hofmann@AMSAA.ARPA (08/27/85)
From: Jim Hofmann <hofmann@AMSAA.ARPA>
Looks like our wonderful nuright-heirarchy is at it again. This time the
object of their fear is music, that's right, the sounds of the universe
must now come under Evangalical auspices for ratings. Alexander Cockburn
writes in the AUG 22 issue of the WALL STREET JOURNAL:
******************************************************************************
THE Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC) ... is the latest group to muster
to the ancient and doomed cause of cleaning up the minds of our youth. What
apparently bothered Mrs Gore [organizer and wife a senator] was coming upon
one of her young children listening to Prince's "Darling Nikki," which
deals with masturbation and Playboy magazine in a nammer far from coy.
Instead of shutting off the sound and telling the wee mite to go and read
Longfellow, Mrs Gore decided she had a cause and went into the crusading
business with Mrs Baker[wife of Sec of Treasury, or is it the other way around?]
and other people of high purpose(?): all descendants of those fine people
who thought the nation's morals would be best preserved if Elvis Presley
were shown only from the waist up when he appeared on "The Ed Sullivan
Show."
THE PMRC pressure has already had considerable effect. In June, 45
record labels got a letter from Edward O. Fritts, president of
the National Association of Broadcasters, asking that lyric sheets be included
with all new releases [Imagine the quandary this puts REM into] sent
to NAB stations. A similar sort of letter went to 806 radio- and TV-stations
owners asking them to screen rock songs.
...
The original demands of PMRC included a rating system for records, with
offending material being admitted into the stores only in plain brown
wrappers; a rating system for live concerts (presumably Mrs. Baker,
Mrs. Gore and the others have prepared a manual on the proper way for
a young woman to hold a microphone), and a penalty system for offending
artists whereby their contracts might not be renewed (!!!). Instead
of organizing resistance to these foolish demands the Recording Industry
Association of America (RIAA), ... has rushed to meet them halfway with a
voluntary system whereby albums deemed offensive will be stickered ...
One can easily imagine how energetic picketing by right-wing, "family
value" groups outside record stores could swiftly reduce the musical diet ...
of the rest of us to the MONKEE'S Greatest Hits, and place most of AMerica's
20th century musical heritage under plain wrapper.
It's not hard to see why the RIAA has been so spineless. The PMRC
looks cloutfull and besides, there is the possibility that the industry
sees a voluntary sticker system as a trade-off for its long-sought royalty
tax on blank tapes, which the RIAA has been trying to get through Congress
for years. It's harder to see why the recording stars have not risen
against the danger. So far, only Frank Zappa has spoken out. As Rock &
Roll Confidential pointed out, if a few major artists as Bruce Springsteen
or Stevie Wonder insisted on contractual guarantees against rating of
the records, the present mood of surrender could change ... Write to
your Congressman, or ,better still their wives [or in my case my
congresswoman's husband :-]
*****************************************************************************
Anybody care to defend the PMRC???? (Mr. Black???)
Jimnessus@mit-eddie.UUCP (Doug Alan) (08/27/85)
> Anybody care to defend the PMRC???? (Mr. Black???)
Hey, well I'll go for the lyric sheet part! (Maybe REM can get special
dispensation by claiming that they don't know what the lyrics are....)
-Doug Alan
nessus@mit-eddie.UUCP (or ARPA)jsc@sun.uucp (James Carrington) (08/28/85)
In article <5123@mit-eddie.UUCP> nessus@mit-eddie.UUCP (Doug Alan) writes: >> Anybody care to defend the PMRC???? (Mr. Black???) >Hey, well I'll go for the lyric sheet part! (Maybe REM can get special >dispensation by claiming that they don't know what the lyrics are....) fortunately, most of the record companies do /not\ own the rights to the lyrics of the records they sell. yet another stumbling block to throw in the way of the moral minority... for very good coverage of this issue, take a look at the current Rolling Stone (with Prince on the cover). -- James Carrington Sun Microsystems Inc. Associate Engineer (Co-op Student, UCBerkeley) 2550 Garcia Ave. MS1-40 Workstation Division Mountain View CA 94043 NFS Department 415-960-7438
dsi@unccvax.UUCP (Dataspan Inc) (08/29/85)
This happens about every 5 years or so. I don't know what it is: it
seems, though, that a bunch of narrow minded conservative types discover
that there are other radio stations than those which program Bonneville
beautiful music. This happens when Wally gets in Ward's car and plays
with the buttons. Then, they hear something offensive, start listening to
the junk that these kids play at home, and all hell breaks loose.
We've been through this before and nothing came of it ( for example,
WKTU refusing to play 'Soft and Wet' or 'Hard Going In-Soft Coming Out.'
THERE IS NO EVIDENCE WHATSOEVER (unless your local Bible-toting uh, non
commercial FM station is to be beleived) that listening to tripe like
Darling Nikki results in children who are more self indulgent than any
other children.
