| Subject: article with a touch of jazz |
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Date Posted: 03:51:56 04/01/01 Sun
http://ujw.philly.com/2000/bands.htm
Up to mom, pop to ban the bands
by Kristen Herbert
Said & Done Staff Writer
Parents, not the record industry, should take responsibility for monitoring the music that adolescents listen to, say members of a local production company.
"Music is the ultimate form of expression," said Carvin Haggins, one of six record producers from A Touch of Jazz recording studios in Philadelphia. "It is the parent's position to monitor their children's access to offensive material. Environments make more of an influence than the music."
"Sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll" has become a common cliche since Elvis Presley's hips were swinging on the Ed Sullivan Show in the 1950s. It's been reinforced by the likes of Lil' Kim and her sexually explicit lyrics and risque dress.
Even with the parental advisory label created by the Parents Music Resource Center in 1990, music with objectionable content is still accessible to minors at record stores or through the Internet.
"If they want it, they will get it," said record producer Darren Henson. "The censorship label makes them want it more."
A Touch of Jazz Studios has produced tracks for controversial artists such as Lil' Kim and Eminem, as well as mainstream artists such as Will Smith and Tatyana Ali.
"When we are producing a track, we let the artist be who they are. We let them decide their message and how they will get it across," Henson said. "As far as the listener is concerned, it is their decision on whether it is objectionable and if they will buy it."
The biggest example of how music has become a scapegoat for bad behavior came a little more than a year ago in the Columbine High School tragedy. Soon after the gunmen were identified, the media learned that they listened to Marilyn Manson and German rockers Rammestein. Some news sources speculated the music triggered the shooting.
"Music is easy to blame. It is an easy outlet," Ivan Barias, another Touch of Jazz producer said. The media also linked the punk band Blink 182 to the suicide of a Columbine student, Greg Barnes, 17, who hanged himself earlier this year. His father found him in the garage, while "Adam's Song," a Blink 182 recording about depression, played on a CD player.
Columbine was not the first time that music has been blamed for a tragedy. In 1990, a Black Sabbath fan took his life, apparently after listening to the song "Suicide Solution."
Even with the controversy surrounding all the tragic events, A Touch of Jazz believes parental guidance is the most powerful influence for children.
"Music is motivation, but it is value that influences it," Haggins said.
- Venture Lee contributed to this story.
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