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Interior Secretary James G. Watt was summoned to the Oval Office today to have his moralistic dictates in popular music lightly mocked and then reversed by President Reagan.
Mr. Watt, who caused a national furor when he suggested Tuesday that rock music was inappropriate for a patriotic 4th of July celebration here, left the President's office carrying a plaster trophy of a foot with a bullet hole in it.
The trophy was intended to symbolize his sudden regret of his remark that pop-music groups had in the past attracted ''the wrong element'' to the annual celebration on the Mall here. The most prominent of the bands at the festival in past years has been the Beach Boys, who have been popular with a broad range of Americans since the early 1960's.
Instead, Mr. Watt proposed a program that included the entertainer Wayne Newton and military bands, saying they would better represent the patriotic, family-oriented theme he preferred. Quick Education in Popular Music
''Obviously, I didn't know anything to start with,'' Mr. Watt said, grinning sheepishly and holding up the Presidential trophy after learning that both Mr. Reagan and his wife, Nancy, were fans of the Beach Boys. ''The President is a friend of the Beach Boys. He likes them, and I'm sure when I get to meet them, I'll like them.''
Continue reading the main storyOther Administration officials who rallied to the defense of the Beach Boys included Vice President Bush and the President's chief of staff, Michael K. Deaver.
''I've learned about the Beach Boys in the last 12 hours,'' Mr. Watt said penitently as he stood outside the White House, holding the foot Mr. Reagan had handed him. ''We'll look forward to having them here in Washington to entertain us again, as soon as we can get things worked out.''
On the Mall? ''That's the only place to hold a crowd for them,'' he said. Mrs. Reagan was among the first to recommend the Beach Boys sound to Mr. Watt in his visit today. ''She said that the Beach Boys are fans of hers, and her children have grown up with them and they're fine, outstanding people and that there should be no intention to indicate that they cause problems, which I would agree with,'' Mr. Watt said. Public Joking and Private Concern
An array of damage-control experts from the President's staff stood by smiling. They hoped to nip the nationwide outcry stirred by Mr. Watt's decision to change this year's celebration to reflect his view that ''the wrong element'' of fans, prone to violence, alcohol and drugs, were attracted by the loud, upbeat music of past Mall festivals.
Publicly the White House sought to deal lightly with the controversy, joking that there was no large store of foot trophies to be handed out regularly for public relations gaffes. But privately some officials said they were offended by Mr. Watt and questioned his sensitivity to the public.
Disk jockeys across the land denounced Mr. Watt - one called him the Administration's ''chief nerd'' - and members of Congress took to the House floor to roast Mr. Watt with glee.
''Help me Ronald, don't let him run wild,'' Representative George Miller, Democrat of California, pleaded in a speech woven of such Beach Boys songs as ''Help Me Rhonda.''
''The Beach Boys are not hazardous to your health,'' Senator Bob Dole, Republican of Kansas, said. Representative Thomas J. Downey of Suffolk County prescribed a ''Surfin' Safari'' to clear Mr. Watt's music sensibilities.
Through two days of office and cocktail talk, the capital has been consumed with debate about what many viewed as Mr. Watt's Music Manstyled sermonizing. The President joked publicly on the affair this afternoon, telling a group of Catholic educators that it was ''a pleasure for me to break away from crisis negotitaions.''
Mr. Reagan said he had ordered Philip Habib, his trouble-shooting special ambassador to the Middle East, ''to settle the Jim Watt-Beach Boy controversy.'' Watt Stands by Appeal for Patriotism
While yielding to the White House strategy to attempt to dismiss the incident through humor, Mr. Watt stood by his earlier remarks that past 4th of July celebrations had been too rowdy and that he wanted greater emphasisis on making the day a ''family, patriotic and inspirational time.''
Mr. Miller said the affair was more than just a laughing matter, and was a symptom of two years of what he saw as irritating actions by the Secretary.
''Who made Watt the holder of America's moral flame to dictate his views?'' Mr. Miller said. ''That's offensive, outrageous behavior.'' Some White House officials said privately they also were not amused, in light of the group's successful fund-raising efforts on behalf of Mr. Bush's 1980 political campaign.
Members of the White House entourage also questioned the Secretary's choice of Mr. Newton, the Las Vegas-based casino troubador, to be the entertainment this year. They recalled the scene when the President was entertained by Mr. Newton last fall at a Las Vegas campaign stop: the tuxedoed singer, backed up by a trio of women in extremely low-cut gowns, sang a bouncing, loud, rapid version of ''America the Beautiful.''
''Maybe we ought to invite Lawrence Welk and have him blow red, white and blue bubbles,'' one annoyed White House worker said.
Continue reading the main story