Mention ”environment” or ”ecology” to John Denver and it`s like turning on a fire hydrant. As co-host from Japan of the global telecast
”Earth 90: Children and the Environment” (7 p.m. Sunday on WPWR-Ch. 50)-
with Debbie Gibson in New York and Olivia Newton-John from Australia-Denver is in his element.
The three-hour program is not a fundraiser, the singer stresses, but one designed to inform and generate awareness of the world`s environmental problems. It ”will be ongoing yearly until the year of 2000,” he said.
It`s distributed by Orbis Communications and will be seen on 75 U.S. stations and by 1 billion people in 100 nations. It`s produced by Uplinger Enterprises Inc., the organization that did the Live Aid concert in 1985.
Speaking from London, while on tour, Denver bristled at the word ”hype” when applied to the saturation of Earth Day programs and the rush of celebrities jumping on the environmental bandwagon.
”Hype is making something sound more important than it is, like hyping a movie or a record,” he declared. ”What programs like this are saying is, it`s time to pay attention. We`re entering the decade of the environment.”
Involved in numerous programs during the recent Earth Day crunch, Denver can`t be counted among the fly-by-night celebrities who embrace environmental causes just because it`s fashionable or for publicity.
He`s dedicated, and has been since he was a teenager traveling the country as an ”Army brat,” writing songs about nature.
Most of his songs, he admits, deliver some message about nature.
” `Sunshine on My Shoulder` was written on a dark, windy day in Minnesota,” he said. ”It`s in recognition of the beautiful, simple things people lose sight of.
”Other songs are even more pointed. `I Want to Live` is about the hungry children in the world and a plea to recognize we`re all part of the human family. And at the time I wrote `Take Me Home,` I was thinking about the plight of the coal miners. `Rocky Mountain High,` of course, is
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autobiographical. It`s about my coming home to the mountains.
”At the time, there was a whole issue going on about the Olympics being set in Denver, which I opposed. Money was going to be spent on venues never to be used again, which could be put to better use.”
The singer calls himself a ”global citizen” but believes in the slogan
”think globally but act locally.”
Denver, who has recorded 28 albums, will sing two songs on Sunday`s program. ”One I wrote with a friend from the Soviet Union, Alexander Grodksy, `What Are We Making Weapons For,` and another written in collaboration with Japanese songwriter Kosetsu Minnami (called the Japanese John Denver). The song is `The Flower that Shattered the Stone.` ”
So, OK. What is the singer personally doing in his Aspen, Colo., home to help the environment? ”Saving energy,” he says. ”It`s a solar house, 80 percent efficient, and I`ve switched to neon light bulbs, which burn much less energy. And, of course, I recycle.”