STOP MAKING

DIRTY

R & B RECORDS

Rhythm and Blues records are today coming into their own. Their acceptance among pop audiences has skyrocketed in recent months. Some of our top hits have come from the R&B field and R&B records are gaining wide popularity throughout the entire nation. This is a wonderful achievement and a commendable one. However, there’s a fly in the ointment. Now that these records are reaching pop audiences and getting greater air play than ever before, every word in them is being carefully scrutinized, every phrase searched for subtle meanings. Unfortunately some companies have taken the course of the quick buck and have turned out really dirty records which have become best sellers. Naturally you can market smut. No one denies that. But there’s a point at which the men who make their living from this industry have the responsibility to think of this industry’s future as well as its present. Nothing can kill the popularity which R&B records enjoy today quicker than the issuance of dirty records. These records are being played in juke boxes around which teenagers gather. They are getting air time on programs which these same teenagers are listening to. And already the complaints are pouring in from their parents. These complaints, if they last long enough, are going to result in all sorts of restrictive legislation which will be disastrous to the entire record industry. It’s going to do no one any good if censorship boards are set up meach state to determine what can or cannot go into the juke boxes. And this is already being threatened. But beyond the effects on the record industry alone, there is a sociological problem which is even more important. This country today is faced with a tremendous juvenile delinquency problem. Until now, one of the ways of fighting delinquency has always been with music and records, gathering the kids into a wholesome atmosphere, turning on the juke box and letting them have fun under the proper supervision. What a disaster it would be if suddenly the idea were implanted in the minds of educators and parents that records, instead of ameliorating delinquency conditions, were actually contributing to them. The problem is an immediate one—and vital to our future. This is not the time for a display of irresponsibility on the part of anyone in the record industry. R&B records can be hits without being dirty—as the majority of them have shown. And these clean records can achieve the most widespread acceptance among pop audiences as they are doing today. But the dirty ones are in a position to kill off that market not only for themselves but for all R&B records. Let the worst offenders—and they know who they are—ponder their responsibility for this possible future situation.

On Thu, 27 Jul 2023 07:38:14 -0700 (PDT), Bruce <SavoyBG@aol.com>
wrote:

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> STOP MAKING
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> DIRTY
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> R & B RECORDS
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How could a Dirty R&B Record incite juvenile delinquency in 1954?