When CDs are labelled "Parental Advisory: Explicit Lyri

Peregrin Toker · Post by **Peregrin Toker** » 2003-09-01 10:12am

Who decide whether an album should bear the well-known Parental Advisory: Explicit Lyrics "logo" on its cover?

The artists themselves? Record companies? Distributors? "Watchdog" organizations?? The Stonecutters?

I have the feeling that it might be the record companies who do this - since I can't localize anything remotely like a "Parental Advisory Explicit Lyrics" warning upon a Dissection CD published by No Fashion Records - even though any Death Metal album could easily earn such a label. Of course, a record company called "No Fashion" probably doesn't care the slightest whatever "warnings" are adorning their albums.

On most albums where "Parental Advisory..." appear, it's perfectly obvious. However - on several Manowar albums, that "PA: EL" bit is discretely hidden in the liner notes.

Therefore - I'd like to know much who decides whether "Parental Advisory: Explicit Lyrics" should be written upon an album.

InnerBrat · Post by **InnerBrat** » 2003-09-01 10:19am

Of ocurse, there's the famous one on Use Your Illusion II. I can't quote it exactly, but I'll get it when I get home.

On a particular Iggy Pop record, there's one that says 'Parental Advisory - this is an Iggy Pop record'
So I guess it's the companies.
And I think it's to sell to a certain audience more than anyone else. I remember being 15 buying an album when my friend asked why I didn't get the copy of the same album that had the 'parental advisory' sticker on.

Peregrin Toker · Post by **Peregrin Toker** » 2003-09-01 10:34am

innerbrat wrote: And I think it's to sell to a certain audience more than anyone else. I remember being 15 buying an album when my friend asked why I didn't get the copy of the same album that had the 'parental advisory' sticker on.

Of course, isn't a macabre album cover usually enough to appeal to those who enjoy music with "shocking" subject matter?

InnerBrat · Post by **InnerBrat** » 2003-09-01 10:36am

Simon H.Johansen wrote:
innerbrat wrote: And I think it's to sell to a certain audience more than anyone else. I remember being 15 buying an album when my friend asked why I didn't get the copy of the same album that had the 'parental advisory' sticker on.
Of course, isn't a macabre album cover usually enough to appeal to those who enjoy music with "shocking" subject matter?

The album in question was Jagged Little Pill. I think that the sticker adds a certain element of 'rebellious teen' to the buyers.

Peregrin Toker · Post by **Peregrin Toker** » 2003-09-01 11:09am

innerbrat wrote:
Simon H.Johansen wrote:
innerbrat wrote: And I think it's to sell to a certain audience more than anyone else. I remember being 15 buying an album when my friend asked why I didn't get the copy of the same album that had the 'parental advisory' sticker on.
Of course, isn't a macabre album cover usually enough to appeal to those who enjoy music with "shocking" subject matter?
The album in question was Jagged Little Pill. I think that the sticker adds a certain element of 'rebellious teen' to the buyers.

Even though the lyrics aren't offensive per se??

zombie84 · Post by **zombie84** » 2003-09-01 12:11pm

sometimes its distribitors, sometimes record companies, sometimes watchdog organizations and sometimes even the artists--they think it'll attract customers. Its a voluntary thing im pretty sure. Certain record companies and distributors have a policy on content--usually the big "Parental Advisory" stickers are common only on particular labels. I read a few really good articles on the subject a few months ago, i'll see if u can find them again.

Peregrin Toker · Post by **Peregrin Toker** » 2003-09-01 12:59pm

zombie84 wrote:Certain record companies and distributors have a policy on content--usually the big "Parental Advisory" stickers are common only on particular labels. I read a few really good articles on the subject a few months ago, i'll see if u can find them again.

This explains why obscure record companies specializing in black/death metal, such as Osmose and Nuclear Blast, rarely or never use such "Parental Advisory" stickers... however, why watchdog organizations don't touch obscure metal is kind of a mystery, especially considering that the average extreme metal band opts for a "shocking" image.

(I put "shocking" in apostrophes since many bands aiming for offensiveness usually end up unintentionally funny instead)

Frank Hipper · Post by **Frank Hipper** » 2003-09-01 01:01pm

You know, this all Tipper Gore's fault. Her kid got a Dead Kennedys album that had a H.R. Giger poster in it, and she decided to do something about it. Apparently, monitoring her child's buying habits was a parenting skill that was beyond her.

