POP/ROCK - March 15, 1996

Second-Guessing Grammy Taste: Alanis Morissette’s “You Oughta Know” was the big winner at last month’s Grammy Awards, but the song’s graphic sexual references and use of a common four-letter word don’t pass muster with Mississippi legislators. Following the Grammys, the state House passed a resolution praising the song’s co-writer Glen Ballard--a Mississippi native. Then, the representatives read the lyrics--and this week voted to rescind the honor. “It clearly mirrors why society is how it is today,” Democratic Rep. Jim Evans, a minister, said of the song. Republican Rep. Andrew Ketchings said he introduced the resolution without knowing much about the song.

‘Gangsta’ Turf Wars: Two Los Angeles music writers have sued Grammy-winning rapper Coolio, MCA and Tommy Boy Records and others, claiming the top-selling hit “Gangsta’s Paradise” is their copyrighted song “Solo Is So Low.” Ruben Morrow and Sean McNair claim in their Los Angeles federal court lawsuit that they wrote the song--with different lyrics--in May 1994. Coolio has said that the record is a reworking of an old Stevie Wonder song--a contention that Wonder publicly supported during backstage comments at the Grammys. A spokesman for Coolio and Tommy Boy Records declined comment on the suit, as did an MCA spokeswoman. Among other defendants named in the suit is Buena Vista Pictures Distribution Inc., which released “Dangerous Minds,” the Michelle Pfeiffer movie that features Coolio’s song on its soundtrack. “Gangsta’s Paradise” was the top single of 1995, selling about 2.5 million copies.