The PMRC’s Filthy Fifteen List…Back 40 years ago, a group called the Parents Music Resource Center formed a bipartisan government committee, led by Tipper Gore, wife of then-Senator Al Gore, which would ultimately lead to “Parental Advisory” stickers being placed on record album covers to help inform parents of music that contained what they deemed to be objectionable material.
The outcry from music artists was bold, and many, including Dee Snider of Twisted Sister, Frank Zappa, and even John Denver, appeared before the committee and spoke out against unnecessary censorship.
Nevertheless, the committee was able to push the RIAA to voluntarily place a “Parental Advisory Sticker” on their albums at their own discretion. In many cases, both the artists and the teenage music buyers suggested that the labels only made the kids want the albums more and actually increased the sales of those artists.
Below is the list that the PMRC called their “Filthy Fifteen” wanted list for objectionable content. Oh, if only they could have seen the future, this all seems pretty tame compared to most of what’s allowed in today’s music.
