I can think of nothing that would have carried greater "buy" appeal for me as a young teen than a label promising "explicit lyrics" attached to a piece of music. (That was long ago, pre-dating Ms Gore's censorship campaign by at least 2 decades.)
You are right! It was like a "get this" list. Prince's Purple Rain which included "Darling Nikki" has been certified 13-times platinum and has sold more than 25 million copies worldwide.
Also, some telling mask-dropping which would one day help me to describe to my own 16 yr. old daughter why censorship is such a scam.
She's gay, and when I told her that Rob Halford from Judas Priest is gay and that this was, in essence, anti-gay censorship... the light bulb lit for her.
It's nobody's business what happens between consenting adults behind closed doors.
Rob Halford's sexuality was not obvious to the consumers of Judas Priest in the 1980s. My best friend in high school was gay, so it was not like I had a problem with this, but we simply didn't know. We knew about Rock Hudson after his AIDS diagnosis, and we guessed about Liberace, Barry Manilow and Freddie Mercury, but I don't remember theorizing about Rob Halford. When he came out in the 90s (?) it was rather a surprise.
While I am not a Tipper and PMRC fan, they did occasionally go after something that probably deserved to be censored. The reading of the Mentors' "Golden Shower" lyrics on the Senate floor certainly probably qualified.
I'm kidding but the point of the Mentors was to be offensive.
I can think of nothing that would have carried greater "buy" appeal for me as a young teen than a label promising "explicit lyrics" attached to a piece of music. (That was long ago, pre-dating Ms Gore's censorship campaign by at least 2 decades.)
You are right! It was like a "get this" list. Prince's Purple Rain which included "Darling Nikki" has been certified 13-times platinum and has sold more than 25 million copies worldwide.
I think the point was to limit supply; Walmart wouldn't carry any explicit lyrics stuff for a long time, for all I know that may still be true.
I don't have to tell you how limited our buying opportunities were back then.
LOL a total fail.
Also, some telling mask-dropping which would one day help me to describe to my own 16 yr. old daughter why censorship is such a scam.
She's gay, and when I told her that Rob Halford from Judas Priest is gay and that this was, in essence, anti-gay censorship... the light bulb lit for her.
It's nobody's business what happens between consenting adults behind closed doors.
Rob Halford's sexuality was not obvious to the consumers of Judas Priest in the 1980s. My best friend in high school was gay, so it was not like I had a problem with this, but we simply didn't know. We knew about Rock Hudson after his AIDS diagnosis, and we guessed about Liberace, Barry Manilow and Freddie Mercury, but I don't remember theorizing about Rob Halford. When he came out in the 90s (?) it was rather a surprise.
While I am not a Tipper and PMRC fan, they did occasionally go after something that probably deserved to be censored. The reading of the Mentors' "Golden Shower" lyrics on the Senate floor certainly probably qualified.
I'm kidding but the point of the Mentors was to be offensive.
I think you can point out bad taste w/o censoring it.. It usually dies of it's own boringness.