Would you be surprisd at the content of an album by a band called the Dead Kenedys, and the album title "Frankenchrist"?

She was.

Now we have the PMRC thanks to her showboat attention whoring and wanting legislation as a substitute for parenting...

Post by **The Yosemite Bear** » 2003-09-01 01:03pm

I remember when it was all going down...

Our high school institued the PMRC guidelines, and the music and history teachers responded by playing "Mozart", Old Blues, Rolling Stones, and 50's Rock. And then ending with (All of this is Illegal under your stupid Censorship)

HMMM, Don Geiovanni, parental warning explicite lyrics in Italian.

Peregrin Toker · Post by **Peregrin Toker** » 2003-09-01 01:05pm

Frank Hipper wrote:You know, this all Tipper Gore's fault. Her kid got a Dead Kennedys album that had a H.R. Giger poster in it, and she decided to do something about it. Apparently, monitoring her child's buying habits was a parenting skill that was beyond her.

Would you be surprisd at the content of an album by a band called the Dead Kenedys, and the album title "Frankenchrist"?

She was.

Now we have the PMRC thanks to her showboat attention whoring and wanting legislation as a substitute for parenting...

What is this PMRC thing?? As a European I've never heard of this.

Post by **The Yosemite Bear** » 2003-09-01 01:09pm

Parent's Music Resource Center

or Dee Snider and Frank Zappa vs. the whole of the Congressional wives. Grr. It got ported over to the rest of the world thanks to american corprate control of music. Better yet in helped start the media attenionwhore congressional campaign that's still going on. We have to protect the children from buying something that's already behind the fucking counter and they need a GROWNUP's permission to buy anyways!!!

Peregrin Toker · Post by **Peregrin Toker** » 2003-09-01 02:22pm

The Yosemite Bear wrote:Parent's Music Resource Center

or Dee Snider and Frank Zappa vs. the whole of the Congressional wives. Grr. It got ported over to the rest of the world thanks to american corprate control of music. Better yet in helped start the media attenionwhore congressional campaign that's still going on. We have to protect the children from buying something that's already behind the fucking counter and they need a GROWNUP's permission to buy anyways!!!

What exactly is the Parent's Music Resource Center and what does it??

Tsyroc · Post by **Tsyroc** » 2003-09-01 02:37pm

Frank Hipper wrote:You know, this all Tipper Gore's fault. Her kid got a Dead Kennedys album that had a H.R. Giger poster in it, and she decided to do something about it. Apparently, monitoring her child's buying habits was a parenting skill that was beyond her.

Would you be surprisd at the content of an album by a band called the Dead Kenedys, and the album title "Frankenchrist"?

She was.

Now we have the PMRC thanks to her showboat attention whoring and wanting legislation as a substitute for parenting...

I'd always thought it had been because she bought her kid a copy of Prince's Purple Rain. Oh well, same difference same stupidity.

zombie84 · Post by **zombie84** » 2003-09-01 03:25pm

yeah it was a huge scandal in the late 80's. Tipper Gore and a bunch of Washington politicians got together with the Parents Music Resource Centre to pressure the music industry to give a rating system to music the way they do with movies and keep offesnive albums behind counters and stuff like that. They eventually wrote to all the Presidents and CEO of American music labels with their infamous "filthy fifeteen" list: Mercyful Fate, AC/DC, Black Sabbath, Maddona, Judas Priest, Venom, Twisted Sister and some others i cant recall.
Eventually they held a Senate meeting in Washinton DC to testify before congress--Dee Snider of Twisted Sister, along with John Denver and Frank Zappa came to the rescue to testify in defense of the music. Fuck, even Ronald Reagan said that the constitution shouldnt protect rock music. It eventually resulted in those parental advisory stickers and a bunch of industry guidlines.

EDIT

Here is a great site: http://ericnuzum.com/banned/index.html

the section here details all of that bullshit. Excellent articles in here. http://ericnuzum.com/banned/incidents/80s.html

InnerBrat · Post by **InnerBrat** » 2003-09-01 05:14pm

Simon H.Johansen wrote:
innerbrat wrote: The album in question was Jagged Little Pill. I think that the sticker adds a certain element of 'rebellious teen' to the buyers.
Even though the lyrics aren't offensive per se??

