The popular music known as rock 'n' roll often seems like a vast wasteland. On the radio you hear the same handful of carefully screened "hits" programmed by computers. In the newspapers, you see ads for giant arena concerts by an endless stream of mean-spirited heavy metal bands (like Judas Priest, .38 Special, and AC/DC) or by corporate soft-rock groups riding big selling records (like Fleetwood Mac, Chicago, and Asia). Or you turn on a nationally syndicated Tv show like Solid Gold, where hits are sold with sex and sex is sold with hits.