Misinformation

["Scott Schrade" <schrade@akrobiz.com>]

Here's a nice piece of misinformation that appeared in Parade magazine
(which really isn't a magazine at all, it's just a Sunday newspaper supple-
ment).  It's a letter to the editor in response to a previous article which
bore the title "The Kids Are Alright" (non WHO-related).  Thanks to
Mom Schrade for bringing this to my attention.

    Q:  The cover text of your April 27-29 issue concerns this English
          teacher because "all right" is two words - not one.  I love your
          magazine & often use it for my class at Walker High School.
          Set the record straight, all right?

    A:  You & the many other readers who admonished us are correct 
          that it's properly two words.  But as we noted in the story, the
          cover headline was an homage to a 1966 song by The Who.
          Pete Townshend wrote "The Kids Are Alright" partly to reas-
          sure parents of the band's fans that their kids didn't have the 
          problems they suspected.  We couldn't reach The Who for com-
          ment, but Jim Steinblatt, a spokesman for the American Society
          of Composers, Authors, & Publishers, says The Who's "error"
          probably was intentional.  Misspellings are common in songwrit-
          ing (examples: Kiss' "Rock & Roll All Nite" & rap slang).  "Bands
          do it to be distinctive, by expressing themselves in a way that's a 
          little off."


Gee, & here I thought "alright" was just the British spelling of the word(s).
Leave it to us Americans to "set the record straight."


- SCHRADE in Akron