...When All is Said and Dunn

Listening to music is one of my favorite things to do, and it always has been. While my first choice is usually rock 'n' roll, nothing is off limits Classical, country, pop, jazz, gospel, r&b, alternative and I know some of you will cringe, but there is even some rap I find entertaining. Like I said, nothing is off limits as long as it appeals to my ear and mood

Nowadays a new aspect has been introduced into my listening regimen, the fact that I have pre-teen children, who are also very interested in listening to music. My kids are old enough to know what's popular in the music world, but still young enough that there are certain lyrics I don't want them hearing.

Now that my daughter has discovered KIIS FM, which of course, all of her friends listen to, both kids are listening to all the top 40 songs. Although it is not my station of choice and is immediately switched off as soon as she leaves the car, I let her listen to it while she's in the car. That is until just recently. I know many of you have probably not heard it yet, but there is a song that is currently climbing the charts by a group called "the Bloodhound Gang".

The song is called "the Bad Touch" and the mere fact that it is being played in what is called "heavy rotation" on a station where the majority of its listeners are pre-pubescent teens is nothing short of outrageous.

This is not a new group. They have actually been around for a while; but due to the explicit nature of their lyrics, they rarely see any airplay. Which is why I don't understand who felt it was acceptable to air this song. As a sample, the words to the chorus of the song are "Come on baby, we ain't nothing but mammals so let's do it like they do on the Discovery Channel."

This part is actually the least offensive of all the lyrics. While I find them witty and appropriate for adults, I don't think they are fit to be listened to or sung along to by 10 year old girls. Which is what is happening. When the song came on as we were leaving for school the other morning, I switched the station. My daughter said she wanted to hear it because some girls at school were singing it and talking about it. Oh, great.

There are tons of songs in my CD collection that I will not let my kids listen to for years to come that are far better musically than this one. But they have lyrics that are not suitable for young ears. I am a huge fan of Frank Zappa and have many of his albums, but my kids will not be listening to them until they are much older. To be honest, there are entire Zappa albums I would rather that they were listening to than this one song.

I guess it's just a sign of the times, but I know for a fact if Frank had released this same song while he was alive, it would never have seen a second of radio airplay.

One of the last great fights of Frank's life was going to Washington to object to the proposed labeling of albums that had explicit lyrics. That little bill was thought up by Tipper Gore. I never in my wildest imagination thought I would ever be saying this, but Frank, wherever you are, Tipper was right.

I wish that record companies would be more diligent in the labeling of CDs. I recently purchased CDs that had no "explicit lyrics" sticker on them, but had lyrics that would make a sailor blush. Not me, but a sailor for sure.

Some of you are thinking "Bill, its just a sign of the times, it's a passing phase." When we were growing up we listened to music that our parents disapproved of, too. My parents thought that The Beatles and Rock n' Roll were nothing more than a flash in the pan. Their parents felt the same way about Frank Sinatra and Cab Calloway and their parents felt the same way about Al Jolson.

It is an ongoing cycle passed from generation to generation. The difference is, The Beatles, Frank Sinatra, Cab Calloway and Al Jolson never had lyrics like these.

While my musical tastes are varied enough to encompass my kids' tastes in music, as a father I am worried. Worried that this is not a passing phase. That the sexual innuendoes will continue to the point where we will have sexually aware 5 year olds, knowing words to songs they shouldn't be listening to, and that cannot be allowed to happen. We need to make the disc jockeys think that they are talking to 20 year olds exclusively, be made aware of the wide range of demographics they cover.

The disc jockeys, programmers, and station managers need to open their eyes and listen with new ears to what they are sending into our cars and homes and pretend for a moment that it is their 10 year old that is listening to their program. Would they still have the same play list?

Every radio station has hot lines that you can call. Let's use our freedom of expression and call them and let them know these songs are inappropriate for our kids. Because if they can't do it themselves, maybe we should start rating their stations the same way that the film industry rates their movies.