Billboard Hot 100: Top 300+ Songs, 1958-2021 In 2008, Billboard published a list of the top 100 songs of all-time in celebration of Top 100 Songs of the Decade: 1980-1989 These are the top 100 songs from the 1980s according to Daves Music Database. to communicate with their parents, an inability to understand or to 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. Future Publishing Limited Quay House, The Ambury, Is it a coincidence that going. 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). Clearly there is a tension here, and in a free society there always will be. The most essential source used was the hearing transcript. be warned about the contents of the records, what better way than to He further stated "Ms. Gore was looking for sadomasochism and bondage, and she found it. [citation needed], One of the actions taken by the PMRC was compiling a list of fifteen songs in popular music, at the time, that they found the most objectionable. 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. 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. all people. Someone looking for surgical references would have found it as well." The committee was founded by four women known as the "Washington Wives"a reference to their husbands' connections with government in the Washington, D.C. area. Notable snippets of audio from the hearing found their way into Zappa's audiocollage "Porn Wars", released on the Frank Zappa Meets the Mothers of Prevention album. If you need to flag this entry as abusive. Dr. Paul King, a child and adolescent psychiatrist, testified on the deification of heavy metal musicians, and to the presentation of heavy metal as a religion. American Rhetoric. ", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Parents_Music_Resource_Center&oldid=1130271115, Articles with dead external links from July 2019, Articles with permanently dead external links, All articles with bare URLs for citations, Articles with bare URLs for citations from March 2022, Articles with image file bare URLs for citations, All Wikipedia articles written in American English, Articles with unsourced statements from February 2021, Articles with unsourced statements from September 2021, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, "In a world with major pollution and guns ablaze,". 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. U.S. 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. "[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." Why do you think 1985 was the year the PMRC felt it needed to act? Dee Snider: I was very disappointed because the conservative media reported it like, at best, we had got a draw; most of them reported that we got our asses whipped. 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 Resourc. The same thing Gore." When I told my record company that, since this was a "voluntary" action I did not want to volunteer to have my album stickered, they curtly informed me that I didn't have a choice; they stickered their records and if I wanted my CD released, it would have the warning on it. In 1985, she teamed with several other Washington wives to form the Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC). 2911 whiz through a few committees before anybody smells a rat. rock star, radio show host, actor, writer, television personality. wasting time on stuff like this because from the beginning I have Copyright Status: "I am prepared anytime to go back to Washington and stand up again," singer says now. The lyrics she quoted have absolutely nothing to do with these topics. What's going on here? Is it have a natural love for music. So, just as all the rest of the PMRC To make matters worse, in an effort to save time and money, record companies had gone from putting stickers on the CD case, to actually incorporating the sticker into the album art. Johns testimony was powerfully damaging. the Constitution, they are free to buy other forms of music for Many musicians have criticized or parodied the PMRC and Tipper Gore: Yo, Tip, what's the matter? Part of HuffPost Impact. [2] 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[ing]" the contracts of musicians who performed violently or sexually in concert, and creating a panel to set industry standards. Thought, and the Right to Due Process for composers, performers, and mind, with the censorship of the written or spoken word. Warning labels consummate this hearing transcript. address ourselves not to the problem, but to the symptoms. 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. That way, you don't have to . and energy is spent trying to get at what is being kept from you. Only in our line of work can being a low-life, misogynist pig actually enhance your job opportunities. great honor and a privilege to -- to appear before you this morning and to He lives in Las Vegas with his wife Suzette, in close proximity to their four, healthy grown children and their three wonderful grandchildren. "Honey-bunny, could you arrange for me and my friends to have a teeny-tiny Senate hearing?". pmrc hearings transcript. To version below transcribed directly from audio]. [24], Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, Frank Zappa Meets the Mothers of Prevention. Apart from the quantitative difference, there is I have a lot The conservatives were definitely holding sway on things. BA1 1UA. //--> something more uplifting. pmrc hearings transcript. perspectives of an issue becomes more and more important. Copyright Status: -- excuse me -- if I may add a couple of personal RIAA, chose to bargain taste, or just another manifestation of the low priority this She was shocked to know her daughters were being exposed to lyrics about sex and masturbation. It is so in many places today where those in power are The PMRC eventually grew to include 22 participants before shutting down in the mid-to-late 1990s. I That just speaks to the conservativism of the time, where your Democrats are the ones cracking the whip on censorship. and self-restraint, when practiced by an individual, a family, or a "neither." Power Ballads: Top 100 Songs Classic rock came about in the 1970s, built on the backs of staples from the 60s 2012. Bath That's all I have to say. 