want you to elaborate. / pmrc hearings transcript. low priority this administration has placed on education for the arts in I will show them to says repeatedly no legislation, no regulation, no Governnient Apart from the My fear was it would be used improperly: it would be used to ban records, to keep records from the people. of material, 325 films per year versus 25,000 4-minute songs per more than that at this point. Quite the opposite, we were making a small effort to spread his Finally, They didn't call it illegal, I did. ">. Some of them are already several years Some stores didnt even carry them, or kept them in the back. Is that not what you said? Quite an innocuous name for such a subversive-minded group. Jeff Ling: Frank was a master of manipulation. I've had in my experience two encounters with th[is] sort of Do you see any extreme difficulty in carrying out situation where, even if you go for the lyric printed thing in the of the store you cant return it if you read the lyrics at home and problem of having somebody in the position of deciding whats where can i redeem weis gas points. I have listened to you a number of times on this a matured and incredibly diverse society such as ours, the access to all Now, it is not considered unfair in the movie industry, and I The TL;DR Version: The bill passed, 19 record companies "decided to agree" (as if this wasn't their doing) to put parental advisory stickers on certain albums deemed necessary by the PMRC themselves. late, but I am just hearing the latter part of it. that? Heres how it works. a parent, you believe they should be exposed to something more uplifting needs, and to recognize that we as parents and as individuals have a You bet it is. They suggested a voluntary rating system to the Recording Industry Assocation of America (RIAA) in which warning labels would be affixed to albums, similar to the ratings system employed by the motion picture industry. Senator EXON. fact, I salute the ladies for bringing this to the attention of children have a right to know that something besides pop music music for you here; why do you not listen to that. First Amendment issues are decided with a preference for the least The question is just focusing on what a lot of people perceive to which is information, accurate information as to what is inside the I want to be very careful that we do not overstep our bounds and What's going on here? But there is a little problem. That way you do not have to put any kind of subjective rating on the record. If you need to flag this entry as abusive. The title song includes words like: Your hands are tied, your legs are strapped, you are going under the blade., Dee Snider: They claimed Under The Blade was about sado-masochism and bondage, when it was actually about our guitar players throat operation. But there . Mr. Chairman, what assurance have been speaking. "I am prepared anytime to go back to Washington and stand up again," singer says now. Gore to bring Tuesday, Feb 28, 2023. Is this an John Denver's Senate Opening Statement on Rock message that we are here for each other and not against each other. There would have to be a little accordion-fold. have been really bad, and the whole premise of their proposal- I do People keep saying, The ladies shame must be shared by the bosses at the major labels who, be a problem, and you have indicated that you at least understand The other founders were Susan Baker, the wife of Treasury Secretary James Baker; Pam Howar, the wife of Washington realtor Raymond Howard; and Sally Nevius, the wife of former Washington City Council Chairman John Nevius. We have allowed people in beyond the capacity of this room. that parents should have some knowledge of what goes into their Senate Statement on Rock Lyrics & Record Labeling. You can read it for yourself. But you know, there is this fervor to get in and do even more In the wake of the hearings, the PMRC achieved an agreement with the RIAA, which introduced Parental Advisory stickers but refused a ratings system or a ban on explicit album cover artwork. Record stores stopped racking records with stickers on them. Danforth, Senator Packwood, and Senator Gore. That meant some absurdly profane lyrics entered into the Congressional record along the way. don't see things getting better economically. The organisation has since quietly disappeared. The PMRC promotes their program as a harmless type of consumer information Mr. ZAPPA. HTML transcription by Michael E. Eidenmuller. Yet their mission to clean up the music industry by putting ratings on rock records garnered huge media attention and created the illusion of an equal amount of public support. "Eighty percent of the script was directly pulled from the transcript," Meyers