Cheo Hodari Coker

During his creative prime between 1966 to 1970, the late Jimi Hendrix did more for contemporary popular music than Panavision did for motion pictures or the Pentium chip did for home computers. His tripped-out flights of sonic genius established him as an innovator who opened up musical possibilities that are still being explored by such celebrated record producers as the Dust Brothers (Beck's "Odelay"), Flood (U2's "Pop") and Wu-Tang Clan's RZA.

During his creative prime between 1966 to 1970, the late Jimi Hendrix did more for contemporary popular music than Panavision did for motion pictures or the Pentium chip did for home computers. His tripped-out flights of sonic genius established him as an innovator who opened up musical possibilities that are still being explored by such celebrated record producers as the Dust Brothers (Beck's "Odelay"), Flood (U2's "Pop") and Wu-Tang Clan's RZA.

What a watershed week. Ella Fitzgerald dies, Toni Braxton's masturbating on the radio ("Taking a Deep Breath, Again," by Cheo Hodari Coker, June 16), and we're still debating whether Sharon Stone has the right to be something other than a sex object (Letters). Ella, toss me down a life preserver, this boat is sinking. SUSAN ISAACS Santa Monica

Thank you for the article about the Fugees ("Fugees Even the Score," by Cheo Hodari Coker, March 31). However, I do not think their music should really be categorized. It has appealed to many listeners with eclectic tastes, including myself. Putting labels on types of music just creates barriers. It directs the music toward one particular group and sort of tells them what they should like. Isn't it supposed to be the universal language? IRENE NOVAC Irvine

Cheo Hodari Coker's statement that Lionel Richie's new release, "Louder Than Words," is "soulful enough for his now-older black female fans" ("The Master of 'Words'," April 17) leads one to believe that Richie's "older" fans are limited to black females. I believe many non-black men and women would disagree; I certainly do. Welcome back, Lionel Richie, it is good to hear from you once again. KATHLEEN HOUSE Long Beach

Thanks for your cover stories on Hong Kong cinema (June 15) and Chow Yun-Fat (July 13). I think that Hong Kong movies are the most intriguing and energetic in the world today, and I'm glad to see Calendar giving them the attention they deserve. The recent exodus of Hong Kong directors and stars to the West reminds me of Germany's Weimar filmmakers fleeing Hitler in the 1930s. I hope that Hong Kong's new Beijing-backed power brokers won't give the world any reason to extend the analogy any further.

As I was drinking my morning [caffeinated beverage] and reading the story about the [not Ralphs] brothers documentary "American [Procurer]" (by Cheo Hodari Coker, April 13), I couldn't help thinking of Groucho [German Socialist], who said, "What's the [clandestine] word?" And I bet my [existence] that if Groucho was [unextinguished], he'd want to [cognize] what's underneath [prostitute] too. More to the [salient feature], why does your [redactor] feel compelled to take this [prophylactic]

Cheo Hodari Coker wrote that compared to Tony Toni Tone's last album, "Sons of Soul," the new album, "House of Music," "isn't off to a blazing start" ("Time to Jam--or Jam?," Jan. 12). Wrong! "House of Music" is actually doing better than the last album did at the same stage of development. Had the writer bothered to call me, I would have demonstrated the falsity of this assertion. "House of Music" has now been out for eight weeks and has SoundScanned 318,502 units. By contrast, "Sons of Soul" had SoundScanned 281,961 units after eight weeks.

Funny that Cheo Hodari Coker should point out similarities between Coolio and Hammer ("Rap Gets Soft (Really)," Feb. 25). Coolio's "Gangsta's Paradise" does more than "borrow liberally" from Stevie Wonder's "Pastime Paradise," as Hammer's "Can't Touch This" does from Rick James' "Superfreak," so much so that they had to share royalties. Both just changed the lyrics. Coolio would do well to avoid Hammer's egotistical error: investing in an extravagant road show. Without original material, these so-called rappers will be relegated to the pile of one-hit wonders scattered throughout American pop history.

Beck, the consensus winner of last year's album voting by The Times' pop music contributors, was hailed as something of a new Bob Dylan. This year's winner is the old Bob Dylan. "Time Out of Mind," the veteran singer-songwriter's hard-bitten and widely praised return to form, was named the best album of 1997 by the 15 participants in the 17th annual balloting. But Dylan's victory is just about the only thing that partisans of American music can cheer this time around.