Remembering the Gores and the PMRC

Matt Kibbe of FreedomWorks recalls some of the ironies of Al and Tipper Gore, who crusaded against what passed for raunchy pop muisc (e.g. Prince's "Darling Nikki") back in the 1980s, sharing Live Earth stages with the likes of Madonna (a leading indicator of the decline of Western civilzation, according to Tipper-led Parents Music Resource Center) and Snoop Dog:

Remember the Parents Music Resource Center, co-founded by Tipper Gore a few years before her husband ran for president in 1988? The PMRC was the perfect political platform for the Gores to establish their deep concern for "the children" being exposed to suggestive lyrics in popular music. Madonna, today's environmental crusader and Live Earth star, was then branded one of the "Filthy Fifteen" by Tipper and the PMRC. Congressional hearings were scheduled, and Senators' hands were wrung. The quote printed above was in fact Senator Al Gore's opening statement at the 1985 Senate hearing, excoriating music industry executives for pedaling dirty music to kids. In the process, he established his bonafides as a "New Democrat" right in time for his first national campaign.

Today, Al Gore gets along famously with the music industry, and has apparently gotten over his earlier concerns about lyrical content. "Music," he now says, "is a universal language that can reach people in ways that no other medium can." I agree with that, and humbly suggest that Tipper download Hamburg Live Earth headliner Snoop Dogg's "Gin and Juice." She probably won't like it, but hey, we all have to make sacrifices for the environment.

More here.

Tipper on Prince, last seen hiding behind a sheet at the Super Bowl halftime show:

Like many parents of my generation, I grew up listening to rock music and loving it, watching television and being entertained by it. I still enjoy both. But something has happened since the days of "Twist and Shout" and "I Love Lucy."…

Prince peddled more than ten million copies of Purple Rain, which included a song about a young girl masturbating in a hotel lobby.

This kind of rock music is only part of an escalating trend toward the use of more explicit sex and graphic violence in entertainment industry offerings, from movies and videos to jeans and perfume ads. Music is the most unexpected medium, and rock music has shown perhaps the least willingness to exercise self-restraint.

More from Raising PG Kids in an X-Rated Society (1987) here.

Here's a list of the original "Filthy Fifteen," the songs the PMRC found particularly appalling. Of special note: Two of the tunes are cited for referencing the "occult."

#	Artist	Song title	Lyrical content
1	Prince	"Darling Nikki"	Sex/Masturbation
2	Sheena Easton	"Sugar Walls"	Sex
3	Judas Priest	"Eat Me Alive"	Sex
4	Vanity	"Strap on Robbie Baby"	Sex
5	Mötley Crüe	"Bastard"	Violence
6	AC/DC	"Let Me Put My Love into You"	Sex
7	Twisted Sister	"We're Not Gonna Take It"	Violence
8	Madonna	"Dress You Up"	Sex
9	W.A.S.P.	"Animal (Fuck Like a Beast)"	Sex/Language
10	Def Leppard	"High 'n' Dry (Saturday Night)"	Drug and Alcohol Use
11	Mercyful Fate	"Into the Coven"	Occult
12	Black Sabbath	"Trashed"	Drug and Alcohol Use
13	Mary Jane Girls	"In My House"	Sex
14	Venom	"Possessed"	Occult
15	Cyndi Lauper	"She Bop"	Sex/Masturbation

Comments

[joe]

Gore used to be anti-abortion, too.

Glad he came to his senses.

Smash the PMRC!

[dhex]

lolz masturbation.

no seriously though, what? i was only a wee one during all this stuff and picked up on it peripherally, but who the hell was going to diss on prince?

semi-related: what kind of name is tipper?

[Randolph Carter]

That halftime show was disturbing, especially Prince's demon guitar shadow-phallus.

[Marcvs]

That picture made me throw up a little.

[Lamar]

You could have Photoshopped? one of those PMRC warning labels on top of Prince's armpit and I would have supported that particular use.

