The PMRC - the scourge of expression stateside

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TIPPER GORE and the PMRC

"The PMRC proposal is an ill-conceived piece of nonsense which fails to deliver any real benefits to children [and] infringes the civil liberties of people who are not children" - Frank Zappa, Hearing on Contents of Music and Lyrics of Records, 1985

I'm all for some of Mrs. Gore's other campaigns, but her crusade to protect the children of America from what she believes is "unsuitable" music, quite frankly, just pisses me off. As Frank Zappa said in the argument over warning labels for explicit CDs (which record companies eventually gave in to), it is morally wrong to simply establish "an endless parade of Moral Quality Control Programs based on 'Things Certain Christians Don't Like' ". Joined as he was by Dee Snider of Twisted Sister and John Denver, their argument, however, was in vain, and the griping, moaning PMRC got its wish.

As stated in the U.S Constitution, "Congress shall make no law...abridging freedom of speech". In the last ten years, the music industry has been attacked on all fronts by people who want to control what people think.

THEIR VICTIMS

1) EMINEM

Without endorsing his lyrics in any way, I can say that this man does not present a threat to today's younger generation. Eminem has suffered more opposition from the public personally than anyone else, in my opinion. Granted that some of his lyrics describe the murder of two women, his mother, Debbie Mathers-Briggs and his ex-wife Kim, his misogynistic lyrics simply tell the listener a story of his traumatic childhood. His father left when he was barely six months old ("I was a baby, maybe I was just a couple of months/My faggot father must've had his panties up in a bunch/Cuz he split"); he had a turbulent relationship with his mother, which shows his constant need to criticise her; he wrote 'Kim' after seeing his wife kissing another man (can you imagine what that feels like?); he was beaten into a coma when he was ten years old, and nearly died. Have some sympathy for the man, for Christ's sake!

2) MUSIC IN GENERAL

In 1985, Tipper Gore, Susan Baker and others set out to disestablish all that musicians and artists call "freedom of speech". Simply from viewing some lyrics by some twisted, heavy metal bands, they immediately deduced that America's young people were not safe from this uncouth peril, which they dubbed 'porn rock'. So, they took the music companies to the U.S. Senate, one of the senators being Gore's husband and future Vice-President, Al Gore. The companies retaliated, with appearances from musicians Frank Zappa, John Denver and Dee Snider. Each of the three artists made personal statements expressing their opposition to the PMRC's non-realistic demands. Frank Zappa, as I have seen, was very vehemently opposed to it, and you can read the statements by clicking here. To continue, Mr. Zappa referred to George Orwell's masterpiece '1984', and described how restrictions on what people listen to dull their sense of individuality. He said that it was up to the children themselves to decide what was suitable, as they were the ones listening to the music, and not the PMRC. He asked the PMRC, how dare they condone a music that they have not been forced to listen to? However, testimony from himself and Messrs Snider and Denver failed to sway their biased, one-sided opinions, and the 'Parental Advisory' labels that we all know and love were born. And has it helped? Not a bit. Children swear by albums and artists that promote the "sordid filth" that the PMRC were campaigning against nearly 20 years ago. And nothing has changed, proving that this was all just a big stunt to put their own limits on what they viewed as radical artists simply expressing what they think. Well, ladies and gentlemen, fuck that shit.

3) DEE SNIDER

As frontman of heavy metal group Twisted Sister, Dee Snider was prone to a lot of controversy. And, in due course, he got it from Tipper Gore...three times. Can one man take so much punishment? Let's have a look.

In an article in a newspaper in Long Island, Tipper Gore claimed that one of Twisted Sister's songs, 'Under the Blade', contained explicit lyrics that would incite rape, bondage and sadomasochism, which just shows the overwhelming ignorance that is present in these people. The songs is actually concerned with, as Snider quotes, "surgery, and the fear that it instills in people". Had she seen fit to analyse the lyrics closely, and read between the lines, she would have seen this. Does this indicate that the aforementioned evils are present only "in the mind of Mrs. Gore"?
Another if his songs, entitled "We're Not Gonna Take It", was one of fifteen in a list of songs with the most blatant use of sordid language, drawn up by Tipper Gore herself. Apparently, it contained content of a violent nature. But, said Snider, she misunderstood again. There is no actual mention of violence anywhere in the song, and the video is simply reenactments of old Wile E. Coyote/Roadrunner skits.
The Tuesday before the Senate hearing on "porn rock", Gore complained that some of their merchandise was potentially sexist and explicit. Mistake number three. Snider retorted that none of their "merchandise, records, stage shows and personal lives" encouraged sexism in any way, and that they had "always promoted the belief that rock and roll should not be sexist, but should cater to males and females equally".

Straighten a few things out? No? Well, I don't give a shit. OK? And neither should Tipper Gore. Do us a favour, Mrs. Gore. Just leave the children out of this. Give them the biggest help you can, and let them grow up, learn to appreciate their own tastes in music and determine for themselves what music is right for them.