DANCING FEAT

Dennis Romero has performed a real service by calling attention to the lack of dance music currently being produced (“Spinning in the Spotlight,” June 25). There may be additional reasons to the ones he cited.

Kids want to listen to music that their parents don’t listen to. You don’t want to be into the same music your parents are. But the parents grew up in the ‘60s--their music was about peace and love and understanding. That includes almost everything. How were kids going to find music that their parents didn’t like as well?

The music of the ‘60s was about free love. The music being produced today is about free hate. R.E.M. has a song title that celebrates the saying of someone who mugged a prominent newscaster. Much of rap is about shooting and killing and dealing drugs and using four-letter words to describe women. Grunge and thrash? The only dancing at those concerts is by bald guys head-butting each other in the mosh pit.

So the music currently being produced is looking for socially acceptable uses of free hate. Of course, there aren’t any. That’s why so few of these bands have careers. Who were the top grossing concert acts of the past 12 months? the Eagles, the Stones, Pink Floyd--bands from 20 years ago.

What musicians are having the greatest success today? The ones who are singing, and whose music makes you want to dance--Whitney Houston, Madonna, Prince when he was still known as Prince.

To any musicians reading this: If you want to have a career, sing.

VIK RUBENFELD

Manhattan Beach