[a demon]

Randolph,

Im curious as to how you have intimate knowledge of what demon genitalia actually looks like??

[crap-action-jackson]

Prince was not hiding behind the sheet - the demon-double-dong silhouette effect wouldn't have been as striking without it. Watch it again - it's pretty overt for prime-time.

[SPD]

"Game -- Blouses." (Sorry, that's an instinctive quote now whenever I see a picture of Prince.)

I think I'm beginning to see a correlation now.

Al Gore:Reverend Lovejoy::Tipper Gore:Helen Lovejoy

[Urkobold@trade;]

URKOBOLD KNEW A GIRL NAMED TIPPY. URKOBOLD GUESSES YOU COULD SAY SHE WAS A SEX FIEND.

[Taktix?]

Did Prince have a... dare I say it...

Instrument Malfunction?

Thank you, thank you. The 4:30 show is completely different from the 7:30...

[Urkobold?]

URKOBOLD CURSES HIS GIANT, TROLL-LIKE HANDS!

[Taktix?]

A ha!

The great, infallible URKOBOLD has fucked up his HTML tag...

[Randolph Carter]

Dude, I'm Randolph Carter. I can tell you what Ghast and Dhole genitalia look like.

[Randolph Carter]

one time I fucked a Shantak

[bromo98]

Why wouldn't Tipper like "Gin and Juice"? Damn catchy that tune.

[joe]

"We're Not Gonna Take It" and "She Bop."

Awwwwww...that's so cute!

[Episiarch]

Well, if Democrats can forget Byrd was KKK, why can't music-loving environmentalists forget that the Gores were PMRC? I doubt Dee Snyder forgets, though.

[Urkobold?]

INFALLIBLE? NO, THAT'S INCORRECT. THE URKOBOLD IS ONLY INFALLIBLE WHEN SITTING IN HIS THRONE THAT HE COMMISSIONED FROM BERNINI. UNFORTUNATELY, SOME POPE STOLE IT!

[Taktix?]

Honestly, that list looks like what today would be the choices for Campaign Themes for some of the candidates.

[Fluffy]

How dare you keep track of what the morality brigade was saying! It's not fair to point out that the material they were so upset over now sounds like the playlist on an easy listening station!

The music lyrics crusade was important! Just like the video game crusade is very, very important! Don't be misled by the fact that observing the progress of such crusades over time makes the crusaders look stupid! So what if Ed Sullivan was mad at Elvis and it turned out that was stupid! OUR current crusades are legit! Really, they are!

[ed]

Marcvs | July 11, 2007, 4:11pm | #
That picture made me throw up a little.

Yeah. Marsha Warfield had a funny gag about Prince. Went something like this: "I don't get Prince, and why all the ladies think he's so hot. He's just this skinny little guy. What am I supposed to do with him--grease him up and use him as a dildo?"

[TrickyVic]

"""That halftime show was disturbing, especially Prince's demon guitar shadow-phallus."""

I would rather see Janet Jacksons breasts any day!

"""semi-related: what kind of name is tipper?"""

Well, it rhymes with Ripper and that was the nickname of the guy who took Rob Halford's place in Judas Priest. Connection????

[VM]

What about "Love Rhino" by Deatht?ngue?

[Taktix?]

This reminds me of a professor I had for a class called "Mass Media."

He tried to tell us that songs like these made these two 12-year-olds trip on acid and rape a 10-year-old.

I think he might have been a little embarrased when, in the middle of his speech about how we need to regulate music and video games, I asked him, "where the fuck are these kids' parents?"

Most of the class agreed...

[TrickyVic]

"""INFALLIBLE? NO, THAT'S INCORRECT. THE URKOBOLD IS ONLY INFALLIBLE WHEN SITTING IN HIS THRONE THAT HE COMMISSIONED FROM BERNINI. UNFORTUNATELY, SOME POPE STOLE IT!""""

