Through the years, I'd known about the circa 1985 crusade against explicit music (especially led by Tipper Gore and other senators' wives), but had basically just seen short clips whenever VH1 did a retrospective or something. I'd never seen anything "in complete" before I just came across a bunch of YouTube clips, so it almost feels like being right back there as it happened.

I knew about Frank Zappa being an opponent of music censorship (which did result in those Parental Advisory warning labels), but in getting to see the full extent of it now, I think he was brilliant in many of the points he made. He was firm in what he believed - both in terms of First Amendmant as well as music industry issues itself, but argued in a rational, collected, and often humorous way. Alot of the things he said are still relevant too.

It was often the heavy metal bands that were truly in the line of fire, but it also included pop artists like Madonna, Sheena Easton and Prince especially, for his overt sexuality. It's amazing how all that stuff that was shocking and controversial (even the metal really) sounds so innocent now, lol. Although I guess I can see the reasons some of the parents/authority figures of the time were freaked out about it, especially if they didn't fully grasp the irony in some of the music.

I was working a record shop (back when there were still records around) at the time...I remember the whole flap, the most strange thing is the involvement of Tipper Gore and the like.

Nowadays her platform would've been called conservative, considering her hubby's past (and future?) aspirations its odd she chose explicit lyrics of music at this time in history to take a stand.

Both Frank Zappa and Dee Schneider took a strong stance against the bullying of those who wanted to stifle the music. I never really cared for Quiet Riot, but my respect for Dee grew leaps and bounds for his stance on the issue and his testimony in front of congress.
You gotta admit, a grown man, dressed in a frizzy blond wig and clown makeup, standing in front of congress to express his thoughts on the matter, well, thats a strong individual...

Anyhoo, after the shakeup, I remember the albums with the explicit labels moving out of the store twice or three times as often as those without...Tipper's campaign doing nothing more than propping up sales of obscure and lesser known artists that wouldn't have gotten any play before the controversy...
Personally, I've always thought a good parent wouldn't need the government to tell them what was good or bad for their children. Any parent who did needs some additional parenting skills...

I was working a record shop (back when there were still records around) at the time...I remember the whole flap, the most strange thing is the involvement of Tipper Gore and the like.

Nowadays her platform would've been called conservative, considering her hubby's past (and future?) aspirations its odd she chose explicit lyrics of music at this time in history to take a stand.

Both Frank Zappa and Dee Schneider took a strong stance against the bullying of those who wanted to stifle the music. I never really cared for Quiet Riot, but my respect for Dee grew leaps and bounds for his stance on the issue and his testimony in front of congress.
You gotta admit, a grown man, dressed in a frizzy blond wig and clown makeup, standing in front of congress to express his thoughts on the matter, well, thats a strong individual...

Anyhoo, after the shakeup, I remember the albums with the explicit labels moving out of the store twice or three times as often as those without...Tipper's campaign doing nothing more than propping up sales of obscure and lesser known artists that wouldn't have gotten any play before the controversy...
Personally, I've always thought a good parent wouldn't need the government to tell them what was good or bad for their children. Any parent who did needs some additional parenting skills...

Yeah, Dee Snider is a cool guy. Despite his almost cartoonish looks, he's actually really smart and well-spoken, which I think caught the panel off guard. That's true that controversy usually has just the opposite effect that its opponents want. More people get into it, just the fact that the uptight authority figures hate it makes it attractive. And even non-fans or people who didn't know about it beforehand, might give it a shot, just out of curiosity.

Tipper Gore started the PMRC when she found out that the "Purple Rain" album she bought for her daughter contained a verse about masturbating. I really don't see what's wrong with hearing about it. Just because you hear about it doesn't mean you'll condone it, and if you're going to, you don't have to hear about it to do it.

That's besides the point. Anyway-- Tipper wanted a rating system where you put an X on albums with sexual lyrics, O for the occult or dead themes... (I don't understand what's wrong with being dead!?).. V for violence, D for drug/alcohol use, and I there was one for profanity.

