Re: Payola Scandals

["'A. Joseph Ross'" <lawyer@world.std.com>]

On Mon, 21 Apr 1997, Donna Halper wrote:

> A shameful time in history-- top-40 was new, some dj's were greedy, ASCAP
> and the government believed rock was dangerous, and Dick Clark escaped
> prosecution by ratting out Alan Freed (obm).  Yep, it all occurred around
> the time of the quiz show scandals, and entire books have been written on
> the subject.  Dave Maynard and Norm Prescott were among those summoned to
> Washington; most historians today believe that Alan Freed was made the
> scapegoat for the entire thing, and the hearings more reflected the older
> generation's distaste with rock music and race-mixing-- little solid proof
> was offered that out-of-control dishonesty existed in rock radio, but
> various congressmen believed rock was a cesspool of indecency (does this
> sound familiar?), and they decided somebody had to pay...  Much more could
> be said on the subject, but a simple Net search for Alan Freed (who was the
> subject of the movie "American Graffiti", I believe) is a good place to
> start... 

This brings back a few memories.  I think the quiz show scandal may have
led to the payola scandal, just as the Independent Counsel originally
appointed to investigate the certain real estate and bank transactions in
Arkansas a number of years ago then got assigned to investigate the Foster
suicide, the bruhaha over the White House Travel Office, and anything else
the Republicans wanted to try to pin on the Clintons.  I remember my high
school music teacher expressing the opinion that payola was responsible
for our lousy taste in music.  I thought many of the songs I heard on the
radio were pretty good, and I didn't understand why payola should have
made me think so.  I also remember that a short time after that, while
listening to the radio, I decided that the hit songs of that week were all
pretty bad, and I was afraid that payola had ruined pop music.  I needn't
have worried.  Better songs came along in due course.

I don't think "American Graffiti" was about Alan Freed, unless I'm
confusing it with another movie.  I thought "American Graffiti" was the
one that was sort of a forerunner of "Happy Days," with everyone cruising
around in their cars and someone goes to the radio station and meets
Wolfman Jack.

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  A. Joseph Ross, J.D.                                          617/367-0468
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