Parents Music Resource Center
Encyclopedia
The Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC) was an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 committee formed in 1985 with the goal of increasing parental control over the access of children to music deemed to be violent, have drug use or be sexual.The committee was founded by four women: Tipper Gore
Tipper Gore
Mary Elizabeth "Tipper" Gore , née Aitcheson, is an author, photographer, former second lady of the United States, and the estranged wife of Al Gore...

, wife of Senator
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...

 and later Vice President
Vice President of the United States
The Vice President of the United States is the holder of a public office created by the United States Constitution. The Vice President, together with the President of the United States, is indirectly elected by the people, through the Electoral College, to a four-year term...

 Al Gore
Al Gore
Albert Arnold "Al" Gore, Jr. served as the 45th Vice President of the United States , under President Bill Clinton. He was the Democratic Party's nominee for President in the 2000 U.S. presidential election....

; Susan Baker, wife of Treasury Secretary
United States Secretary of the Treasury
The Secretary of the Treasury of the United States is the head of the United States Department of the Treasury, which is concerned with financial and monetary matters, and, until 2003, also with some issues of national security and defense. This position in the Federal Government of the United...

 James Baker
James Baker
James Addison Baker, III is an American attorney, politician and political advisor.Baker served as the Chief of Staff in President Ronald Reagan's first administration and in the final year of the administration of President George H. W. Bush...

; Pam Howar, wife of Washington realtor Raymond Howar; and Sally Nevius, wife of former Washington City Council
Council of the District of Columbia
The Council of the District of Columbia is the legislative branch of the local government of the District of Columbia. As permitted in the United States Constitution, the District is not part of any U.S. state and is instead overseen directly by the federal government...

 Chairman John Nevius
John Nevius
John A. Nevius was a lawyer and politician who served as the last head of Washington, DC's pre-Home Rule city council. Nevius was first appointed to the council by President Lyndon Johnson from 1967 to 1969. In 1972, President Richard Nixon appointed him as president of the council...

. They were known as the "Washington wives" – a reference to their husbands' connections with government in the Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

 area. The Center eventually grew to include 22 participants.

Background and formation

In October 1984, the National Parent-Teacher Association, (PTA), sent a letter to 30 record label
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...

s and to the Recording Industry Association of America
Recording Industry Association of America
The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States...

, (RIAA), proposing the music industry label records that contained "explicit lyrics or content", in order to "take the element of surprise out of buying an album". Initially none of the record companies agreed to the PTA's proposal. A response letter from RIAA President, Stanley Gortikov, stated that: "There are wide variations, company to company, within our industry in respect to artists, contractual relationships, marketing considerations and product services."

The formation of the PMRC began in 1984 after Tipper Gore, along with her daughter Karenna, heard Prince
Prince (musician)
Prince Rogers Nelson , often known simply as Prince, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Prince has produced ten platinum albums and thirty Top 40 singles during his career. Prince founded his own recording studio and label; writing, self-producing and playing most, or all, of...

's song "Darling Nikki
Darling Nikki
"Darling Nikki" is a song produced, arranged, composed and performed by Prince and originally released on his Grammy Award-winning 1984 album, Purple Rain. Though the song was not released as a single, it gained wide notoriety for its sexual lyrics...

". This track, which appears on the soundtrack to the film Purple Rain
Purple Rain (film)
Purple Rain is a 1984 film directed by Albert Magnoli and written by Magnoli and William Blinn. Prince makes his film debut in this movie, which was developed to showcase his particular talents, hence, the film contains several extended concert sequences. The film grossed more than US$80 million at...

, contains references to sex
Sex
In biology, sex is a process of combining and mixing genetic traits, often resulting in the specialization of organisms into a male or female variety . Sexual reproduction involves combining specialized cells to form offspring that inherit traits from both parents...

 and masturbation
Masturbation
Masturbation refers to sexual stimulation of a person's own genitals, usually to the point of orgasm. The stimulation can be performed manually, by use of objects or tools, or by some combination of these methods. Masturbation is a common form of autoeroticism...

 ("I knew a girl named Nikki/I guess you could say she was a sex fiend/I met her in a hotel lobby/Masturbating with a magazine").

Gore watched other rock music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...

s and concluded: "The images frightened my children, they frightened me! I am frightened! Way frightened! The graphic sex and the violence were too much for us to handle." Susan Baker became alarmed when she heard her seven-year-old daughter singing along with Madonna
Madonna (entertainer)
Madonna is an American singer-songwriter, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983...

 songs that Baker considered inappropriate Gore and Baker, along with Howar and Nevius, formed the PMRC in May 1985.

The PMRC claimed that the change in rock music was attributable to the decay of the nuclear family
Nuclear family
Nuclear family is a term used to define a family group consisting of a father and mother and their children. This is in contrast to the smaller single-parent family, and to the larger extended family. Nuclear families typically center on a married couple, but not always; the nuclear family may have...

 in America. Gore asserted that families are "haven[s] of moral stability" which protect children from outside influence, and that without the family structure rock music was "infecting the youth of the world with messages they cannot handle."

Rap music of the mid to late 1980s, especially artists that were deemed violent, particularly Ice-T
ICE-T
* Ice-T, an American rapper and actor* ICE T , a tilting model of the German InterCityExpress series of high-speed trains...

 and Geto Boys
Geto Boys
Geto Boys is a rap group from Houston, Texas, consisting of Scarface, Willie D and Bushwick Bill. The Geto Boys earned notoriety for its lyrics which included misogyny, gore, psychotic experiences, and necrophilia...

 furthered the PMRC's influence in American politics. Ice-T was personally accused by Tipper Gore
Tipper Gore
Mary Elizabeth "Tipper" Gore , née Aitcheson, is an author, photographer, former second lady of the United States, and the estranged wife of Al Gore...

 with support from the PMRC for the increasing rates of violence against police officers in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

 in the late 1980s.

Actions

As a method of combating this alleged problem, the PMRC suggested a voluntary move by the RIAA
Recording Industry Association of America
The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States...

 and the music industry to develop "guidelines and/or a rating system" similar to the MPAA film rating system
MPAA film rating system
The Motion Picture Association of America's film-rating system is used in the U.S. and its territories to rate a film's thematic and content suitability for certain audiences. The MPAA system applies only to motion pictures that are submitted for rating. Other media may be rated by other entities...

. 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. This article led to the removal of rock music and magazines from American stores including Wal-Mart
Wal-Mart
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. , branded as Walmart since 2008 and Wal-Mart before then, is an American public multinational corporation that runs chains of large discount department stores and warehouse stores. The company is the world's 18th largest public corporation, according to the Forbes Global 2000...

, J. C. Penney
J. C. Penney
-External links:*...

, Sears
Sears, Roebuck and Company
Sears, officially named Sears, Roebuck and Co., is an American chain of department stores which was founded by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck in the late 19th century...

 and Fred Meyer
Fred Meyer
Fred Meyer, Inc., is a chain of hypermarkets founded in 1922 in Portland, Oregon, by Fred G. Meyer. The company was one of the pioneers of one-stop shopping, eventually combining a complete grocery supermarket with a drugstore, clothing store, shoe store, fine jewelers, home decor store, home...

.

The PMRC also released the "Filthy Fifteen", a list of the 15 songs they found most objectionable:
# Artist Song title Lyrical content
1 Prince "Darling Nikki
Darling Nikki
"Darling Nikki" is a song produced, arranged, composed and performed by Prince and originally released on his Grammy Award-winning 1984 album, Purple Rain. Though the song was not released as a single, it gained wide notoriety for its sexual lyrics...

"
Sex
2 Sheena Easton
Sheena Easton
Sheena Easton is a Scottish recording artist. Easton became famous for being the focus of an episode in the British television programme The Big Time, which recorded her attempts to gain a record contract and her eventual signing with EMI Records.Easton rose to fame in the early 1980s with the pop...

"Sugar Walls
Sugar Walls
"Sugar Walls" is the second single from Sheena Easton's 1984 album A Private Heaven that spent 9 weeks on the pop chart.A top ten hit in the United States on both the pop and R&B charts, the song was composed by Prince, utilizing the pseudonym "Alexander Nevermind"...

"
Sex
3 Judas Priest
Judas Priest
Judas Priest are an English heavy metal band from Birmingham, England, formed in 1969. The current line-up consists of lead vocalist Rob Halford, guitarists Glenn Tipton and Richie Faulkner, bassist Ian Hill, and drummer Scott Travis. The band has gone through several drummers over the years,...

