed to end quote, as child psychologist David Elkind noted in his book The Hurried Child, quote, the most underestimated influence on young people today is the record business. Perhaps because most adults find the level of sound obnoxious, the harmonics jarring and the lyrics incomprehensible. We prefer to ignore the impact of rock music on our offspring. And, quote, let's not be guilty of under estimating the impact of the music industry, or the impact that we as informed parents and consumers can make. Dusty Rhodes [30:38] Sesame Street demonstrated to capture the hearts and minds of its audience by using music words and colorful images to enhance the learning process. Perhaps it's time parents reconsider the role that popular musicians may be playing in the formation of their children's values. First, tune in don't tune out discover what your child is listening to focus on the content, not the style, so as to avoid a discussion over taste, rather than a discussion over inappropriate themes. Second, teach your children to think critically about what he or she listens to compare what's being expressed to the family's value system. Third, encourage your children to select expressions that are in keeping with your family's standards, and point them to the wealth of positive music that's available, rather than selecting music by those who profit by selling antisocial themes. Take for example the positive thought provoking music of U2 and Bruce Springsteen. Fourth you may wish to write to the Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission and or the president of the Recording Industry Association of America when you have a specific concern about objectionable material being made available to minors. And for more information and specific ideas on how you can address this issue, write the Parents Music Resource Center. Finally, remember all music regardless of the particular style can be used in positive and enriching ways or abused and perverted, your child can be guided to distinguish the difference. According to a 1980 research analysis of the teen environment conducted by the Robert Johnson Company and funded by the Alcoa Foundation, friends and peers had replaced parents as the most influential determinants of values and behaviors of young people. Parents placed second, while radio records and television ranked third. The good news is in an April May 1986 issue of teenage magazine, teens rank their family is having the most influence on the difficult decisions in their lives. Given this powerful influence can parents afford not to respond with foresight love and value strengthening support. Together we can rise to the challenge.