By throne, do you really mean toliet?

[joe]

Episiarch,

Forget nothing.

Prodical sons are welcomed home by big-hearted people, if they renounce their mistakes.

[Randolph Carter]

And every one of the top rock songs, and the psychedelic album covers, are sending a message: to drop out, to groove. And they all sing the same refrain - it's fun to take a trip, put acid in your veins.

[Urkobold?]

TrickyVic,

YOU DO NOT WANT THE URKOBOLD TO ANSWER THAT QUESTION. REALLY.

[JLM]

I hated Tipper Gore's guts before I knew anything about politics. I guess any metal-head kid in the 80's probably felt the same way if they heard about the PMRC.

[TrickyVic]

Taktix, a good question to have ask that professor is what has the mass media made him do he wouldn't have done? That sort of logic usually applies to people other than the one running their lips, if you know what I mean.

[Taktix?]

And every one of the top rock songs, and the psychedelic album covers, are sending a message: to drop out, to groove. And they all sing the same refrain - it's fun to take a trip, put acid in your veins.

So, by dropping out, you mean do every drug in the book (almost), sometimes during class, yet still pay my way through college with no parental help and get a B.A. at the University of Pittsburgh.

Yeah, rock music really ruined my life...

[jaybird]

Venom was awesome.

[Randolph Carter]

Taktix is a SUPERNAUT

[Taktix?]

TrickyVic,

I wish, back then, I had the intellectual arsenal to completely shut him down. Even though I got a few decent jabs in throughout the semester, I probably came off as one of those pompous asshole kids that everyone hates.

The funny thing is, I never spoke up in class much. This guy just pissed me off...

[Uranus In The Balance]

Gore's promiscuous apocalypticism has only really paid off since he stumbled out front of a more shepherd-needing bunch of panicky religio-rubes than the fetus-huggers and record-burners ever were.

Kid's a slow learner--he went eco-Revelationist fifteen years ago, but he's only recently started milking it hard--but he finally got it.

Kudos.

But "porn rock" Gore was funnier.

[Shelby]

Randolph:

Ghast and Dhole genitalia

wait, what? AD&D-flavored undead, and Indian wolves? Do elucidate.

[Taktix?]

Randolf,

I'm happy with that, since that song has one of the better drum lines of the time...

[Randolph Carter]

If you had traveled to Unknown Kadath or across the icy plains of Leng, you would know what I'm talkin' bout.

[TrickyVic]

"""YOU DO NOT WANT THE URKOBOLD TO ANSWER THAT QUESTION. REALLY.""""

Well, I'm standing up know, I just want to know if the URKOBOLD needs a fresh flush.

[New WorldDan]

VM,

What about "Love Rhino" by Deatht?ngue?

Ladies and gentlemen, this thread has a winner! I am humbled by your awesomeness.

[Pro Libertate]

VM,

I preferred Billy and the Boingers.

[Brian Sorgatz]

Of special note: Two of the tunes are cited for referencing the "occult."

Tipper's a nut on the subject.

[Jake Boone]

I?! I?! Randolph Carter fhtagn!

[JIMMYDAGEEK]

didn't read all the comments, so don't know if anyone asked this...why isn't 2LiveCrew on all 15 spots???

[Trea]

JLM:

I hated Tipper Gore's guts before I knew anything about politics. I guess any metal-head kid in the 80's probably felt the same way if they heard about the PMRC.

Same here. It was the first issue that got me into politics. Please don't ever tell anyone I bought a Skid Row album, but the closing track, called Fuck Tipper Gore , while trite, juvenile, and not very subtle, expressed exactly how I felt at the ripe old age of 14. (It was basically just Sebastian Bach, or whatever that femme idiot's name was, saying fuck a lot on stage, spliced together). In any case, fuck Al while we're at it.
But look at it rationally. Artists trying to lure your child into the Occult are less dangerous than the PLANET DESTROYING CLIMATE CHANGE that Al Gore got did his doctoral thesis writing about. He's trying to save your lives, ass holes! I'm super-cereal , people. The sky...is...falling.