Those blasted PMCC (Parent's Music Censorship Committee) twitheads
aren't whining and complaining about country music: Do children who are
raised on Merle Haggard and Alabama end up driving trucks, being drunk,
or cheat on their wives more frequently than children who are raised on
hymns and Beethoven>?????????
I am sick and ****damn tired of this crap. While I am at it, let
me flame further... I am sick and tired of PAID RELIGIOUS BROADCASTING
being conducted in the EDUCATIONAL part of the FM band. It seems that
common religious broadcasters can have an assignment wherever their little
feeble minded brains desire: in the educational band (88.1 to 91.9 mHz)
or the commercial band (92.1 to 107.9 mHz). We have both kinds in the
State of North Carolina; for example, WHPE (95.5 mHz) and another station
on the same network (Bible Broadcasting Network) under the same licensee
on 89.5 mHz. C'mon people, isn't this called chain broadcasting or
something? I know that the rules say that the licensee in the educational
part of the band must be accredited by some authority but judging by the
solicitations by various paid religious broadcasters, I'd say what they
are doing is something no one else can do: run an advertising racket
in both parts of the FM band.
Talk about SPINELESS??? When is the Fourth Branch of Government, the
FCC, going to grant the Fifth Estate the same privileges that ordinary
newspapers and fishwrappers are allowed: first amenedment, etc. When are
these parents and religious broadcasters who gang up on rock and roll
musicians going to turn their attention to program length commercials like
'Dynasty' for the sleazo-materialstic lifestyle?
The Senate is holding a hearing on the subject of rock music lyrics
(here we go again...the Ghost of Alan Freed lives on) in mid-September.
FLOOD YOUR CONGRESSMEN WITH MAIL. PLEASE!!!!! Things are no worse than
when these ladies were discovering their sexuality 11 years ago listening
to Donna Scummer touching her self ('Love to Love you Baby').
AAAAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHH ! ! ! ! ! !
I feel MUCH better now. As for the distinction between educational
and commercial broadcasters, the paid religious ones are definitely commercial,
and the FCC should kick those little ******ards out of the 88.1 - 91.9 mHz
spectrum space !
Here's to a Free Fifth Estate
David Anthony
CDE
DataSpan, Inctodd@scirtp.UUCP (Todd Jones) (08/29/85)
> > Anybody care to defend the PMRC???? (Mr. Black???) > > Hey, well I'll go for the lyric sheet part! (Maybe REM can get special > dispensation by claiming that they don't know what the lyrics are....) > > -Doug Alan > nessus@mit-eddie.UUCP (or ARPA) So what's a lyric? a word that is sung? What if I make orgasm noises on my record and claim I was having a molar extracted? THIS IDEA OF RECORD RATING AND ALL THE COMPROMISE IDEAS ARE STUPID! -todd jones P.S. that's STUPID!!
jimi@scirtp.UUCP (Jim Ingram) (08/30/85)
> From: Jim Hofmann <hofmann@AMSAA.ARPA> > Looks like our wonderful nuright-heirarchy is at it again. This time the > object of their fear is music, that's right, the sounds of the universe > must now come under Evangalical auspices for ratings. Alexander Cockburn > writes in the AUG 22 issue of the WALL STREET JOURNAL: > > ****************************************************************************** > THE Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC) ... is the latest group to muster > voluntary system whereby albums deemed offensive will be stickered ... > Jim _Rolling Stone_ had a article about this issue, PMRC, industry reaction, etc. in a recent issue (the one with Prince on the cover). The article contained much the same info as the WSJ, but there was one additional item that was amusing. A radio station program director, when asked his opinion, said that "as long as I keep it clean and [obey FCC rules], fuck 'em." This is a good attitude. I just wish that more people felt that way, and would speak out. They wouldn't even have to be crude. The thing about these BIZZARO record-rating BOZOS is that they seem only to listen to music so they can be offended and have something to bitch about. It seems odd that the right wing, which constantly babbles on about "freedom," is the group that seems to advocate these constrictive ideas. At least they don't advocate the gov't stepping in (yet). I'm sure that if the industry does not police itself to their satisfaction, they'll ask Big Father (Ronnie) to do something about it. Can a right-winger explain why they want freedom for businesses to dump products on the 3rd world, kill workers without penalties, etc., but do not want the entertainment business to be free? "Living in the state of Jesse Helms and the Congressional Club, the country of Ronald Reagan, under the law of Ed Meese, and somehow managing to feel free." -- The views expressed by me are my own and do not necessarily represent the views of any other individuals or organizations. Jim Ingram {decvax, akgua, ihnp4}!mcnc!rti-sel!scirtp!jimi SCI Systems, Inc. P.O. Box 12557, RTP, NC 27709 919 549 8334