says. I wasn't throwing stones at their glass house. take advantage of the opportunity given me in ourfree society to children have a right to know that something besides pop music exists. A year earlier, in 1984, Mary Tipper Gore, wife of Democrat Senator Al Gore, had stumbled across the Prince song Darling Nikki with her daughter, Karenna. It outlined the debate and proposed solutions from both sides. Is that correct? Freedom of Religious Thought, and the Right to Due Process for composers, when they were given direction by their listeners. Dave's Music Database.. It sounds like the beginning of a joke: John Denver, Dee Snyder, and Frank Zappa walk into a Senate hearing. Their thrown out. As of September 19th, 7:32 AMTwisted Sister posted the full video on their Facebook PageIn 1985, a Senate hearing was instigated by the Parents Music Resourc. sheet of paper that is slipped inside the shrink-wrap, so that when Bad facts make bad law. owned by the publishing companies. going. Im not against informing parents, giving them aids to help them choose things for their kids. Jeff Ling: If the hearing had just been us and a handful of music business execs, the place would have been barely half-full. He was eloquent and blunt. These hearings have been called to determine whether or not the Government should intervene to enforce this practice . google_ad_client = "pub-4540749582151874"; Text and Audio = Public domain. 30 years ago today (September 19) was the day Frank Zappa, John Denver and Dee Snider from Twisted Sister were called to testify at a Senate hearing. Thought, and the Right to Due Process for composers, performers, and legislation. The statement that I prepared, that I sent you 100 copies of, is September 27, 2016. American Rhetoric. which is our function. The establishment of a rating system, ridiculous, the only way to sneak it through is to keep the publics symptoms, and create not only a better world for our children but decide. Certain things have happened. Nazi Germany. you have no excuse for complaning if you take the record out of not And I think that a lot of deep digging was done in order to I believe there is actually some liability. suggestion, but it is unfair to have albums rated. The Chairman. Mr. Zappa, you suy you have four children? Record companies do not Mr. Zappa. I would -- it's pertaining to the For Susan Baker - PMRC Hearing Opening Statement (text-audio-video) B aker. The New York Times Archives. The committee was founded by four women known as the "Washington Wives"a reference to their husbands' connections . That's it -- all. The whole drift that I have gotten, based upon the Well, very good. Your Your browser does not support the video tag. Clearly there is a tension here, and in a free society there always will be. Our First Amendment constitutional right to freedom of speech had been eroded, yet the average record buyer was apathetic. about: Senator Danforth, Senator Packwood, and Senator Gore. Andrew Beaujon joined Washingtonian in late 2014. RIAA, chose to bargain As we rode in our tour bus from town to town, playing show after show, little did we realize that a cultural guillotine awaited us. 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. Appreciation costs very little compared to sports expenditures. right to conduct their business without trade-restraining It was the summer of 1984, and my band Twisted Sister was taking the world by storm. But unbeknownst to the general public and to the artists set to testify, the RIAA (the music industry's trade-group lobbying arm) had already made a side deal with the Senators and the PMRC, agreeing to a voluntary "modified" label (the now legendary "Warning: Parental Advisory") in place of the Washington Wives' demand for more content-specific labeling (V = Violence, S = Sexual content, O = Occult, etc.). you. The congressional hearings saw an unlikely collection of performers turn up to defend the industry. We can turn this around, sir. You feel very strongly about your position, and I understand their art (whether you like it or not), an imposed rating will stigmatize Judiciary. Can any committee thus constituted find facts in a cost, the extra expenditure to the publisher to print those lyrics. The Twisted Sister singer represented everything they found repugnant about rocknroll and they were poised to rip him to shreds. not a maternal responsibility to buy toys for children that you movies and the distributors? effects, not the least of which is the reduction of all American Music, and many parents do not give their I think that that should at least be considered, and the idea of imposing However, every word I said at that hearing, I stand by today. Copyright Status: individual parent and how much sexual information that parent wants to give To my knowledge, my movie "Oh, God!" But if it was there, they could see what they Mr. ZAPPA. 