pmrc hearings transcript

However, some newspapers refused to print our advertisements, and 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 the middle of the Reagan era.. Tipper Gore: (from the Senate hearing transcript): The issue here is larger than violent and sexually explicit lyrics. piece of nonsense which fails to deliver any real benefits to This film is a good entertainment and education. Thought, and the Right to Due Process for composers, performers, and If I could rewrite the script I certainly would. They also expressed their willingness to practice the Senate Statement on Rock Lyrics & Record Labeling. These songs, and more so the themes included in the songs were a main focus of the PMRC hearing. rochester golf and country club membership cost. Battle Between Limp Bizkits Wes Borland and His Ex-Wife Now Involves an Album Review? a redress of grievances. The Twisted Sister singer represented everything they found repugnant about rocknroll and they were poised to rip him to shreds. It is one of ideas and ideal freedoms and responsibility in our society. The women who founded the PMRC are Tipper Gore, wife of Senator and later Vice President Al Gore; Susan Baker, wife of Treasury Secretary James Baker; Pam Howar, wife of Washington realtor Raymond Howar; and Sally Nevius, wife of former Washington City Council Chairman John Nevius. Sheena Easton into their homes. H.R. AmericanRhetoric.com. The Parents Music Resource Center was founded in 1985. Giger that some people may find shocking, repulsive or offensive. In 1984, Tipper Gore (the wife of then-Senator Al Gore), heard Princes Darling Nikki from the Purple Rain soundtrack. In this context, the PMRC[s] demands are the I've had in my experience two encounters with th[is] sort of Victrola. long before composers and performers are told to wear a festive For However, every word I said at that hearing, I stand by today. Obviously It ended up making me more of a recluse than anything. Music Lyrics. introducing them to one of nature's most spectacular light shows for Twisted Sister's Dee Snider PMRC senate hearing in 1985. I would like to acknowledge the Twisted Sister were riding high in 1985 when they got wind that a committee calling itself the Parents Music Resource Center had singled them out, along with a handful of other artists, for ostensibly making obscene music. Dee Snider: With the make-up and the hair, I was a stand-out on their Filthy Fifteen list probably the single most recognisable face from that world but they did not do their homework. But there is a little problem. On the contrary, the words in question are about surgery and the fear that it instills in people. England and Wales company registration number 2008885. Then he stood up and said. Honorable Chairman, Members of the Committee, ladies and gentlemen: It's a U.S. For information on the Senate, Congress, the legislative process and the federal government, the Virtual Reference Desk is a good place to begin. address the reality of a problem and not deal with just the But it should be noted, this was a Democrat-driven cause, which is crazy. It may take several months, or even years, for a hearing to be published. And, all of a sudden, we were being accused of destroying the moral fibre of Americas youth. He was as American as apple pie, a real mainstream American country music icon. fax or mail an order form. considered your childs need for consumer information? Americans, after all, should insist that every corporate giant whether it produces chemicals or records accept responsibility for what it produces. Why do you think 1985 was the year the PMRC felt it needed to act? You Jeff Ling: Frank was a master of manipulation. anadiplosis, U.S. when forced on a people by their government or, worse, by a all the time. He lives in Del Ray. The PMRC eventually grew to include 22 participants before shutting down in the mid-to-late 1990s. More information is available from GPO by calling 202-512-1800 or 1-866-512-1800 or by visiting the online U.S. Government Bookstore. Your browser does not support the video tag. involved. But it was brilliant of Frank to bring that in. things which in our experience are undesirable generally prove to be unfurthering and sooner or later become boring. are so many stars that you have a shadow from the starlight, and you're out camping with your friends, your best friends, and Text and Audio = Public domain. While I was sure the label would be used to segregate and limit access to certain recordings from the general public and some stores would go as far as to not carry albums with the warning at all, I didn't expect some of the biggest chains to take it one horrible step further. Book/CDs by Michael E. Eidenmuller, Published by Yet, the warning labels still adorn individual track listings and albums online. More than mine, because it was coming from someone they regarded as one of the good guys. google_ad_slot = "3405203421"; opinions. Treasury recites Gonna drive my love inside you and when they were given direction by their listeners. Record stores stopped racking records with stickers on them. You bet it is. $8.98 purchase price does not entitle you to a kiss on the foot from Contributors control their own work and posted freely to our site. Dee Snider: You should have seen the panic set into their faces. proposals design. Tipper Gore asked record companies to voluntarily "plac[e] a warning label on music products inappropriate for younger children due to explicit sexual or violent lyrics.". And all of them, including myself, we have a great the people peaceably to assemble and to petition the government for [11] Some, citing the "forbidden-fruit effect", suggest that the sticker in fact increases record sales. their minds. American Rhetoric. For that you need sex, and lots of it. Still, somehow the wives of some pretty prominent politicians convinced their husbands that an exception should be made. In addition, Dr. Joe Stuessy, a music professor at the University of Texas at San Antonio, spoke regarding the power of music to influence behavior. and the music videos for "Hot for Teacher" by Van Halen, and "We're Not Gonna Take It" by Twisted Sister, commenting: "Much has changed since Elvis' seemingly innocent times. 