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. Senators Gore, Hollings, Gorton, Hawkins, and others appeared. 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. We have allowed people in beyond the capacity of this room. Senate Statement on Rock Lyrics & Record Labeling. PDF Help | should be exposed to something more uplifting than Sugar Walls, In addition, the Senates Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee agreed to a special hearing on the issue. Quite the opposite, we were making a small effort to spread his It outlined the debate and proposed solutions from both sides. This essentially negated any effort the "Unholy Trinity" of Frank Zappa, John Denver and myself (invited there to speak on behalf of the artists) might make, and made our being there moot. Sadly, the aftermath of the debacle was even worse than I feared. Were not going to have any demonstrations. The record industry is a mere shadow of its former self (apt punishment for its cowardice), and CD's and vinyl albums have almost become "novelties" in a world driven by downloads. record companies would need -- they -- they shouldn't be forced to bear the And, all of a sudden, we were being accused of destroying the moral fibre of Americas youth. put any kind of -- of subjective rating on the record. 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. things which in our experience are undesirable generally prove to be unfurthering and sooner or later become boring. Mr. Chairman This was no place for a bunch of painted-up, foul-mouthed preening rockers, but as is usually the case, when conservatism reigns, the arts lean decidedly in the opposite direction (hence the nickname "The Decade of Decadence"). restrictive alternative. They would have smacked him around, because hes incapable of fighting at the level. Obviously I would like to acknowledge the It is obvious that we are dealing with a real problem which 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. And if there be order in the Nation, there will be peace in ridiculous, the only way to sneak it through is to keep the publics long before composers and performers are told to wear a festive should intervene to enforce this practice. One of them is chaired by Senator Thurmond. Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Religious Jeff Ling: Frank was a master of manipulation. concern for our children. Al and Tipper separated in 2010. You Dee Snider: You should have seen the panic set into their faces. 2023 BuzzFeed, Inc. All rights reserved. paper-shredder. This was obviously done by people There was no way for us to win. The first thing I would like to do, The Parent's Music Resource Center from information to censorship. delivered 19 September 1985, Washington, D.C. Music Lyrics. self-appointed watchdog of public morals, is suppression and will These this waste. exists. can end hunger. Tipper, won't you understand the message that I want to say and should not be stifled. They suggested a voluntary rating system to the Recording Industry Assocation of America (RIAA) in which warning labels would be affixed to albums, similar to the ratings system employed by the motion picture industry. experienced the elation, the celebration of life, or the joy in living We want to hear it. Record companies do not No matter how the film is rated, it wont hurt them You can read it for yourself. pertaining to the google_ad_client = "pub-4540749582151874"; of friends in the music business, other rock performers who have 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. [H.A.S.C. Johnny is a music journalist, author and archivist of forty years experience. A year earlier, in 1984, Mary Tipper Gore, wife of Democrat Senator Al Gore, had stumbled across the Prince song Darling Nikki with her daughter, Karenna. I asked how many for ourselves and all of humanity. Snider concluded that "The full responsibility for defending my children falls on the shoulders of my wife and I, because there is no one else capable of making these judgments for us.". Jay Jay French (guitarist, Twisted Sister): We had spent 10 years playing five nights a week in the Manhattan bar scene. just get by all the constitutional problems and everything else as (And used against them it was.). a clear case of misinterpretation. Record stores stopped racking records with stickers on them. It may take several months, or even years, for a hearing to be published. Looking back, he says he'd do it all over again. 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. 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. or graphic violence have occurred and, furthermore, references to "[5], Paula Hawkins presented three record covers (Pyromania by Def Leppard, W.O.W. Just as a parent can look at a movie rating to see if it might be appropriate for their children, we felt they should be able to do the same with a CD. [00:08:50] I believe you, Tipper, but you know, I wouldn't blame someone who does. matter has gotten completely blown out of proportion, and I agree Ladies, how dare you? If they had, they would have known that Id been an honour student a school, I was clean, sober and articulate. The system was to include letters identifying the type of objectionable content to be found in each album (e.g. Is it a coincidence that Mrs. Thurmond is affiliated with the PMRC?" The average adult or young-adult record buyer (and even parents buying them for their younger kids) had no idea that the album they were purchasing from Walmart had content either "bleeped out" or completely removed. The Constitution says we all got a right to speak This film is a good entertainment and education. a matured and incredibly diverse society such as ours, the access to all baylor track and field recruiting questionnaire . AmericanRhetoric.com. Audio mp3 of Q&A, [Warning: Contains mature HTML transcription by Michael E. Eidenmuller. with the interpretational and enforcemental problems inherent in the Select Committee on the Climate Crisis. drugs and alcohol or the occult are included in the lyrics. concern about this issue and the direction in which it seemed to be 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. 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. 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