Although Frank Zappa did a very good, and funny, job at trying to convince them otherwise (Also offering a solution that I like myself, which was printing a lyric sheet on the back of each album), I hear John Denver made the most impact. It's too bad he didn't get any press coverage. :P

Needless to say, all that ended up happening was the Parental Advisory thing, which I think is stupid, because who's to say what's inappropriate or not? Isn't that your parents' job? It shouldn't be up to the government. What I absolutely loathe are those edited albums that block out swear words (And some other random ones, too.) >_<

For a while, the government wanted to close all record stores selling albums with parental advisories on them. Psht. This is America! We're supposed to be free!

Oh yeah, and Frank Zappa's album "Jazz From Hell" got a parental advisory, even though it was completely instrumental. Shows how much they know. ::)

Tipper Gore started the PMRC when she found out that the "Purple Rain" album she bought for her daughter contained a verse about masturbating. I really don't see what's wrong with hearing about it. Just because you hear about it doesn't mean you'll condone it, and if you're going to, you don't have to hear about it to do it.

That's besides the point. Anyway-- Tipper wanted a rating system where you put an X on albums with sexual lyrics, O for the occult or dead themes... (I don't understand what's wrong with being dead!?).. V for violence, D for drug/alcohol use, and I there was one for profanity.

Although Frank Zappa did a very good, and funny, job at trying to convince them otherwise (Also offering a solution that I like myself, which was printing a lyric sheet on the back of each album), I hear John Denver made the most impact. It's too bad he didn't get any press coverage. :P

Needless to say, all that ended up happening was the Parental Advisory thing, which I think is stupid, because who's to say what's inappropriate or not? Isn't that your parents' job? It shouldn't be up to the government. What I absolutely loathe are those edited albums that block out swear words (And some other random ones, too.) >_<

For a while, the government wanted to close all record stores selling albums with parental advisories on them. Psht. This is America! We're supposed to be free!

That's true. It's interesting that, while the heavy metal bands like Ozzy, Judas Priest and Twisted Sister are more often synonymous with controversial '80s music, it was actually "Darling Nikki" that jumpstarted the whole thing (and of course, there's worse stuff in mainstream radio hip hop songs now!). Without the controversy, I bet '80s music would be seen as even more innocent than it usually is now.

Yeah, things like this are in the eye of the beholder. If Tipper was uncomfortable with the song's content, she should've handled it at home herself, no need to make a government issue out of it. Dee Snider also said (I forget where), that if the parents were concerned about what their kids were listening to, that they should listen to the albums themselves first instead of trying to censor it altogether. I also agree with that.

I'd also like to have seen the John Denver testimony. I bet his side of it was taken the most seriously because his image wasn't rebellious.

Tipper was a naive Southerne belle who was shocked by Prince and Motley Crue.  This happened every day in 1984.  The difference is Tipper was a senator's wife.  Tipper's intentions were good, but you know what they say about good intentions and the road to hell.  Tipper ended up in bed with all kinds of power-hungry evangelicals and reactionaries, such as Phyllis Schlafly's Eagle Forum.  One thing those groups were always great at was raising big bucks from corporate contributors, so money flowed to the PMRC like Coors beer!

I didn't mind the "Tipper stickers" per se.  The problem was that Wal-Mart and shopping mall outlets refused to carry titles with those stickers.  It was as if all the big cinema chains started refusing to show R-rated movies.  It amounted to censorship by commercial cabal.

The one that really bothered me was the warning code "O" for "occult."  Who is going to decide what is "occult"?  The conservative Southern Baptists think Catholicism is an idol-worshipping cult.  If they'd had their way, The Beatles' "Let It Be" would get an "O" sticker for references to "Mother Mary."
::)

Here is a condensed version of Frank Zappa's testimony, worth reading:
http://downlode.org/Etext/zappa.html

One thing that happens when prudes go after those they call "degenerate" is they give far more exposure to the offensive material than it would have gotten if left alone.
Unless you were into the punk scene on the West Coast in 1985, you probably had never even heard of the Mentors.  However, somebody had alerted Tipper Gore to this shock-rock band, and tipper decided to read some Mentors lyrics to illustrate her point about violent, degrading porn rock:
Into the Congressional record, Tipper read from the Mentors' "Anal Vapors,"
"Bend over and sniff my anal vapors,
Your face will be my toilet paper!"
Frank Zappa burst out laughing and many in the hearing followed suit.  And the Mentors got more publicity than money could buy!

