Rock Star Fights Back Against Anti-Heavy Metal Crusade With Genius Move

As the band's sole songwriter, Snider crafted much of Twisted Sisters' in-your-face messaging. The shock-jock nature of their surreal music videos was largely envisioned by Dee, something he was proud to defend. Low and behold, by the mid-'80s, that opportunity appeared. A movement directly criticizing Snider and everything he stood for was about to bubble over

The drama started when a group of politically connected individuals formed the Parents Music Resource Center committee, also known as PMRC. Led by Tipper Gore, who was the spouse of then-senator Al Gore, and Susan Baker, the wife of James Baker, the Treasury Secretary under the Reagan administration, the committee had concerns about the accessibility of music they deemed too inappropriate for certain audiences.

For Gore, her call to change was when her 11-year-old daughter played Prince's Purple Rain album on the family stereo. As the song "Darling Nikki' filled the household, the first few lines plainly detailing a sexual encounter, Tipper wished the album had come with a warning. 

Gore and the rest of the PMRC weren't the only ones concerned about the effects of supposed lewd music on their children. In the mid-'80s, heavy metal music was a topic of heated moral debate. The entire genre was linked by critics to disturbing activities, child sex crimes, and the growing Satanic Panic. As for their proof, the PMRC said the explicit lyrics spoke for themselves.

The biggest goal of the PMRC was to develop a rating system for the music industry that was comparable to what the Motion Picture Association of America was to the film industry. That way, parents could monitor and somewhat control the music their kids had access to.

To get things started, the PMCR made a list of songs dubbed the "Filthy Fifteen." Essentially, it was a playlist of the most explicit songs ever released, tunes that could corrupt children. "Darling Nikki" took the number one spot, followed by Sheena Easton's "Sugar Walls" and Judas Priest's "Eat Me Alive," all for sexual lyric content. However, other themes landed certain artists on the filth list, too.

Other bands like Mötley Crüe, Venom, and of course, Twisted Sister had their songs added to the Filthy Fifteen for violence and occult themes. As the concerns about explicit music raised by the PMCR began to gain traction, the Record Industry Association of America decided to act preemptively. 

The RIAA had 19 record companies willing to mark albums with the label "Parental Guidance: Explicit Lyrics," but not everyone was on board with the plan. To many musicians, the idea of slapping a label on the front of their albums was blatant censorship and an infringement on free speech. Ultimately, both sides got the opportunity to hash it out on the floor of the Capitol.

In September of 1985, the tensions between the PMRC and the music industry came to a head in a hearing before the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee. Besides the PMRC group, Senators Paula Hawkins and Al Gore also spoke in support of censoring music, but they didn’t go unchallenged.

On behalf of the music industry, three high-profile representatives showed up at the Capitol prepared to argue against the proposed censorship ideas. Folk-rock sensation John Denver was there, a surprising attendee, given his relatively wholesome discography and reputation. It was assumed he was there as a peaceful supporter of the PMRC initiatives, though he had yet to give his speech.

Then there was the more anti-establishment eccentric Frank Zappa. He had a rich history of promoting free speech and exploring controversial subjects in his music, so his presence at the hearing was on brand. Like Denver, Zappa decided to stray from rockstar garb and wore a suit. Though, the last musician at the hearing took a totally different approach.

A tall man with long curly platinum hair, skin-tight jeans, and a cutoff vest, Dee Snider arrived in his heavy metal glory. The lead singer of the heavy metal band Twisted Sister turned every head in attendance. Judging by appearance, Snider seemed like he'd deliver the most unruly speech ever heard in Congress. Before Dee had his turn at the mic, the PMRC set up their argument.

The PMRC asserted that they weren't calling for "censorship." They just wanted means of identifying potentially explicit or offensive content by looking at the album in order to help parents gauge what their children had access to. Then, they detailed their position that the music industry had grown darker, violent, and more dangerous since the days of early rock and roll.

As a packed room of reporters took note, PMRC members, senators, a child psychologist, and several religious figures all testified to the increase in offensive and explicit themes in popular music. The psychologist referenced the infamous "Son of Sam" murderer's fondness for the band Black Sabbath. Passages of vulgar lyrics were read aloud for maximum impact. Once they finished, Frank Zappa was first to rebuttal.

Zappa let loose. "The PMRC proposal is an ill-conceived piece of nonsense which fails to deliver any real benefits to children, infringes the civil liberties of people who are not children, and promises to keep the courts busy for years, dealing with the interpretation and enforcement problems inherent in the proposal's design."

Without holding back, Zappa slammed the vagueness of the PMRC's initiatives. His statement elicited negative remarks from the senators on the committee. Then, it was John Denver who spoke second. He surprised many when he respectfully challenged the censorship measures proposed by the PMRC.

Denver likened the PMRC's ideas to censorship and gave an example from his music where the meaning was misinterpreted. Some claimed Denver's song "Rocky Mountain High" alluded to drug references, which he denied. To punctuate the folk singer's surreal appearance, he left the hearing to attend a meeting with NASA about potentially riding along on the space shuttle Challenger mission. That left the last speaker, Dee Snider.

