Frank Zappa on 1985: PRMC (Parents' Resource Music Center) and Prince



I read Frank's book lately ('The real Frank Zappa book' - written by Frank - 'I thought there ought to be at least ONE,
somewhere, that had real stuff in it.') Though he hates reading books, and never thought he would actually would (sort of)
write one, I can't help but noticing that after the obligatory FZ-history, he starts to enjoy himself by spewing social
commentary.

One thing he particularly stressed was his battle ('Porn wars') with the Parents' Resource Music Center (PRMC) and RIAA,
mostly accredited to Tipper Gore, and their system of censoring 'obscene' musical content. The chapter not only features
hilarious transcripts of Frank's court sessions, it also very clearly points out the inane ways the PRMC manouvred to get
its point across.

I want to share with you a quote from the chapter, to discuss Prince's stanza during that period. I could print the whole
chapter, but it surely would violate some copyrights, though it features a vast amount of previously publicized material.

"The PMRC's list of people signed to member labels of the RIAA who were 'offensive' in 1985 was pretty ridiculous. The
Captain and Tennille were on it for "Do That to Me One More Time." The Jacksons were on for "Torture." Bruce Springsteen
was on for "I'm on Fire," and, of course, Prince, for the fabulous "Darling Nikki." Where was he throughout all this? He
went apeshit and sued some spaghetti company for calling their product 'Prince,' but remained curiously silent during
the record-ratings stuff.
None of the artists who made it onto the list which became known as The PMRC's Filthy Fifteen had anything in their lyrics
even close to the stuff in my catalog, and yet, for some reason, I was never accused of being a 'violator'."

It appears to me as if Frank suggests that Prince's priorities were not with halting the PRMC, illustrated by the apparent
priority of sueing the spaghetti company. Hilarious, by the way, had not heard that one yet. Does anyone know, given that
this was the 'silent' period, if he ever took actions in one way or another related with the PRMC, or shared his personal
views on the topic? He has suggested that his raciness was a way of putting him apart from the masses, but as far as FZ
goes, he was being outdone. 'Crew slut', anyone?


In a broader perspective, one of the things I absolutely love about FZ, is his urge to comment on social and political
matters, both on record and on stage. FZ fought a lot of the same battles as Prince did, with Warner Brothers even,
to release a desired multitude, and to release genuinely artistic content. To paraphrase a review on Prince's social
commentary, in 1982 it was considered 'naively cute' (Ronnie talk to Russia). The same review states that in
2004, it is something along the lines of disappointingly bland, urging people not to vote (Dear Mr. Man). Another
display is 'Everybody stop fighting, everybody make love' (United States of Division). I am trying to get to an
explanation, as to why Prince, who was selling controversial music in enormous quantities, never took descended
his throne, to show the PRMC and RIAA 'how it's done'. Sure, FZ was in his mid-forties by then, but looking at
Prince at 46, it disappoints me, to say the least.


I would like to welcome everybody to share their insights on the subject, while I am hanging about somewhere else.
I'll get back to the topic later, might even post some more background information if anyone's interested.

Prince and Zappa had wildly differing views on the PMRC. Zappa thought it was the first step toward an Orwellian attack on free speech in art, and from what I remember reading in interviews with Prince around that time, P thought parental advisory stickers were a good idea.

And to be painfully candid with my own opinion on the matter, back in the day I was all pro-Zappa regarding the PMRC battles - he DID have some amazing things to say, Tipper Gore and her cronies were complete goobers in how they presented themselves, and at the time, the idea WAS a bit threatening, especially with what was going on with Mapplethorpe and the NEA five around that time....but now that all's said and done and we're way on the other side of the matter, the little sticker on CD covers hardly register at all - in fact, there was a time that if I saw one on an album cover, it'd be all the more reason for me to buy it.

I think one thing that a lot of Prince fans aren't aware of is that his battles with WB are very similar to the path Zappa went down a decade before, when he entered a very public feud with the label.

Anxiety said:

He said he didn't think it was such a bad idea.

But this quote here:

Zappa said:

Tipper was truly June Cleaver!!!


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[This message was edited Fri Aug 6 16:27:00 2004 by Supernova]

Supernova said:

Interesting in the context of him cleaning up his performances and lyrics to make his show and music more family-friendly, etc., and also in light of his long-enduring "raunchy" image...I'd guess a lot of people would be surprised to learn he took that position on the labels (I can't recall ever hearing him criticize them).