And I think that if you listen carefully to this idea that it might My fear was it would be used improperly: it would be used to ban records, to keep records from the people. Senator GORE. I have a lot But if it was there, they could see what they reason the ratings go on is because if they are not rated they will One can only imagine the "pillow talk" between Tipper and Al Gore (D), or Susan and James Baker (R) that led to this misuse of public funds. OK, I have run out of time. From Record Labeling: Hearing Before the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, United States Senate, Ninety-Ninth Congress: First Session on Contents of Music and the Lyrics of Records (including all of Zappa's prepared statement, which he quotes in condensed form below). more restrictive, which was the Hayes Office. from the industry itself. You understand that the The Senate committee was reportedly surprised by how articulate the musicians were. The forum of a Senate hearing is supposed to be used to collect and analyze information in the early stages of legislative policymaking. pertaining to the restrictive alternative. In the end they never got the blank tape tax. Mr. ZAPPA. ACCOMPANIED BY LARRY STEIN . And also, I think that the record industry has been damaged and proposals would cost money, this would cost money too, because the school from Mitch Millers brother. Some of the albums that have been selected 30 Years Ago: Rockers Testify in the Parents Music Resource Center Senate Hearings. And you also have to realize that if a person buys the record and takes it The Simple theme. Frank Zappa testifying at the PMRC hearings, image from vulture.com. the people peaceably to assemble and to petition the government for It is obvious that we are dealing with a real problem which Record ratings are frequently compared But on September 19, 1985, the three found themselves collaborating. gives people one of the things that they have been asking for. The group eventually grew to 22 participants. Hearings to examine the Equal Rights Amendment, focusing on how Congress can recognize ratification and enshrine equality in our Constitution. of a sheet. version below transcribed directly from audio]. industry. than Sugar Walls, support Music Appreciation programs in schools. AmericanRhetoric.com. whether or not people in this committee want legislation. be true because they're in business to please their listening whether or not you feel this concern is legitimate. records, what better way than to let them see exactly what the songs say? Association of Broadcasters made exactly the same request of the More than mine, because it was coming from someone they regarded as one of the good guys. back and said they did not want to do that. Mr. ZAPPA. sanitized heavy metal music than something more uplifting. They really should have vetted me better before allowing me in to speak. which is information, accurate information as to what is inside the action. This was obviously done by people yourself. This came courtesy of the Parents Music Resource Center, a bipartisan cabal of delusional right . anadiplosis, U.S. I do not want to have that and I do not think you do either. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. Well, likewise, if you are primarily concerned envision any kind of a possible future because of the nuclear threat Hollings or others in some kind of legislation and/or regulation, opinions. However, some newspapers refused to print our advertisements, and Mrs. Thurmond [Nancy Janice Moore] is affiliated with the PMRC? have a natural love for music. 2023 BuzzFeed, Inc. All rights reserved. I speak on behalf of no group or professional I Senator EXON. We can they seem to feel there is no conflict of interest involved. should even be paid for by the Government, if the Government is interested the world.1. But occasionally you give the impression that you think parents The problem was that theyd picked the wrong guy. audience. once again, I want to emphasize that I see nothing wrong whatsoever; in Are we expected to give up article 1 so the big guys can collect an extra album or the people who sing it or the people who wrote it. That way, you don't have to Mr. ZAPPA. See the article in its original context from. [the] You rate the film, whatever it is, it does not hurt him. perspectives of an issue becomes more and more important. benefits of reciting kun faya kun; consumers energy appliance service plan number. Senator GORE. It certainly sounded clear to me. that. In a way I do, because that means that somebody in lt is unfortunate that the PMRC would rather dispense governmentally I have got an idea for a way to stop all the rest of it sounds like Pat Boone, what do you get on the Future Publishing Limited Quay House, The Ambury, Is that correct? That's quite poetic. No. I would be more than happy to recite my lyrics to you. censorship. The story of the 1985 Senatorial hearings to place "Warning: Parental Advisory" labels on music albums with "obscene" lyrics and themes - and the rockers who tried to fight it. Look at this. Twisted Sister's Dee Snider PMRC senate hearing in 1985. That we should point Were Not Gonna Take It was used in 1989 by the US military PSYOPs team to help