"Eat Me Alive" Sex
4 Vanity
Vanity (performer)
Denise Katrina Matthews , better known as Vanity, but sometimes credited as Denise Matthews-Smith or D.D. Winters, is a Canadian-born former singer, songwriter, dancer, actress, and model from the 1980s until the early mid-90s...

"Strap on Robbie Baby" Sex
5 Mötley Crüe
Mötley Crüe
Mötley Crüe is an American heavy metal band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1981. The group was founded by bass guitarist Nikki Sixx and drummer Tommy Lee, who were later joined by lead guitarist Mick Mars and lead singer Vince Neil...

"Bastard" Violence
6 AC/DC
AC/DC
AC/DC are an Australian rock band, formed in 1973 by brothers Malcolm and Angus Young. Commonly classified as hard rock, they are considered pioneers of heavy metal, though they themselves have always classified their music as simply "rock and roll"...

"Let Me Put My Love into You
Back in Black
Back in Black is an album by Australian rock band AC/DC. It is the seventh Australian and sixth internationally released studio album by the band....

"
Sex
7 Twisted Sister
Twisted Sister
Twisted Sister is an American heavy metal band from Long Island. Musically, the band implements elements of traditional heavy metal bands such as Iron Maiden and Judas Priest, along with a style that is similar to early glam metal bands...

"We're Not Gonna Take It" Violence
8 Madonna
Madonna (entertainer)
Madonna is an American singer-songwriter, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983...

"Dress You Up
Dress You Up
"Dress You Up" is a song by American singer Madonna. It was released as the final single from her second studio album, Like a Virgin, on July 24, 1985, by Sire Records. The song was the last track to be added to the album as it was submitted late by songwriters Andrea LaRusso and Peggy Stanziale...

"
Sex
9 W.A.S.P. "Animal (Fuck Like a Beast)" Sex/Language
10 Def Leppard
Def Leppard
Def Leppard are an English rock band formed in 1977 in Sheffield as part of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal movement. Since 1992, the band have consisted of Joe Elliott , Rick Savage , Rick Allen , Phil Collen , and Vivian Campbell...

"High 'n' Dry (Saturday Night)
High 'n' Dry (Saturday Night)
"High 'n' Dry " is the 1981 title track by British heavy metal band Def Leppard from their multi-platinum album High 'n' Dry. It was ranked number 33 on VH1's 40 Greatest Metal Songs.. It is one of five songs by Def Leppard, which had a promotional video, but however were not single releases...

"
Drug and alcohol use
11 Mercyful Fate
Mercyful Fate
Mercyful Fate was a Danish heavy metal band from Copenhagen. Initially active from 1981 to 1985, they reunited in 1992. The band went on hiatus again in 2000, when frontman King Diamond decided to continue his solo career...

"Into the Coven" Occult
Occult
The word occult comes from the Latin word occultus , referring to "knowledge of the hidden". In the medical sense it is used to refer to a structure or process that is hidden, e.g...

12 Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath are an English heavy metal band, formed in Aston, Birmingham in 1969 by Ozzy Osbourne , Tony Iommi , Geezer Butler , and Bill Ward . The band has since experienced multiple line-up changes, with Tony Iommi the only constant presence in the band through the years. A total of 22...

"Trashed
Trashed (Black Sabbath song)
"Trashed" is a single of the album Born Again, by the heavy metal band Black Sabbath. It is the first song of the album, and one of the first songs by the Gillan Sabbath lineup....

"
Drug and alcohol use
13 Mary Jane Girls
Mary Jane Girls
The Mary Jane Girls were an American R&B, soul, funk and disco group in the 1980s. They were protégées of singer Rick James. They are known for their hit songs "All Night Long", "Candyman" and "In My House".-Formation:...

"In My House
In My House (song)
"In My House" is the first single released from the American R&B girl group Mary Jane Girls album, Only Four You in 1985. The song went to number one on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart in April of that year and remained atop the chart for two weeks. It was also a top 10 hit on both the U.S....

"
Sex
14 Venom
Venom (band)
Venom are an English heavy metal band that formed in 1979 in Newcastle upon Tyne. Coming to prominence towards the end of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, Venom's first two albums—Welcome to Hell and Black Metal —are considered a major influence on thrash metal and extreme metal in general...

"Possessed" Occult
15 Cyndi Lauper
Cyndi Lauper
Cynthia Ann Stephanie "Cyndi" Lauper is an American singer, songwriter, actress and LGBT rights activist. She achieved success in the mid-1980s with the release of the album She's So Unusual and became the first female singer to have four top-five singles released from one album...

"She Bop
She Bop
"She Bop" is a song by American singer Cyndi Lauper, released as the third single from her album She's So Unusual. It reached number three on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart on June 9, 1984. Worldwide, the song is her most commercially successful single after "Time After Time", and reached number...

"
Sex

Senate hearing



In August 1985, 19 record companies agreed to put "Parental Guidance: Explicit Lyrics" labels on albums to warn of explicit lyrical content. Before the labels could be put into place, the Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...

 agreed to hold a hearing on so-called "porn rock". This began on September 19, 1985, when representatives from the PMRC, three musicians -- Dee Snider
Dee Snider
Daniel "Dee" Snider is an American singer-songwriter, screenwriter, radio personality, and actor. Snider is most famous for his role as the frontman of the heavy metal band Twisted Sister...

, Frank Zappa
Frank Zappa
Frank Vincent Zappa was an American composer, singer-songwriter, electric guitarist, record producer and film director. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa wrote rock, jazz, orchestral and musique concrète works. He also directed feature-length films and music videos, and designed...

, John Denver
John Denver
Henry John Deutschendorf, Jr. , known professionally as John Denver, was an American singer/songwriter, activist, and humanitarian. After growing up in numerous locations with his military family, Denver began his music career in folk music groups in the late 1960s. His greatest commercial success...

 -- and Senators Paula Hawkins
Paula Hawkins
Paula Hawkins was an U.S. politician from Florida. She is to date the only woman elected to the U.S. Senate from Florida. She was the first woman ever elected to a full term in the Senate without a family connection....

 and Al Gore
Al Gore
Albert Arnold "Al" Gore, Jr. served as the 45th Vice President of the United States , under President Bill Clinton. He was the Democratic Party's nominee for President in the 2000 U.S. presidential election....

 testified before the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee
United States Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation
The United States Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation is a standing committee of the United States Senate in charge of all senate matters related to the following subjects:* Coast Guard* Coastal zone management* Communications...

 on "the subject of the content of certain sound recordings and suggestions that recording packages be labeled to provide a warning to prospective purchasers of sexually explicit or other potentially offensive content."

Supporting witnesses

Paula Hawkins
Paula Hawkins
Paula Hawkins was an U.S. politician from Florida. She is to date the only woman elected to the U.S. Senate from Florida. She was the first woman ever elected to a full term in the Senate without a family connection....

 presented three record covers (Pyromania
Pyromania (album)
Pyromania is the third studio album by British rock band Def Leppard, released on 20 January 1983. It featured new guitarist Phil Collen and was produced by Robert John "Mutt" Lange. The album charted at #2 on the Billboard 200 and #18 on the UK Albums Chart.The album was partially recorded with...

by Def Leppard
Def Leppard
Def Leppard are an English rock band formed in 1977 in Sheffield as part of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal movement. Since 1992, the band have consisted of Joe Elliott , Rick Savage , Rick Allen , Phil Collen , and Vivian Campbell...

, W.O.W.
W.O.W.
W.O.W. is the first solo studio album released by Wendy O. Williams in 1984 after her group, the Plasmatics, broke up .In 1982, KISS asked for Wendy and the Plasmatics to appear as a Special Guest on their tour...

by Wendy O. Williams
Wendy O. Williams
Wendy Orlean Williams , better known as Wendy O. Williams, was the lead singer for the American punk band the Plasmatics, as well as a solo artist...

 and Animal (Fuck Like a Beast) by W.A.S.P.
W.A.S.P.
W.A.S.P. is an American heavy metal band formed in 1982. They emerged from the same Los Angeles scene that spawned Mötley Crüe, Ratt, Quiet Riot and others. The band's popularity peaked in the 1980s, yet they continue to record and tour, making them one of the most enduring of the West Coast heavy...

