Where I Stand — Brian Greenspun: Lovin’ that soul music

Friday, Oct. 22, 1999 | 9:40 a.m.

Brian Greenspun is editor of the Las Vegas Sun.

MUSIC IS GOOD for the soul. Saving it is good for everybody.

There are many times during the year in which I step boldly out of my element to travel into uncharted waters. One of the most exciting and clearly unusual of those times is my annual foray into the strange and lyrical world of rock music. It is also one of the most rewarding.

On Monday was VH1's Fairway to Heaven golf tournament at the Las Vegas Country Club. That in itself is very familiar territory. What is always challenging is trying to figure out who is a twenty- or thirtysomething movie, music or television star and who is a similarly youngish corporate sponsor of one of America's great philanthropic efforts. They all talk the same, dress the same and, except for their differing abilities on the golf course (the rock stars are the good golfers), act the same so that a fellow of my limited experience in such matters is at a constant disadvantage trying to determine just who's who.

The golf tournament and related fund-raising activities that find their way to the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas each year are the creation of VH1 President John Sykes, a man whose marketing genius is unquestioned and whose commitment to saving the music for the next generation is unparalleled. And lest you think that John is the only person who understands the importance of music to the heart and soul of this nation, think again.

I usually take my cues regarding music education from the Clark County School District's resident expert, Marcia Neel. When Marcia tells me what is happening is good for young people, I believe her. And when VH1 and its many corporate sponsors who share the same vision of a musical generation spend a good part of their year making sure that guys like me understand the need for music education, I have to listen.

And just in case I forget from time to time, all I need do is look at the faces of the young schoolchildren who flock to the Las Vegas Country Club each year to see their favorite pop music stars. Then I listen to the music they make in the public schools on instruments that have been provided through the generosity of VH1 Save the Music. Instruments that, but for Save the Music, would not be available. Nor would the music programs that teach them.

I don't know when it happened, but in recent years we have been overwhelmed as a society by some need to cut spending for public education. Naturally, the last things to go are the three R's and their progeny, and the first to go are those classes that don't enjoy broad-based support. Foremost among them are the efforts to teach the joys of music to our young people. Not only is the money cut to pay the teachers, but the dollars needed to make the expensive instruments available for those young people who can't afford them all but disappears.

Save the Music provides the money and the instruments that enable the teachers to teach and the students to learn the beauty of making music. It is VH1's goal to raise $100 million over the next few years so that no student who wants to play will be denied that opportunity. Because of Marcia's efforts and those of her colleagues in Las Vegas, thousands of young children have been provided the instruments they need to learn and play. I am proud to say that Cox Communications is among the chief sponsors of VH1's efforts to lead the way to a better future for Las Vegas' coming generations.

But let's not get confused. There are some who will pooh-pooh the expenditures as unnecessary at a time when education dollars are hard to come by. While there are always places from which fat can be cut, denying our young people a chance to learn the musical arts is extremely shortsighted. There is not an expert with any credibility who will not affirm the relationship between music and math. And there should not be a thinking person who will deny the need for our country to produce students proficient in math and science courses.

In a world in which global competition is often decided by whose computers are better and faster and whose software is easier to use, anything we can do to encourage better scientists and mathematicians must be done. Music education is one of those things, and we get a bonus to boot. We get a society that learns to dream and a generation that understands the joys of the arts.

There is a reason that the biggest names in rock music and the biggest names in corporate America have come together to help John Sykes make his dream a reality. There is a reason why institutions charged with educating America have rallied behind VH1 Save the Music. And there is a reason why this weekend, VH1 will be partnering with the National Endowment for the Arts for a tribute to 20th century music and the national effort to Save the Music.

The "Concert of the Century for VH1 Save the Music" will take place in Washington, D.C., Saturday at 4:00 p.m. and be re-broadcast at 9 p.m. It will feature music legends like blues singer B.B. King and Eric Clapton and Latin music's Gloria Estefan, together with some newer stars like Sheryl Crow, Lenny Kravitz and 'N Sync. For those of us who aren't totally familiar with the newer names, there will be some well-known presenters like Robert DeNiro, Calista Flockhart, Gwyneth Paltrow and Meryl Streep, just to name a few.

To add emphasis to the need to keep music alive in our hearts and in our schools, the first lady, Hillary Rodham Clinton, who has been very active in her personal support for such efforts, is expected to join with President Clinton to help celebrate this historic event. I am certain the concert will be exceptional, as well as an opportunity for those of you who are rock-star challenged like me to put some names to the faces and music that will be played.

Music is good for the soul and good for America. Those who are doing so much to save the music in our schools are good souls. Good for them.