In 1986, Al Gore was a Senator:
Gore was one of the Atari Democrats who were given this name due to their "passion for technological issues, from biomedical research and genetic engineering to the environmental impact of the "greenhouse effect."... [H]e has been described as having been a "genuine nerd, with a geek reputation running back to his days as a futurist Atari Democrat in the House. Before computers were comprehensible, let alone sexy, the poker-faced Gore struggled to explain artificial intelligence and fiber-optic networks to sleepy colleagues."... Gore introduced the Supercomputer Network Study Act of 1986....At that time, his then-wife Tipper was on a Prince-triggered rampage against dirty lyrics:
In 1985, Tipper Gore co-founded the Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC)... because Gore heard her then 11-year-old daughter Karenna playing "Darling Nikki" by Prince. The group's goal was to increase parental and consumer awareness of music that contained explicit content through voluntary labeling albums with Parental Advisory stickers... Gore explained that her purpose wasn't to put a "gag" on music, but to keep it safe for younger listeners by providing parents with information about the content of the songs. A number of individuals including Dee Snider of Twisted Sister,[21] Jello Biafra of the Dead Kennedys, John Denver, Joey Ramone, and Frank Zappa criticized the group, arguing that it was a form of censorship....What's John Denver doing on that list?!
Folk rock musician John Denver stated he was "strongly opposed to censorship of any kind in our society or anywhere else in the world", and that in his experience censors often misinterpret music, as was the case with his song "Rocky Mountain High"...I presume that means the song was interpreted to refer to getting high on drugs.
When Denver came up to give his speech, many on the PMRC board expected him to side with them, thinking he would be offended by the lyrics as well...He was offended by censorship (and agreed with the broad meaning of what counts as censorship).
Anyway, you can see why Spin magazine was making fun of Tipper Gore in 1986. Click the image of the article to enlarge it enough to read. There's some great stuff in there and a nice illustration by Sara Schwartz. I'll just leave you with the song title that made that article show up in my Google search, "Peppermint Stick" by The Elchords:
I'll leave it to you to decide whether that 1958 recording contains the line "Peppermint stick/Eat my dick."
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65 comments:
The voice on "Peppermint Stick" is Frankie Lymon.
"I'll leave it to you to decide whether that 1958 recording contains the line "Peppermint stick/Eat my dick."
Sure sounds like it.
Supercomputer Network Study Act of 1986
"All 500 of the world's fastest supercomputers are running Linux."
And since it's a small world, "mintstick".
My Trapper Keeper folders were covered with Tipper Stickers.
In 1985, the PMRC also released what they called the "Filthy Fifteen",
a list of the 15 songs they found most objectionable.[1]
# Artist Song title Lyrical content
1 Prince "Darling Nikki" Sex/Masturbation
2 Sheena Easton "Sugar Walls" Sex
3 Judas Priest "Eat Me Alive" Sex
4 Vanity "Strap On 'Robbie Baby'" Sex
5 Mötley Crüe "Bastard" Violence/Language
6 AC/DC "Let Me Put My Love Into You" Sex
7 Twisted Sister "We're Not Gonna Take It" Violence
8 Madonna "Dress You Up" Sex
9 W.A.S.P. "Animal (Fuck Like a Beast)" Sex/Language
10 Def Leppard "High 'n' Dry (Saturday Night)" Drug and alcohol use
11 Mercyful Fate "Into the Coven" Occult
12 Black Sabbath "Trashed" Drug and alcohol use
13 Mary Jane Girls "In My House" Sex
14 Venom "Possessed" Occult
15 Cyndi Lauper "She Bop" Sex/Masturbation
My Trapper Keeper folders were covered with Tipper Stickers.
LOL
"it was a form of censorship"
Which, of course, progs favor, as in clamping down on "hate speech."
But Kendrick Lamar deserves his Pulitzer.
Data point #3199 to show that progs don't believe their own BS.
It's Colorado rocky mountain high
I've seen it rainin' fire in the sky
Friends around the campfire and everybody's high
Rocky mountain high
Rocky mountain high
Rocky mountain high
Rocky mountain high
Rocky mountain high
Rocky mountain high
They are smoking marijuana cigarettes around the campfire and getting high!!!!