) and the music videos for "Hot for Teacher
Hot for Teacher
"Hot for Teacher" is a song on Van Halen's album 1984.The sexually suggestive song was best known for its long opening drum solo, near motorcycle-like drum fills and its music video featuring the band as both adults and young students in a high school...

", by Van Halen
Van Halen
Van Halen is an American hard rock band formed in Pasadena, California, in 1972. The band has enjoyed success since the release of its debut album, Van Halen, . As of 2007 Van Halen has sold 80 million albums worldwide and has had the most #1 hits on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart...

, and "We're Not Gonna Take It", by Twisted Sister
Twisted Sister
Twisted Sister is an American heavy metal band from Long Island. Musically, the band implements elements of traditional heavy metal bands such as Iron Maiden and Judas Priest, along with a style that is similar to early glam metal bands...

, commenting: "Much has changed since Elvis' seemingly innocent times. Subtleties, suggestions, and innuendo have given way to overt expressions and descriptions of often violent sexual acts, drug taking, and flirtations with the occult. The record album covers to me are self-explanatory."

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." 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."

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.

In addition, Dr. Joe Stuessy, a music professor at the University of Texas at San Antonio
University of Texas at San Antonio
The University of Texas at San Antonio, commonly referred to as UTSA, is a state university in San Antonio, Texas. With an enrollment of more than 30,000 students, it is the third-largest of nine universities and six health institutions in the University of Texas System and the eighth-largest in...

, spoke regarding the power of music to influence behavior. He argued that heavy metal was different from earlier forms of music such as jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...

 and rock and roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...

 because it was "mean-spirited" and "had as one of its central elements the element of hatred." Dr. Paul King, a child and adolescent psychiatrist
Psychiatrist
A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders. All psychiatrists are trained in diagnostic evaluation and in psychotherapy...

, testified on the deification
Divinization
Divinization or deification is the "making divine", the "deification" of an earthly entity, individual, group, or activity.In Christian theology, divinization is the transforming effect of divine grace....

 of heavy metal musicians, and to the presentation of heavy metal as a religion. He also stated that "many" adolescents read deeply into song lyrics.

Opposing witnesses

During his statement, musician and producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...

 Frank Zappa
Frank Zappa
Frank Vincent Zappa was an American composer, singer-songwriter, electric guitarist, record producer and film director. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa wrote rock, jazz, orchestral and musique concrète works. He also directed feature-length films and music videos, and designed...

 asserted that "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 interpretation and enforcement problems inherent in the proposal's design." He went on to state his suspicion that the hearings were a front for H.R. 2911, a proposed blank tape tax
Private copying levy
A private copying levy is a government-mandated scheme in which a special tax or levy is charged on purchases of recordable media. Such taxes are in place in various countries and the income is typically allocated to the developers of "content"...

: "The major record labels need to have H.R. 2911 whiz through a few committees before anybody smells a rat. One of them is chaired by Senator Thurmond
Strom Thurmond
James Strom Thurmond was an American politician who served as a United States Senator. He also ran for the Presidency of the United States in 1948 as the segregationist States Rights Democratic Party candidate, receiving 2.4% of the popular vote and 39 electoral votes...

. Is it a coincidence that Mrs. Thurmond is affiliated with the PMRC?" Zappa had earlier stated about the Senate's agreement to hold a hearing on the matter that "A couple of blowjobs here and there and Bingo! — you get a hearing."

Folk rock
Folk rock
Folk rock is a musical genre combining elements of folk music and rock music. In its earliest and narrowest sense, the term referred to a genre that arose in the United States and the UK around the mid-1960s...

 musician John Denver
John Denver
Henry John Deutschendorf, Jr. , known professionally as John Denver, was an American singer/songwriter, activist, and humanitarian. After growing up in numerous locations with his military family, Denver began his music career in folk music groups in the late 1960s. His greatest commercial success...

 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
Rocky Mountain High
"Rocky Mountain High" is a folk-rock song written by John Denver and Mike Taylor about Colorado, and is one of the two official state songs of Colorado. Recorded by Denver, it went to number nine on the US Hot 100 in 1973...

". In addition, Denver expressed his belief that censorship is counterproductive: "That which is denied becomes that which is most desired, and that which is hidden becomes that which is most interesting. Consequently, a great deal of time and energy is spent trying to get at what is being kept from you." Incidentally, when Denver came up to give his speech, many on the PMRC board expected him to side with them, thinking he would be offended by the lyrics as well.

Dee Snider
Dee Snider
Daniel "Dee" Snider is an American singer-songwriter, screenwriter, radio personality, and actor. Snider is most famous for his role as the frontman of the heavy metal band Twisted Sister...

, frontman and lead singer of glam metal
Glam metal
Glam metal is a subgenre of hard rock and heavy metal that arose in the late 1970s and early 1980s in the United States, particularly on the Los Angeles Sunset Strip music scene...

 band Twisted Sister
Twisted Sister
Twisted Sister is an American heavy metal band from Long Island. Musically, the band implements elements of traditional heavy metal bands such as Iron Maiden and Judas Priest, along with a style that is similar to early glam metal bands...

, testified that he "[did] not support [...] Mr. Gortikov's unnecessary and unfortunate decision to agree to a so-called generic label on some selected records". Like John Denver, Snider felt that his music had been misinterpreted. He defended the Twisted Sister songs "Under the Blade
Under the Blade (song)
"Under the Blade" was a single released by American heavy metal band Twisted Sister in 1979. In 1982, the song was used as the title track for their debut album, Under the Blade....

", which had been interpreted as referring to sadomasochism, bondage
Bondage (BDSM)
Bondage is the use of restraints for the sexual pleasure of the parties involved. It may be used in its own right, as in the case of rope bondage and breast bondage, or as part of sexual activity or BDSM activity.- Private bondage :...

, and rape, and "We're Not Gonna Take It", which had been accused of promoting violence. Snider said about "Under the Blade", a song Snider claimed was written about an impending surgery, that "the only sadomasochism, bondage, and rape in this song is in the mind of Ms. Gore." He stated, "Ms. Gore was looking for sadomasochism and bondage, and she found it. Someone looking for surgical references would have found it as well." 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."

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
Frank Zappa Meets the Mothers of Prevention
Frank Zappa Meets the Mothers of Prevention is a 1985 album by Frank Zappa. It was originally released in two slightly different versions in the US and Europe. The two versions were later combined and reissued on a compact disc: first in the US on Rykodisc in 1986 Frank Zappa Meets the Mothers of...

album. Senators Gore
Al Gore
Albert Arnold "Al" Gore, Jr. served as the 45th Vice President of the United States , under President Bill Clinton. He was the Democratic Party's nominee for President in the 2000 U.S. presidential election....

, Hollings, Gorton
Slade Gorton
Thomas Slade Gorton III is an American politician. A Republican, he was a U.S. senator from Washington state from 1981 to 1987, and from 1989 to 2001. He held both of the state's Senate seats in his career and was narrowly defeated for reelection twice as an incumbent: in 1986 by Brock Adams, and...

, Hawkins
Paula Hawkins
Paula Hawkins was an U.S. politician from Florida. She is to date the only woman elected to the U.S. Senate from Florida. She was the first woman ever elected to a full term in the Senate without a family connection....

, and others appeared. The album cover featured a parody of the RIAA warning label. The LP
Gramophone record
A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...

 included a note to listeners to send to Zappa's Barking Pumpkin Records
Barking Pumpkin Records
Barking Pumpkin Records was a record label created by Frank Zappa in 1981. The label was initially distributed by CBS Records from 1981–1984 and Capitol Records from 1984 - 1993. Records sold outside of the US and Canada were distributed by the Music for Nations label. In 1993, after Zappa's death,...

 for a free "Z-PAC", a printed information package that included transcripts of the committee hearing, and a letter from Zappa encouraging young people to register to vote. Zappa's full testimonial was released on a posthumous 2010 compilation called Congress Shall Make No Law...
Congress Shall Make No Law...
Congress Shall Make No Law... is an album by Frank Zappa, released posthumously in 2010 by the Zappa Family Trust on Zappa Records. It contains a full recording of Zappa's September 19, 1985 testimony before the United States Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, during which he...