[Paul]

They know bias when they hear it.

I'll bet they know pornography when the see it, too.

[JasonC]

didn't read all the comments, so don't know if anyone asked this...why isn't 2LiveCrew on all 15 spots???
Because they've already been BANNED IN THE USA!

[gaijin]

Funny list. And after Clinton-Gore got elected where was the outrage over Ice-T and Cop Killer? There was lots on that album to get the PMRC's goat...and now he's on Law and Order!

And that Sabbath tune sucked...mostly cause Ian Gillian sounded like he was trashed.

[Warren]

Wow, that list really put things in perspective. I mean was there ever a time in Rock 'n Roll that had cleaner songs? The 50's and early 60's resorted to double entendre but by the time Mick was lamenting his unfulfilled 'satisfaction', they had dispensed with the niceties. The early 80's with the newly minted (and still wholesomely impish) MTV produced the tamest (rhymes with lamest) pop music of the 20th century.

[lurker]

2 Live Crew wasn't until a few years later.

Did anyone else look at that list and think, "damn, music was better in 1985"? Those are some good songs!

[jimmydageek]

Ah, with a little research I see that 2LiveCrew started in 1985, the same year the above list came out. Given one more year they would have occupied all 15 spots.

[Warren]

Hmmm, guess this is actually late 80's. Oh well, no need to throw out a perfectly good theory just because it isn't true.

[gaijin]

Did anyone else look at that list and think, "damn, music was better in 1985"?

No

[Ken Shultz]

Had it not been for Tipper Gore's efforts, a lot of people never would have heard of bands like Venom.

Did anyone else look at that list and think, "damn, music was better in 1985"

...with a couple of exceptions, the list isn't representative of what was popular.

[Jim Henley]

I want to have Tipper over and play the title track from The Hold Steady's "Boys and Girls in America" for her. Probably "The Chill-Out Tent" too.

[Derek Ashworth]

Kudos to the PMRC folk for at least figuring out that "She Bop" was about diddling yourself.

If you didn't get enough nostalgia from the article, try the PMRC Senate hearing minutes for the real fun. Zappa later sampled Fritz Hollings spitting "outrageous filth" and "poahn rawk" over and over to great effect in his track "Porn Wars".

[Chris Puzak]

Anyone have any idea how they came up with their "Filthy 15"? Like, what about "Let Me Put My Love into You" was so much worse than any other AC/DC song. Or why they picked specific songs from Mercyful Fate and Venom instead of complaining about every single thing the bands released?

[JasonC]

Jim, get with it. There is no "title track" to Boys and Girls in America. The song the title is mentioned in is called Stuck Between Stations.

[Warren]

with a couple of exceptions, the list isn't representative of what was popular

Well according to this what was popular, was even lamer (Wham?! fucking Wham?) Note how Madonna's Dress You Up just squeaks in past the gate, if it wasn't for Tipper, probably wouldn't have been played at all.

[The Wine Commonsewer?]

Couldn't read the piece because of that picture that made Marcvs hurl.

[JLM]

Trea- I don't recall hearing the Skid Row song, but I specifically remember having a clipping from some metal mag hanging on my bedroom wall that had a picture of a skull and said R.I.P. PMRC. This hung right next to some Metallica pics, if I recall correctly.

And yes, while we're at it, fuck Al.....and the prius he rode in on.

[Randolph Carter]

Well according to this what was popular, was even lamer (Wham?! fucking Wham?) Note how Madonna's Dress You Up just squeaks in past the gate, if it wasn't for Tipper, probably wouldn't have been played at all.

There are some fantastic songs on that list. There are also some fantastically awful songs.

