Music industry giant: 99% of music chart hit acts are “soft porn”

  While religious leaders have been warning about the moral effects of the modern pop music scene for decades, now even some leaders of the industry are expressing their concern. Today record producer Mike Stock told British media that he believes children are being “sexualized” by popular culture,
   “The music industry has gone too far. It's not about me being old fashioned. It's about keeping values that are important in the modern world. These days you can't watch modern stars - like Britney Spears or Lady Gaga - with a two-year-old.”
   “Ninety-nine per cent of the charts is R 'n' B and 99 per cent of that is soft pornography,” he added.
Stock is one of the trio of “legendary” music producers that constitute Stock Aitken Waterman, whose talent properties have included Cliff Richard, Debbie Harry, Donna Summer, La Toya Jackson and Kylie Minogue. The trio was one of the most successful songwriting and producing partnerships in the history of the music business, with more than 100 UK top 40 hits, and earning an estimated £60 million.
Stock told the Daily Mail, “Kids are being forced to grow up too young. Look at the videos. I wouldn't necessarily want my young kids to watch them. I would certainly be embarrassed to sit there with my mum.”
   In Britain the “Hit Parade,” the first British record sales chart at the dawn of the popular music era, was published in November 1952, and was measured by sales of sheet music. The first number 1 song on Britain’s Hit Parade was “Here in My Heart” by Al Martino, the Italian-American “pop crooner” and actor who is also known for his portrayal of the character Johnny Fontane in the 1972 film The Godfather.
This week, BBC Radio 1 reported that the number one UK spot was held by American rapper Tramar Dillard, better known by his stage name “Flo Rida,” for his rap piece “Club Can’t Handle Me.” The number, performed largely on two notes of the musical scale, includes a video in which a frenzied mob of night-clubbers burst out of the club and into the streets, destroying a corner shop to end up gyrating in a laundromat.
Lady Gaga’s widely criticized single, “Alejandro,” has fallen on the charts this week to number 22. The video features Lady Gaga, shown in scanty underwear and a mock nun’s habit, simulating sado-maochistic sex and swallowing a rosary. It also shows a team of semi-nude male dancers performing mock homosexual acts, themes that are so common they are starting to be considered passé in British pop culture.
“Before children even step into school, they have all these images - the pop videos and computer games like Grand Theft Auto - confronting them and the parents can't control it,” Stock continued.
   He has responded to the concerns of parents by producing what he has called a “family-orientated show.” The Go! Go! Go! Show is a pop song and dance show performed by “tween” singers that is playing to positive reviews in London.
Brian Clowes, the research director for the pro-life and pro-family group Human Life International, expressed surprise that there is anyone left who “doesn’t believe that the music industry degrades morals, sexualizes young girls and is disrespectful to women.”
Such people, he told LSN, “should just visit YouTube and randomly select a half-dozen music videos to watch.”
   “There are only a handful of artists who even attempt to promote good moral values, since this is considered ‘uncool’ and, even more importantly, unprofitable. Many of the singers target pre-teen girls with their messages, and then these girls follow the advice and lyrics they hear and wind up ruining their lives,” Clowes commented.
   “It's true that we are not forced to watch this trash; but we are also responsible for making sure our kids grow up holy, healthy and happy. If they follow music videos and shows, they will be zero for three.”


Reports

Hilary White.