Free speech. You didn't mention lyrics.
Even Al said some stupid things during those Senate hearings. My main point is that the music hearings were not Al's finest hour, and it was mainly Tipper's cause, and it was embarrassing. A long time ago, of course.
MORE:
The PMRC claimed that popular music, especially rock music, was partially responsible for the contemporary increase in rape, teenage pregnancy, and teen suicide. The group's mission was "to educate and inform parents" about "the growing trend in music towards lyrics that are sexually explicit, excessively violent, or glorify the use of drugs and alcohol," and to seek the censorship and rating of music.
Background and formation
In October 1984, the National Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) sent a letter to the 30 record labels and to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), proposing the music industry label records that contained "explicit lyrics or content", in order to "take the element of surprise out of buying an album". However, initially none of the record companies agreed to the PTA's proposal. A response letter from RIAA President Stanley Gortikov stated that: "There are wide variations, company to company, within our industry in respect to artists, contractual relationships, marketing considerations and product services."
The formation of the PMRC began in 1984 after Tipper Gore, along with her daughter Karenna, heard Prince's song "Darling Nikki." This track, which appears on the soundtrack to the film Purple Rain, contains references to sex and masturbation:
I knew a girl named Nikki
I guess you could say she was a sex fiend
I met her in a hotel lobby
Masturbating with a magazine
Gore watched other rock music videos and concluded: "The images frightened my children, they frightened me! The graphic sex and the violence were too much for us to handle." Susan Baker became alarmed after hearing her seven-year-old daughter singing along with Madonna songs that Baker considered "suggestive." Gore and Baker, along with Howar and Nevius, formed the PMRC in May 1985.
The PMRC claimed that the change in rock music was attributable to the decay of the nuclear family in America. Gore asserted that families are "haven(s) of moral stability" which protect children from outside influence, and without the family structure rock music was "infecting the youth of the world with messages they cannot handle."
Actions
As a method of combating this alleged problem, the PMRC suggested a voluntary move by the RIAA and the music industry to develop "guidelines and/or a rating system" similar to the MPAA film rating system. Additional suggestions from the PMRC that appeared in an article in the Washington Post included: printing warnings and lyrics on album covers, forcing record stores to put albums with explicit covers under the counters, pressuring television stations not to broadcast explicit songs or videos, "reassess
" the contracts of musicians who performed violently or sexually in concert, and creating a panel to set industry standards. This article led to the removal of rock music and magazines from American stores including Wal-Mart, J.C. Penney, Sears, and Fred Meyer.
The PMRC also released the "Filthy Fifteen", a list of the fifteen songs they found most objectionable:
# Artist Song title Lyrical content
1 Prince "Darling Nikki" Sex/Masturbation
2 Sheena Easton "Sugar Walls" Sex
3 Judas Priest "Eat Me Alive" Sex
4 Vanity "Strap on Robbie Baby" Sex
5 Mötley Crüe "Bastard" Violence
6 AC/DC "Let Me Put My Love into You" Sex
7 Twisted Sister "We're Not Gonna Take It" Violence
8 Madonna "Dress You Up" Sex
9 W.A.S.P. "Animal (Fuck Like a Beast)" Sex/Language
10 Def Leppard "High 'n' Dry (Saturday Night)" Drug and Alcohol Use
11 Mercyful Fate "Into the Coven" Occult
12 Black Sabbath "Trashed" Drug and Alcohol Use
13 Mary Jane Girls "In My House" Sex
14 Venom "Possessed" Occult
15 Cyndi Lauper "She Bop" Sex/Masturbation
The PMRC also advocated against supposed subliminal backmasking in records, and accused bands including Led Zeppelin, Rush, Pink Floyd and Queen of backmasking to promote Satanism and drug use.
Senate hearing
Transcript
In August 1985, 19 record companies agreed to put "Parental Guidance: Explicit Lyrics" labels on albums to warn of explicit lyrical content. However, before the labels could be put into place, the Senate agreed to hold a hearing on so-called "porn rock". This began on 19 September 1985, when representatives from the PMRC, three musicians, and Senators Paula Hawkins and Al Gore testified before the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee on "the subject of the content of certain sound recordings and suggestions that recording packages be labeled to provide a warning to prospective purchasers of sexually explicit or other potentially offensive content."
- snip -
Opposing witnesses
During his statement, musician and producer Frank Zappa asserted that "the PMRC proposal is an ill-conceived piece of nonsense which fails to deliver any real benefits to children, infringes the civil liberties of people who are not children, and promises to keep the courts busy for years dealing with the interpretational and enforcemental problems inherent in the proposal's design." He went on to state his suspicion that the hearings were a front for H.R. 2911, a proposed blank tape tax: "The major record labels need to have H.R. 2911 whiz through a few committees before anybody smells a rat. One of them is chaired by Senator Thurmond. Is it a coincidence that Mrs. Thurmond is affiliated with the PMRC?" Zappa had earlier stated about the Senate's agreement to hold a hearing on the matter that "A couple of blowjobs here and there and Bingo! — you get a hearing."<1>
Folk rock musician John Denver stated he was "strongly opposed to censorship of any kind in our society or anywhere else in the world", and that in his experience censors often misinterpret music, as was the case with his song "Rocky Mountain High". In addition, Denver expressed his belief that censorship is counterproductive: "That which is denied becomes that which is most desired, and that which is hidden becomes that which is most interesting. Consequently, a great deal of time and energy is spent trying to get at what is being kept from you."
Dee Snider, frontman and lead singer of heavy metal band Twisted Sister, testified that he " not support <...> Mr. Gortikov's unnecessary and unfortunate decision to agree to a so-called generic label on some selected records".<2> Like John Denver, Snider felt that his music had been misinterpreted. He defended the Twisted Sister songs "Under the Blade", which had been interpreted as referring to sadomasochism, bondage, and rape, and "We're Not Gonna Take It", which had been accused of promoting violence. Snider said about "Under the Blade", a song Snider claimed was written about an impending surgery, that "the only sadomasochism, bondage, and rape in this song is in the mind of Ms. Gore." Snider concluded that "The full responsibility for defending children falls on the shoulders of my wife and I, because there is no one else capable of making these judgments for us."
- snip -
It is uncertain whether the Tipper sticker is effective in preventing children from being exposed to explicit content.<8> Some suggest that the sticker actually increases record sales. Philip Bailey stated that "For the most part might even sell more records in some areas - all you've got to do is tell somebody this is a no-no and then that's what they want to go see."<8> Ice-T's "Freedom of Speech" states that "Hey PMRC, you stupid fuckin' assholes/The sticker on the record is what makes 'em sell gold./Can't you see, you alcoholic idiots/The more you try to suppress us, the larger we get." And the Furnaceface song "We Love You, Tipper Gore", from 1991's album Just Buy It, suggests that the label "only whets my appetite ... only makes us want to hear it that much more".
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