[Rick Barton]

Yeah! Smash the PMRC! I don't dig, or have never even heard of, many on the list but Cyndi Lauper's "She Bop" is a fine tune. But my fave tune on that subject is "Turning Japanese" by The Vapors!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJsIrxwHtnc

This one could easily make my Friday Fun Link New Wave link:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=+site:www.reason.com+friday+fun+rick+barton+hit+run

[Russ 2000]

I hated Tipper Gore's guts before I knew anything about politics. I guess any metal-head kid in the 80's probably felt the same way if they heard about the PMRC.

Seems like a lot of Democrat-leaning (or at least Republican-hating) people remembered the Gore's PMRC bullshit in the 80's and stayed away from the polls or voted for another non-Bush candidate in 2000.

[Mike Espinoza]

Please don't ever tell anyone I bought a Skid Row album, but the closing track, called Fuck Tipper Gore , while trite, juvenile, and not very subtle, expressed exactly how I felt at the ripe old age of 14. (It was basically just Sebastian Bach, or whatever that femme idiot's name was, saying fuck a lot on stage, spliced together).

Uh, I hate to break it to you, but it was a Warrant album that you bought. "Ode To Tipper Gore" from the uncensored version of Cherry Pie. My little brother had the cassette. (I never bought a Warrant myself.)

[TLB]

I always thought CyndiLauper was cute. Now she's even cuter.

[Russ 2000]

And that Sabbath tune sucked...mostly cause Ian Gillian sounded like he was trashed.

That album also had "Stonehenge" on it!

[Andrew]

One of the good things about the PMRC is that it led to the song "Censorshit" by the Ramones, which is a great one.

[Warren]

RC,
You really think so? Name five. I can find about a dozen that don't make me wretch. Even the artists from that era I like, such as REO and Pat Benatar, are represented at their most disappointing.

In the top 25 only "Sea Of Love" by the Honeydrippers doesn't make me wretch.

[Christopher Monnier]

"We're not gonna take it" is a classic anti-authority anthem. I'd play that song at my presidential inauguration.

[Rick Barton]

TLB:

I always thought CyndiLauper was cute. Now she's even cuter.

I'm with ya on the first part.

[joe]

I stopped reading after the weak-assed insult to Gore's musical taste.

[highnumber]

what kind of name is tipper?

Joke stolen from Penn Jillette, who may have stolen it from somebody else, as told to Snow White:

It's short for c*nt.

[Dave]

This reminds me of an article Rolling Stone did back before the 2000 election, where they excoriated Bush and said that if he got in office he'd try to restrict rock and roll, while supporting Gore. It took Marylin Manson of all people to write a letter calling them on their bullshit.
I'm sure the "Grand Theft Auto Must Be Stopped!" Hillary Clinton will also get their endorsement, and also not be criticized about those hearings.

[dead_elvis]

Please be more careful about what pictures y'all put on the front page. Not everyone has one of those chem-lab eye washers in the house.

In '92, when lefty liberals were stumping for Clinton/Gore, I wondered if I was the only one who remembered that Tipper and Al had, only a few years prior, been the subject of their ire and butt of their jokes. I couldn't believe it. Short memory, when politics of convenience require it.

Tipper inspired many a song in her day, like this one by Alice Donut:

Stick it in, pull it out, twist it.
Spread your information,
Tipper gore.
Mount the situation,
Tipper gore.
Penetrate these problems long and hard.
Yeah strain strain strain.
Strain strain strain.
We stand behind you,
Tipper gore.
Uncovering and probing,
Mrs.gore.
Getting to the bottom of it all.
Strain strain strain.
Strain strain strain.
You're a master of perversity,
No one knows.
Obscenity like you.
You've got your finger right on it.

[Trea]

Uh, I hate to break it to you, but it was a Warrant album that you bought. "Ode To Tipper Gore" from the uncensored version of Cherry Pie. My little brother had the cassette. (I never bought a Warrant myself.)

