Cool the Rock, Soviet Journal Warns Youthful Music Lovers

Under Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev, rock ‘n’ roll groups are increasingly emerging from the underground and performing in public, but the government is finding that such results of glasnost (openness) have their drawbacks.

On Friday, the authoritative journal Soviet Russia sounded a warning about the effects--physical, not cultural--of rock music on listeners. It cited the findings of an unidentified scientist who had examined young people exposed to rock music.

The scientist found that the music acts as “a true narcotic,” producing “withdrawal symptoms, physical degradation, loss of social contacts” and other problems associated with drug use.

“A rock addict’s work productivity can drop as much as 50% depending on the kind of music and the dosage he takes,” the scientist reported.

He said his examinations suggested the possibility of “full-blown addiction” or “rock mania,” and he said this “must be dealt with medically as well as socially.”

The journal limited its report to the researcher’s findings. However, some observers here suggested the report was really part of a cultural counterattack by ideologically conservative periodicals, of which Soviet Russia is one, against too much liberalism in music.

Government-approved bands such as Korroziya Metalla (Metal Corrosion), a heavy metal ensemble said to be the loudest in Moscow, have become popular.

Under Gorbachev’s policy of glasnost, or openness, authorities set up the Moscow Rock Laboratory, which offered amateur rock bands the chance to play in public with government sanction. This has led to a growing public appetite for the sort of music produced by such groups as Korroziya Metalla, Chornoye Kofe (Black Coffee), Bravo, Rondo and Aquarium.