--Tipper Gore
I took my girlfriend to a Peter, Paul and Mary concert not long after some dingbat writer for Newsweek had speculated in print that their hit song “Puff, the Magic Dragon” contained hidden references to marijuana use. Peter came up to the microphones and told us that there was no truth in the article, however after diligent research the trio had discovered a well-known song that was full of hidden references. Then they sang ...
“Oh, say can you see — ‘C’ being a reference to cocaine”
“The rockets’ RED glare.”
“The BOMBS bursting in air.”
It brought down the house.
PS: Has anybody seen copies of Newsweek lately? I find old copies of Time in doctors’ offices, the way we once found copies of National Geographic.
Ms. Tipper's comment about campfires led to this -
"It wouldn't have mattered if Bill Clinton inhaled, as far as his lungs are concerned. Smoking up to a joint per day doesn't seem to decrease lung function, according to a study published in Jan. 11 edition of Journal of the American Medical Association.
In fact, occasional marijuana use was associated with slight increases in lung airflow rates and increases in lung volume, the study found."
that song is Disgusting !
that is PROBABLY what caused Bill clinton and monica
THIS WOULD HAVE BEEN A GREAT WORLD IF NOT FOR THAT SONG!
</sarc (i case you can't tell : )
Good sense, innocence, cripplin' mankind
Dead kings, many things I can't define
Occasions, persuasions clutter your mind
Incense and peppermints, the color of time
Who cares what games we choose
Little to win, but nothing to lose
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhYLz63csS0
The Ramones did a tune about Tipper. Seemed apropos here.
Mr. Zappa. My name is Frank Zappa. This is my attorney Larry Stein.
The statement that I prepared, that I sent you 100 copies of, is five pages long, so I have shortened it down and am going to read a condensed version of it.
Certain things have happened. I have been listening to the event in the other room and have heard conflicting reports as to whether or not people in this committee want legislation. I understand that Mr. Hollings does from his comments. Is that correct?
The CHAIRMAN. I think you had better concentrate on your testimony, rather than asking questions.
++
IOW, Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar.
When I was little I thought "Rocky Mountain High" was a about a high school in Colorado ... sort of still do today, LOL!
Censors can get things wrong in the other direction, too. I have some recollection of a TV variety show back in the day which got so fed up with the network censors that they proposed an “act” consisting of two young (underage?) women coming out onstage and sucking on orange popsicles. The clueless censors let it pass and the “act” was broadcast on network TV. Can anyone fill in details?
Wow! I thought recording really bad....sounds.....was a recent invention.
Zappa: "You cannot distract people from thinking about an unfair tax by talking about Music Appreciation. For that you need sex, and lots of it."
To me, a "genuine nerd" is someone who in their spare time does things like read engineering texts, builds various Rasberry Pi gadgets, still operates a HAM radio, and plays Dwarf Fortress, and is an upper level officer in a corporation in Eve Online.
Al Gore is a "nerd" in the same way that a hot girl on Facebook claims to be a "nerd" for liking stuff like CW's The Flash, HBO's Game of Thrones and Westworld, and thinks Neil Degrasse Tyson is the height of intellect.
That bio of Al Gore brought back memories. I remember the good old days when we worried about the Greenhouse Effect.
@Rick Turley
I thought of that song as I was writing the post... but it's so far in tone from Joni Mitchell that I left that route un-stream-of-consciousnessed.
Megadeth: Hook In Mouth, 1988
You say you've got the answers, well who asked you anyway?
Ever think maybe it was meant to be this way?
Don't try to fool us, we know the worst is yet to come.
I believe my kingdom will come.
F is for fighting, R is for red,
Ancestors' blood in battles they've shed.
E, we elect them, E, we eject them,
In the land of the free, and the home of the brave.
D, for your dying, O, your overture,
M, they will cover your grave with manure.
This spells out freedom, it means nothing to me,
As long as there's a P.M.R.C.