A more potent example.  This is off the music censorship topic, but it was its contemporary in the '80s:

In 1983, Larry Flynt published in Hustler an ad parody of the Compari Liqueur campaign, "Your first time."  The parody featured a spoof of Rev. Jerry Falwell talking about his "first time," in an outhouse...with his mother!  In spite of the caption that read "Ad parody--not to be taken seriously," Falwell decided to sue Flynt for defamation.  The case went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, and Falwell lost.  Think about it.  A case between the country's biggest pornographer and the country's biggest preacher became hot news, so people wanted to know what it was all about.  Thus, millions more heard the story of Jerry Falwell having intercourse with his mother in an outhouse.  Fallwell v. Flynt became a landmark First Amendment case discussed in legal textbooks far and wide, many of them re-printing the ad parody itself.  Thus, millions of college undergrads and law students have subsequently heard the story of Jerry Falwell and his mother having sex in an outhouse.  The ad was reprinted in one of my journalism texts.  Then in 1996, the hugely successful movie "The People vs. Larry Flynt" was released.  The Falwell case was a big part of the story.  Thus, untold millions more worldwide then heard the story of Jerry Falwell and his mother making whoopie in the outhouse!

If the Reverend had just sucked up his pride and let the nasty bit of spoof float on by, the story of Jerry Falwell and his mother getting it on in the outhouse would never have gone further than that one issue of Hustler in 1983 and would have been long-forgotten by the time Falwell was cheating Jim and Tammy Bakker out of their televangelist empire!

Flynt, the scuzzball pornographer, became a First Amendment hero, and Falwell, the pious preacher, got ten thousand times the embarrassment Flynt bargained for in the first place.  Ha ha Jerry!
:P

I thought and continue to think the whole thing is a bunch of bunkum.  The more you make something off-limits, the more the people who aren't supposed to have it....want it.  That's just how it works.  I bought albums with the parental advisory sticker on it before I was 18 and without one of my parents hanging around and no one at the check-out said a damn thing to me about it.  No one asked for ID, in fact they barely blinked. 


I think while making the lyrical contents of an album known so that you can decide if it's something you want is a good thing......the way they went about enforcing it wasn't.  And it's not like people at Best Buy, FYE or any other music retail chain or going to take the time to check to see if the person buying the CD is of legal age.

The sexuality of Sheena Easton or Prince doesn;t look that daring now compared to the soft porn of rap video's nowadays. Funny, that Madonna seemed controversal in 1985 because her controversal era if you will was more like 1990-1992 with "The Vogue and Erotica era".

The sexuality of Sheena Easton or Prince doesn;t look that daring now compared to the soft porn of rap video's nowadays. Funny, that Madonna seemed controversal in 1985 because her controversal era if you will was more like 1990-1992 with "The Vogue and Erotica era".


Well, yanno, she DID come out with that Sex book.

I was working a record shop (back when there were still records around) at the time...I remember the whole flap, the most strange thing is the involvement of Tipper Gore and the like.


Not at all.  Joe Lieberman's done the same thing on the video game front, and he has the backing of Clinton II when he does it.

The Jackass Party is the Mommy Party:  popular entertainment must be censored because Mommy has to protect her brood from the big, bad world, and anything that isn't covered in at least three inches of foam is terrifying.

The Elephant Party is the Daddy Party:  popular entertainment must be censored because Daddy wishes he could have seen it when he was a kid, and flies into a jealous rage when he sees someone else having a good time.