The Tipper Sticker

On November 1, 1985, before the hearing ended, the RIAA agreed to put "Parental Advisory
Parental Advisory
Parental Advisory is a message affixed by the Recording Industry Association of America to audio and recordings in the United States containing excessive use of profane language and/or sexual references. Albums began to be labeled for "explicit lyrics" in 1985, after pressure from the Parents...

" labels on selected releases at their own discretion. The labels were generic, unlike the original idea of a descriptive label categorizing the explicit lyrics.

Many record stores refused to sell albums containing the label (most notably Wal-Mart
Wal-Mart
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. , branded as Walmart since 2008 and Wal-Mart before then, is an American public multinational corporation that runs chains of large discount department stores and warehouse stores. The company is the world's 18th largest public corporation, according to the Forbes Global 2000...

), and others limited sales of those albums to adults. The label became known as the "Tipper sticker
Parental Advisory
Parental Advisory is a message affixed by the Recording Industry Association of America to audio and recordings in the United States containing excessive use of profane language and/or sexual references. Albums began to be labeled for "explicit lyrics" in 1985, after pressure from the Parents...

". One of the albums to receive the "Parental Advisory" sticker was Frank Zappa's Grammy-winning album Jazz From Hell
Jazz from Hell
Jazz from Hell is a Grammy Award–winning instrumental album from Frank Zappa. It was released in 1986 by Barking Pumpkin Records and by Rykodisc .-Album information:...

, presumably for the use of the word "Hell" in its title but also for the song "G-Spot Tornado", even though it is a collection of instrumental pieces and contains no lyrics at all.

Many musicians have criticized or parodied the PMRC and Tipper Gore:
  • Danzig
    Danzig (band)
    Danzig is an American heavy metal band, formed in 1987 in Lodi, New Jersey. The band serves as a musical outlet for the singer/songwriter Glenn Danzig. Danzig can be seen as the third stage in Glenn Danzig's musical career, preceded by the horror punk bands The Misfits and Samhain...

    's 1988 song "Mother
    Mother (Danzig song)
    "Mother" is a song by Danzig that first appeared on their 1988 debut album, Danzig.Thematically, the song is a rhetorical challenge to parents, primarily inspired by Tipper Gore who, along with the Parents Music Resource Center, introduced the Parental Advisory warning placed on albums that contain...

    " scored a top 40 hit as the most famous song about the PMRC labeling and its inherent problems. This is still one of the only songs about Tipper Gore and the PMRC to reach a wide audience.
  • The song "Rock You to Hell" from the album of the same name by heavy metal
    Heavy metal music
    Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...

     band Grim Reaper
    Grim Reaper (band)
    Grim Reaper are a British heavy metal band from the New Wave of British Heavy Metal era. The band was formed in 1979 in Droitwich, England, by guitarist Nick Bowcott.-Early years :...

     is a protest song against the PMRC's attempts to censor music.
  • As an early parody of the PMRC "explicit lyrics" warning labels, many prints of Metallica
    Metallica
    Metallica is an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1981 when James Hetfield responded to an advertisement that drummer Lars Ulrich had posted in a local newspaper. The current line-up features long-time lead guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Robert Trujillo ...

    's 1986 release of their album Master of Puppets
    Master of Puppets
    -Personnel:Metallica* James Hetfield – lead vocals, rhythm guitar, acoustic guitar on track 1, first solo on tracks 2 and 7* Cliff Burton – bass, backing vocals* Lars Ulrich – drums* Kirk Hammett – lead guitarProduction...

    sported a sticker on the front in the shape of a stop-sign saying:


"THE ONLY TRACK YOU PROBABLY WON'T WANT TO PLAY IS "DAMAGE, INC." DUE TO THE MULTIPLE USE OF THE INFAMOUS "F" WORD. OTHERWISE, THERE AREN'T ANY "SHITS," "FUCKS," "PISSES," "CUNTS," "MOTHERFUCKERS," OR "COCKSUCKERS"
Seven dirty words
The seven dirty words are seven English language words that American comedian George Carlin first listed in 1972 in his monologue "Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television". The words include: shit, piss, fuck, cunt, cocksucker, motherfucker, and tits...

 ANYWHERE ON THIS RECORD
"
  • In 1987, NOFX
    NOFX
    NOFX is an American punk rock band from Los Angeles, California .The band was formed in 1983 by vocalist/bassist Fat Mike and guitarist Eric Melvin. Drummer Erik Sandin joined NOFX shortly after. In 1991 El Hefe joined to play lead guitar and trumpet, rounding out the current line-up...

     released an EP entitled The P.M.R.C. Can Suck on This. When originally released, the album had a black-and-white photo of Tammy Faye Bakker pegging
    Pegging (sexual practice)
    Pegging is a sexual practice in which a woman penetrates a man's anus with a strap-on dildo. The neologism "pegging" was popularized when it became the winning entry in a contest in Dan Savage's Savage Love sex advice column, held after an observation was made that there was no common name for the...

     then-husband (and televangelist) Jim Bakker.
  • Alice Donut
    Alice Donut
    Alice Donut is a punk rock band from New York City. Formed in 1986, disbanded in 1996, and re-formed in 2001. Between 1989 and 1996 the band toured vigorously in the US, Europe and Japan and played over 1000 live performances...

    's song "Tipper Gore", from 1988's Donut Comes Alive
    Donut Comes Alive
    Donut Comes Alive is Alice Donut's first studio album, release in 1988. It was produced at Water Music.-Track listing:# "Green Pea Soup"# "World Profit"# "Mason Reese"# "Great Big Big Big Head"# "Diet Cola Syringe"# "New Jersey Exit"# "American Lips"...

    , uses a sexual metaphor to parody Gore's actions.
  • The Megadeth
    Megadeth
    Megadeth is an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles, California which was formed in 1983 by guitarist/vocalist Dave Mustaine, bassist Dave Ellefson and guitarist Greg Handevidt, following Mustaine's expulsion from Metallica. The band has since released 13 studio albums, three live albums, two...

     song "Hook In Mouth" from their 1988 album So Far, So Good... So What!
    So Far, So Good... So What!
    - 2004 bonus tracks :† The intro makes use of a sample from The Ink Spots' 1941 song "I Don't Want to Set the World on Fire"- Personnel :- Charts :-RIAA Certifications:- External links :*...

    is "aimed at the P.M.R.C." It compares the PMRC to the Orwellian
    Orwellian
    "Orwellian" describes the situation, idea, or societal condition that George Orwell identified as being destructive to the welfare of a free society...

     state in Nineteen Eighty-Four
    Nineteen Eighty-Four
    Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell is a dystopian novel about Oceania, a society ruled by the oligarchical dictatorship of the Party...

    .


F is for fighting,

R is for red ancestors' blood in battles they've shed

E, we elect them,

E, we eject them in the land of the free and the home of the brave

D, for your dying,

O, your overture

M, they will cover your grave with manure



This spells out freedom, it means nothing to me

As long as there's a P.M.R.C.

In addition, in the music video for the song "In My Darkest Hour
In My Darkest Hour
"In My Darkest Hour" is a song by American thrash metal band Megadeth. It was the second single from Megadeth's third album, So Far, So Good...So What! . According to the liner notes of the remastered album, band leader Dave Mustaine wrote "In My Darkest Hour" in one sitting after learning of the...

", from the same album, as well as the Megadeth
Megadeth
Megadeth is an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles, California which was formed in 1983 by guitarist/vocalist Dave Mustaine, bassist Dave Ellefson and guitarist Greg Handevidt, following Mustaine's expulsion from Metallica. The band has since released 13 studio albums, three live albums, two...

 portion of the 1988 rockumentary The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years, bassist David Ellefson
David Ellefson
David Warren "Dave" Ellefson is a bassist and founding member of the American thrash metal band Megadeth. He also goes by "Junior." He currently resides in Scottsdale, Arizona...

 can be seen with a sticker on his bass that says "Fuck The P.M.R.C".
  • Glam metal
    Glam metal
    Glam metal is a subgenre of hard rock and heavy metal that arose in the late 1970s and early 1980s in the United States, particularly on the Los Angeles Sunset Strip music scene...

     band Quiet Riot
    Quiet Riot
    Quiet Riot is an American Heavy Metal band. They are best known for their hit singles "Metal Health" and "Cum On Feel the Noize". They were founded in 1973 by guitarist Randy Rhoads and bassist Kelly Garni, under the original name Mach 1, before changing the name to Little Women and finally Quiet...