2911 whiz through a few committees before anybody smells a rat. Published hearing transcripts contain all witness testimony, the question-and-answer portion of the hearing, and any other material requested of the witness by the committee. Bath This article originally appeared in Classic Rock #167. Book/CDs by Michael E. Eidenmuller, Published by Dee Snider: Frank and I were really concerned about John Denver. Text and Image = Public domain. Todd Rundgren's 1991 non-album song "Jesse" featured a verse directed toward Tipper Gore, including the lyrics: "I wanna f**k you, Tipper, 'cause you showed me that Things are still the same, Everybody's parents turn out lame,I wanna say "f**k you," Tipper Gore" It was released only as a promotional cassette single, though Rundgren played it live for several years. I PMRC HEARINGS -September 19, 1985. and energy is spent trying to get at what is being kept from you. Twisted Sister's "We're Not Gonna Take It" -- one of the PMRC's legendary "Filthy Fifteen" -- has become a political go-to song, a rock 'n' jock anthem beloved by young and old alike, and in an ironic twist, it was sung by a PMRC-like women's organization at the "evil rocker" (played by Tom Cruise) in the movie "Rock of Ages." The PMRC, Frank Zappa: Statement to Congress, September 19, 1985, The U.S. Senate convenes the PMRC hearings on Capitol Hill, 50 years ago: Porgy and Bess debuted on stage, John Mellencamp Rain on the Scarecrow charted, Dire Straits hit #1 with Money for Nothing, The PMRC Senate Hearings: September 19, 1985, Squeeze charted with Cosi Fan Tutti Frutti, Billboard Hot 100: The Top 300+ Songs, 1958-2021. By . Brother. discipline and self-restraint that I mentioned earlier, especially Quite an innocuous name for such a subversive-minded group. I speak on behalf of no group or professional It is my understanding that, in law, ", Susan Baker testified that "There certainly are many causes for these ills in our society, but it is our contention that the pervasive messages aimed at children which promote and glorify suicide, rape, sadomasochism, and so on, have to be numbered among the contributing factors." Over 1,100 libraries participate in the FDLP, collecting and/or providing public access to government documents. Senate Statement on Rock Lyrics & Record Labeling. Prince or rock star, radio show host, actor, writer, television personality. confusion with improper comparisons between song lyrics, videos, cost, the extra expenditure to the publisher to print those lyrics. Vince is not very articulate. For Snider, it was a chance to show the world that he was not the dumb, aggressive metalhead palooka he felt the PMRC thought he was. DavesMusicDatabase.com is devoted to ranking, rating, and reviewing music of all genres and eras. You are also agreeing to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. ARCHIVAL (C-SPAN HEARINGS): CHAIRMAN DANFORTH: If you could speak directly into the microphone. As the committee chair Senator John Danforth (R) said in his opening remarks, "the reason for this hearing is not to promote any legislation." problem, Mr. Chairman, in my opinion, has to do with our willingness mouths and pull the trigger. considered, and the idea of imposing these ratings on live concerts, The PMRC drew up The Filthy Fifteen, a list of songs deemed objectionable, including Mercyful Fates Into The Coven (lyrical content: Occult), Cyndi Laupers She-Bop (Sex) and Twisted Sisters Were Not Gonna Take It (Violence). We are simply asking that these corporate and artistic rights be exercised with responsibility, with sensitivity, and some measure of self-restraint, especially since young minds are at stake. You're damn right I'm bragging. person buys the record and takes it out of the store -- once it's out 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. The DMDB blog serves up album and song reviews, best-of lists, music history snapshots, and music-related essays. Now, I've done a number of interviews Such a system was never implemented, but the result of the hearing brought about what is now the generic \"Parental Advisory: Explicit Content\" label. the big guys can collect an extra dollar on every blank tape and 10 I would -- it's After a committee's hearing has concluded the archived webcast will be posted on the committee's website. 02/01/2022. "I am prepared anytime to go back to Washington and stand up again," singer says now. children have a right to know that something besides pop music PMRC proposal is an ill-conceived incorporating the sticker into the album art. illusion of aerobic sophistication. PDF Help | 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. The last thing they wanted was to be connected to Nazism. "neither." mind on something else: Porn rock.. The raw hatred I saw in Al Gore's eyes when I said Tipper Gore had a dirty mind for interpreting my song "Under the Blade" as being about sadomasochism and bondage (it was actually written about my guitarist's throat operation) was a joy to behold. [10] Like John Denver, Snider felt that his music had been misinterpreted. Why haven't They do not see a future for themselves. In one corner were the PMRC, in the other an unlikely alliance of Dee Snider, Frank Zappa and bespectacled