Thanks, Mike Espinoza. You're right, it was Warrant. God, well, in that case, please don't tell anyone I bought that cassette either. Damn, now I've copped to having owned the "Cherry Pie" single, and "18 and Life". That makes me want to barf more than Prince's prepubescent armpit fuzz.

[Brian Carnell]

"Well, if Democrats can forget Byrd was KKK, why can't music-loving environmentalists forget that the Gores were PMRC? I doubt Dee Snyder forgets, though."

Snider endorsed Gore for president... http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1568/is_3_32/ai_63330908

Presumably Florida would have been a blowout for Bush if it hadn't been for that.

[Randolph Carter]

5 good songs from that list:

48. "One Night In Bangkok".....Murray Head
29. "A View To A Kill".....Duran Duran
17. "Take On Me".....a-ha
91. "Walking On Sunshine".....Katrina & The Waves

ok, so there were only 4.
Not that they're representative of my overall musical taste, but guilty (ok, only a little guilty) pleasures that make me rather happy, hell yes.

[John in Nashville]

I always found it curious that Tipper Gore never squawked about the lyrics or themes of songs in the country music genre.

What about Conway Twitty singing "I Can Tell You've Never Been This Far Before"? Jeannie Seely asking the question, "Can I Sleep in Your Arms Tonight, Mister"?

Hank Williams, Senior's "Long Gone Lonesome Blues" is a song about suicide--finding a river "that's cold as ice", wherein the singer is "goin' down three times, but Lawd, I'm only comin' up twice." What did Ms. Gore think "Last Letter" was about?

As for violence, can it get any more gratuitous than the Louvin Brothers' "Knoxville Girl"? See, http://www.bluegrassnet.com/tgbs/K/Knoxville_girl.html . What about Johnny Cash's having shot a man in Reno, just to watch him die?

(Not that Mrs. Gore's silence had anything to do with that segment of the recording industry being based in the state that elected her husband, or anything like that.)

[Nephilium]

Ok... how the hell are you supposed to put together a list of "evil" music without having any good punk bands on it? I would guess that the Dead Kennedys, the Ramones, the Sex Pistols, or some other early punk band should have made the list.

Damn the music snobs in the PMRC!

Nephilium

[Rick Barton]

Randolph Carter,

You and I appear to have a strong intersection of musical taste. BTW, I always thought that Katrina woulda been quite foxy (oops-hinted at my age), make that "hot", if she was thinner.

[Rick Barton]

Nephilium,

Yeah, really!

[Randolph Carter]

don't misunderstand, most of what I listen to is oldish punk, 90's indie, and newish metal. But I have a soft spot for 80s electropop

[The Wine Commonsewer?]

Dee Snyder is funnier than heck.

My vote for one of the 80's tunes of record.....pun intended. It won't make the Tipper list but in retrospect it's not very politically correct.

And now that Carter has fessed up to Katrina and the Waves, I don't feel too dorky....

🙂

[The Wine Commonsewer?]

I know what kind of a life those old big hair metal heads have cuz I have satellite tv on the west coast which doesn't make any time zone accommodation for most cable shows.

Saturday night at 9:00 Eastern there is nothing but old headbanger videos on the music channels. It ain't a stretch to figure out who the target audience is.

[Bronwyn]

Jesus christ on a pogo stick, somebody bring me some eye bleach!

[Matt Welch]

Don't forget! Al & Tipper were both deadheads, for fuck's sake ... and speaking of eye bleach, I once witnessed Tipper actually dance on stage, while a group of bongo-players wearing T-shirts that said "Drums for Tipper" played their joyous hippie rhythms at the 2000 Convention in Los Angeles.

Also, Fat Albert presented the Grammy this year for Rock Album of the Year.

[Brian Sorgatz]

Considering Beavis and Butt-head's accurate observation that "most songs are about doing it," maybe Tipper should go ahead and renounce all music.