    's 1986 single The Wild And The Young is a hymn to youth and freedom. The accompanying video shows an Orwellian future, where rock 'n' roll is battled and finally wiped out by totalitarian militarists. The video ends with a reference to the PMRC that compares the Tipper stickers to the fictive dystopia
    Dystopia
    A dystopia is the idea of a society in a repressive and controlled state, often under the guise of being utopian, as characterized in books like Brave New World and Nineteen Eighty-Four...

    .
  • Ice-T
    ICE-T
    * Ice-T, an American rapper and actor* ICE T , a tilting model of the German InterCityExpress series of high-speed trains...

    's 1989 album The Iceberg/Freedom of Speech...Just Watch What You Say
    The Iceberg/Freedom of Speech...Just Watch What You Say
    The Iceberg/Freedom of Speech... Just Watch What You Say is the third album by Ice-T.Released in 1989, the album has an uncharacteristically gritty sound, featuring some of the darkest musical scores Ice-T has ever released.-History:...

    contains many criticisms of the PMRC. One song in particular, "Freedom of Speech", is an extended attack on Tipper Gore:


Yo Tip, what's the matter? You ain't gettin' no dick?

You're bitchin' about rock'n'roll, that's censorship, dumb bitch

The Constitution says we all got a right to speak

Say what we want Tip, your argument is weak
In his book The Ice Opinion, Ice-T wrote, "Tipper Gore is the only woman I ever directly called a bitch on any of my records, and I meant that in the most negative sense of the word". On "You Shoulda Killed Me Last Year", his spoken-word outro to his album O.G. Original Gangster , he curses the CIA, the LAPD
Los Angeles Police Department
The Los Angeles Police Department is the police department of the city of Los Angeles, California. With just under 10,000 officers and more than 3,000 civilian staff, covering an area of with a population of more than 4.1 million people, it is the third largest local law enforcement agency in...

, FBI, George Bush Sr. and Tipper Gore
Tipper Gore
Mary Elizabeth "Tipper" Gore , née Aitcheson, is an author, photographer, former second lady of the United States, and the estranged wife of Al Gore...

.
  • The liner notes of Sonic Youth
    Sonic Youth
    Sonic Youth is an American alternative rock band from New York City, formed in 1981. The current lineup consists of Thurston Moore , Kim Gordon , Lee Ranaldo , Steve Shelley , and Mark Ibold .In their early career, Sonic Youth was associated with the No Wave art and music scene in New York City...

    's 1990 album Goo
    Goo (album)
    Goo is the sixth album by the American alternative rock band Sonic Youth, released on June 26, 1990. Goo was the first album released after the band signed to major label Geffen Records.-Background and recording:...

    include a cartoon with the caption "SMASH THE PMRC".
  • The song "Shelter Me
    Shelter Me (Cinderella song)
    "Shelter Me" was the lead single from Cinderella's third album, Heartbreak Station. It peaked at #36 on the Billboard Hot 100....

    ", from glam metal group Cinderella
    Cinderella (band)
    Cinderella is an American heavy metal band from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They emerged in the mid-1980s with a series of multi-platinum albums and hit singles whose music videos received heavy MTV rotation. They were famous for being a glam metal band, but then shifted over towards a more hard...

    's 1990 album Heartbreak Station
    Heartbreak Station
    Heartbreak Station is Cinderella's third studio album, released in 1990 through Mercury Records. It hit #19 in the US and went platinum for shipping a million albums there the same year...

    , contained a lyric which mockingly noted that "Tipper led the war against the record industry/She said she saw the devil on her MTV."
  • In 1990, thrash
    Thrash metal
    Thrash metal is a subgenre of heavy metal that is characterized usually by its fast tempo and aggression. Songs of the genre typically use fast percussive and low-register guitar riffs, overlaid with shredding-style lead work...

     group Suicidal Tendencies
    Suicidal Tendencies
    Suicidal Tendencies is a U.S. crossover thrash band founded in 1981 in Venice, Los Angeles, California by Mike Muir, its leader and only permanent member. The band is sometimes credited as one of "the fathers of crossover thrash"...

     released a song called "Lovely" on their Lights...Camera...Revolution!
    Lights...Camera...Revolution!
    Lights...Camera...Revolution! is an album by Suicidal Tendencies, which was released in 1990. It is their fourth proper studio album as their previous release, Controlled By Hatred/Feel Like Shit...Déjà Vu, is considered a double-EP of stop-gap material rather than a full-length album.This was the...

    album, which has a mockingly clean/positive atmosphere to it and even addresses Tipper Gore by name. Also addressing the PMRC on the album was "You Can't Bring Me Down
    You Can't Bring Me Down
    "You Can't Bring Me Down" is a song by Suicidal Tendencies, released in 1990 on the Lights...Camera...Revolution! album. It went on moderate commercial success and aided in Suicidal's transition from a hardcore punk band to a thrash metal one...

    ".
  • In 1990, the industrial
    Industrial metal
    Industrial metal is a musical genre that draws from industrial music and many different types of heavy metal, using repeating metal guitar riffs, sampling, synthesizer or sequencer lines, and distorted vocals. Founding industrial metal acts include Ministry, Godflesh, and KMFDM.Industrial metal's...

     band Ministry
    Ministry (band)
    Ministry is an American industrial metal band founded by lead singer Al Jourgensen in 1981. Originally a synthpop outfit, Ministry changed its style to industrial metal in the late 1980s. Ministry found mainstream success in the early 1990s with its most successful album Psalm 69: The Way to...

     released the live album In Case You Didn't Feel Like Showing Up
    In Case You Didn't Feel Like Showing Up
    -Video:A companion home video of the concert also exists, featuring the same tracks as the audio except it is bookended by two "bonus" songs. The beginning of the concert starts with a very textured dual drum jam than segues into "Breathe". After playing Stigmata, Jello Biafra comes on stage and...

    with a cut out version of the parental advisory sticker. On the inside they urged fans to cut it out and send it to the PMRC in protest. Also on the track "Stigmata" the lead singer, Al Jourgensen, rants about Tipper Gore as well as George H.W. Bush and others.
  • A minute-long track tagged onto the end of Warrant
    Warrant (American band)
    Warrant is an American heavy metal band from Hollywood, California, that experienced success from 1989-1996 with five albums reaching international sales of over 10 million. The band first came into the national spotlight with their debut album Dirty Rotten Filthy Stinking Rich, and one of its...

    's 1990 Cherry Pie
    Cherry Pie (album)
    Cherry Pie is the second music album by American heavy metal band Warrant. The record—which spawned the hits "Cherry Pie", "Uncle Tom's Cabin", and "I Saw Red"—is the band's best-known and highest-selling release. The album peaked at number 7 on The Billboard 200.- Production and marketing :Cherry...

    was titled "Ode to Tipper Gore" and featured nothing but various swear words recorded in rapid-fire order from past concerts.
  • US Thrash Metal band Flotsam and Jetsam
    Flotsam and Jetsam (band)
    Flotsam and Jetsam is a thrash metal band that formed in Phoenix, Arizona in 1982.-1981-1986: The beginning:The band's original name was "Paradox" founded by Drummer Kelly David-Smith and two other guitarists, until 1982 when bassist Jason Newsted joined. Jason had come to Phoenix with his band...

     recorded the song "Hard On You" on their 1988 album No Place for Disgrace
    No Place for Disgrace
    No Place for Disgrace is the second studio album by Flotsam and Jetsam. It was recorded between December 1987 and February 1988, and was released later in 1988. This is the band's major label debut on Elektra Records. It is the first Flotsam And Jetsam album to feature bassist Troy Gregory, who...

    which deals openly with the topic and accuses the PMRC of limiting their artistic right without mentioning the PMRC or Tipper Gore directly. Lines like "One that's young sees the circled "R", does he buy it?" and "If your committee is so damn right, why did we write this song?" leave no room for misinterpretation though.

  • In 1990 Everlast released a song called "Fuck Everyone" on his first solo album, Forever Everlasting
    Forever Everlasting
    Forever Everlasting was Everlast's first solo album. The biggest hits on this album were "The Rhythm" which featured Ice-T, "Never Missin' a Beat", and "I Got The Knack" featuring DJ Lethal with whom he'd later join to form House of Pain...

