Form Letter

I herewith present the “Calendar All-Purpose Pop Music Letter Controversy”:

Step 1

Robert Hilburn writes the following article:

A--Bruce Springsteen/

R.E.M. is/are the pinnacle of rock music as meaningful art.

B--Radio playlists are a vast vacuous wasteland.

C--Rock music is worthy of serious critical attention.

Step 2

Print one or more examples of any or all of the following letters:

A--Rock “music” isn’t music, it’s garbage!

B--The rock music I listened to when I was a kid was great, but now it’s all garbage.

C--What about Third World music? You always leave out Third World music.

D--Only punk was vital, but now punk’s dead and everything else is garbage.

E--One more article about Springsteen and I’ll scream.

F--What’s wrong with heavy metal? It totally talks to where my head’s at.

G--Me and my friends like what KIIS-FM plays--if everybody likes it, it can’t be terrible, right?

H--What about Madonna? She sings great and she’s sexy too!

Step 3

Repeat every weekend until readers’ heads explode.

IAN R. BESTE

South Pasadena