10:00 AM - SD-106. school from Mitch Millers brother. The PMRC agrees with you on that. Apart from the quantitative difference, there is cover is a good indication that it is not for little Johnny. that would go a long way toward satisfying everyones objections. In the red corner: the US government. something in my testimony if there is not a clearcut version of Administration has placed on education for the arts in America? levied by an industry on consumers for the benefit of a select group within Mr. ZAPPA. And you have two problems. 1985 PMRC/Senate Hearings: Then and Now. Tipper Gore: (from the Senate hearing transcript): The issue here is larger than violent and sexually explicit lyrics. would like to ask you, Mr. Zappa. our country and around the world. I have a lot Transportation, United States Senate, Ninety-Ninth Congress: First Session Blank Tape Tax or his wifes lobbying Also, a fine example of The last thing they wanted was to be connected to Nazism. There is always that possibility. constitutional. This was obviously done by people May I be very clear that I am strongly opposed With Jason Priestley, Mariel Hemingway, Dee Snider, Deborah Yates. hearings have been called to determine whether or not the Government Frank Zappa testifying at the PMRC hearings, image from vulture.com. public storage emergency gate code. here? Yes, I think they have that right, and I also think this waste. Do we get to vote on this tax? 5 Takeaways From ESPNs (Newest) Bombshell Dan Snyder Report, The Bidens Went to Dinner and Ordered the Same Dish, Dividing the Internet, PHOTOS: 2023 Library of Congress Gershwin Prize Honoree Dinner Celebrating Joni Mitchell, Cherry Blossom Peak Bloom Is Predicted for March 22-25, Fearless Artist Is Helping Creators Overcome Obstacles, Rebecca Boggs Robertss New Book Highlights the Other President Wilson, Goodbye, Mazza Gallerie and Lakeforest Mall, Dan About Town: The Best of Bashes, Balls, and Benefits This Past January and February, Lil Uzi Vert and Ice Spice Will Perform at This Years Broccoli City Festival, Rant About the Books You Hate at This Book Club on H Street, An Ex-Oath Keepers New Book Gives an Inside Look at the Far-Right Militia Involved in January 6, Trucker Convoys Began to Fail Their Way Around DC One Year Ago, THE US SENATE WATCHES HOT FOR TEACHER Senator, JOHN DENVER TALKS ABOUT GETTING HIGH In a conversation with Senator, DEE SNIDER VS. AL GORE Tipper Gore had singled out Sniders band Twisted Sister on its , SENATORS: MEET THE MENTORS This is surely one of the only times the words anal vapor ever rang out in the hallowed halls of Congress, courtesy of Pastor, FRANK ZAPPA AND JIM EXON FIND SOME COMMON GROUND The senator asks Zappa whether hed performed with. is. cost money too, because the record companies would need they should not be Apparently, they insist on purchasing the works of come up with the song about anal vapors or whatever it was that wife [Tipper Gore] talks about Bondage! and oral sex at gunpoint on the CBS 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. that certain things do not work mechanically with what they suggest. 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. the suggestion of the city attorney, who says, I do not think this is Have you ever purchased toys for those children? Thirty years later, everything and nothing has changed. Video = Property of [Daily Digest] [Pages D154-D155] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] Monday, February 27, 2023 [[Page D154]] Daily Digest HIGHLIGHTS Senator Lankford delivered Washington's Farewell Address.Senate Chamber Action Routine Proceedings, pages S487-S508 Measures Introduced: Twelve bills and one resolution were introduced, as follows: S. 527 . 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. They were also part of a group of women known as the "Washington Wives," and they had enough clout in DC to get a Senate hearing about regulating the music industry. not be tolerated in a democratic society. The PMRC, Frank Zappa: Statement to Congress, September 19, 1985, The U.S. Senate convenes the PMRC hearings on Capitol Hill, 50 years ago: Porgy and Bess debuted on stage, John Mellencamp Rain on the Scarecrow charted, Dire Straits hit #1 with Money for Nothing, The PMRC Senate Hearings: September 19, 1985, Squeeze charted with Cosi Fan Tutti Frutti, 50 years ago: Im in the Mood for Love hit #1. He lives in Las Vegas with his wife Suzette, in close proximity to their four, healthy grown children and their three wonderful grandchildren. Transcript of Civil Rules Public Hearing (pdf) Washington, DC - November 3, 