Bleep!

by Winfield, Betty Houchin; Davidson, Sandra

• ISBN13: 9780313307058
• ISBN10: 0313307059
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1999-06-01
• Publisher: Praeger Pub Text

Summary

Examining the various boundaries of American artistic tolerance, chapters address the societal and legal responses to rock and rap music. Artistic expression has historically clashed with mainstream views, resulting in apprehension acted upon internally and externally, especially when expression is aimed toward children or young adults. This work studies the mass media content and programming in network television, Rolling Stone magazine, and the New York Times reviews and spot news concerning rock and rap music. The National Endowment for the Arts, the FCC, and the music industry's internal responses to parents and adults are discussed as well. Inhibitions and censoring, it is argued, stem from adult concerns for a healthy functioning society and from anxiety about the impact of sexual explicitness and uncontrolled behavioral expression on adolescents. This work attempts to explain why societal intolerance has a pattern of limiting the lyrics and sounds of rock and rap music. Uniquely combining both societal and legal viewpoints on censorship of America's popular music culture, these essays address issues of concern to various scholars including those studying mass media, censorship, and American popular culture. Legal appendices are included as useful references, such as the National Endowments for the Arts Obscenity and Rejections Sections.

Author Biography

BETTY HOUCHIN WINFIELD is a professor of journalism and an adjunct professor of political science at the University of Missouri-Columbia.SANDRA DAVIDSON is an attorney and is currently a professor with the University of Missouri School of Journalism.

Table of Contents

``Let Me Count the Ways'': Censoring Rock `n' Rap Music	vii
Betty Houchin Winfield
From Fine Romance to Good Rockin'---and Beyond: Look What They've Done to My Song	1	(8)
Michael J. Budds
Because of the Children: Decades of Attempted Controls of Rock `n' Rap Music	9	(12)
Betty Houchin Winfield
Two Perspectives on Ice-T: ``Can't Touch Me'': Musical Messages and Incitement Law	21	(14)
Sandra Davidson
The Politics of Aesthetic Response: Cultural Conservatism, the NEA, and Ice-T	35	(16)
David Slayden
Stern Stuff: Here Comes the FCC	51	(22)
Sandra Davidson
Music Lyrics: As Censored as They Wanna Be	73	(14)
Jeffrey L. L. Stein
``Let's Spend the Night Together,'' Uhhh, ``Some Time Together,'' Making Rock Acceptable: ``The Ed Sullivan Show''	87	(8)
Stephen H. Wheeler
Rolling Stone's Response to Attempted Censorship of Rock `n' Roll	95	(8)
Lindsey R. Fore
Deconstructing the Hip-Hop Hype: A Critical Analysis of the New York Times' Coverage of African-American Youth Culture	103	(12)
Patrick B. Hill
Selected Bibliography	115	(8)
Index	123	(8)
About the Editors and Contributors	131