Well, she says 'fuck'. That's offensive, right

*shrug*

I guess if you're buying detah metal, you shoudl know what to expect.

InnerBrat · Post by **InnerBrat** » 2003-09-01 05:20pm

BTW, the Use you Illusion text goes like this:

This album contains language which some listeners mya find objectionable. They can F?!* OFF and buy somethign form the New Age section

Post by **The Yosemite Bear** » 2003-09-01 11:47pm

Jagged Little Pill (Parent's Version)

You Oughta Know; (Includes: Oral Copulation, The F-Word, and inflicting physical injury during sex)
One Hand in my pocket: (We think it's a refrence to maturbation)
Perfect: (Curse words, and parents will be offended by the assertation that all of the children's "Good Deeds" are not the parent's occomplishments, while all of the mistakes may have something to do with the parents)
Mary Jane: (Possible drug refrence due to song title, didn't listen to more then 5 seconds before we descided it was smut)
Head over Feet: (The refrence is all wrong, there has to be something wrong with that song)
Right Through You: (Sex, defying Patriarical rules, Oral Sex, & Curse words)

The workplace censorship rules
Banned:
You Oughta know: "Would she go down on you in a theater"; "Do you think of me when you fuck her."
Right Through You: "You took me out to wine, dine, 69 me and never heard a damn word I said."

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2003-09-02 04:47am

I have three albums that have the PA notice on them:
Nirvana: Incesticide
KoRn: Follow the Leader
Gorillaz: (self titled)

I haven't listened to Incesticide for a while, but I remember not hearing anything that could be objectionable enough to warant a PA.

Follow the Leader has a PA for obvious reasons, given it's a KoRn album...

As for Gorillaz, there's one utterance of the term "mutha fuckas" in the song "Clint Eastwood". But other than that, the album is a fairly tame and enjoyable listen.

Peregrin Toker · Post by **Peregrin Toker** » 2003-09-02 10:11am

zombie84 wrote:yeah it was a huge scandal in the late 80's. Tipper Gore and a bunch of Washington politicians got together with the Parents Music Resource Centre to pressure the music industry to give a rating system to music the way they do with movies and keep offesnive albums behind counters and stuff like that. They eventually wrote to all the Presidents and CEO of American music labels with their infamous "filthy fifeteen" list: Mercyful Fate, AC/DC, Black Sabbath, Maddona, Judas Priest, Venom, Twisted Sister and some others i cant recall.

Since Venom probably chose their "shocking" image with the intention of freaking out moral puritans, this comes as no surprise.

As for the music industry being forced to give ratings - if this was put into work, then why don't all record companies use "Parental Advisory" stickers? A lot of indie companies never, ever use them.

Eventually they held a Senate meeting in Washinton DC to testify before congress--Dee Snider of Twisted Sister, along with John Denver and Frank Zappa came to the rescue to testify in defense of the music. Fuck, even Ronald Reagan said that the constitution shouldnt protect rock music. It eventually resulted in those parental advisory stickers and a bunch of industry guidlines.

EDIT

Here is a great site: http://ericnuzum.com/banned/index.html

the section here details all of that bullshit. Excellent articles in here. http://ericnuzum.com/banned/incidents/80s.html

It explains why independent labels don't put "Parental Advisory" lyrics on their albums - they're not part of PMRC's deal with the RIAA!

As for the part about albums with macabre cover art being kept under the counter - this doesn't keep Brujeria and Mayhem from using authenthic photographies of corpses as album covers.

BTW - as a fellow metal fan, I ask you: Could it be that all this moral outrage and censorship in the 1980s was one of the factors which led to most of the metal genre fading into the underground? It certainly seems so.

zombie84 · Post by **zombie84** » 2003-09-02 03:42pm

Simon H.Johansen wrote:Since Venom probably chose their "shocking" image with the intention of freaking out moral puritans, this comes as no surprise.

As for the music industry being forced to give ratings - if this was put into work, then why don't all record companies use "Parental Advisory" stickers? A lot of indie companies never, ever use them.

