SHORT TAKES : Senators Tune Out Donny’s Song

PHOENIX — Donny Osmond flashed his perfect teeth, autographed pictures and even sang a little for an Arizona Senate committee. But the lawmakers weren’t singing his song when they voted to require warning labels on risque records.

The Judiciary Committee approved the measure 8-1 Monday.

The recording industry opposes the bill, and Osmond, who acknowledged his “goody-goody” image, was the industry’s star witness.

Osmond, wearing a black leather jacket and cowboy boots, said he always had strict morals but had written lyrics that probably would qualify for the warning labels, especially if sung with a different intonation.

The committee’s audience included teen-agers with T-shirts promoting controversial groups, and many groaned at first when the pop singer got up to testify.

But they laughed when he said, “I’m a little out of my element.” And they applauded when he finished testifying for their side after breaking into song.

The bill’s supporters countered with Steve Clifford, an insurance executive who said he had founded the heavy metal group Icon.

Heavy metal “is a destructive lifestyle,” Clifford said, testifying in businessman’s suit and neat haircut. “It got me into drug abuse, alcoholism. I thought about suicide. I tampered with Satanism.”