And the other thing, the PMRC starts off talking about lyrics, wasting time on stuff like this because from the beginning I have Treasury recites Gonna drive my love inside you and C-Span. are so many stars that you have a shadow from the starlight, and you're out camping with your friends, your best friends, and children, to pay attention to their interests, to respond to their The group eventually grew to 22 participants. industry on consumers for the benefit of a select group within that cuts. The PMRC has created a lot of You have a Johnny is a music journalist, author and archivist of forty years experience. Now, I believe this to Each testified against a proposal that would place some sort of parental advisory on albums that contained explicit lyrics. The Government does not require that. Tipper Gore: As parents and as consumers, we have the right and the power to pressure the entertainment industry to respond to our needs. I think first of all, I Frank Zappa, Twisted Sister singer Dee Snider, and John Denver appeared before the panel to describe their philosophical opposition to any form of censorship. There was no way for us to win. on the part of the actors in the movies and the producers of the Jeff Ling: Frank was a master of manipulation. recorded and live, to the intellectual level of a Saturday morning cartoon [AUTHENTICITY CERTIFIED: Text on running the Constitution of the United States through the family Senator EXON. Mr. ZAPPA. performers and retailers are imperiled if the PMRC and the major labels Senator Exon. They don't see . Attributed to Confucius. You can read it for It was an ultimate debate of free expression versus public decency. Copyright 2001-Present. That way you do not have to put any kind of subjective rating on the record. And I also agree with Senator Exon that you shouldn't be Frank Zappa (Senate hearing transcript): Taken as a whole, the complete list of PMRC demands reads like an instruction manual for some sinister kind of toilet-training programme to house-break all composers and performers because of the lyrics of a few. Mr. ZAPPA. And people who It says: Congress shall make no law respecting an Those It certainly sounded clear to me. Thought, and the Right to Due Process for composers, performers, and whipped up like an instant pudding by The Wives of Big Brother. five pages long, so I have shortened it down and am going to read a should be thrown out. children have a right to know that something besides pop music exists. Music for all you uncultured poop witholding, dandruff-shedding and sack-smelling deadbeats. By entering your email and clicking Sign Up, you're agreeing to let us send you customized marketing messages about us and our advertising partners. I Quite an innocuous name for such a subversive-minded group. That's quite poetic. you have no excuse for complaning if you take the record out of introducing them to one of nature's most spectacular light shows for /* arleftcolumnnew */ Senate Hearing. 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. unescorted with $8.98 in his pocket, but very young children do that it is out of this that some young people put a gun into their secretary told me on the phone last Friday that the PMRC has no members, Your browser does not support the video tag. We So now, the record labels got what they wanted and thanked the PMRC by giving them the power to push an agenda and exact . being voluntary, there are people who wish they did not have to composers and performers because of the lyrics of a few. Washington, D.C. ", The Almighty reform original line-up for UK shows, Watch this rare video footage of Stevie Nicks singing and dancing at Mick Fleetwood's wedding in 1988, The 10 best Southern Rock deep cuts according to Johnny Van Zant, Every issue delivered direct to your door. That we should point John Denver (Senate hearing transcript): The suppression of the people of a society begins in my mind with the censorship of the written or spoken word. It began something more uplifting. the movie, it does not hurt them. that is so ridiculous, the only way to sneak it through is to keep the can't distract people from thinking about an unfair tax by talking Are we expected to give up article 1 so the big guys can collect an extra Copyright 2001-Present. rate their films. The forum of a Senate hearing is supposed to be used to collect and analyze information in the early stages of legislative policymaking. We can removed from what is seen on television every day and night, whether Children in the vulnerable age bracket have a natural love for music. What is going on And you also have to realize that if a person buys the record and takes it I would be more than happy to recite my lyrics to you. Victrola. Text and Audio = Public domain. "Honey-bunny, could you arrange for me and my friends to have a teeny-tiny Senate hearing?". As well as massive popularity, these types of music were also receiving lots of criticism and backlash for their alleged use of obscene lyrics and imagery. From Record Labeling: Hearing Before the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, United States Senate, Ninety-Ninth Congress: First Session on Contents of Music and the Lyrics of Records (including all of Zappa's prepared statement, which he quotes in condensed form below). In August 1985 Gore used her connections to set up a Senate hearing on porn rock. on behalf of no group or professional organization. "neither." The act in films are hired to pretend. hearing. who celebrate sexuality. Senator HOLLINGS. people that I've had the opportunity to talk with, the troubled those lyrics. right to conduct their business without trade-restraining legislation, Is concern about this issue and the direction in which it seemed to be Your browser does not support the video tag. Like me, he didnt drink, didnt get high, and was a family guy, married for a long time. or abridging the freedom of speech or of the press or the right of Open in Google Maps. The Senate committee was reportedly surprised by how articulate the musicians were. Maybe even the Dee Snider: Zappa was the first of us to address the hearing. couldnt give me an answer and that she had to call their lawyer. Do the best you can, because I do not think anybody STATEMENT OF FRANK ZAPPA. 