Rate Your Music score: 0.67 out of 5!
PowerSource was a church group from Texas. This song dealt with child abuse, and it was recorded in 1985 with lead vocals by 6-year-old Sharon Batts. The record finally became popular when influential radio stations in New York and Tampa began playing it.
But Rate Your Music reviewers have taken a rather dim view of this record. One said, "Never before have I heard a song so contrived, so emotionally manipulative, so downright disgusting and harrowing in its shameless exploitation of such a serious issue. This is basically every bad 'message song' of the 1980s rolled into one."
Other websites complain that the '80s had a "vigilante" attitude toward child abusers. But that's a lot better than what we see now. These days, TV networks and political parties go out of their way to elevate celebrities who have endorsed child abuse. For example, CBS gave Lisa Whelchel her own spot on Survivor: Philippines. The Democratic National Convention invited has-been singer Pink to perform, even after she said, "I think parents need to beat the crap out of their kids." That's in addition to NBC's Today endorsing child abuse outright.
Incidentally, I learned in broadcasting class in college that affiliated TV stations are responsible for what they air, even if it comes from a network. I think the FCC might want to take a look when the licenses for some of our local affiliates come up for renewal.
Even a serious song like "Dear Mr. Jesus" isn't safe from parody. Back when the song was a hit, a local radio station (I don't even remember which one) made a parody called "Dear Mister Rogers." That was also around the time Mister Rogers visited a children's show in the Soviet Union.
No comments:
Post a Comment