Vaus Claims Termination With Extreme Prejudice

Given all the reports lately of record companies distancing themselves from controversial records, the case of singer Steve Vaus may sound like business as usual.

RCA Records has severed ties with Vaus after several radio stations refused to air his single because of controversial content--even though the record had broken into the national pop Top 100.

The catch is Vaus isn’t a gangsta rapper, but a country singer--and his music isn’t anti-police, but pro-prayer.

The 40-year-old San Diego singer claims that RCA terminated his contract because of pressure from radio programmers who labeled his “We Must Take America Back” single as “preachy.”

The record--a flag-waving, fundamentalist pitch for prayer in schools--peaked at No. 68 on Billboard magazine’s pop singles chart on Aug. 15. Some sample lyrics:

We need prayer in schools and more things

“Made in the U.S.A.”

It’s the least we can do for the red, white and blue .

We must take America back.

There’s hell on earth in some city schoolyards,

When bullets and birth control outnumber books something’s wrong.

We must take America back

The flip side of the single is an anti-abortion message titled “Never Had a Chance.”

“I couldn’t have been more effectively silenced if someone had put a gun to my head and pulled the trigger,” says Vaus. “What’s the difference between Ice-T and Sister Souljah and me? If this isn’t censorship, I don’t know what is.”

Jack Weston, vice president and general manager of RCA Records in Nashville, disagrees. Weston, who signed Vaus, says his decision to drop the singer was motivated by economics, not political pressure.

Despite its Top 100 chart appearance, “We Must Take America Back” sold fewer than 25,000 copies and obtained airplay on fewer than two dozen of the nation’s more than 200 key country radio stations.

Music industry insiders say that it is not uncommon for a label to drop a new artist if the performer’s debut does not receive substantial airplay or sell records.

“Sometimes you see the writing on the wall and you try to cut your losses as quickly as you can,” Weston explains. “When we first heard Mr. Vaus’ music, we thought that, given the election and the current political climate, it might appeal to a lot of folks out there. But we were wrong.

“Radio programmers said they didn’t think their listeners wanted to hear somebody harping about all these causes in such a preachy manner. Fact is, the record just didn’t sell.”