Consumers of pop culture don't vote in the same numbers as terrified soccer moms or angry puritan dads, so why should either the Jackass or Elephant wing of the Government Party try to court the "none of your damn business what video games I play, movies I watch, and music I listen to" demographic?

Not at all.  Joe Lieberman's done the same thing on the video game front, and he has the backing of Clinton II when he does it.

The Jackass Party is the Mommy Party:  popular entertainment must be censored because Mommy has to protect her brood from the big, bad world, and anything that isn't covered in at least three inches of foam is terrifying.

The Elephant Party is the Daddy Party:  popular entertainment must be censored because Daddy wishes he could have seen it when he was a kid, and flies into a jealous rage when he sees someone else having a good time.

Consumers of pop culture don't vote in the same numbers as terrified soccer moms or angry puritan dads, so why should either the Jackass or Elephant wing of the Government Party try to court the "none of your damn business what video games I play, movies I watch, and music I listen to" demographic?

OK, I totally agree with that, I was just noting that it was strange for someone like Tipper to put her nose in the middle of the whole flap. Tipper Gore has as much knowledge about music and it lyrics or content as I have or know about nuclear physics.

I think this was the same group that noted that "Ang Ng" should be censored too, as it was a racist tune  ::)

Had she or the others of the PRMC been paying more attention to what their children were doing and listening to, and had some more exposure to current music than a redone pop tune covered by (er, ripped off by) Pat Boone 30 years prior, then maybe they would understand that context of the lyrics is just as important as the audience listening to it. Just because you don't like or understand it, doesn't mean you have or need to slap a "label" on it.

It was always surprising that these people wanted warnings for music/albums so they could censor what their kids listened to, instead of taking an active role in their kids life and actually listening to the radio or the latest tunes playing in background of their children's life.
I've always heard the argument and excuse from these same people, "I can't stand that rap and heavy metal stuff, don't like it and won't listen to it"...well being a parent is not always 'likable", its a hard job filled with lots of stuff you won't and normally wouldn't like to do. So, if you want to protect your children and have some say in what they're doing, bite the bullet and suffer through some of the popular trends in music, at least you won't be so shocked when you 8 yr old daughter comes home singing the chorus from "My Humps" or "Promiscuous Girl" ::)

At least my dad, when he asked me what was the deal with all this controversy about "Cop Killer" was about, he actually let me put it on and listen to it before making any further judgement (he didn't like it, but had no problem in Ice-T having his right to say it), this is much more than most of the people condemning it did...

Once again, Dave said it best.

Altering the facts and figures, events and every issue.
Make a person disappear, and no one will ever miss you.
Rewrites every story, every poem that ever was.
Eliminates incompetence, and those who break the laws.
Follow the instructions of the New Ways' Evil Book of Rules.
Replacing rights with wrongs, the files and records in the schools.
You say you've got the answers, well who asked you anyway?
Ever think maybe it was meant to be this way?
Don't try to fool us, we know the worst is yet to come.
I believe my kingdom will come.
F is for fighting, R is for red,
Ancestors' blood in battles they've shed.
E, we elect them, E, we eject them,
In the land of the free, and the home of the brave.
D, for your dying, O, your overture,
M, they will cover your grave with manure.
This spells out freedom, it means nothing to me,
As long as there's a P.M.R.C.

Once again, Dave said it best.

Altering the facts and figures, events and every issue.
Make a person disappear, and no one will ever miss you.
Rewrites every story, every poem that ever was.
Eliminates incompetence, and those who break the laws.
Follow the instructions of the New Ways' Evil Book of Rules.
Replacing rights with wrongs, the files and records in the schools.
You say you've got the answers, well who asked you anyway?
Ever think maybe it was meant to be this way?
Don't try to fool us, we know the worst is yet to come.
I believe my kingdom will come.
F is for fighting, R is for red,
Ancestors' blood in battles they've shed.
E, we elect them, E, we eject them,
In the land of the free, and the home of the brave.
D, for your dying, O, your overture,
M, they will cover your grave with manure.
This spells out freedom, it means nothing to me,
As long as there's a P.M.R.C.