    . This song contains the lyrics:


Got Tipper Gore protestin' my lyrics

Fuck that bitch, I don't need a clearance

To write my rhymes, speak my mind

You can't censor me, the public's not blind
  • In 1991 American
    United States
    The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

     hard rock
    Hard rock
    Hard rock is a loosely defined genre of rock music which has its earliest roots in mid-1960s garage rock, blues rock and psychedelic rock...

     band Guns N' Roses
    Guns N' Roses
    Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band, formed in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, in 1985. The band has released six studio albums, three EPs, and one live album...

     released Use Your Illusion I
    Use Your Illusion I
    Use Your Illusion I is the third studio album by the American rock band Guns N' Roses. It was the first of two albums released in conjunction with the Use Your Illusion Tour, the other being Use Your Illusion II. The two are thus sometimes considered a double album. In fact, in the original vinyl...

      & II
    Use Your Illusion II
    Use Your Illusion II is the fourth studio album by the American rock band Guns N' Roses. It was one of two albums released in conjunction with the Use Your Illusion Tour, and as a result the two albums are sometimes considered a double album...

    , each including a cover advisory stating "This album contains language which some listeners may find objectionable. They can F?!* OFF and buy something from the New Age section."
  • In 1992, The first music video released by Tool
    Tool (band)
    Tool is an American rock band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1990, the group's line-up has included drummer Danny Carey, guitarist Adam Jones, and vocalist Maynard James Keenan. Since 1995, Justin Chancellor has been the band's bassist, replacing their original bassist Paul D'Amour...

    , "Hush", promoted their dissenting views about the then-prominent Parents Music Resource Center and its advocacy of the censorship of music. The video featured the band members naked with their genitalia covered by parental advisory stickers and their mouths covered by duct tape.
  • The PMRC would often protest Punk Rock band Butt Trumpet
    Butt Trumpet
    Butt Trumpet was a Los Angeles punk band that was known more for its crass lyrics and deliberately offensive style than its music. The group featured two bassists among its members...

    's live shows. This occurred many times through their American tours, but most notably at the 1995 "Sunset Junction" street fair in Hollywood where dozens of PMRC supporters showed up with picket signs in an attempt to block the stage. The band just laughed it off, and Butt Trumpet lead singer Thom Bone "freestyle" changed many of his lyrics on the fly during the performance to make fun of them. Between songs, he would also attempt to "interview" members as they walked by, asking them how they were enjoying the show.
  • The Ramones
    Ramones
    The Ramones were an American rock band that formed in the New York City neighborhood of Forest Hills, Queens, in 1974. They are often cited as the first punk rock group...

    ' 1992 album Mondo Bizarro
    Mondo Bizarro
    Mondo Bizarro is the twelfth studio album by the American punk band the Ramones, released in 1992 . It featured their new bassist, Christopher Joseph Ward , who replaced departed member Dee Dee Ramone. Mondo Bizarro was the group’s first studio album in three years...

    contained the song "Censorshit", which proposes that the sticker is "just a smoke screen for the real problems. S&L
    Savings and Loan crisis
    The savings and loan crisis of the 1980s and 1990s was the failure of about 747 out of the 3,234 savings and loan associations in the United States...

     deficit, the homeless, the environment."
  • Anthrax
    Anthrax (band)
    Anthrax is an American heavy metal band from New York City, formed in 1981. Founded by guitarists Scott Ian and Danny Lilker, the band has since released ten studio albums and 20 singles, and an EP featuring Public Enemy. The band was one of the most popular of the 1980s thrash metal scene...

    's "Startin' Up a Posse", from their 1991 release Attack of the Killer B's
    Attack of the Killer B's
    -Personnel:*Joey Belladonna - Lead vocals, Backing vocals*Dan Spitz - Lead guitar, Backing vocals*Scott Ian - Rhythm guitar, Backing vocals, Lead vocals on "Bring The Noise", "Protest and Survive", "Startin' Up A Posse", and "I'm The Man '91"*Frank Bello - Bass, Backing vocals*Charlie Benante -...

    , states that "These seven words you're trying to take / Shit, fuck, satan, death, sex, drugs, rape / Right or wrong it's our choice to make". The song also mentions about stopping the P.M.R.C. while the band throws insults.

  • On 1993-07-18, Rage Against the Machine
    Rage Against the Machine
    Rage Against the Machine is an American rock band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1991, the group's line-up consists of vocalist Zack de la Rocha, bassist and backing vocalist Tim Commerford, guitarist Tom Morello and drummer Brad Wilk...

     protested against the PMRC at Lollapalooza
    Lollapalooza
    Lollapalooza is an annual music festival featuring popular alternative rock, heavy metal, punk rock and hip hop bands, dance and comedy performances, and craft booths. It has also provided a platform for non-profit and political groups. The music festival hosts more than 160,000 people over a...

     III by standing naked onstage with duct tape
    Duct tape
    Duct tape, or duck tape, is cloth- or scrim-backed pressure sensitive tape often sealed with polyethylene. It is very similar to gaffer tape but differs in that gaffer tape was designed to be cleanly removed, while duct tape was not. It has a standard width of and is generally silver or black...

     covering their mouths and the letters PMRC on their chests. The band used up their 14-minute performance time without playing any songs. The only sound emitted was audio feedback
    Audio feedback
    Audio feedback is a special kind of positive feedback which occurs when a sound loop exists between an audio input and an audio output...

     from Tom Morello
    Tom Morello
    Thomas Baptiste "Tom" Morello is a Grammy Award-winning American guitarist best known for his tenure with the bands Rage Against the Machine, Audioslave, his acoustic solo act The Nightwatchman, and his newest group, Street Sweeper Social Club...

     and Tim Commerford
    Tim Commerford
    Timothy Robert Commerford , also known by his various monikers/stage names is the bassist/backing vocalist for American alternative metal band Rage Against The Machine and the now-defunct supergroup Audioslave.-Biography:Tim Commerford was born on February...

    's guitars. The band later played a free show for disappointed fans.
  • Pistol Grip
    Pistol Grip
    Pistol Grip is a street punk band, formed in Walnut, California in 1997.-Discography:* Sounds of the Street Vol. 1 , Urgent Music* The Shots from the Kalico Rose , BYO Records...

    's 2001 album The Shots From The Kalico Rose includes a song called "Fuck The P.M.R.C".
  • The punk band Leftöver Crack
    Leftöver Crack
    Leftöver Crack is an American punk rock band formed in 1998, following the breakup of the ska punk band Choking Victim. Primarily playing an amalgam of ska and hardcore punk, they classify themselves as "crack-rocksteady". The band is currently signed to Fat Wreck Chords for CD releases, and...

     refer to the PMRC in their song "Stop The Insanity", from 2001's Mediocre Generica
    Mediocre Generica
    Mediocre Generica is the debut album by the American punk band Leftöver Crack. It was released on September 11, 2001 and includes much sociopolitical commentary, including anti-police sentiment, anti-racism and anti-homophobia. The album was originally intended to be titled Shoot the Kids at...

    , with the lyrics:


Let's kill the cops, the C.I.A.

The F.B.I., the P.T.A.

The N.F.L., the P.M.R.C.

Let's kill you and let's kill me

  • Underground Rapper Carnage has a song on his EP named "The PMRC has Silenced me"
  • Twisted Sister
    Twisted Sister
    Twisted Sister is an American heavy metal band from Long Island. Musically, the band implements elements of traditional heavy metal bands such as Iron Maiden and Judas Priest, along with a style that is similar to early glam metal bands...

    's 1985 album Come Out and Play
    Come Out and Play (Twisted Sister album)
    Come Out and Play is the fourth album by the American heavy metal band Twisted Sister, released by Atlantic Records. It was less successful than its predecessor Stay Hungry both critically and commercially.- Overview :...

    featured a mark on the album cover resembling a parental advisory sticker; however, it read "H for humor".
  • On a live album, Live...In the Raw
    Live...In the Raw
    Live...In The Raw is the first live album by W.A.S.P. , released in 1987. This album can be seen as something of a breakwater between the 'old' W.A.S.P. of the first three albums and the more mature sound of the releases that would follow...

