POP MUSIC : Mojo Nixon Lets Words Fly Against Record-Label Plan

The record industry has found a new spokesman in its war against censorship: San Diego’s own Mojo Nixon. On Friday, the manic talkin’ bluesman appeared on the Cable News Network’s Crossfire program, railing against a proposed Missouri record-labeling law.

The bill, introduced by Missouri state representative Jean Dixon, would require records with potentially offensive lyrics to carry warning stickers on their covers. On the nationally televised debate, Nixon squared off with Dixon and conservative Crossfire co-host Pat Buchanan, arguing that such a law would not only be unconstitutional but practically impossible to enforce.

“I told them it was a blatant violation of the First Amendment right to freedom of speech, and just where does she (Dixon) get the right, applying her moral standards on someone else’s children,” Nixon said.

“Aside from that, I told them, it’s completely unenforceable. The state of Missouri can barely pave the roads, much less ascertain--of the 50,000 or so records that come out each year--which ones deserve a sticker and which ones don’t.

“And if the artists decide to challenge the state’s decree, then we get the courts involved--and how are they going to make a decision about every record?”

Nixon was a last-minute substitute for the originally scheduled Crossfire guest, Jello Biafra. The former leader of San Francisco punk-rock band the Dead Kennedys recently won a censorship battle of his own over the allegedly sacrilegious cover art on one of the group’s last albums: He was charged with peddling obscene material to minors, but the case was ultimately thrown out of court.

“He couldn’t do it, so he called me up the day before and asked if I could fill in for him,” said Nixon, who hasn’t exactly endeared himself to the Moral Majority, either, with irreverent ditties like “Stuffin’ Martha’s Muffin” and “Debbie Gibson Is Pregnant With My Two-Headed Love Chile.”

Friday morning, Nixon drove up to CNN’s Los Angeles bureau to tape the show.

“Before I got there, I called my brother, and he warned me, it’s not crossfire, it’s ambush,” Nixon said. “He was right. Pat jumped in from the get-go; the first question he asked me was, ‘How can you defend these people corrupting the minds of teen-agers?’

“I just said, ‘Teen-agers have to take responsibility for their own actions; it’s not the job of government to regulate the fine lines of morality.’

“Overall, I think I did pretty well, but I could have done better. When he introduced me, for example, he said, ‘I guess your mother didn’t christen you Mojo, so I’ll call you Mr. Nixon.’ I tried to say, ‘Just think of me as the satanic spawn of your former demigodic employer,’ but he cut me off.

“He’s real feisty, and I’d like to go for Round 2. If I do go on again, I’ll be better prepared--my spears are gonna be sharper.”

Locally, Nixon and Hunter S. Thompson will bring take their show to the Belly Up Tavern in Solana Beach on Thursday.

LINER NOTES: The 14th annual concert season at San Diego State University’s Open Air Theater opens March 30 with a performance by the Cult, whose last local appearance, in December, was at the much-larger San Diego Sports Arena. Also on the bill: Dangerous Toys and Tora Tora. . . . After nearly seven years of plying the local bar circuit, Borracho Y Loco has broken up. The popular tropical dance band’s farewell concert was Saturday night, at the Catamaran Resort Hotel’s Cannibal Bar in Mission Beach. . . .

North County classic-rock radio station KGMG-FM (Magic 102) will stage its third annual Big Boys Toy Show on Saturday and Sunday at Del Mar Fairgrounds. Among the exhibits: “The Guitars That Helped Shape and Define Rock ‘n’ Roll,” assembled by Dusty’s Guitar Kingdom of Oceanside. The collection includes one of the few Gibson Moderne prototypes in existence; a Vox Teardrop bass, the model used by Bill Wyman in the early years of the Rolling Stones; a 1960 MelodyMake; and an extremely rare Gibson red-white-and-blue “map” guitar. . . .

Promoter Rick Tupper sympathizes with the under-21 crowd that is effectively banned from attending nightclub concerts because of state liquor laws. Saturday night, he’s producing a double-header by the Untouchables at Rio’s in Loma Portal; no booze will be served during the first show, so anyone 18 and older is welcome. . . . Opening for Peter Murphy, March 7 at the California Theater downtown: Exene Cervenka, former lead singer with pioneering Los Angeles punk-rock band X. . . .

Tickets go on sale Saturday at 10 a.m. for Kitaro’s April 3 show at the California Theater. On Sunday at 10 a.m., tickets will be on sale for the April 5 Rush and Mr. Big concert at the Sports Arena.

Best concert bets for the coming week: Great White with the McAuley Schenker Group and Havana Black, Thursday at the California Theater; the Mighty Lemon Drops with Ocean Blue and John Wesley Harding, Friday at the UC San Diego; Aerosmith with Skid Row, Friday at the Sports Arena; Bobby Womack, Friday at the Bacchanal; the Walking Wounded, Friday at the Casbah; the Bonedaddys, Friday at Winston’s Beach Club; Omar and the Howlers, Saturday at the Belly Up Tavern; Fishbone, Saturday at Iguanas in Tijuana; Hank Thompson, Sunday at Leo’s Little Bit o’ Country; Eric Burdon with Robbie Krieger, Sunday at the Bacchanal; David Frizzell with Breakheart Pass, March 5 at Louie Louie’s; The The March 6 at the California Theater; Bob Welch with Avenue “M,” March 6 at the Bacchanal.