RADIO WHIZ ABORTS CAREER OVER ADS

What do Prince and Planned Parenthood have in common? They’re too outrageous for the airwaves, at least to one radio-station exec.

Randy Kabrich, the award-winning program director at WROQ-AM/FM in Charlotte, N.C., resigned earlier this month, citing the station management’s decision to air a battery of Planned Parenthood spots that he claimed were “too volatile and blatant” to appear on a “family” radio station.

“I’ve been trying to make WROQ a fun, family radio station--an escape from reality, from the conflicts in life--and I felt these spots were inappropriate for the station’s audience. We have a large listenership among 25- to 34-year-old females and you have to program in a way that, shall we say, makes it safe for them to listen to the station.”

Kabrich said that the airing of the spots created an “uproar” in the community and that to air the spots would “jeopardize” the station’s ratings, which had risen during his tenure as program director to the highest ratings in the market. He termed the decision “firstly” a ratings decision and “secondly” a “personal, moral” decision. He added that he would also refuse to air anti-abortion spots, “even though personally I would agree with them.”

According to Kabrich, who was twice named Billboard magazine Top 40 radio programmer of the year, the station ownership had agreed when he originally took the position that no birth control or abortion spots would air. When the spots ran earlier this month, he said he met with the owners and resigned.

The fine line between good taste and censorship has become a battle line in rock radio today. Spurred into action by influential parents and teacher groups that have voiced concern about alleged “pornographic and sexually explicit” lyrics of many current hits, the National Assn. of Broadcasters recently urged record companies to include lyric sheets with copies of new albums shipped to radio stations.

Kabrich said he had edited out controversial lyrics to “about 15% to 18%” of the songs on the station’s playlist, saying he has refused to air such hit records as Prince’s “Erotic City,” Shalamar’s “Dancing in the Sheets” and Olivia Newton-John’s “Physical.”

“The programmer is paid to use his judgment, including what records to edit and what records and commercials to put on the air,” he said. “I don’t believe in censoring artists, but I do believe the programmer should have creative control over what airs on his station just as the artist has creative control over his own music.”

However, station owner Sis Kaplan disputed Kabrich’s account, saying there had been “absolutely no uproar at all” over the Planned Parenthood spots, which she said are still airing on the station. “We received a total of about four negative calls, which all seemed to be from members of the same area organization, which is also against having sex education in the schools.”

Kaplan said her agreement with Kabrich only extended to “specific” abortion ads, not Planned Parenthood spots, which she said were “perfectly acceptable and very educational.

“We’re a very responsible force in the community,” she said. “And I think it’s more than a little presumptuous for a programmer to start deciding what commercials are acceptable and which aren’t. I’m not a believer in dictatorships--benevolent or not.”

WHO WAS THAT “MASK” MAN? If they gave out Academy Awards for the film with the most ill-fated sound track, “Mask” would easily be the leading Oscar contender this year. Earlier this year, the film’s director, Peter Bogdanovich, was locked in a widely publicized battle with Universal Pictures, which refused to purchase a batch of Bruce Springsteen songs for use in the film.

Universal insisted that Bogdanovich settle for several Bob Seger songs as replacements. And if you buy the film’s sound-track album, which MCA Records finally released last week, you’ll have to settle for even less. The record, list-priced at a steep $9.98, doesn’t have any songs by Seger, let alone Springsteen. Instead it offers 10 tunes from the film, including a pair of Steely Dan tracks, three Little Richard songs and two by Gary U.S. Bonds.

What happened? According to Universal Pictures music director Brendan Cahill, Seger’s record label, Capitol Records, refused to grant MCA permission to use the original Seger recordings for the sound track. “Normally, I would’ve pushed it further and tried to negotiate a way to get permission, but it would’ve meant that we would’ve had to get Seger involved again and I just couldn’t see doing that.

“We just decided, ‘Why keep this whole thing stirred up?,’ ” Cahill said. “Instead of aggravating everyone further, we thought we’d rather let the whole controversy die down.”

HOSTAGE ROCK UPDATE, DAY 17: Remember such novelty greats as “Let’s Make Islamic Atomic,” “Take Your Oil and Shove It” and “We’re Going to Kick Your Ass, Take Your Gas and Say Ayatollah So?” That’s right, it’s time for another round of hostage-crisis ballads. Just as the 1979 Iranian kidnaping provoked a volley of angry musical broadsides, the latest hostage crisis in Lebanon has prompted America’s frustrated troubadours to get out their guitars, build up a head of steam and sing the blues.