    , W.A.S.P.
    W.A.S.P.
    W.A.S.P. is an American heavy metal band formed in 1982. They emerged from the same Los Angeles scene that spawned Mötley Crüe, Ratt, Quiet Riot and others. The band's popularity peaked in the 1980s, yet they continue to record and tour, making them one of the most enduring of the West Coast heavy...

     dedicated their song "Harder, Faster" to the Washington Wives, a "branch" of PMRC. The PMRC said that WASP stood for "We Are Sexual Perverts".

I've been reading an awful lot in the newspapers, and magazine's about me and my boys here. And I was reading one article in particular, about an organization, you might of heard of them before... they're called "the PMRC", well I read... I read that they said, that they think that "We Are Sexual Perverts!" Now this is coming from an organization called "The Washington Wives". Now I don't know about you, but to me that sounds like some sort of, God damn, Hollywood fuckin' Jackie Collins novel if you ask me! Well this is for that whole bunch, because they can suck me, suck me eat me raw....this is "Harder Faster"
  • On the 2001 Dead Kennedys
    Dead Kennedys
    Dead Kennedys are an American punk rock band formed in San Francisco, California in 1978. The band became part of the American hardcore punk movement of the early 1980s. They gained a large underground fanbase in the international punk music scene....

    ' live album Mutiny on the Bay
    Mutiny on the Bay
    Mutiny on the Bay is a live album by the Dead Kennedys. It was compiled and released after a lengthy lawsuit, which resulted in the rights to the Dead Kennedys' catalog being transferred from lead singer/songwriter Jello Biafra's record label, Alternative Tentacles to the other three members of the...

    , during their song "M.T.V. - Get off the Air", lead singer Jello Biafra
    Jello Biafra
    Jello Biafra is an American musician, spoken word artist and leading figure of the Green Party of the United States. Biafra first gained attention as the lead singer and songwriter for San Francisco punk rock band Dead Kennedys...

     tells the audience to "buy a homemade [record] instead, before the PMRC closes the stores down that sell 'em". Biafra had earlier been brought to trial on charges of "distributing harmful matter to minors" in an incident involving the 1985 Dead Kennedys' album Frankenchrist
    Frankenchrist
    Frankenchrist is the third album released by the American hardcore punk band Dead Kennedys in 1985 on Alternative Tentacles.The album was a subject of controversy because of a poster inserted in the original record sleeve. The poster, H. R. Giger's Landscape #XX, or Penis Landscape, was a painting...

    , which featured an insert of H. R. Giger
    H. R. Giger
    Hans Rudolf "Ruedi" Giger is a Swiss surrealist painter, sculptor, and set designer. He won an Academy Award for Best Achievement for Visual Effects for his design work on the film Alien.-Early life:...

    's Penis Landscape
    Penis Landscape
    Penis Landscape, or Work 219: Landscape XX is a painting by H. R. Giger. Created in 1973, airbrushed acrylic on paper-covered wood, it measures 70 x 100 centimetres. It depicts a number of penises entering vaginas. One is wearing a condom...

    and a parody sticker on the front cover reading:

"WARNING: The inside fold out to this record cover is a work of art by H.R. Giger that some people may find shocking, repulsive or offensive. Life can sometimes be that way."
  • In the music video "The Hunter" by Dokken on one of the trucks used has the P.M.R.C painted on the side.
  • The song "Voldemort Can't Stop the Rock!" released on the 2004 album of the same name
    Voldemort Can't Stop the Rock!
    Voldemort Can't Stop the Rock! is the second studio album by indie rock band Harry and the Potters, released on July 1, 2004. The album was primarily inspired by the fifth novel in the Harry Potter book series....

     by Harry and the Potters
    Harry and the Potters
    Harry and the Potters are an American alternative rock band known for spawning the genre of wizard rock. Founded in Norwood, Massachusetts, the group is primarily composed of Joe and Paul DeGeorge, who both perform under the persona of the title character from the Harry Potter book series...

     contains the lyrics "And we won't let the Dark Lord ruin our party/ Just like Tipper Gore tried with the PMRC."
  • The album artwork on the vinyl release of Queens of the Stone Age's
    Queens of the Stone Age
    Queens of the Stone Age is an American rock band from Palm Desert, California, United States, formed in 1997. The band's line-up has always included founding member Josh Homme , with the current line-up including longtime members Troy Van Leeuwen and Joey Castillo , alongside Michael Shuman and...

     single "3's & 7's
    3's & 7's
    "3's & 7's" is the second single by Queens of the Stone Age from their 2007 album Era Vulgaris. It was released on June 4, 2007 and followed the digital download-only "Sick, Sick, Sick"....

    " contains a parody of the sticker, reading "Rental Advisory: Freedom Not For Purchase".
  • The artwork on Clawfinger
    Clawfinger
    Clawfinger is a rap metal band from Sweden and was one of the earliest bands to adopt this sound. Clawfinger is known for aggressive but melodic music and tackling political and anti-racist themes in their songs.-Band history:...

    's album Life Will Kill You parodies the 'tipper sticker' by replacing 'Parental' with Life Will, 'Advisory' with Clawfinger and 'Explicit Lyrics' with Kill You.
  • Other groups that have mentioned the PMRC or Tipper Gore include Aerosmith
    Aerosmith
    Aerosmith is an American rock band, sometimes referred to as "The Bad Boys from Boston" and "America's Greatest Rock and Roll Band". Their style, which is rooted in blues-based hard rock, has come to also incorporate elements of pop, heavy metal, and rhythm and blues, and has inspired many...

     ("F.I.N.E."), Body Count
    Body Count
    Body Count is an American heavy metal band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1990. The group is fronted by rapper and actor Ice-T, who founded the group out of his interest in heavy metal music, taking on the role of vocalist and writing the lyrics for most of the group's songs. Lead guitarist...

     ("KKK Bitch"), Cinderella
    Cinderella (band)
    Cinderella is an American heavy metal band from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They emerged in the mid-1980s with a series of multi-platinum albums and hit singles whose music videos received heavy MTV rotation. They were famous for being a glam metal band, but then shifted over towards a more hard...

     ("Shelter Me
    Shelter Me (Cinderella song)
    "Shelter Me" was the lead single from Cinderella's third album, Heartbreak Station. It peaked at #36 on the Billboard Hot 100....

    "), The Dead Milkmen ("Do the Brown Nose"), Eminem
    Eminem
    Marshall Bruce Mathers III , better known by his stage name Eminem or his alter ego Slim Shady, is an American rapper, record producer, songwriter and actor. Eminem's popularity brought his group project, D12, to mainstream recognition...

     ("White America"), The Fad ("P.M.R.C."), Frank Zappa
    Frank Zappa
    Frank Vincent Zappa was an American composer, singer-songwriter, electric guitarist, record producer and film director. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa wrote rock, jazz, orchestral and musique concrète works. He also directed feature-length films and music videos, and designed...

     ("Porn Wars
    Frank Zappa Meets the Mothers of Prevention
    Frank Zappa Meets the Mothers of Prevention is a 1985 album by Frank Zappa. It was originally released in two slightly different versions in the US and Europe. The two versions were later combined and reissued on a compact disc: first in the US on Rykodisc in 1986 Frank Zappa Meets the Mothers of...

    "), Fishbone
    Fishbone
    Fishbone is a U.S. alternative rock band formed in 1979 in Los Angeles, California, which plays a fusion of ska, punk rock, funk, hard rock and soul. Critics have noted of the band: "Fishbone was one of the most distinctive and eclectic alternative rock bands of the late '80s...

     ("Pray to the Junkiemaker"), KMFDM
    KMFDM
    KMFDM is an industrial band led by German multi-instrumentalist Sascha Konietzko, who founded the group in 1984 as a performance art project...

     ("Sucks
    Sucks (single)
    Sucks is a KMFDM single released in anticipation of their 1993 album Angst. It contains four versions of the song "Sucks" as well as "More 'N' Faster", a reworked version of "More & Faster" from More & Faster and Virus....

    "), Manic Street Preachers
    Manic Street Preachers
    Manic Street Preachers are a Welsh alternative rock band, formed in 1986. They are James Dean Bradfield, Nicky Wire, Richey Edwards and Sean Moore. The band are part of the Cardiff music scene, and were at their most prominent during the 1990s...

     ("IFWHITEAMERICATOLDTHETRUTHFORONEDAYIT'SWORLDWOULDFALLAPART" and "Tennessee"), Mojo Nixon
    Mojo Nixon
    Mojo Nixon is an American musician, known for playing psychobilly music...