[Tym]

How about "Broken Hearts are for Assholes" by Frank Zappa, or pretty much anything of the Sheik Yerbouti album?

[Pissed at DC]

A hundred years from now Gore will remembered by some historian who is digging up rare bits of info as the man who invented the internet and reformed corrupting music into a music that saved the environment, which he had been trying to warn for decades in office without notice. He will be revealed to be the first to start other things too.

[ThomasD]

Dave Mustaine, presently ripping on the UN, wrote this back in the day.

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.

Some things never change.

[dhex]

"I once witnessed Tipper actually dance on stage, while a group of bongo-players wearing T-shirts that said "Drums for Tipper" played their joyous hippie rhythms at the 2000 Convention in Los Angeles."

you lie. that's too good to be true.

oh god

"As all of you who read my Road Words from this summer tour know, I had dinner with Tipper Gore while I was in Washington DC in May. After dinner we decided on putting together "A Tipper Moment" at the democratic convention. The Gores are fun-loving people who also love a good groove and music. As many know, Tipper is a drummer."

http://www.mickeyhart.net/Pages/dncgtxt.html

i had to google that guy but it all makes sense now.

[mk]

Nena's hairy armpit was a much more powerful political statement than Prince's ever was.

[Larry the Lemur]

Back in the day, I read an article (could have been the same Rolling Stone piece mentioned previously), which included an account of the PMRC congressional hearings. I remember it saying that at one point, Senator Gore read aloud the lyrics from "Anal Vapours" by the Mentors. I wonder if that was taped. I would dearly love to have a copy.

[SOTIREDOFITALL]

HYPOCRITES AND LIARS - Children what don't you understand about professional politicians.

Gimme an F!
F!
Gimme a U!
U!
Gimme a C!
C!
Gimme a K!
K!
What's that spell ?
FUCK!
What's that spell ?
FUCK!
What's that spell ?
FUCK!
Yeah, come on all of you, big strong men,
Uncle Sam needs your help again.
He's got himself in a terrible jam
Way down yonder in _________
So put down your books and pick up a gun,
We're gonna have a whole lotta fun.

And it's one, two, three,
What are we fighting for ?
Don't ask me, I don't give a damn,
Next stop is _________;
And it's five, six, seven,
Open up the pearly gates,
Well there ain't no time to wonder why,
Whoopee! we're all gonna die.

[Will Cate]

re: "what kind of name is tipper?"

Preppy.

[Tom]

This is funny

[Asharak]

You'd think the PMRC could've picked a better list of songs, geez.

[Will Cate]

re: "Senator Gore read aloud the lyrics from "Anal Vapours" by the Mentors. I wonder if that was taped."

You betcha; that and more was used by Frank Zappa on his album "Frank Zappa Meets the Mothers of Prevention."

[Matt Welch]

Someone -- I think it was a Gore -- also gave a marvelous, disgusted Senate Committee reading of the Dead Kennedys' "Kill the Poor." Went something like this:

"Kill. Kill-kill ... kill (shakes head ruefully, pauses for the punchline), the poor! Totally awesome.

[jerry]

Ha Ha! And Al Gore invented the internet and was the guy from love story and Kerry was a coward, and I am so justifying my vote for the shit for brains that got us into Iraq and screwed our nation over.

But I am a libertarian, and that means never admitting I was a douchebag.

Al Gore is fatter than Michael Moore! Woohoo Reason!

[JAM]

Seriously, it was obvious they had sidestepped all of this noise back when Frank Zappa's kids let Tipper sit in on a set on drums with them. I felt Frank rolling over in his grave all the way here in Michigan, but no one else seemed to note the irony then. Bottom line? They are hypocrits. This is news? Please.

[Frank Zappa - Broken Hearts Ar]

It's winkin' at you

[Rick Barton]

Hi Matt Welch. Great to see ya!

