THE EFFECTS OF ROCK MUSIC A fifteen year old Tampa Bay boy filled his mouth with lighter fluid and blew it out of his mouth across a torch, ˙like Gene Simmons of KISS, and the ˙flame ˙came back and burned over thirty-five percent of ˙his ˙upper body. Rock music has been around for quite a while. ˙Everybody listens to it at least once in their life. ˙A ˙lot of people don't see anything wrong with it, but rock music can and does affect the minds and lives of teenagers. The ˙teenagers of today have a choice of whether they want to listen ˙to rock music or not, ˙but rock musicBus everywhere. ˙The average teenager listens ˙to over six hours of rock music a day. ˙This means ˙that ˙when their friends see them, ˙they are more than likely going to be listening to ˙rock music. ˙There is even rock music in the schools. ˙It is ˙true that ˙a ˙band ˙hall is a place for music, ˙but ˙not ˙rock ˙music ˙played throughout the lunch shifts. Admittedly, ˙˙rock ˙music ˙is a very good business as far ˙as ˙money ˙is concerned. Rock musicians make millions of dollars every year, but what are ˙they ˙going to spend that much money on? ˙After they buy ˙all ˙the houses ˙and cars that they want, ˙most of them buy and use drugs. ˙˙The Rolling Stones, ˙for instance, ˙is into turning children onto heroin and cocaine. ˙Keith Richards, of The Rolling Stones, ˙had a drug habit that ran up to ten-thousand dollars a day. Rock music can also hurt a teenager physically. The volume of the music can ˙hurt the ears of anyone who listens to it at a loud ˙volume. ˙˙Ted Nugent is deaf in one ear because of the volume of the music he has been playing. ˙˙The ˙Concord SSC has been prohibited ˙from ˙taking ˙off ˙and landing in many cities because it takes off and lands at one-hundred and forty ˙db's ˙of ˙sound. ˙The Rolling Stones have been recorded ˙as ˙the world's loudest concert at one-hundred and seventy six db's of sound. Most of the rock and roll superstars do use drugs. ˙A person could walk into ˙a concert and literally choke on the air ˙from all ˙the ˙marijuana ˙that is being smoked. ˙Grace Slick, ˙˙formerly ˙of Jefferson Starship, ˙used alcohol, ˙marijuana, ˙cocaine and LSD when she played her music. She named her son God and tried to get into the White House ˙to ˙spike ˙the ˙tea with LSD. ˙Linda Ronstadt has ˙had ˙her ˙nose cauterized ˙twice ˙for snorting cocaine. ˙This is a great shock to ˙her fans because she is thought of as "sweet and innocent." Johnny Barnnetti shoveled fake cocaine to the crowd while singing about it. ˙˙These ˙are just ˙a few examples, ˙but there are thousands more that use ˙and ˙abuse drugs. Some rock musicians even glorify drugs in their songs as the Beatles did in their song, ˙"Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds." They are disguising it pretty well but ˙it is plain ˙to ˙see ˙that they are glorifying the drug LSD. A ˙lot ˙of ˙rock ˙musicians put evil things into ˙their ˙lyrics. ˙˙Some musicians are in the occult and worship Satan himself. ˙The Bible tells people ˙to turn away from that which is evil and to have nothing ˙to ˙do with it. Some ˙of ˙the ˙colleges and universities ˙actually ˙have ˙classes ˙about witchcraft. ˙˙The ˙Bible also says that those who use witchcraft ˙or ˙a person ˙who is a witch will be driven away from the people by the ˙Lord. A ˙spokesman ˙from a popular record label says that witchcraft ˙is ˙very popular and it makes the albums sell. Some acid rock artists even go to their ˙occult ˙priests and tell them to make one demon ˙spirit ˙go ˙onto every record that comes off of the master record. ˙Then, every time the needle touches the record, the demon will be released. A ˙lot of the groups are evil themselves. ˙Bob Ezrin, ˙the producer ˙of KISS, ˙˙˙describes ˙the ˙group ˙as ˙"symbols ˙of ˙unfettered ˙evil ˙˙and sensuality." ˙Gene Simmons, ˙the lead singer of the group, ˙has ˙stated that he has always wanted to be God. ˙KISS has a comic book out that is the ˙best selling comic book ever. ˙They had blood samples taken and put the ˙blood on the printing plates so they could say the comic ˙book ˙was printed ˙in ˙the blood of KISS. ˙Gene Simmons has often ˙wondered ˙what human flesh tastes like. Jimmy Page, from the group Led Zeppelin, is fascinated with black magic. Led ˙Zeppelin's ˙logo on their albums looks like ˙Lucifer ˙falling ˙from heaven. Stevie Nicks, ˙of Fleetwood Mac, ˙is into the occult and she believes in spirits. ˙She believes in reincarnation, ˙she wants to talk to a ghost, and ˙she wants to build her own pyramid and live in a witch house. ˙She usually wears witches clothes when she is on stage. The ˙rock group Queen is mostly made up of bisexuals, ˙which their ˙name suggests. ˙In one of their more popular songs they sing the blasphemous chorus, "All going down to see the Lord Jesus!" This further proves the satanic world of this group. ˙Also, ˙˙lead singer Freddie Murcury says, "On stage, I am a devil." The ˙group ˙Styx does not really appear to be satanic, ˙but ˙their ˙name refers ˙to ˙the ˙first ˙river ˙the shadow of the dead ˙come ˙to ˙in ˙the underworld in Greek Mythology. The ˙lyrics ˙are what really affect the minds of teenagers because ˙most people don't know very much about the groups they listen to. ˙Here ˙are some lyrics from one of KISS's songs called, ˙"God of Thunder": ˙"I was raised by demons. ˙Trained to reign as Thor. ˙God of Thunder, ˙and rock and roll . . . The spell you're under will slowly rob you of your virgin soul." ˙To say they were raised by demons is enough, ˙but they say they will rob you of your virgin soul. A song by Rick Derringer says, "Take me to the bottom. Show me where to sell my soul. A promise sealed in blood . . . It doesn't feel so wrong, that ˙sweet, ˙sweet evil." ˙The name of the song is "Sweet ˙Evil" ˙˙and proves that they are evil if they think it is sweet. Another ˙group ˙that shows they are evil is AC/DC. ˙One of ˙their ˙most popular songs is entitled, "Hell's Bells." Some of the lyrics are, ˙"If God is on the left, ˙I'm on the right. ˙If you're into evil, ˙you're ˙a friend of mine." The words of the song speak for themselves. A group called Blue Oyster Cult has a song called, ˙"Divine Wind," which is ˙a ˙chant ˙of ingredients for a potion ˙which ˙means ˙they ˙are ˙into witchcraft. Some of the words are, "Blood of bat; Tail of newt; Wing of metal; ˙Bone of steel; ˙Vial of health; Flask of pain; ˙Staff of life of poison ˙rain; ˙If he really thinks we're evil, ˙then let's send ˙him ˙to Hell." Sex ˙is more predominant than anything else in the lyrics and the groups themselves. ˙Gene Simmons says that KISS is concerned with sex and very little else. ˙Wendy O. Williams, lead singer of the Plasmatics, usually appears ˙topless ˙at some point in her concerts. ˙Before she ˙uses ˙her trusty sledgehammer to destroy speakers and amplifiers, ˙she uses it ˙to masterbate in public and has been arrested in two major cities for doing so. ˙She also has orgasms when she sings her songs, ˙˙especially during one of her songs called, "Butcher Baby." David Lee Roth, lead singer for Van Halen, says he lives out one-hundred percent ˙of ˙his fantasies with pretty women that he meets on the ˙road. Elton ˙John says he can have sex with either male or female ˙and ˙thinks that people should be free with it. ˙Alice Cooper makes love with a ˙boa constrictor and a mannequin during some of his concerts. Daryl Hall, of Hall and Oates, ˙says the idea of having sex with another man doesn't turn him off. ˙The manager of Village ˙People ˙is trying to write songs that will make the gay people more ˙acceptable. Rod Stewart has always wanted to be attractive to men because that's half the people that buy his records. ˙Rob Halford has been known ˙to "drop his leather drawers mid-concert." ˙The reason for all the sex on stage is because it makes the records sell a lot better. Today's ˙rock musicians put sex into their songs mainly to put sex ˙into the minds of the teenager who listen to it. ˙Just the titles of some of AC/DC's songs are bad enough, like "Big Balls, ˙Love at First Feel, ˙and Let me put my Love into You." ˙Another song by AC/DC is, "Given the Dog a Bone," ˙which goes like this: ". . . GoizgEũdown to her knees, ˙˙down, down to ninety degrees . . . I'm just givin' ˙the dog a bone." ˙This is obviously talking about a man having oral sex with a woman. Ted ˙Nugent's ˙song ˙called, ˙"Wango Tango," ˙says ˙"When ˙I ˙need ˙some lubrication, baby, prop down, get a butt propped up. Now you're in the right position, baby." He talks about sadomasochism in his song, "Violent Love." Ted Nugent is not satisfied with that. He opened a concert with, "Wang Dang Sweetpoontang," which says, "Oh Madine, you're a teenage queen, so d----- clean, especially down in between." Pink Floyd says he needs a dirty woman and a dirty girl to make him feel like a man. ˙The Cars say they want to melt inside of you. ˙˙Dr. ˙Hook gets very vulgar when he says, "Sometimes I dream of chicks, sometimes I dream ˙of ˙animals, ˙sometimes I dream of boys." ˙This is from ˙a ˙song called, ˙"Get My Rocks Off." And finally, Alice Cooper describes having sex with a dead person in his song, "Cold Ethyl." Some people have tried to stop rock music from getting too powerful, but they ˙all ˙have ˙failed. ˙James Watt, ˙formerly the ˙Secretary ˙of ˙the Interior, ˙tried to stop the Beach Boys from playing at the 1983 ˙Fourth of July Celebration, ˙but President and Mrs. ˙Reagan told him that ˙they were friends ˙of theirs and that their kids grew ˙up ˙with ˙them. After this, ˙˙Watt decided to change his mind. ˙Many more attempts have ˙been made. Some have come closer than others, but they still can't stop rock music ˙from ˙being heard. ˙Rock music can be heard ˙everywhere. ˙˙It's hurting ˙teenagers ˙every ˙time they listen to it, ˙but rock ˙music ˙has settled ˙down ˙in ˙the past years, ˙and more and ˙more ˙Christian ˙radio stations are being started. Hopefully, this is a sign of what's to come in the future. Doug Reames, El Dorado, Arkansas