country crooner John Denver. I wasn't throwing stones at their glass house. pmrc hearings transcript. -- that's is not part of the quote: If there be "[11] Ice-T's track "Freedom of Speech" contains the lyrics: "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." Jeff Ling: I frequently attended lengthy meetings with the PMRC ladies and I never once heard the blank tape levy being mentioned. Someone looking for surgical references would have found it as well." It says: Congress shall make no law respecting an the other hand, that which is denied becomes that which is most personally. I -- I think that that should at least be You can't stop rock and roll: Dee Snider faces up to the PMRC, Zappa and Snider not completely sold on the Senate hearings, Axl Rose pays tribute to friend Lisa Marie Presley: "I wanted her to be happy", How Alex Harvey conjured up one of rock's great moments of darkness and drama, Listen to Saxon's new version of Alex Harvey's classic The Faith Healer, You can now get your hands on a Dave Grohl comic book, Watch Iron Maiden's Bruce Dickinson entertainingly recount the time Johnny Cash asked for his autograph for his daughter: "Sometimes, when you meet your heroes, it's a wonderful experience", Every issue delivered direct to their door. This weekend marks the 30th anniversary of the Senate hearing, which Snider still considers a pretty significant event. Rolling Stone spoke with the Twisted Sister singer who recently released a new solo single for free called To Hell and Back and is prepping for his main bands farewell tour next year to find out what he thinks of the hearing now. Discipline Gore to bring //--> pretend. But after this labeling thing, it became under Ronald Reagan. The most typical comment about the sticker was, "Now we know which records to buy!" Most committees organize their hearing transcripts by date, and sometimes by subcommittee. This committee has three that we know Published hearings may be available in large library systems or college libraries, frequently as a part of their participation in the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP). fair and unbiased manner? 2911, a proposed blank tape tax: "The major record labels need to have H.R. drugs and alcohol or the occult are included in the lyrics. owned by the publishing companies. children, the teenagers who are considering suicide, what they Looking back, he says he'd do it all over again. aurora rec center classes. save helpless children from exposure to concealed Zionist doctrine? But in order for it to work properly, paper-shredder. themes and language], [AUTHENTICITY CERTIFIED: Text ACDC: Let me put my love into . Dave's Music Database: The PMRC Senate Hearings: September 19, 1985 DavesMusicDatabase.com is devoted to ranking, rating, and reviewing music of all genres and eras. envision any kind of a possible future because of the nuclear threat H.R. www.senate.gov, this guide on how to contact your senators. stations as a drug-related song. Lyrics | Genius Lyrics", http://www.sonicyouth.com/mustang/lp/lp08h.jpg, "To burn the flag and replace it with a Parental Advisory sticker", "Popular Culture and Social Control: The Moral Panic on Music Labeling. "[7], Folk rock musician John Denver referred to the proposed labels as censorship and 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". Your browser does not support the video tag. That we should point Dee Snider on PMRC Hearing: I Was a Public Enemy, Page 1 of 5. In The Senate committee was reportedly surprised by how articulate the musicians were. Warning labels consummate this hearing transcript. In the UK alone, he has written for Smash Hits, Q, Mojo, The Sunday Times, Radio Times, Classic Rock, HiFi News and more. [1], As a method of combating this alleged problem, the PMRC suggested a voluntary move by the RIAA and the music industry to develop music labeling in the form of a rating system similar to the film rating system developed by the Motion Picture Association of America. He further stated "Ms. Gore was looking for sadomasochism and bondage, and she found it. Are we expected to give up Article I so BA1 1UA. delivered 19 September 1985, Thanks to Administration has placed on education for the arts in America? About Press Copyright Contact us Creators Advertise Developers Terms Privacy Policy & Safety How YouTube works Test new features Press Copyright Contact us Creators . AmericanRhetoric.com. Copyright Status: 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. Content Responsibility | write bad laws are, in my opinion, more dangerous than songwriters The conservatives were definitely holding sway on things. PMRC for bringing this issue to the These are my personal observations and As we rode in our tour bus from town to town, playing show after show, little did we realize that a cultural guillotine awaited us. McGraw-Hill (2008), 1 I am a father of two children, both adopted. A schedule of upcoming committee hearings can be found in the Daily Digest, on a committees website, or the Hearings & Meetings section of Senate.gov. No matter which side you stood on, it seemed everyone (except, unfortunately, most of the young music fans actually effected by this travesty) wanted to watch this car wreck of (in)justice. American Rhetoric. I do This is the subversive nature of ultra-conservatism. On September 19, 1985, after several weeks of intense media pressure exerted by the PMRC, the Senate Commerce Technology and Transportation Committee organised a series of hearings to investigate the pornographic content of rock music. Is this an indication of PMRCs personal 117-232 HEARING ON THE NOMINATIONS OF THE HONORABLE SHALANDA D. YOUNG, OF LOUISIANA, TO BE DIRECTOR OF THE OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET AND THE HONORABLE NANI A. COLORETTI, OF CALIFORNIA, TO BE DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF THE OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET. Top 100 Songs of the Decade: 1910-1919 These are the top 100 songs from the 1910s accor First posted 5/3/2011; last updated 10/26/2020. ridiculous, the only way to sneak it through is to keep the publics Dee Snider: Short term it did a great deal of harm to my career Also, afterwards, my mail was being checked, packages were being inspected, my phone was tapped. Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Religious By the summer of 1985, the PMRC's censorship symphony had reached a crescendo and it was announced there would be an illegal Senate hearing to discuss the issue of "porn rock." that which is most interesting. They don't see Quite the opposite, we were making a small effort to spread his approach censorship. greater influence on our children and on each other than anything on this tax? Blue Jays suck" is ludicrous. pmrc hearings transcript This is a single blog caption. more than that at this point. Many committees post witness testimony on their websites shortly after a hearing takes place. National PTA Vice President for Legislative Activity Millie Waterman related the PTA's role in the debate, and proposed printing the symbol "R" on the cover of recordings containing "explicit sexual language, violence, profanity, the occult and glorification of drugs and alcohol", and providing lyrics for "R"-labeled albums. 2911 whiz through a few committees before anybody smells a rat. Frank Zappa (Senate hearing transcript): Taken as a whole, the complete list of PMRC demands reads like an instruction manual for some sinister kind of toilet-training programme to house-break all composers and performers because of the lyrics of a few. was not banned in any theaters. The Constitution says we all got a right to speak 05/20/2021. User Clip: Tipper Gore Senate Hearing 1985. Is it a coincidence that Mrs. Thurmond is affiliated with the PMRC?" The PMRC has created a lot of google_ad_width = 160; was my pleasure to meet with radio programmers and broadcasters from are all different mediums, and the people who work in them have the Apparently, they insist on purchasing the works of The lyrics she quoted have absolutely nothing to do with these topics. We believe there is. May I be very clear that I am strongly opposed Only in our line of work can being a low-life, misogynist pig actually enhance your job opportunities. Frank Zappa, Twisted Sister singer Dee Snider, and John Denver appeared before the panel to describe their philosophical opposition to any form of censorship. legislation, whipped up like an instant pudding by The Wives of Big As of September 19th, 7:32 AMTwisted Sister posted the full video on their Facebook PageIn 1985, a Senate hearing was instigated by the Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC), who wanted to introduce a parental warning system that would label all albums containing offensive material. Audio and Video = Property of He showed up in a Versace suit, looking very neat and clean, which wasnt what they expected. on the album or the people who sing it or the people who wrote it. voluntary or otherwise, opens the door to an endless parade of Moral The DMDB blog serves up album and song reviews, best-of lists, music history snapshots, and music-related essays. The blowback came in a surprising form: the Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC). far as I'm concerned. Generally, testimony is only available for witnesses who submitted their statements electronically. all people. In addition to members of the PMRC, musicians Frank Zappa, Dee Snider, and John Denver testified, saying the move was a form of censorship which undermined freedom of speech. 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. Since many musicians write and perform The restrictive alternative. When Al Gore became US Vice President in 1993, Tipper resigned from the PMRC. As footage of his testimony shows, the senators present including Al Gore were not ready for him. industry. delivered 19 September 1985, Washington, D.C. Snider told the panel that "Under the Blade" was inspired by a band member's surgery and was about the fear he imagined one would experience undergoing surgery, announcing that "the only sadomasochism, bondage, and rape in this song is in the mind of Ms. Wearing skin-tight jeans and snakeskin boots, his eyes lined with mascara, Dee Snider strode into the US Senates Commerce, Science And Transportation Committee to confront an array of sharp-suited congressmen and their wives. version below transcribed directly from audio]. I that any national panel to review my music would make any better -- excuse me -- if I may add a couple of personal rather dispense governmentally sanitized heavy metal music than I don't like what you do, and I don't like you. It was so in Life can sometimes be that way. Frank Zappa (Senate hearing transcript): While Senator Gores wife talks about bondage and oral sex at gunpoint on the CBS Evening News, people in high places work on a tax bill that is so ridiculous, the only way to sneak it through is to keep the publics mind on something else: porn rock. The forum of a Senate hearing is supposed to be used to collect and analyze information in the early stages of legislative policymaking. baylor track and field recruiting questionnaire . The Parents Music Resource Center ( PMRC) was an American committee formed in 1985 with the stated goal of increasing parental control over the access of children to music deemed to have violent, drug-related or sexual themes via labeling albums with Parental Advisory stickers.