I've always disliked it too — "Incense and Peppermints." It refers to the psychedelic without feeling at all psychedelic. Is it an anti-drug song or a tune-in-turn-on song or just a commercial effort to get in on the interest in drugs?
"Occasions, persuasions clutter your mind
Incense and peppermints, the color of thyme
Who cares what games we choose?
Little to win, but nothin' to lose?"
Bobby Moore and Jimmy "Handyman" Jones (Pretenders) wrote that. Jimmy joined Otis Blackwell to write Handyman.
Check out those moves baby...
James Taylor slowed it way down, and no Doo-Wop. But he was mostly medicated.
Otis also wrote hits such as "All Shook Up", "Don't Be Cruel", "Fever", and "Great Balls of Fire".
Most of his stuff had to be sung by white boys or the girls would get cross-eyed.
"Incense and peppermints" were things used to cover up the use of marijuana. I think the person using them is being criticized for not caring about the real world. I've always disliked the song because to me, it sounds bad. I've never tried to understand the lyrics, which, to quote the song, "clutter your mind."
Regarding that PMRC List of Top Filthy 15 hits, at that time (30 years ago), a Miami rap group, 2 Live Crew, put out a funny rap song aptly named, "Hey, We Want Some Pussy"
Mind you, in these dark ages pre-internet, pre-cell phone, pre-desk top computer, this type of a record album (or cassette tape) was quite the hit at parties. These aspiring African-American artists were just simply cutting to the chase, without all the unnecessary rock and roll drug use innuendo.
I miss the 80s.
rap music. T'sall. Is Tipper still around? Rap music makes me squirm I can only imagine what it does to Tipper.
Al and Tipper Gore are still married, although they’ve been separated for years. Their initial announcement suggested that divorce was imminent. I wonder why they’ve not gone through with it?
Toy
Al, Tipper, and Karenna are all divorced. I can’t recall what Prince song inspired them to do this.
"Incense and Peppermint" was based on an instrumental tune written by Ed King. Ed when on to join Lynyrd Skynyrd and wrote "Sweet Home Alabama". From rock n roll dreck to rock n roll sublime. Others may differ in their opinion.
"The voice on "Peppermint Stick" is Frankie Lymon"
I don't think so, it is is Little "Butchy" Saunders AKA John Brown.
You can here him on this tragedy: Rock'N Roll Indian Dance
List of bands banned from Soviet radio circa 1985. Julio Iglesias and Sparks were banned for neofascism.
Ron Mael of Sparks did have that Hitler-like moustache.
I couldn't say whether "eat my dick" is a lyric in that do-whop crap we were invited to hear. All I could conjure up was an image of Jimmy, Henry, and Tommy beating the living shit outa some lowlife welsher.
Answering my own question from 9:33, it was "The Gong Show" in 1978 and the act was called "The Popsicle Twins."
Poor Tipper.
"My Ding-A-Ling" by Chuck Berry (1972) (cover of Dave Bartholomew song)
When I was a little bitty boy
My grandmother bought me a cute little toy
Silver bells hanging on a string
She told me it was my ding-a-ling-a-ling, oh
My ding-a-ling, my ding-a-ling
I want you to play with my ding-a-ling
My ding-a-ling, my ding-a-ling
I want you to play with my ding-a-ling
You know, then mama took me to Sunday school
They tried to teach me the golden rule
Everytime that choir would sing
Watch me playin' with my ding-a-ling-a-ling, oh
My ding-a-ling, my ding-a-ling
I want you to play with my ding-a-ling
My ding-a-ling, my ding-a-ling
I want you to play with my ding-a-ling
Once I was climbing the garden wall
I slipped and had a terrible fall
I fell so hard, I heard bells ring
But held on to my ding-a-ling-a-ling, oh
My ding-a-ling, my ding-a-ling
I want you to play with my ding-a-ling
My ding-a-ling, my ding-a-ling
I want you to play with my ding-a-ling
Once, I was swimmin' 'cross Turtle Creek
Man, them snappers all around my feet
Sure was hard swimmin' 'cross that thing
With both hands holdin' my ding-a-ling-a-ling, oh
My ding-a-ling, my ding-a-ling
I want you to play with my ding-a-ling
My ding-a-ling, my ding-a-ling
I want you to play with my ding-a-ling
This little song, it ain't so sad
The cutest little song you ever had
Those of you who will not sing
You must be playin' with your own ding-a-ling
Julio Iglesias was well connected with the Franco regime.
