Parental Advisory: Music Censorship in America

by Eric Nuzum

Book Overview

Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About The Music Your Parents Never Wanted You To Hear

Believe it or not, music censorship in America did not begin with Tipper Gore's horrified reaction to her daughter's Prince album. The vilification of popular music by government and individuals has been going on for decades. Now, for the first time, Parental Advisory offers a thorough and complete chronicle of the music that has been challenged or suppressed...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0688167721
• ISBN13: 9780688167721
• Release Date: April 2001
• Publisher: Harper Paperbacks
• Length: 368 Pages
• Weight: 0.72 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.3" x 8.1"

Customer Reviews

Music's History

This is a great reference book to learn more about the history of music. Everything you ever wanted to know about the music your parents never wanted you to hear is in this book. Read it. Recommended.

History of music censorship is valuable

Warning label: this review contains materials that champion free expression, individual choice in determining what music he/she can listen to without fear of persecution.My first musical collection was building up around the same time that the PMRC had begun hearings. Songs that contained sexually explicit lyrics, violence, and references to drugs and the occult were targeted. Remember the "Filthy FifteenE Remember only three musicians brave enough to come to the PMRC hearings-John Denver, Dee Snider, and Frank Zappa? I do.And lawsuits against artists/groups such as Ozzy and Judas Priest only proved that it's the listener who's at fault, not the artist, for the listener's suicide. 2 Live Crew's hard-fought and ultimately victorious court battle in Broward County, FL is also covered in the book.In the short run, the infamous warning label set an age limit, but it led to edited versions of albums, which in turn exacerbated the problem of their being returned on the sly for the complete version. The message seems to be there's always a way around things.But censorship and condemnation only boosts sales for that product, with consumers wanting to know what the big deal is, so paradoxically, the PMRC and other groups actually help the artists/group they are condemning. Makes you think, hmm?Radio stations in small-town areas have targeted inoffensive songs just because they contain a word that may be taken to have negative references, the most famous case being John Denver's "Rocky Mountain High." (They thought high meant as in a drug-induced high) Eric Nuzum's book covers a variety of subjects, such as censorship during the 1950's up to the PMRC's inception, banned album art, inconsistencies in censorship, and racism, particularly how black musicians who created a sound had their art stolen by white musicians who made it big, relegating the original artists to segregated underground clubs. The trend continued when R & B was ripped off into rock & roll. If anything, there is a tremendous debt owed to black musicians who created the music. To add insult to injury, R & B songs that might have been considered risque were redone in "nice" versions by white artists, substituting "offensive" lyrics. Fortunately, the original versions by the original artists are available, but think of the royalties the black artists were cheated out of. It's downright unjust. MTV and narrowcasting (catering to a single demographic) is touched on. I learned here how black artists broke through on MTV and its own form of censorship. MTV seems more about money than music, to paraphrase Neil Young.Marilyn Manson is also touched on in this book, as is the Columbine massacre. Manson's assertion that times have not become more violent but more televised is right to the point. At the end of the book is a chronological timeline of the absurdity that has continued to this day.Nuzum really does a bang-on job of songs, albums, and artists who have had their art condemned. Face

Amazing Page Turner

This is an outstanding view written by a music lover for a music lover! This book has everything from censorship broken down into parts (drugs, politics, sex etc) to a history of it. This book in it's entirety is very informative and persuasive.

I Couldn't Put It Down

I didn't always agree with his opinions, but he always supported them well enough for me to belive him. He has a very unique point of view, which comes across as he covers everything from Elvis waist up on Ed Sullivan, to record companies changing songs so they can be sold at Wal-Mart. It is amazing what was censored, and when. Most times I could see the reason behind why something was censored, but sometimes I could not. The book is a must read for anyone who wants to know more about cencored music.

A shocking part of history

I think I had my jaw on the floor the entire time I read this book. I started thumbing through it soon after it arrived, and couldn't stop reading. I've read books about music history before, but Mr. Nuzum has done a great job of making sense of music censorship. I was surprised at the number of music censorings throughout history and at how people didn't learn from the PMRC in 1985! I hope Tipper Gore and her friends get real uncomfrtable reading this book!