[Derrick]

Three thoughts:

1. The PMRC is exactly what got me involved in politics and led me to become a libertarian. Mofos were trying to censor my music when I was a teenager, and I wasn't having it. I couldn't *stand* Reagan back then. Had you told me I would eventually come to think he was a great President, I wouldn't have believed you.

2. This reminds me of Gang Green's PMRC Sucks 12" release, which I haven't thought about since I was the aforementioned angsty teen. That woulda been a perfect obscure headline.

3. It also reminds me of Body Count's KKK Bitch, in which Ice-T mentions falling in love with "Tipper Gore's two 12-year old nieces." Ouch.

Sigh, those were the good old days.

[Rick Barton]

Randolph Carter,

Speaking of 80s electropop, I really love Human League. Late 70's to mid 80's New Wave and old school punk are my faves. Of course we're talking some wonderful overlap with late 70's New Wave and old school punk. Blondie is a fine example.

[The Wine Commonsewer?]

So Tired wins the thread......

And here's the video of Fixin' To Die Rag

Open Up The Pearly Gates Regards,

TWC

[The Wine Commonsewer?]

Back in the day bands like Peter, Paul, & Mary had to be creative with lyrics....

I dig Rock and Roll music
I could really get it on in that scene.
I think I could say somethin' if you know what I mean
But if I really say it, the radio won't play it
Unless I lay it between the lines

You may think that I'm really fargin' dating myself here but that would be an illusion.

[Countertop]

Now, where did I see this post before???

Oh yeah . . . Here and Here

Not to mention here

[The Wine Commonsewer?]

Blondie was great. Sheesh, has it really been THAT long ago? I hate it when all the new bands are old.

[t. j.]

i rememeber that gore rolling stone article too! god, that magazine is so full of shit. i can remember walking past a magazine rack on '00 and a friend sniping "odd that a music magazine endorses a music censurship candidate". yeah, they'll endorse any democrat really. they even put howard dean on the cover before the got the nomination last time.

[Comrade_Tovarich]

Oh, nostalgia.

Mojo Nixon and Skid Roper had a number, title-bearing brain cell since discarded, in which Mojo says, "Oh, Miss Tipper Gore, wait 'til I got you on the floor," which I assume(d) meant he was figuratively sticking it to her and the PMRC.

Jello Biafra of Dead Kennedys fame (if they did in fact achieve it) had his own gripes about Tipper. However, JB has since become a Green (candidate even, perhaps), so he's possibly hip to the Goracle.

I remember getting a demo copy of "Cop Killer," without the PMCR label on it, when I worked at a radio station. Seems it was so lame that nobody else wanted it, so I took it home. Lame song indeed, but it stirred up enough nattering that I can probably sell it on e*Bay for a small profit (and, considering my cost was $0, it will be a profit, gentle readers).

[Rick Barton]

The Wine Commonsewer?,

Here's Blondie circa the CBGB days:

"X offender" (It was gonna be "Sex Offender" till, I think, the record company begged and persuaded them to change it.):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZ6fpSdQQKc

"In The Flesh":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sw3plY9RrPQ

I love both of em.

[Rick Barton]

BTW, I didn't mean ): as an editorial comment. It was just a close paren and a colon...kinda funny.

[Dee]

The hypocrits on the bus go round and round..

Everybody sing along now.. LALALLAAlalala la la la..

Chorus: BAAAAAHHH BAAAHHHHHHH all the stupid sheeple where do they all come from.

[Sean P]

I wouldn't mock the "occult" tag as far as Venom were concerned, although I wonder how "Possessed" was picked to represent Venom's oevre over more choice titles like
"1000 days in Sodom", "In Leauge With Satan", "Angel Dust", "In Nomini Satanus" or "Welcome to Hell". Then again, Venom's satanism was so cartoonishly over the top it was difficult to take seriously. Plus, they rocked, so there's that.

[db]

"Middle of the road, man it stanks,/Let's run over Lionel Ritchie with a tank."