An Explicit History of Music

This article will appear in the next issue of my college newspaper. We've had some people complaining about articles lately, for mostly stupid reasons, so I felt it fitting to focus on a bit of censorship for my music column.

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This issue, we have a bit of a musical history lesson. Over a decade ago, the Parental Advisory label was born. This label has adorned music from so many genres, probably only polka and folk dances have been untouched.

Before the days of the label, the music world was a lawless place, lots of cuss words, violent imagery, and sex. You could not step into a record store without being bombarded by albums encouraging people to rape, pillage, and burn. At least, that is what politicians, moral and religious groups wanted the public to believe.

These groups began to apply pressure to the music industry in any way possible. They rallied behind charges against the heavy metal band Judas Priest when two fans tried to kill themselves while listening to an album. Infamously, they claimed subliminal, backwards messages in the lyrics encouraged suicide. The message they claimed to have heard? “Do it.” As Rob Halford, Judas Priest’s lead singer later commented, “Do what?”

Another prime example of this moral panic actually resulted in legal issues. Hip-hop group 2 Live Crew released their new album, As Nasty as They Wanna Be, filled with their usual sexually explicit lyrics. The first single was the song “Me So Horny,” and the album only degenerated from there.

Obviously not music for kids, the album created such a panic among the moral majority that some police departments marked it as obscene. It became a crime to carry the album in certain communities, and was sold under-the-counter by the few record stores that would dare stock it.

Such chaos only continued to build. The final straw was when Tipper Gore and several other Washington wives heard their children listening to filthy lyrics, especially those of Prince. This group of wives formed the PMRC, Parents Music Resource Center, with the goal of pressuring the RIAA, and thus the music industry, to self-police and self-censor its artists. When they’re actions resulted in Congressional hearings, the RIAA quickly capitulated, even while recording artists such as John Denver and Frank Zappa vehemently opposed potential censorship.

The result was the labeling of offense albums with the Parental Advisory logo. One of the first albums labeled as such was Frank Zappa’s Jazz from Hell. This was somewhat bizarre, as the album was instrumental and contained no lyrics.

The warning label has had some impact, but probably not what was expected. Wal-Mart, along with other stores, refused to stock any albums with the Parental Advisory, demanding censored versions of supposedly offensive albums. The symbol itself has become a staple of pop culture, used more for its rebel credibility rather than warning any parents. Not satisfied, moral groups continue to attack the music industry, recently focusing on the hip-hop and rap, whose albums usually feature the warning label anyway.

The more things change, the more things stay the same.