Ken Scott, a Nashville talk-show host, has already released a single called “Let Our People Go,” while Alabama-based singer Roger Hallmark is on the airwaves with a tape called “The Chicken Shiites,” where he threatens to bomb the terrorists, singing, “We’re going to wring the necks of that bunch of chicken Shiites.”

Scott, who said he will donate the proceeds from his single to a trust fund for the hostages, expresses support for President Reagan’s decision not to take military action. However, Hallmark, who co-wrote a ballad, “A Message to Khomeini,” at the height of the Iranian crisis, offers a far more angry stance. He sings, “Let’s see how brave they are, when Ronnie hollers charge, that’s when the Shiites hit the fan.” The song ends with what is apparently meant to be Shia chanting, with a back-up band playing excerpts from such patriotic favorites as “Anchors Aweigh,” “America the Beautiful” and “The Caissons Go Rolling Along.”

ON THE TOWN: Who were those three gum-cracking hipsters crowded around the mike during Katrina & the Waves’ encore last weekend at the Palace? None other than the Bangles (minus Susanna Hoffs), who were perhaps repaying a favor--the group recorded a Waves song, “Going Down to Liverpool,” on their debut album. Looking like an ‘80s version of the Andrews Sisters, the gals lent a vocal hand to a spirited version of the Contours’ “Do You Love Me.” . . . Meanwhile, over at Al’s Bar, the throng on hand to see the Meat Puppets included I.R.S. Chairman Miles Copeland, fueling rumors that the label may be close to signing the Phoenix-based band sometime later this summer. . . . And if you’re near a radio this Thursday, tune in KCRW-FM for a four-hour interview with R&B; great Ray Charles, who’ll be Roger Steffens’ guest on “A 4th of July Tribute to Ray Charles.” Airing from 12 to 4 p.m., the show will intersperse a host of Charles tunes with such interview topics as Charles’ reaction to the “We Are the World” sessions, his controversial appearances in South Africa and reminisences of his far-ranging musical collaborations over the years.

VIDEORGY: The soon-to-be-legendary underground classic, “Desperate Teenage Love Dolls,” will be screened this Friday at 10 p.m. at the EZTV Video Gallery. The trashy saga of an all-girl rock band (“where climbing to the top means climbing into bed”) features performances by Jennifer Schwartz and Hilary Rubens and music by Redd Kross, White Flag and the Nip Divers. Also on the bill: Lydia Lunch’s Super-8 sex fantasy “The Right Side of My Brain,” which also features Black Flag’s Henry Rollins and Foetus Flesh’s Jim Foetus. . . . The historic “One Night With Blue Note” jazz all-star concert, held last February at New York’s Town Hall, is now available in two one-hour videocassettes. The first volume focuses on Herbie Hancock, Bobby Hutcherson, Art Blakey and Stanley Jordan. The second volume spotlights McCoy Tyner, Charles Lloyd, Cecil Taylor and a “Summertime” duet with Kenny Burrell and Grover Washington Jr. . . . And our favorite veejay remark of the month comes from VH-1’s Rita Coolidge, who introduced a clip, “The Highwayman,” co-starring Kris Kristofferson, by joking, “Now here’s a video by my favorite ex-husband.”

AND NOW HERE’S THE NEWS: After hanging around New York for what’s seemed like years, frequenting every new hangout and getting his picture taken with virtually any celebrity in town, Boy George is finally going back to work. Culture Club begins its world tour July 24 in Tel Aviv, moving on to Greece and Japan before arriving at the Universal Amphitheatre Aug. 20 for a two-night stand. . . . Speaking of the Boy, he recently confided how much he liked Madonna’s “Like a Virgin,” quipping, “Say what you will about the girl, but she’s got a very, very long memory.” . . . A deserved round of applause goes out to Twisted Sister, who insisted that Atlantic Records put out the band’s previously unreleased 1982 album, “Under the Blade,” at a budget-priced $6.99. . . . On the other hand, let’s have a Bronx cheer for Arista Records, which has released a tackily packaged Barry Manilow greatest-hits compilation (of course, only after Manilow had left the label). The good news is that Arista included 20 songs in the collection--the bad news is that the label crammed them all on one record, which, as any audio expert will tell you, considerably reduces the sound quality of the album.