ROCKOPHOBIA LIVES

Robert Hilburn’s starry-eyed review of 1985’s recorded outbursts of musical flatulence (“Live Aid to Sun City--A Dream Year,” Dec. 29) compels me to quote a recent blunt comment by outspoken bandleader-clarinetist Artie Shaw (which I have added to my lengthy I-Wish- I -Had-Said-That list):

“Four guys can go out there, gyrate around, stick out their pelvises and hit an anguished C chord, and they’ll make $72 million per minute. . . . Bruce Springsteen keeps playing the same chord through ‘Born in the U.S.A.’ . . . Mick Jagger is a wonderful athlete. . . . Prince is an aberration--very energetic, but what does that have to do with music? If you want energy, why not put a battery on stage?”

Felix de Cola couldn’t have said it better!

DR. MARVIN H. LEAF

Rancho Mirage