  He did, indeed...

  Among the first candid opponents of PMRC, and a classy tune... 8)

OK, I totally agree with that, I was just noting that it was strange for someone like Tipper to put her nose in the middle of the whole flap. Tipper Gore has as much knowledge about music and it lyrics or content as I have or know about nuclear physics.


In other words, about as much about music as the politicians in the 50s knew about "Elvis the Pelvis" (his hip gyrations were corrupting the youth!), and about as much about music as Lieberman and Jack Thompson and their crowd knows about video games. 

The whole point of being in politics, whether as an elected official or as part of their entourage, is sticking your nose in other people's business.  The less you actually know about an issue, the more you can make vague pronouncements that Something Must Be Done, and the more votes you can get from the people (who also know nothing about the issue, but who are prone to believe that Something Must Be Done or that There Oughta Be A Law because We Didn't Do That Sort Of Thing When We Were Our Kids' Age).

The best part about knowing nothing about the issue is that if you get the facts wrong, you have plausible deniability - just blame your advisors and promise to study the issue in greater depth before Doing Something About The Problem!  The less you know about the issue, the wider your range of options, and the more power you have.

At the time were there 'radio edit' versions of songs around which differed from the version on the album?  I was thinking about this at the weekend when i heard Blancmange's Living on the Ceiling on the radio.  The version that was played when it first came out said something about being 'up the cookie tree'.  Now they play the original version which is 'up the bloody tree'.  Not that shocking a word but I think it relates to how the exceptance of mild swearing has changed over the past 20 years or so.

At the time were there 'radio edit' versions of songs around which differed from the version on the album? 


This actually goes back decades.  In 1961, the Jimmy Dean song Big Bad John had to get a makeover because of the line "One hell of a man".  This was because a lot of radio stations refused to play songs with "profanity".

My mom had an extensive 45 collection from the era, and had both the original cut, and the radio cut ("A big big man").  And a decade and a half later, Charlie Daniels had to do the same thing for The Devil Went Down To Georgia ("I done told you once you son of a bitch" vs "I done told you once you sun of a gun").

Myself, I have no problem with warning stickers or "edited cuts".  As long as you have the option to buy the unedited version.  And it is a stores right to decide which version they want to carry.  About the only time your rights are "stifled" is if you have no internet, and can only get your music from Target or WalMart.

Myself, I often have to buy both versions of the CD.  This is because if I am DJing a party, I have to sellect the right version for the crowd (don't want grandma having a heart attack cause I picked the foul version of a Linkin Park CD after all).

Tipper Gore started the PMRC when she found out that the "Purple Rain" album she bought for her daughter contained a verse about masturbating. I really don't see what's wrong with hearing about it. Just because you hear about it doesn't mean you'll condone it, and if you're going to, you don't have to hear about it to do it.



I imagine if she seen some of G.G. Allin's songs, she'd die from shock.

I imagine if she seen some of G.G. Allin's songs, she'd die from shock.

HA!
Tipper at a GG Allin show?! :o
Can you see her ducking from GG throwing his own feces at the audience?

Isn't GG dead now? Didn't he kill himself as he'd promised he would?
Come to think of it, he's actually a good reason to have a warning and advisory stickers, not on music albums, but tattooed on his head!
Sick puppy indeed!

HA!
Tipper at a GG Allin show?! :o
Can you see her ducking from GG throwing his own feces at the audience?

Isn't GG dead now? Didn't he kill himself as he'd promised he would?
Come to think of it, he's actually a good reason to have a warning and advisory stickers, not on music albums, but tattooed on his head!
Sick puppy indeed!


He didn't have albums out?(I was thinking more her daughter getting one of his albums and playing it)

I've read some of his lyrics and DAMN!..... they're warped beyond belief.

He died of a herion overdose, so yes he killed himself(accidently), but not on stage like he said he would.

I agree with that last statement. I didn't know he existed until I read some type of Music star Battle Royale in a Maxim magazine.