Moments before, the PMRC played the music video for Twisted Sister's “We’re Not Gonna Take It” as an example of violence. So everyone was ready for Dee Snider to bring that same destructive energy into his statement. No one was sure what was going to come out of his mouth, though they quickly learned that judging a rockstar based on his appearance was a huge mistake.

Snider spoke his searing takedown with matter-of-fact professionalism. He said the PMCR's portrayal was a character assassination. After explaining his background as a married father, a Christian, and someone who doesn't partake in drugs or alcohol, Snider laid out the stone-cold facts.

Citing “We’re Not Gonna Take It," Snider explained the truth behind the song’s supposed offensive content. He said the video was "simply meant to be a cartoon with human actors playing variations on the Roadrunner/Wile E. Coyote theme. Each stunt was selected from my extensive personal collection of cartoons."

Snider went on to refute Tipper Gore’s allegation that Twisted Sister sold lewd merchandise, saying, "We have always taken great pains to steer clear of sexism in our merchandise, records, stage show, and personal lives. Furthermore, we have always promoted the belief that rock and roll should not be sexist, but should cater to males and females equally."

Instead of infringing on the rights of artists, Snider suggested the PMRC let customers choose for themselves. "As a parent myself and as a rock fan, I know that when I see an album cover with a severed goat's head in the middle of a pentagram between a woman's legs, that is not the kind of album I want my son to be listening to."

The committee questioned Snider and tried to poke holes in his argument, but he never wavered. After the hearing adjourned, the record industry did indeed begin labeling their records for explicit content. While it might have looked like rock and roll lost that day, time proved the musicians had the last laugh.

The record industry collapsed in the following decades with the rise of the digital age. The PMRC and Tipper Gore became the new public enemy number one for many musicians, inspiring many songs that would certainly land on the Filthy Fifteen list. Rapper Ice-T released a diss track called "Just Watch What You Say," where he named Tipper directly.

"The Constitution says we all got a right to speak, say what we want, Tip -— your argument is weak," the song goes, though that's after Ice slings a few expletives Gore's way. Of course, the PMRC had to know the congressional hearing would be the raw historical basis for many rebuttal songs. After all, many of the best hits are inspired by controversial events.

It makes sense that two gentle souls like John Denver and Jacques-Yves Cousteau were close buds. Their friendship left a real impact on Denver, so much so, that he detailed the ocean conservationist’s voyages in song. 

Paul McCartney summed up the meaning of the massive hit, “this whole idea of 'you were only waiting for this moment to arise' was about, you know, the black people's struggle in the southern states, and I was using the symbolism of a blackbird.”

The title refers to the 1992 Los Angeles riots in response to the beating of Rodney King by the police. If you’re singing it, you’ll note the lyrics are “April 26,” an error they kept because it was their best take.

Tupac sampled it in his hit “Changes,” but this song was released 12 years earlier. In essence, similar to the hip hop version, it's a commentary on the Civil Rights Movement and race and class divisions.

Few voices resonate with Americans as strongly as The Boss’, which is why he felt a duty to write a moving remembrance of the September 11th attacks, later earning several Grammys and a Song of the Year nomination.

Metalheads would do well to remember this song was a cover from a tune written 42 years earlier by blues legends Kansas Joe McCoy and Memphis Minnie about the devastating Great Mississippi Flood of 1929.

The nation was hot with anger in the wake of the Kent State Shootings of 1970. Some 4 million students rose up in protest; Neil Young channeled his deep hurt into song.

It took less than an hour to write one of the most powerful political songs of all time. Simone’s creative inspiration was fueled by the injustice of Medgar Evers’ murder and the bombing of 16th Street Baptist Church.

The German band’s guitarist spotted some balloons while at a concert in West Berlin, and he envisioned how easily their appearance could send Cold War tensions into an overactive military death zone.

The late lead singer Dolores O'Riordan explained, “When it says in the song, 'It's not me, it's not my family,' that's what I'm saying. It's not Ireland." She was moved to make a musical statement after the 1993 IRA bombing of Warrington.

While Marvin’s version is widely known, he was one of a few to cover the song chronicling the assassinations of iconic figures Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King Jr., John F. Kennedy, and Robert Kennedy.

Hearing about the death of South African anti-apartheid activist Steve Biko on the news, the former Genesis frontman eulogized the hero through song. The sampled recordings at the beginning and end were also played at Biko’s funeral.

Penned by Mick Jagger with an assist from Keith Richards, their darkly upbeat manifesto recounts history from Satan’s perspective, mentioning Jesus’ crucifixion, the murder of the Romanovs, and the Kennedy assassinations.

Lyric by lyric, this song unfolds the circumstances of the controversial murder trial and subsequent hanging of 19-year-old Derek Bentley in 1954. Today it stands as the foremost anthem against capital punishment.

Coining the phrase “the day the music died,” Don McLean’s pop-culture-reference-packed hit was written to commemorate the deaths of musicians Buddy Holly, The Big Bopper, and Ritchie Valens in a 1959 plane crash.