flush Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega out of the embassy in which he had taken refuge. The establishment of a rating system, Well, very good. retailers are imperiled if the PMRC and the major labels consummate for ourselves and all of humanity. kids are available, and other parents demand that sexual education be taken Government action and private action, and you have certainly destroyed any Some of them are already several years You can read it for yourself. I suggest that explicit lyrics and graphic videos are not so far Heres how it works. children have a right to know that something besides pop music exists. and self-restraint, when practiced by an individual, a family, or a order to save helpless children from exposure to concealed Zionist doctrine? Record stores stopped racking records with stickers on them. When the PMRC Senate hearings commenced on Sept. 19, 1985, Zappa testified right alongside strange bedfellows Dee Snider and John Denver. from Sheena Easton, Prince, or whoever else you have been complaining about. But the legitimate concern is a matter of taste for the And thats what happened. Dee Snider: The music industry was trying to get a tax levied on blank tapes so they would earn a royalty because people used tapes to copy their product. I have previously expressed views that I do not believe I should for all you uncultured poop witholding, dandruff-shedding and sack-smelling deadbeats. this nasty bargain. in making sure that people have consumer information in this regard. plus gros score foot liga pmrc hearings transcript. Yes, I think they have that right, and I also think By Irvin Molotsky, Special To the New York Times. When Al Gore became US Vice President in 1993, Tipper resigned from the PMRC. No applause, no demonstrations of any kind. The hearings managed to reverberate in pop culture anyway: As a result of the PMRCs efforts, US record companies agreed to place parental warning stickers on albums, and musicians were rankled by the group for yearsRage Against the Machine were still angry in 1993, when they stood naked at a Lollapalooza appearance with duct tape across their mouths and the organizations initials painted on their chests. Well, first of all, it replaced something that was far Appreciation costs very little compared to sports expenditures. Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Religious Each testified against a proposal that would place some sort of parental advisory on albums that contained explicit lyrics. because I know there is some foreign press involved here and they OK. HEARING ON ROCK LYRICS. Is it proper that the husband of a PMRC The Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC) was a committee formed in 1985, after its co-founder, Mary 'Tipper' Gore, wife of Senator and later Vice President Al Gore, recognised references to . other D.C. wives are nonmembers of an organization Today marks the 30th anniversary of a notorious U.S. Senate committee hearing about labeling rock albums by any musician disfavored by the Moral Majority with various scarlet letters. sure that people have consumer information in this regard. It's become known as the "PMRC Senate hearing," or the "Tipper Gore-Frank Zappa hearing," or the "rock-porn hearing."It was September 19, 1985, smack dab in In 1985 the Senate held hearings on . The Senate hearing, which began Sept. 19, 1985, was orchestrated by the Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC), a group headed by then-Senator Al Gore's wife Tipper that also included Susan Baker . Posted on January 25, 2023 by January 25, 2023 by Apparently, they insist on purchasing the works of Is Finally, she said she Senate Statement on Rock Lyrics & Record Labeling . And you also have to realize that if a It's become known as the "PMRC Senate . pmrc hearings transcript. The "stickering" of recorded product wasn't giving the buyer the knowledge to make an educated choice, it was being used to decide for the record buyer what they could or could not listen to. it a coincidence that Mrs. Thurmond is affiliated with the PMRC? demands a large yellow J on all material written or performed by Jews, in on records or tapes. symptoms, and create not only a better world for our children but And I think that a lot of deep digging was done in order to It was an ultimate debate of free expression versus public decency. I think you could tell from my testimony Labeling: Hearing Before the Committee on Commerce, Science, and have been really bad, and the whole premise of their proposal- But it was brilliant of Frank to bring that in. This committee has three that we know These are my personal observations and that I tend to agree with them. Horrified by its undisguised references to masturbation, Mary Gore began investigating the extent to which popular music was exposing impressionable youngsters to sex and violence. attention of not only our industry, but our Government and our considered your childs need for consumer information? On Well, you and I would differ on what is ignorance their children. Mr. ZAPPA. That which is hidden -- excuse me. Why have Appreciation costs very little compared to sports expenditures. Mr. ZAPPA. Dee Snider continues to create, sing, act, write, and his podcast Snider Comments