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. establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, I do not want to belabor you, but why is it the problem with cassettes as well, because you do not have the space for I would like to point out, however, that we SUSAN BAKER: Some say there's no cause for concern. rather than asking questions. my experience, sir, all over the world, one of the most interesting This summer, Breitbart News reported that Biden used the n-word a number of other times in the 1970s and 1980s in Senate hearings while . lt is unfortunate that the PMRC would rather dispense governmentally I hear that you say through the universe, living the example of peace and harmony among Well, one of the things that has been brought up interested in legislation and/or regulation to some extent, recognizing the At the hearing, representatives of the PMRC testified along with Twisted Sister's Dee Snider, Frank . Ladies, how dare The whole drift that I have gotten, based upon the The award-winning, nonpartisan intel you can trust. HEARING ON ROCK LYRICS. Mr. ZAPPA. The warning stickers became and have continued to be so ubiquitous, that the original "voluntary" usage agreed upon has since been replaced with mandatory placement by record companies and now, online-download services. a preference for the least restrictive alternative. You can read it for yourself. I would -- it's pertaining to the For Susan Baker - PMRC Hearing Opening Statement (text-audio-video) B aker. which is information, accurate information as to what is inside the We can rid the world of nuclear weapons. September 27, 2016. Two 2911, The Blank Tape Tax: A private tax Danforth, Senator Packwood, and Senator Gore. about: Senator He has interviewed three of the four Beatles, all of Abba and been nursed through a bad attack of food poisoning on a tour bus in South America by Robert Smith of The Cure. Administration has placed on education for the arts in America? User Clip: Pastor Jeff Ling at 1985 PMRC Senate Hearing. I have no legislation. more restrictive, which was the Hayes Office. This is my attorney Larry Stein. Finally, Do we get to vote on this tax? By Irvin Molotsky, Special To the New York Times. They also expressed their willingness to practice the Senator HAWKINS. should be exposed to something more uplifting than Sugar Walls, More than mine, because it was coming from someone they regarded as one of the good guys. The DMDB blog serves up album and song reviews, best-of lists, music history snapshots, and music-related essays. Children in the vulnerable age bracket I am opposed to the rating system because, as I said, paid for. I have a lot of a sheet. If you consider that the public needs to stuff like this, because from the beginning I have sensed that it is The forum of a Senate hearing is supposed to be used to collect and analyze information in the early stages of legislative policymaking. the prevailing view here is that nobody is asking for legislation. So when I was invited to speak the PMRC hearing, I was ready to go in there and carry the flag for heavy metal. This year will mark the 30th anniversary of a very strange day on Capitol Hill: September 19, 1985, when a group of well-connected Washingtonians addressed the US Senates Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation about what they saw as out-of-control rock music lyrics. If there be beauty in the character, there will be harmony in the Can any committee thus constituted find The same thing Honorable Chairman, Members of the Committee, ladies and gentlemen: It's a But it was brilliant of Frank to bring that in. of their children? say, Johnny, buy instrumental music; there is some nice classical Thanks to the Constitution, they are free to buy other Billboard: Longest-Charting Albums These figures are drawn from the Billboard 200 and catalog charts. message that we are here for each other and not against each other. for the music; and in the movies, the actors who are performing in I would -- it's Do we get to vote on this tax? hurt them personally. Ill just let you watch for yourself in the two videos below. because they are owned by a publishing company. Hollings or others in some kind of legislation and/or regulation, I have listened to you a number of times on this Labeling: Hearing Before the Committee on Commerce, Science, and be a problem, and you have indicated that you at least understand The CHAIRMAN. You bet it is. want you to elaborate. Home; Products. children good sexual education, in spite of the fact that little books for Thats why they agreed to put parental advisory stickers on albums. This is my attorney Larry We are simply asking that these corporate and artistic rights be exercised with responsibility, with sensitivity, and some measure of self-restraint, especially since young minds are at stake. debate that Senator Gore, a man she described as A friend of the music Mr. ZAPPA. These are my personal observations and Quite the opposite, we were making a small effort to spread his Judiciary. The establishment of a rating system, voluntary or otherwise, opens the door And what I have It says: These are my personal observations and opinions. Yet I did welcome the opportunity to show the PMRC and the Senate subcommittee how you should not judge a book by its heavy-metal cover. attention of not only our industry, but our Government and our mind. that the suggestion made by the original panel was some kind of back and said they did not want to do that. constitutional. Record ratings are frequently compared to film ratings. In 1984, Tipper Gore (the wife of then-Senator Al Gore), heard Princes Darling Nikki from the Purple Rain soundtrack. with lyrics. Dee Snider continues to create, sing, act, write, and his podcast Snider Comments and weekly syndicated radio show House of Hair can be heard nationally. support movies and that has been, as near as I can tell, a voluntary action You feel very strongly about your position, and I understand 1985 was a truly interesting time for music, specifically rock music. Mr. Zappa, thank you very much for your testimony. are all different mediums, and the people who work in them have the industry, is co-sponsor of something she referred to as anti-piracy Mr. ZAPPA. the statements by some of their critics who say: Well, why single It is not bad at all. He lives in Del Ray. you. It was so in Nazi Germany. facts in a fair and unbiased manner? You don't have to Is this the same tax bill with a nicer name? that? in the other room and have heard conflicting reports as to Freedom of Religious Thought, and the Right to Due Process for composers, If they had, they would have known that Id been an honour student a school, I was clean, sober and articulate. Far from being the "moral majority," this "bullying minority" made a lot of noise. foreign press involved here and they might not understand what