The “Washington wives” were four women who said a flood of obscene and violent rock music was a “family values” issue America must address. At a Senate hearing 40 years ago, they argued for a record labeling system that would inform parents on songs about rape, suicide and more.
Musicians and record labels largely condemned the idea. At the Sept. 19, 1985, hearing, Frank Zappa said declaring some lyrics obscene to restrict sales was “the equivalent of treating dandruff by decapitation.” But within six weeks, the recording industry relented and adopted the “PARENTAL ADVISORY EXPLICIT CONTENT” labeling system.
Today, some hail the label as a major victory for parents and kids and an example of how consumers and industry can work together on social problems. Others say the labels have been ineffective and have helped lure even more youth to music containing “forbidden fruit.”
Wives make waves
The well-connected wives of the Parents Music Resource Center included Susan Baker, wife of then-Secretary of the Treasury James A. Baker III, and Tipper Gore, wife of then-Senator and later Vice President Al Gore Jr. The Gores were Southern Baptists.
The women sought the help of then well-known Christian anti-rock crusaders including Bob Larson (who claimed he had exorcised the demon that inspired the creation of Jesus Christ Superstar), David Noebel of Summit Ministries (who claimed the Beatles and other rock music promoted communism), and brothers Dan and Steve Peters (whose “Why Knock Rock?” seminars closed with record burnings).
But the women of PMRC made a strategic decision to downplay religious issues and focus instead on rock lyrics they said celebrated rape, drug abuse, suicide and necrophilia.
The women of PMRC made a strategic decision to downplay religious issues and focus instead on rock lyrics they said celebrated rape, drug abuse, suicide and necrophilia.
“Although our faith is something that means a great deal to us, we have stayed away from that,” PMRC founding member Sally Nevius told me in 1985. “We wanted to stick strictly to the lyrics of the songs and let them speak for themselves. We all prayed about this.”
Tipper Gore leads the charge
“Something has happened since the days of ‘Twist and Shout’ and ‘I Love Lucy,’” wrote Tipper Gore in her 1987 book, Raising PG Kids in an X-Rated Society.
Gore described her shock at hearing the lyrics to Prince’s Purple Rain, an album she bought for her 11-year-old daughter. The song “Darling Nikki” described the character Nikki as a “sex fiend” who enjoyed “masturbating with a magazine.”
When Gore learned the National Parent Teacher Association and other groups had tried to persuade record labels to address the problem to no avail, she decided to take action herself, meeting with recording industry officials.
PMRC initially proposed a rating system that would label recordings featuring sexually explicit language with an X. Songs about violence would be labeled with a V, references to drugs and alcohol would be labeled with D/A, and occult recordings would be labeled O.
Industry leaders said such a system would be unwieldy, and some Christian recording artists wondered if their songs about these topics would earn similar labels. And Gore became a lightning rod for criticism. Larry Flynt’s Hustler magazine named her “Asshole of the Month.”
American musician John Denver appears at the PMRC senate hearing at Capitol Hill, Washington DC, United States, September 19, 1985. Representatives of the Parents Music Resource Center, senators and musicians testified before the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee 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’. (Photo by Mark Weiss/Getty Images)
Clashes at X-rated hearings
Members of Congress clashed with musical celebrities at hearings that highlighted the offensive content in the music of AC/DC, Blue Oyster Cult, Alice Cooper, the Dead Kennedys, Sheena Easton, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Grim Reaper, Billy Idol, Kiss, Ozzy Osbourne, Madonna, Motley Crue, Prince, and Suicidal Tendencies.
Musician John Denver testified he was opposed to the kinds of censorship that had impacted his music and movies. Denver’s song “Rocky Mountain high” was banned from many radio stations that claimed it was drug-related, and some newspapers and theaters refuse to promote his movie, Oh God.
“I am saying the small percentage of records we are discussing here today compared to the 125,000 songs that are released every year is minuscule and it is not going to affect our children to a degree that we need to be fearful of,” he said.
The hearing livened up when Dee Snider, lead singer of the band Twisted Sister, testified. The band’s song, “Under the Blade,” had been criticized for promoting antisocial content.
“I can say categorically that the only sadomasochism, bondage and rape in this song is in the mind of Ms. Gore,” said Snider, who described himself as a Christian and married father who did not smoke, drink alcohol or do drugs.
Like others who testified, Snider said the content of rock music was an issue for parents and children, not government and industry.
“I know when I see an album cover with a severed goat’s head in the middle of a pentagram between a woman’s legs, that is not the kind of album I want my son to be listening to.”
Zappa speaks as musician, parent
Rock musician Frank Zappa testifies before the Senate Commerce Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, Sept. 19, 1985. The committee was holding hearings on the labeling of rock records by the PMRC. (AP Photo/Lana Harris)
Sen. Al Gore welcomed the testimony of Frank Zappa, praising the musician as “a true original and a tremendously talented musician. Zappa responded by condemning any proposed rating system, especially one promoted by “the wives of Big Brother.”
“The establishment of a rating system, voluntary or otherwise, opens the door to an endless parade of moral quality control programs based on things certain Christians do not like. What if the next bunch of Washington wives demands a large yellow ‘J’ on all material written or performed by Jews, in order to save helpless children from exposure to concealed Zionist doctrine?”
Like Snider, Zappa said he was speaking as a parent when he argued that it was up to parents what music their children did or did not listen to: “I have got four children. Two of them are here. I want them to grow up in a country where they can think what they want to think, be what they want to be, and not what somebody’s wife or somebody in government makes them be.”
Industry creates voluntary labeling program
Within six weeks of this hearing, the Recording Industry Association of America unveiled its “PARENTAL ADVISORY EXPLICIT CONTENT” labeling system. Forty years later, it’s still going.
“The music industry takes its responsibility to help parents determine what may be inappropriate for their children seriously — that’s why RIAA and its member companies created the Parental Advisory Label program,” says the industry group.
The program is voluntary. Record companies and artists decide which releases should be labeled and work with RIAA to secure the label for these releases. Walmart and other retailers have declined to carry labeled works, while some restrict access.
RIAA says the program has been a success, but critics say the labeling system has led some artists to self-censor so they’re not banned in certain stores. Others say it has disproportionately hurt Black artists as a large percentage of rap and hip hop records are labeled.
Some say the labeling system is counterproductive and actually increases sales for labeled works.