Where I Stand — Brian Greenspun: Still saving the music

Tuesday, Oct. 20, 1998 | 11:26 a.m.

Save the music. Enlighten the soul.

One of the great things about our new cable partner, Cox Communications, is the enthusiasm it brings to charitable events that impact the lives of people in the communities it serves. It is not only good business for corporations to be involved in all aspects of community life, it is good for the souls of the people who work for those companies.

Nowhere is this more true than in the just completed VH-1, Fairway to Heaven golf tournament that brought out the top names in professional golf and the entertainment industry to lend their support to this most innovative and fulfilling charitable effort.

Save the Music was conceived by VH-1's president, John Sykes, a few years ago as a meaningful way of ensuring that the band programs throughout America's public schools would not be subjected to the budget axe that has already decimated so many of the noncore learning opportunities throughout the nation's school districts.

Music, especially, should be the last of the "extracurriculars" to succumb to the shortsightedness of legislators and school trustees across this country who don't understand the benefit of educating the whole student. So, when money is tight and everything is on the table, VH-1's effort may be the only thing that stands between music appreciation and the wrong kind of silence in our schools.

When Prime Cable got involved three years ago it made a commitment to do what it could to help make this program a success. To date, we have provided $200,000 in musical equipment and resources to Clark County schools so that children will not go wanting for lack of the proper instrument. And the same effort is happening across the country.

John Sykes is committed to $100 million in support for 1 million children during the next ten years. And, through the generosity of a growing list of sponsors and a group of selfless entertainers and professional golfers, the numbers will be met.

Raising money, though, doesn't have to be all work. That's where the Fairway to Heaven golf tournament comes in, because that's where the hard work ends and the fun begins. I am not the person to talk about the incredible array of musicians who lent their golf skills to this effort because, for the most part, life in the music lane has passed me by. But, I do recognize names like Little Steven Van Zandt -- from The E Street Band fame -- and my kind of music man, Branford Marsalis. Greg Camp, Kevin Coleman, Paul De Lisle and Steve Harwell didn't mean much to me until I was told they were with Smash Mouth, a name on the tongues of the under-30 set.

I know I am dating myself but guys like Alice Cooper and Huey Lewis are more my speed -- both in age and a shared love of golf, and neither of them have missed a Fairway to Heaven tournament. Throw in Bill Murray, Chris O'Donnell, Danny Gans, David Cassidy and Stephen Baldwin and the fans who lined the fairways and crowded the greens were not disappointed. Of course, I had my favorites, too. Besides my new friend and partner, Robert Wuhl, my day was made when I met Teri Hatcher. For the first time in my life I was jealous of Superman.

I was also jealous of the great golf swings that came with each of the professional golfers who gave so willingly of their time to this wonderful cause. The crowds were always pleased when John Daly teed it up to help Save the Music. And watching that beautiful swing of Michelle McGann should have done wonders for any amateur looking to improve. Throw in the perfection of Paul Azinger, Helen Alfredsson, Justin Leonard, a remarkable young man named Todd Demsey and the rest of the professional field and anyone who couldn't get enough of the Las Vegas Invitational would surely get their fill. Of course, I have to mention my friend Bruce Fleisher who helped a stacked team, consisting of Callaway's Bruce Parker, Alice Cooper and the Barbary Coast's Kenny Epstein, manage a three-peat as tourney champs (this is called being a good loser).

All in all it was a great day of fun, good music and great golf. And the best part about it is that VH-1 and its sponsors managed to raise another $300,000 or so to help kick off this year's Save the Music program. And, just in case you still don't think that providing instruments and the wherewithal to continue music programs in our public schools is a good idea, read what my young friend Diana wrote. She is a student at Orr Middle School and speaks for all of her classmates:

"We students at Orr Middle School would like to thank you for the instruments you donated to us. We really needed them. I think kids should be more involved in music so that they're not in gangs or something like that ... Sincerely, Diana."

All of the letters from these young people spoke of need and the need to focus on something other than drugs, gangs and the other serious pitfalls that stare unrelentingly into the faces of our most precious gift to the future. What VH-1 has done is help us find a better way for them to go with their lives -- through the music that opens the way into the soul and helps create the imagination from which our children's dreams are made.

It is a compelling story and one, I am happy to say, that Cox Communications has subscribed to without a moment's hesitation. That means we'll be back next year doing what we can to save the music and, along with it, the future.

Because it really is good for the soul!