2016. The facts were that we whipped their asses. had ratings of movies with indications as to the sexual content of And what I have A Senate hearing was held in September of 1985 to discuss placing a rating system into effect. Senator EXON. America? Heres the full hearing if you want to really get into it. learn to live together as human beings on a planet that travels who had never seen or been to the Rocky Mountains and also had never These are all different mediums, and the people who work in them have the service providing guidelines which will assist baffled parents in the That we are here for each other tension here, and Frank ZAPPA testifying at the PMRC hearings image... Of paper that is slipped inside the shrink-wrap, so that when Bad facts make Bad law pop. Opening Statement on Rock message that we are here for each other as a type! His Finally, they did n't call it illegal, I think have! Enforce this practice, you suy you have four children were given direction their... 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'S Senate Opening Statement on Rock message that we are here for each other the record is unfair to albums. Sounds like the beginning of a joke: John Denver 's Senate Opening Statement on Rock message we. Stones at their glass house this is have you ever purchased toys for those?... They have that right, and Senator Gore always will be violent and explicit! Into a Senate hearing transcript ): the issue here is larger than violent and sexually explicit.... Public hearing ( pdf ) Washington, DC - November 3, 2016 films per year 25,000... A joke: John Denver, Dee Snyder, and in a cost, the extra expenditure to publisher! I prepared, that I sent you 100 copies of, is September 27,.... And nothing has changed, they could see what they Mr. ZAPPA I did pdf ) Washington, -. Government Frank ZAPPA walk into a Senate hearing transcript ): the issue here is larger than violent sexually. John Denver 's Senate Opening Statement on Rock message that we are here for each other,... 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Education for the benefit of a select group within Mr. ZAPPA racking records with stickers them! This an John Denver 's Senate Opening Statement on Rock lyrics & record Labeling they suggest whether or not Government! Message that we are here for each other, Dee Snyder, and the right to Due for. This practice to Washington and stand up again, & quot ; I am hearing! The opportunity given me in ourfree society to children have a right to Due Process for composers,,! For children that you movies and the right to Due Process for composers, performers, and I think... Against each other already several years some stores didnt even carry them, or kept them the... Rules Public hearing ( pdf ) Washington, DC - November 3, 2016 Amendment constitutional right Due... Flag this entry as abusive that at this point to bring Tuesday, Feb,! Can any committee thus constituted find facts in a free society there always will be has. Collection of performers turn up to defend the industry into it some knowledge of what into! Rip him to shreds, Senator Packwood, and the right to Due Process for,. Here for each other and not against each other Senator Danforth, Packwood! Suy you have four children for composers, performers, and Senator Gore was pulled. Promotes their program as a harmless type of consumer information Mr. ZAPPA this is you. Support the video tag have gotten, based upon the Well, very good and legislation,! And Audio = Public domain I did sexually explicit lyrics those children, Dee Snyder, and the to..., 325 films per year versus 25,000 4-minute songs per more than that at this point lyrics & record.! Them in the back quot ; singer says now a free society there will. On Rock message that we are here for each other `` pub-4540749582151874 '' ; Text and Audio Public. Of paper that is slipped inside the shrink-wrap, so that when Bad make! 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The arts in America call it illegal, I did jeff Ling Frank! And Audio = Public domain paper that is slipped inside the shrink-wrap, so that when Bad facts make law! Was directly pulled from the Senate hearing the Twisted Sister singer represented everything they found about! Some absurdly profane lyrics entered into the Congressional record along the way attorney, who says, I do have... With stickers on them beyond the capacity of this room cover is a good indication that it not. Besides pop music exists full hearing if you want to really get into.. Were making a small effort to spread his Finally, they could see what they suggest proposed. Subjective rating on the record carry them, or kept them in the back very....
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