Its only if they're affiliated with the RIAA--thats why major American labels like Sony and David Geffen all have the Parental Advisory stickers, but music released by bands by Roadrunner and Nuclear Blast dont (actually now that i think about it Roadrunner may have used the stickers at one point). A lot of labels have deals with store chains though--if they arent a part of the PMRC's deal, chains like Wal Mart wont carry them, and even then many of them have alternate "clean" versions produced, with either different cover art or overdubbed unoffensive lyrics. This is why you wont see a Cannibal Corpse record at Zellers. Labels are pressured to conform to the RIAA because this gives them tremedous sales leverage, and so either bands are forced to sell out and clean themselves up or remain in obscurity on indie labels.

It explains why independent labels don't put "Parental Advisory" lyrics on their albums - they're not part of PMRC's deal with the RIAA!

As for the part about albums with macabre cover art being kept under the counter - this doesn't keep Brujeria and Mayhem from using authenthic photographies of corpses as album covers.

you got it!
The idea of rating albums the way movies are isnt a bad idea, as many youngsters can be exposed to material that may be too mature for them. The problem comes from the politics, where instead of causual voluntary ratings, anything unrated becomes outlawed, and voluntary advisory to parents becomes enforcable exclusion--the exact same thing has plagued the movie industry, which went through the exact same thing in the 1920's, thanks to fuckers from the Catholic Church.

BTW - as a fellow metal fan, I ask you: Could it be that all this moral outrage and censorship in the 1980s was one of the factors which led to most of the metal genre fading into the underground? It certainly seems so.

I wouldnt think so. Rock has always been controversial, from Elvis and his hips to the Doors being banned from the Ed Sullivan show to Ozzy biting the head off a bat. Politicians and fearful, mostly-religious assholes have been trying to ban rock since the 1950's, and this instance in the 80's was not much different. The only thing this did was encourage wuss-rock--real hard rock was seen as a taboo and the inoffensive brand of hair metal was encouraged over anything with any soul, not that metal was ever popularr in the mainstream (hell, pussy-rock has been playing on the radios since the 1950's, and the public loves it).

What was unprecedented, and fucking scary as hell, was that this particular incident was the first time that the constitution was bypassed, the first time Congress took serious legal action to actually outlaw music, where a bunch of organziations and law-makers all attacked it in a combined effort and it looked like the music would not survive. It was a combination of ignorance and fear, fuelled by the cries of confused parents and scared religious people. Its a damn good thing the whole thing fizzled out, and Dee Snider will always have respect from me (and hopefully from any true metalhead) for being there to defend metal (didnt he start Headbangers Ball as well? The first metal program on MTV. Too bad they mostly played hair metal).

Metal faded from the mainstream because the mainstream was only interested in glam rock/hair metal--it was a fad. Fads run their course and die out. Hair metal began to dim around 1990--people had had enough--and Nirvana came along at the right time to put the nail in the coffin and public moved to the next trend--grunge rock (which also fizzled out within 6 or 7 years, the same as the hair metal craze). The only reason some real metal bands got a few seconds of semi-exposure in the late 80's was because, from the publics eye, it was an offshoot of hair metal, so it had a little bit of popularity in the mainstream through association. Metal never died, the public just didnt care for hair metal any more, and by extension metal faded as well--metal records sales in the mid-90's still outsold all the grunge and pop combined. During the time when metal was considered most dead--the early to mid 90's--it enjoyed its most profitable period ever, bigger than anything it had in the 80's.

beyond hope · Post by **beyond hope** » 2003-09-02 06:10pm

Many of the bands mentioned in the hearings were obscure. Has anyone here ever heard of Impaler, for example? Tipper liked to wave their album cover around on the news. How about the Mentors or The Time?

A couple good quotes from Frank Zappa on the matter:

"The RIAA didn't agree to this stickering of albums on moral grounds, but business ones," he said. "The industry has a huge financial interest in anti-home taping and piracy legislation. (note: he's referring to the Home Audio Recording Act, in the same committee at the time, which would levy a 10-15% tax on home taping and give royalties to the recording industry for sales of tape recorders and blank tapes.) And guess who runs the committee that oversees this legislation? Sen. Strom Thurmond, whose wife is a member of the PMRC. I think the connection's pretty clear. The record companies are willing to chop up artists' civil rights so that they won't have to lose any potential profits from their anti-home-taping and piracy campaign."

and

"While the wife of the Secretary of the Treasury recites 'Gonna drive mah love inside you' (note: Great White song lyrics) and Senator Gore's wife talks about bondage and oral sex at gunpoint on the CBS Evening News, people in high places work on a tax bill that is so ridiculous, the only way to sneak it through is to keep the public's mind on something else: porn rock!...

