On September 19, 1985, a Senate committee on commerce, science, and transportation held a public hearing on what they called “p*rn-rock.” John Denver, Frank Zappa, and Twisted Sister‘s Dee Snider testified before the committee.
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Since rock ‘n’ roll started, controversy swirled around it. Some parents were outraged by Elvis Presley’s gyrations and the lyrics of Little Richard and Chuck Berry. As rock music evolved, lyrical content expanded to include more than just allusions to sex and drugs, but references to extremely explicit sex, occultism, violence, and substance abuse. As heavy metal music, especially, gained popularity, bands like Judas Priest and Mötley Crüe became the target of parental outrage. With the popularity of MTV came a visual element that was added to the art form. Depictions of women in compromised or dangerous situations and otherwise violent images added to the influence of these popular artists.
The Rise of the “PMRC”
“Tipper” Gore, the wife of Senator (and future 2000 Democratic candidate for president) Al Gore, bought Prince’s soundtrack, Purple Rain, for her 11-year-old daughter. As they listened to the track “Darling Nikki,” Gore was horrified by what she heard. Around the same time, Susan Baker, the wife of Treasury Secretary James Baker, was asked by her seven-year-old about “Like a Virgin” by Madonna. Gore began researching more popular music and finding other objectionable content. She gathered a group of other politicians’ and officials’ spouses who were also concerned, and became known as the “Washington Wives.”
They formed the Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC), a non-profit, tax-exempt organization that announced this mission statement: “To raise parental awareness of the growing trend in music towards lyrics that are sexually explicit, excessively violent, or glorify the use of drugs and alcohol.”
They received financial support from Beach Boy Mike Love’s Love Foundation and Joseph Coors of Coors Beer. The president of the National Association of Broadcasters, Edward Fritts, and the Reverend Jeff Ling became involved as well.
The Plan
The PMRC was non-profit and thus could not lobby for government-mandated rating system legislation. They had to urge record labels to voluntarily apply stickers to their releases.
The plan was to utilize these ratings:
‘X’ for profane or sexually explicit
‘V’ for violence
‘D/A’ for advocacy for drugs or alcohol
‘O’ for occult content
What Happened
One of the actions taken by the PMRC was compiling a list of 15 songs in popular music at the time that they found the most objectionable. This list was referred to as the “Filthy 15.” Letters were sent to more than 60 record labels and the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
When asked if it was a form of censorship, Susan Baker called it “voluntary self-restraint.” Only seven labels responded. All of them disagreed with the request. Stanley Gortikov, President of the RIAA, responded that they would voluntarily apply a sticker that said “Parental Guidance: Explicit Lyrics.”
Frank Zappa wrote an open letter to the music industry published in Cashbox magazine. He strongly disagreed with Gortikov’s decision, and suggested that the PMRC was using extortion. A home audio recording act was proposed to add a tax of one cent per minute of blank tape sold to be collected and awarded to recording companies as a way to collect money lost by pirating and illegal home taping of content. Zappa was referring to the fact that the RIAA was beholden to the politicians since it needed to pass that bill.
Zappa affixed his own warning sticker to his albums that took a sarcastic viewpoint of the fact that the real sinners were the televangelists who were asking for poor congregants’ money. He appeared on many television news programs debating the concept of the stickering of records. There was a televised debate on Night Watch between Washington Wife Kandy Stroud and Zappa.
[RELATED: Remember When Frank Zappa Got Banned from ‘Saturday Night Live?’]
The Hearing
The highest-profile moment in the PMRC saga was the public Senate hearing on September 19, 1985. Tipper Gore, Susan Baker, Pamela Hower, and Sally Nevius all testified. Frank Zappa appeared with attorney Larry Stein and equated the idea of affixing stickers to offensive albums to treating dandruff by decapitation. John Denver expressed his frustration over “Rocky Mountain High” being banned for its ill-perceived connection to drug use. He spoke out clearly against the issue of placing warning stickers on products. Dee Snider of Twisted Sister pointed out three specific points made publicly by Tipper Gore and (surprisingly eloquently) refuted them all.
Millie Waterman, the National PTA Legislative Activity Vice President, stated that they, in no way, would support censorship but would request labels be voluntarily placed on releases. Stanley Gortikov of the RIAA restated their willingness to affix a generic label to releases containing explicit material.
Dr. Joe Stuessy of the University of Texas discussed the psychological effects of music listening. Child psychologist Dr. Paul King spoke of the glamorization of sex and violence and the problems that arise from it. Edward Fritts, President of the National Association of Broadcasters, spoke about the consequences of “p*rn rock” and how a panel must be constructed. William Steding, Executive Vice President of the Central Broadcasting Division of the Bonneville International Corporation, called for a panel to review all releases. Robert Sabatini of WRKC dismissed the proposed idea as an attack on current music, as it would not have the resources to go back and rate past music releases. Cerphe Colwell expressed the concern that highlighting a small percentage of the releases would only increase their visibility and add to their sales (which was proven true to an extent).
On October 30, 1985, the Home Audio Recording Act was rejected. On November 1, the RIAA, National PTA, and PMRC agreed on a label that would be affixed to albums featuring explicit lyrics. It would be the responsibility of each label to design the stickers. It wasn’t until 1990 that a new standardized black-and-white label was adopted and placed in the same spot on all album covers deemed offensive. Some major retailers refused to stock those albums.
The PMRC is still active, but at a diminished level after Tipper Gore stepped down in 1992, when her husband became vice president.
Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images