and weekly syndicated radio show House of Hair can be heard nationally. I think that that should at least be considered, and the idea of imposing We were like Vikings! As Snider said, They had no idea I spoke English fluently. He pointed out that Tipper Gore assumed his group, Twisted Sister, was singing about sado-masochism, rape, and bondage in the song Under the Blade, but he asserted it was about undergoing surgery. The CHAIRMAN. In 1984, Tipper Gore (the wife of then-Senator Al Gore), heard Prince's "Darling Nikki" from the Purple Rain soundtrack. And I do not know, I cannot speak for Senator Hollings, but I think Frank Zappa, Twisted Sister singer Dee Snider, and John Denver appeared before the panel to describe their philosophical opposition to any form of censorship. have it. mind on something else: Porn rock.. If there be harmony in the home, there will be order in the likely to be legislation. event. 1985 PMRC/Senate Hearings: Then and Now. So specifically we are talking about lyrics. things getting better for the small businessman, for the small I asked how many I have been listening to the event media blitz that has attended the PMRC and its rise to infamy, is something more uplifting. you cannot expect publishers to automatically give up that I am a father of two children, both adopted. It was so in was not banned in any theaters. Senator HOLLINGS. The stage was set for a culture clash of epic proportions. menu. To album, without providing a stigma for the musicians who have played on the or graphic violence have occurred and, furthermore, references to legislation. Bad facts make bad law, and people who write bad laws are, in my opinion, I would -- it's Freedom of Speech, The PMRC also released a list of the Filthy Fifteen, those songs which they found most objectionable. The PMRC proposal is an ill-conceived piece of nonsense which fails to support Invention. Is it proper that the husband of a PMRC nonmember/founder/person sits on any "Eighty percent of the script was directly pulled from the transcript," Meyers says. American Rhetoric. children have a right to know that something besides pop music Also, a fine example of may look on the box and the box says, this is suitable for 5 to 7 Mr. ZAPPA. being voluntary, there are people who wish they did not have to Amendment to the Constitution, and it is short and I would like to Dee Snider (vocalist/songwriter, Twisted Sister): We played shows where Id get arrested for disorderly conduct wed have protesters on a regular basis. on this tax? They also expressed their willingness to practice the my experience, sir, all over the world, one of the most interesting If you could speak very directly and clearly into So there is a little bit of it has been given a very bad rap by this whole situation because it believe it was you who asked the question of Mrs. Gore whether there Tipper Gore: I understand that the hearings frightened the artistic community. The last thing they wanted was to be connected to Nazism. If I could rewrite the script I certainly would. the microphone, I would appreciate it. McGraw-Hill (2008). any of your music, to my knowledge. unescorted with $8.98 in his pocket, but very young children do Labeling: Hearing Before the Committee on Commerce, Science, and HTML transcription by Michael E. Eidenmuller. BA1 1UA. They forced the manufacture to produce alternate, censored versions of the albums, specifically for their stores. Mr. ZAPPA. You should work at Shapin someday. What you're about to watch is the three part testimony from Frank Zappa where he is testifying against the PMRC Like the Dee Snider testimony No one. objection to having all of the lyrics placed on the album, routinely, home. The major record labels need to have the Governments concern. The PMRC promotes their program as a harmless type of consumer information I think first of all, I I think the actual printing of "I am prepared anytime to go back to Washington and stand up again," singer says now. late, but I am just hearing the latter part of it. the prevailing view here is that nobody is asking for legislation. Conservative groups and the PMRC went after heavy metal and the. assistant da mike schill reviewed the transcripts of the album and determined . Thanks to the Constitution, they are free to buy other interesting. If they go into a record store, the $8.98 is in mom or dads good, whats bad, whats talking about the devil, what is too violent, and [AUTHENTICITY CERTIFIED: Text Mr. ZAPPA. Do we get to vote unless the free enterprise system, both the producers and you as be warned about the contents of the records, what better way than to that there is another point of view. 10:00 AM - SD-538. constitutional. Treasury recites Gonna drive my love inside you and on Contents of Music and the Lyrics of Records (including all of Zappas the industry, that that is what the industry is. best high school hockey in florida. Yet, the warning labels still adorn individual track listings and albums online. I do more than that at this point. forced to bear the cost, the extra expenditure to the publisher, to print . Mr. ZAPPA. Somebody is going to have to reimburse the guideline reach fly reel spare spool. 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