DIANE MAKAR MURPHY VH1's 'Music Behind Bars' strikes a bad chord

VH1 is taking heat from talk show host Bill O'Reilly, among others, for its fall series "Music Behind Bars." This perversely hip show travels from prison to prison checking in on state-funded "music programs." Tax dollars, that is to say.
On the "Graterford Prison" episode out of Pennsylvania, viewers got to hear the musical musings of murderer Chris Bissey. Honest. You can't make stuff like this up. Unfortunately, you don't have to.
I'm not certain, but I think Bissey's entertainment r & eacute;sum & eacute; reads, "When not singing back up for 'Dark Mischief' or serving his prison sentence, Chris is busy killing college coeds." Just ask Mary Orlando -- it was her daughter who was killed by Bissey at Lehigh University's lookout point in 1995. Unlike Bissey, Mary's daughter can't be rehabilitated with music.
That episode almost featured another lifer, Weldon Brown, whose claim to fame -- in addition to playing prison music -- was robbing and killing a 25-year-old man in Philadelphia back in 1987.
You can imagine how thrilled the victims' families are at having a VH1 show feature their loved ones' slayers. The protest really began back in October when the first episode aired. Pennsylvania State Rep. T.J. Rooney got a bill passed requiring the state house to urge VH1 to give up its profits from "Music Behind Bars."
Latest concert
Ouch! VH1 evidently didn't heed the urging though. Just last weekend, the "New Hampshire State Prison For Women" was the scene of "Music Behind Bars" latest concert.
VH1's program listing explains: "Pamela is an inmate there currently serving a two to five year sentence ... Pamela says that singing in the prison choir gives her an outlet from the intense atmosphere that exists within the prison walls." I suppose no murderers were available for this episode.
After all, VH1 already featured "Tony" and "Jason" -- "two inmates serving life sentences for murder." The program notes go on to say: "Tony's R & amp;B band Midnight Love and Jason's country band Dakota are among the 14 musical groups at the Mount Olive Correctional Complex in West Virginia. In this episode, the two men must get along and combine styles when the musical director asks them to collaborate and create a song for an upcoming concert."
If VH1's program notes are a little scanty, let me fill in the blanks. "Tony" is Tony Morrison, who's serving his life sentence because he stabbed to death 18-year-old Lisa Mosbrook in 1982. Now "Jason," Jason Henthorne, is actually only in for 15 years to life -- he shot 21-year-old Michael Hart in the back.
Isn't it all a little surreal? Your son is shot, you turn on the television and there is his murderer suffering through the incredible hurdle of collaborating with a country and western singer. This is what we call justice being served?
Hardships
At the end of this month, VH1 will air an episode shot at the Salinas Valley Prison. This program note bears repeating too: "Uncle Joe's Rusty Banjo is a country-western band at California's toughest and most violent prison Salinas Valley. One of the band members has just been released from a months-long prison lock down ... In this episode of 'Music Behind Bars,' the band must remain positive and focused in the face of canceled rehearsals ..."
Wondering who would pay for such an outrage? Some of the sponsors of past episodes have included Mazda, Tower Records, Columbia Sports, Best Buy, Virgin Mobile, Smirnoff Ice, Microsoft Expedia, Inc., Circuit City, The Valvoline Co., The New York Times and LensCrafters.
Hey, what's next? Maybe a good one would be "Dancing with Charlie Manson" -- "Charles says that dancing in the prison's upcoming production of 'Guys and Dolls' follows a grueling rehearsal schedule. In this powerful episode, he is forced to collaborate with both a jazz and modern dancer ..."
Come on. Let's get real.
murphy@vindy.com