POP/ROCK - Jan. 3, 1989

Officials in Portland, Ore., are waiting to see how heavy-metal rocker Ozzy Osbourne reacts to a request to tone down his Jan. 19 show. Lee Fehrenkamp, the manager of Portland’s Exposition-Recreation Commission, wrote a letter to Osbourne’s promoter, John Bauer, saying: “Since I know the great degree of influence an artist can have on our young audiences, I am respectfully asking if Ozzy Osbourne will omit elements of his performance which refer to such things as infant sacrifice and suicide.” A group of religious leaders had wanted Fehrenkamp to go farther and cancel the Osbourne concert on the grounds that his songs promote substance abuse, violence and satanism.