20
. . .
housewife would dream up when she's at a summer barbecue," he said. "The record
industry is acting like of bunch of cowards. They're scared to death of the
fundamentalist right and want to throw them a bone in hopes that they'll go away. But
this stickering program will just start a 
Other record execs seem to view the center as Keystone Kops-style adversaries. "I
just wish that Prince was on my label so I could have all these problems," quipped
MCA Records President Azoff.
Speaking more seriously, Azoff added, "I think it's really unfortunate that at a
time when pop figures have been in the forefront of so many important causes, like
Live Aid and USA for Africa, that this kind of issue is getting so much media attention."
Many industry leaders have complained that rock n' roll is being singled out for
attack when sex is used to sell everthing [sic] in America from cars and jeans to cosmetics
and after-shave. Is Prince or Madonna any more suggestive than "Miami Vice"
or "Dynasty"?
"We're not picking on the music industry," Baker said. "I've written Calvin Klein
to complain about his ads, which are a debauchery. I just flipped on the TV a few
minutes ago and turned the channel to an R-rated movie with a love scene, right on
daytime TV. I just couldn't believe it.
"But we think that parents have to make their thoughts known. Did you know
that in the most recent FBI statistics, that crime in general was down 2%, but rape
was up 7%? Now, we're not blaming that all on rock music, but it's an indication of
how things are going.
"Listen, all four of us (PMRC executives) are mothers with young children. We're
not
[From the Washington Post, Sept. 15, 1985]
Here is a question that might cause you to blush: What causes you to blush?
When considering the campaign against "porn
Various parents' groups are putting wholesome pressure on recording companies,
radio stations and the makers of rock videos to exercise discretion and self-restraint.
Approximately one-third of the nation's radio stations have rock formats, and many
are behaving responsibly. But the sort of people who profit from aggressively
marketing porn rock have the morals of the marketplace, and the marketplace is the
place to get their attention. In addition, putting labels on records with vulgar lyrics
is going to help parents exercise supervision.
Rock music has become a plague of messages about sexual promiscuity, bisexuality,
incest, sado-masochism, satanism, drug use, alcohol abuse and constantly, misogyny.
The lyrics regarding these things are celebratory, encouraging or at least
desensitizing. By making these subjects the common currency of popular entertainment,
the lyrics drain the subjects of their power to
As people become older they become less given to blushing. This is, in part,
because they lose that sweet softness of youthful character that is called innocence
and makes one's sensibilities subject to shock. People blush for various reasons.
Sometimes it is because we suddenly have embarrassing attention called to
ourselves. Sometimes we blush when utterly alone, when we think of something about
ourselves that is
Often people blush because they are exposed to something that should be private
or is shameful. This may be an endangered species of blushing, thanks to omnipresent
vulgarities like porn rock making even the vilest things somehow banal.
Walter Berns, the political philosopher, asks: What if, contrary to Freud and
much conventional wisdom, shame is natural to man and shamelessness is
acquired? If so, the acquisition of shamelessness through the shedding of "hangups" is
an important political event. There is a connection between self-restraint and . . .
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