     ("Burn Down the Malls"), Pinkard & Bowden
    Pinkard & Bowden
    Pinkard & Bowden is an American country music duo composed of singer-songwriters James "Sandy" Pinkard and Richard Bowden, who also play guitar and bass guitar. The duo's music comprises a mix of musical parody and original comedy songs. Pinkard has also written hit singles for Mel Tillis, Anne...

     ("Censor Us"), Reset
    Reset (band)
    -History:Reset was formed in 1993 by Pierre Bouvier and Chuck Comeau when they were 13 years old. The original band members were Pierre Bouvier , Philippe Jolicoeur , Chuck Comeau and Jean-Sébastien Boileau...

     ("Go Away"), Todd Rundgren
    Todd Rundgren
    Todd Harry Rundgren is an American multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and record producer. Hailed in the early stage of his career as a new pop-wunderkind, supported by the certified gold solo double LP Something/Anything? in 1972, Todd Rundgren's career has produced a diverse range of recordings...

     ("Jesse"), Warrant
    Warrant (American band)
    Warrant is an American heavy metal band from Hollywood, California, that experienced success from 1989-1996 with five albums reaching international sales of over 10 million. The band first came into the national spotlight with their debut album Dirty Rotten Filthy Stinking Rich, and one of its...

     ("Ode to Tipper Gore"), and The Bouncing Souls
    The Bouncing Souls
    The Bouncing Souls are a punk rock band from New Brunswick, New Jersey, formed in 1987. By the time of their acknowledgment by the national punk rock scene, they had reignited a "pogo" element to New Jersey punk rock by playing fast light-hearted songs, a model followed by various other local...

     ("PMRC"). German Metal band Running Wild
    Running Wild (band)
    Running Wild is a German heavy metal band, formed in 1976 in Hamburg. They were part of the German heavy/speed/power metal scene to emerge in the early to mid 1980s. The band has carved its niche in the metal world as the first "pirate metal" band, a theme which took off with the release of Under...

    , on their live album Ready for Boarding
    Ready for Boarding
    Ready For Boarding is a live album by heavy metal band Running Wild. It was recorded at a concert in Munich, Germany. The song "Purgatory" has never been recorded for a studio album and is dedicated to the PMRC.-Track listing:...

    , dedicated the song 'Purgatory' to the PMRC.


Releases by independent
Indie (music)
In music, independent music, often shortened to indie music or "indie" is a term used to describe independence from major commercial record labels or their subsidiaries, and an autonomous, Do-It-Yourself approach to recording and publishing....

, non-RIAA labels may not carry the sticker (often proudly). Still, the RIAA encourages the labeling of any album containing explicit lyrics.

It is uncertain whether the "Tipper sticker" is effective in preventing children from being exposed to explicit content. Some suggest that the sticker actually increases record sales. Philip Bailey
Philip Bailey
Philip Irvin Bailey is an American R&B, soul, gospel and funk singer, songwriter, percussionist and actor, best known as one of the longtime members of Earth, Wind & Fire. Together with Verdine White, B. David Whitworth, and Ralph Johnson he forms the heart of the current EWF line-up on...

 stated that "For the most part [the sticker] might even sell more records in some areas - all you've got to do is tell somebody this is a no-no and then that's what they want to go see." Ice-T's "Freedom of Speech" states that "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." And the Furnaceface
Furnaceface
Furnaceface was a Canadian indie rock band formed in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada which was active from 1989 to 1999. The group consisted of vocalist and guitarist Pat Banister, vocalist and bassist Tom Stewart, and drummer Dave Dudley...

 song "We Love You, Tipper Gore", from 1991's album Just Buy It, suggests that the label "only whets my appetite ... only makes us want to hear it that much more".
  • Rap group Insane Clown Posse
    Insane Clown Posse
    Insane Clown Posse is an American hip hop duo from Detroit, Michigan. The group is composed of Joseph Bruce and Joseph Utsler, who perform under the respective personas of the "wicked clowns" Violent J and Shaggy 2 Dope. Insane Clown Posse performs a style of hardcore hip hop known as horrorcore...

     had a fight with the P.M.R.C and Hollywood Records
    Hollywood Records
    Hollywood Records is an American record label owned by Disney Music Group, a subsidiary of the Walt Disney Company.-History:Hollywood Records was founded in 1989 by then-Disney CEO Michael Eisner with the idea of expanding the music operations of the company and to develop and promote...

     in 1997 after their album The Great Milenko
    The Great Milenko
    The Great Milenko is the fourth studio album by American hip hop group Insane Clown Posse, released on June 25, 1997, by Hollywood Records, in association with Psychopathic Records...

    was pulled off the shelves six hours after the release of the CD due to unclean lyrics referencing rape
    Rape
    Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...

    , murder
    Murder
    Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...

    , child abuse
    Child abuse
    Child abuse is the physical, sexual, emotional mistreatment, or neglect of a child. In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Department of Children And Families define child maltreatment as any act or series of acts of commission or omission by a parent or...

     and sex
    Sex
    In biology, sex is a process of combining and mixing genetic traits, often resulting in the specialization of organisms into a male or female variety . Sexual reproduction involves combining specialized cells to form offspring that inherit traits from both parents...

    . Rapper Violent J said "We went to the guys at Hollywood Records and showed them the lyrics sheet months prior to the release, they OK'd it and we recorded it. The last minute they pull it off the shelves and say what we do is bad".


The rock group The Company Band
The Company Band
The Company Band is a rock supergroup featuring Clutch frontman Neil Fallon, Fireball Ministry frontman James Rota, CKY drummer Jess Margera, Guitarist Dave Bone, and Fu Manchu bassist Brad Davis.-Formation And Sign Here, Here and Here:...

 features the PMRC in their song "Zombie Barricades". In it the lyrics call for the return of the PMRC and the USSR, saying "we need that motivation".

Frank Zappa
Frank Zappa
Frank Vincent Zappa was an American composer, singer-songwriter, electric guitarist, record producer and film director. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa wrote rock, jazz, orchestral and musique concrète works. He also directed feature-length films and music videos, and designed...

's album Frank Zappa Meets The Mothers of Prevention is named as a parody of the PMRC and his former band The Mothers of Invention
The Mothers of Invention
The Mothers of Invention were an American band active from 1964 to 1969, and again from 1970 to 1975.They mainly performed works by, and were the original recording group of, US composer and guitarist Frank Zappa , although other members have had the occasional writing credit...

. Its cover features a Tipper Sticker parody which reads:

"WARNING GUARANTEE: This album contains material which a truly free society would neither fear nor suppress. In some socially retarded areas, religious fanatics and ultra-conservative political organizations violate your First Amendment Rights by attempting to censor rock & roll albums. We feel that this is un-Constitutional and un-American. As an alternative to these government-supported programs (designed to keep you docile and ignorant), Barking Pumpkin is pleased to provide stimulating digital audio entertainment for those of you who have outgrown the ordinary. The language and concepts contained herein are GUARANTEED NOT TO CAUSE ETERNAL TORMENT IN THE PLACE WHERE THE GUY WITH THE HORNS AND POINTED STICK CONDUCTS HIS BUSINESS. This guarantee is as real as the threats of the video fundamentalists who use attacks on rock music in their attempt to transform America into a nation of check-mailing nincompoops (in the name of Jesus Christ). If there is a hell, its fires wait for them, not us."

See also

  • Warning: Parental Advisory
    Warning: Parental Advisory
    Warning: Parental Advisory was a made for TV movie created by VH1 and directed by Mark Waters in 2002. The movie follows the story of Dee Snider and Frank Zappa, testifying before Congress against lyrics labeling laws....

  • Sound of the Beast: The Complete Headbanging History of Heavy Metal (ISBN 0-380-81127-8), by Ian Christe
    Ian Christe
    Ian Christe is an author, disc jockey and publisher. He attended The Clarkson School's Bridging Year and Indiana University....

    , specifically Chapter 7: "The PMRC's Antimetal Panic" (summary)

General information


Websites

  • Zappa’s original PMRC Letters - includes letters sent out by the PMRC
  • A Frank Zappa appearance on "Crossfire
    Crossfire (TV series)
    Crossfire was a current events debate television program that aired from 1982 to 2005 on CNN. Its format was designed to present and challenge the opinions of a politically liberal pundit and a conservative pundit.-Format:...

    " during the PMRC ruckus
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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