Pretty much all the Spanish entertainers of the era were.
The Francoists paid close attention to pop culture, and to a great degree encouraged and facilitated it, so long as it derived from native roots - styles, song writers, subjects. The operative description was "nationalist", and in that they were sincere.
There were exceptions, such as the Mexican Agustin Lara (" Granada", "Maria Bonita"), the Cuban Lecuona, etc.
Rock stars of that era took a strong stand in favor of sex and drugs, but they didn't get out of joint about other forms of censorship. Radio stations stopped playing Sgt Barry Sadler's Ballad if the Green Berets. Can anyone name a single rock star who objected?
Good thing rap isn't offensive.
Uncle Luke and 2 Live Crew were great, if you like that sort of thing. Just keep the children out of earshot.
John Denver, songwriter, was a hypocrite as can be seen in his Rocky Mountain High lyrics.
"Why they try to tear the mountains down to bring in a couple more
More people, more scars upon the land."
Denver, himself was a Colorado carpetbagger. But once he settled, no "more people no more scars upon the land."
There's a video on Youtube called "History of Wooing Men" that's pretty funny. According to it, any cultural restraint on vulgarity ended in 1996.
Gore wanted the internet for porn.
It was UUCP that first attracted a Russian interest.
it would be unseemly of her to say it, but Tipper has the last laugh on Prince.
A.A. "Anyway, you can see why Spin magazine was making fun of Tipper Gore in 1986."
"Spin" spills ink for an ad hominem hit piece, in preference to serious presentation of case against voluntary standardss
“I don't think so, it is is Little "Butchy" Saunders AKA John Brown.”
Oh, I guess I misread something. It was an effort to sound like Lymon.
The Popsicle Twins
I remember that, and at the time thinking "How is this entertaining?" Today, I understand that they were baiting the censors.
Love me some Bull Moose Jackson! "Big Ten Inch Record," "I Want A Bowlegged Woman," "Nosey Joe," and my favorite, "Big Fat Mamas Are Back In Style".
Warning: These songs are all fairly risqué and should not be listened to by anyone who is easily "triggered" by that sort of thing. The rest of you, enjoy some classic dirty blues!
Baby It's Cold Outside. 1944.
Rather rapey, unless you accept that women can be coy and simultaneously wanton.
Then again, Tipper had her ass handed to her by Frank Zappa, who did "Don't Eat the Yellow Snow". He defended 1st Amendment rights against her censorious authoritarianism quite well, and left her looking like the idiot she was.
Few have done more for artificial intelligence than Al Gore.
Did Tipper give up her campaign when Gore became vice-president? If so, I wonder how much all of the Hollywood money to Democrats/Clinton played into her giving it up.
Too Drunk to Fuck
This must have been 1981 at the latest.
If Gore had remained the mildly nerdish guy who would not embarrass us with his sexual antics and keep the Clinton economic policies in place, he would have been President. Instead he went angry left progressive. Nobody to blame but himself.
Paul McCartney thought that the song Louie Louie contained the line " I blew my load, oh, in her hair."
There are obscene lyrics all over the place if you have sufficient imagination.
Chord progressions in the Peppermint Song are I-VIm-IV-V. How many pop songs have to use that exact same god-damn chord progression?!
"Too Drunk to Fuck" - that's actually a #metoo anti-rape song. WAY ahead of its time.
Too bad you can't appreciate the musicianship in "Incensed and Peppermints", Althouse. This song was "More cowbell!" before Blue Oyster Cult.
*incense
Just started listening to the Jimmy Buffett station on Amazon Music. First song was "Why Don't We Get Drunk and Screw", apropos of nothing.
Be what the post may be the fact is that Rap in general sure hasn't helped the Black community or served Black youth well at all. Even Blacks are saying so.
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