Children in the vulnerable age bracket have a natural love for music. If, as a parent, you believe they should be exposed to something more uplifting than 'Sugar Walls,'(note: Prince this time) support the music appreciation programs in schools."

There's different versions of the story on "which album" got this started because about 6 Washington wives got this idea at about the same time. From what I've read, it was the Prince song "Darling Nikki" that set Tipper off on the warpath. Madonna was mentioned by one of the other "anti-porn" crusaders.

My own personal rant: why do people not realize that CONTROVER$$$$Y sells albums?! Who'd heard of 2 Live Crew before they were banned? How many people cared about Marilyn Manson or Eminem before each in turn became Middle America's Worst Nightmare? Madonna's "Sex" book, the Film "The Last Temptation of Christ," Karen Finley's NEA endowment for dancing covered in chocolate and beans... the list goes on and on, and every single time some new joker comes along using shock to make money, someone's always willing to bite down hard on the hook and give them the exposure they need. Why are people so totally unable to recognize a pattern?

I would also suggest that every time you see hearings in congress on something like obscene music or violent games, check and see what they're doing with your money. I would be willing to wager that virtually every time, either taxes are going up or they're voting themselves a pay raise.

Lord Pounder · Post by **Lord Pounder** » 2003-09-02 06:30pm

I remember watching a documentry on the Censorship Debate of the 80's on VH1 a few weeks ago. The Singer From Twisted Sister handed them their asses in a debate. But i felt sorry for him because each and every one of the panel had no intention of listening to anything he had to say.

Peregrin Toker · Post by **Peregrin Toker** » 2003-09-03 10:21am

beyond hope wrote:My own personal rant: why do people not realize that CONTROVER$$$$Y sells albums?! Who'd heard of 2 Live Crew before they were banned? How many people cared about Marilyn Manson or Eminem before each in turn became Middle America's Worst Nightmare? Madonna's "Sex" book, the Film "The Last Temptation of Christ," Karen Finley's NEA endowment for dancing covered in chocolate and beans...

Funny that you mentioned this - could the "controversy sells" thing be what causes some underground metal bands to promote totalitarian ideologies?? Of course, no Nazi Metal band has ever struck deals with mainstream record companies - but I'm getting the impression that Graveland are more known for their political views than their music.

Certainly, anyone with a knowledge about Joseph Goebbels's chokehold on the entertainment industry would know that Hitler probably would have regarded rock, metal and all its subgenres as "degenerate art", or as they call it down in Germany: Entartete Kunst.

So, as Quorthon of Bathory pointed out in an interview, black/death/heavy/thrash metal and Fascism can't and shouldn't have anything to do with each other. Not that Varg Vikernes would care.

beyond hope · Post by **beyond hope** » 2003-09-03 05:09pm

Lord Pounder wrote:I remember watching a documentry on the Censorship Debate of the 80's on VH1 a few weeks ago. The Singer From Twisted Sister handed them their asses in a debate. But i felt sorry for him because each and every one of the panel had no intention of listening to anything he had to say.

One of the Senators (Hollingsworth I think?) had nothing to do with that committee: she was there as a favor because she was up for re-election.

Simon H.Johansen wrote:Certainly, anyone with a knowledge about Joseph Goebbels's chokehold on the entertainment industry would know that Hitler probably would have regarded rock, metal and all its subgenres as "degenerate art", or as they call it down in Germany: Entartete Kunst.

What's really ironic about that is the time Hitler spent making a living doing third-rate landscape paintings in Vienna.

Peregrin Toker · Post by **Peregrin Toker** » 2003-09-04 09:27am

beyond hope wrote:What's really ironic about that is the time Hitler spent making a living doing third-rate landscape paintings in Vienna.

Actually, in Hitler's mind there wasn't anything wrong with doing third-rate painting, as long it wasn't painted in any "experimental" style such as expressionism, dadaism, cubism or futurism.