http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0124/sotc.shtml # # Week of June 13 - 19, 2001 # # Radio Can't Even Play My Jam # # Eminem is a man of many guises, but is he ready to be the new # Mapplethorpe? On June 1, the FCC fined Colorado radio station # KKMG $7000 for playing the "clean" version of Em's "The Real # Slim Shady," the same one played thousands of times last summer # by pop, rock, and r&b stations around the country-maybe the first # time all those formats agreed on a No. 1. # # The commission-now chaired by Colin Powell's son Michael-found # that the song contains "sexual references in conjunction with # sexual expletives that appear intended to pander and shock," # a description the artist could hardly dispute; in fact, the # indecency standard is practically the subject of the song. # # "Sometimes I want to get on TV and just let loose, but can't/But # it's cool for Tom Green to hump a dead moose," reads the # transcript of the offending track in the FCC's decision. "My # bum is on your lips . . . /And if I'm lucky you might just give # it a little kiss/And that's the message we deliver to little # kids/And expect them not to know what a woman's BLEEP is?" # # "I think all of America should feel threatened," says Def Jam # founder Russell Simmons, who will lead a "hip-hop summit" this # week at the Hilton. Last week Simmons received a Father of the # Year award from the National Father's Day Committee at the # Marriott Marquis, and found that Powell was a co-honoree. # # According to Simmons, Powell said he'd like to come to the summit, # but on Friday Powell's staff called to say he had a scheduling # conflict. "He said [this fine] was just a random case, and not # to view it as an attack, but that's bullshit," Simmons says. # "I asked him how the record was indecent, and he couldn't give # me a clear answer." (The FCC declined comment.) # # Kathleen Kirby, KKMG's lawyer, isn't surprised. "FCC indecency # rules are difficult to get your arms around, even for the agency's # own attorneys." Nonetheless, she calls the fine "unusual" and # says the station will appeal. Earlier this year, the commission # imposed an equal fine on a Wisconsin station for "accidentally" # playing the album version of "Slim Shady." # # Kirby is cautious about gauging the political implications of # the fine. Powell was appointed by Clinton-Bush named him chair # days after the inauguration-and is known as a strong advocate # of the First Amendment, while Gloria Tristani, the other remaining # Clinton appointee, has pushed for more aggressive indecency # enforcement. Neither was involved in issuing the fine, which # was imposed by career civil service employees in the FCC's newly # created enforcement bureau. # # Will other stations be fined? FCC enforcement actions are driven # by complaints from listeners, and the agency won't tell Kirby # whether it has received any others. # # "This is probably a result of pressure from this organization," # says Paul McGeady, director of Morality in Media's National # Obscenity Law Center on the Upper West Side, which lobbied # Congress during the first few months of Bush II for stepped-up # enforcement. # # But even McGeady can't pinpoint what's wrong with the clean # version. "The whole thing is offensive. It's got bestiality; # he's talking about a vagina-what more do you need?" # # Actually, the bleeped word is "clitoris," and the question Eminem # poses is similar to the one his lawyers will raise. "The Supreme # Court said in the Pacifica case that the FCC can bar the 'seven # dirty words' because radio is a uniquely pervasive medium that # is particularly accessible to children," says Northern Kentucky # University law prof Kenneth Katkin (who has done work for Kirby's # firm). # # "But this looks a lot more like the FCC trying to decide what # ideas kids can hear, and even the FCC would agree that's # unconstitutional." Kids with Web browsers can find the complete # lyrics of the "dirty" version on the FCC's own Web site, # # http://www.fcc.gov/eb/broadcast/obscind.html # # along with shock-jock pedophilia jokes, lots of cusswords, and # oral-sex tips from Monty Python. -Josh Goldfein