Frank Zappa Vs. Tipper Gore

The Lyric Wars

In 1985, Tipper Gore, wife of the then Vice President, co-founded the Parents Music Resource Center as an organized reaction to "suggestive" and "offensive" lyrics in pop music. These so-called "Washington political wives" compiled a list of what they determined to be the worst offenders, dubbing them the "Filthy Fifteen." This list included Sheena Easton's "Sugar Walls", Judas Priest's "Dress You Up", Twisted Sister's "Under the Blade", Cyndi Lauper's "She Bop", and Prince's "Darling Nikki."

"Darling Nikki"

It was "Darling Nikki" that set Tipper off on her crusade. When she bought the "Purple Rain" album for her 11-year-old daughter, she discovered to her horror that "Darling Nikki's" lyrics were about a teenaged girl masturbating. When she went back to the music store to return the album, the store wouldn't take it back because the album had been opened.

PMRC

She helped organize the PRMC with Susan Baker, the wife of former Treasury Secretary James Baker III, along with other wives of powerful politicians like Mrs. Strom Thurmond. Due to the clout of their husbands, Senate hearings were called.

Note that, although these hearings were called, the PMRC were asking for music industry self-censorship not government censorship.

Senate hearings

Senator Al Gore gave the opening statement at the Senate hearings.

Musicians Frank Zappa, John Denver, and Twisted Sister's Dee Snider represented the other side of the argument as defenders of the First Amendment. When Tipper and the others testified, they pointed their fingers at rock lyrics as being partially responsible for rape, teenage pregnancy, teen suicide, and the decay of the nuclear American family. The PMRC asked for all explicit song lyrics to be printed on album covers, and they asked for specific ratings including "D/A" for drugs and alcohol, "V" for violence, "O" for occult, and "X" for explicit lyrics. They also wanted all "hidden" lyrics and "backwards masking" to be removed from songs.