ROCK SCORE CARD: Sen. Albert Gore (D-Tenn.)...

ROCK SCORE CARD: Sen. Albert Gore (D-Tenn.) may be out of the Democratic presidential race, but that doesn’t mean rock fans can expect wholehearted support from either of the remaining candidates. In fact, when Rev. Jesse Jackson and Gov. Michael Dukakis are back drumming up fund-raising support for the upcoming California primary, we’d like to see some record industry fat cats ask the potential nominees exactly where they stand on the issue raised by Al & Tipper Gore--rock as pornography. During the recent New York primary campaign, the Village Voice pressed Jackson and Dukakis on the rock issue, with each sounding more like fans of Pat Boone than Prince.

(We can only imagine what their even more conservative opponent, George Bush, might have to say.)

Jackson was recently quoted as saying of certain rock songs: “We must call pornographic music what it is--child abuse.” He told the Voice he opposed censorship, but said he has challenged “artists and programmers to be sensitive to what they put on the air.” Jackson also described attending a Funkadelic concert with his kids, where he heard the band shout numerous obscene refrains, including the relatively tame “get off your (butt) and smoke some grass.” He said, “It was clear to me that the teacher that they would meet on Monday could not compete with that kind of mass, decadent life style.”

Dukakis favored an industry-organized ratings system similar to the one used for films. “If you’re saying to me, ‘Do I think that it would be desirable to inform parents?’ it might well be, but I would prefer to see that done by the industry and not mandated by law.”