W.A.S.P. frontman Blackie Lawless recently discussed the real political agenda behind the PMRC’s campaign against his band in an interview with Rock at Night Magazine.
Lawless explained how he was affected by his experience with the Parents’ Music Resource Center (PMRC) more than four decades ago, suggesting that the organization was primarily seeking attention.
“Well, honestly, after it was all said and done, more was said than done,” Lawless said. “It really didn’t change things for us one way or the other. They wanted attention, and what better way to get attention than to go after an attention-getter? So they chose us, and they chose the bands that were in that list that they came up with.”
He went on to claim that the PMRC’s actions were actually part of a broader political strategy to boost Al Gore’s political career.
“They were trying to put a man [Al Gore, U.S. senator and later vice president and then-husband of PMRC co-founder Tipper Gore] in the White House, and it didn’t work,” Lawless continued. “You got a guy that had a personality that was like watching paint dry. And he wonders why he couldn’t get elected. So, they became… What’s the word I’m looking for? Victims. And I wouldn’t say of their own success — of their own diabolical plots of the things that they tried to put together. ’Cause after it was all said and done, and the truth came out, it was all about them trying to put a man in the White House.”
Lawless also emphasized that the campaign was never truly about censoring records, but rather about political ambition, although it did make W.A.S.P. a household name.
“It was not about censoring records,” he added. “They could have cared less. They made us a household word, I’ll admit that. But when you make somebody a household word, somebody’s grandmother in Wyoming — I don’t mean to pick on Wyoming this evening; could be anywhere, Iowa, you name it — they don’t buy the records anyway, so what difference does it make whether they know who you are or not?”
Ultimately, Lawless concluded that the controversy had little impact on the band’s connection with its audience.
“So it really didn’t make any difference,” Lawless concluded. “Like I said, it makes you a household word, but so what? It really doesn’t change anything as far as what the relationship with the fans are.”
The controversy surrounding W.A.S.P. was part of a larger debate over explicit lyrics and parental control of recorded music in the 1980s. The organization was co-founded by Tipper Gore and became associated with efforts to place warning labels on albums.
The PMRC compiled a list of 15 songs known as the “Filthy Fifteen.” The songs were criticized for themes involving sex, violence, drugs, and the occult. W.A.S.P.’s “Animal (Fuck Like a Beast)” was included among the songs singled out by the organization.
The dispute led to a U.S. Senate hearing on September 19, 1985. PMRC representatives and musicians Dee Snider, Frank Zappa, and John Denver testified before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
Zappa strongly opposed the proposal. In a testimony, he described the PMRC’s plan as “an ill-conceived piece of nonsense which fails to deliver any real benefit to children.”
The hearings did not create a government ratings system, but they helped produce an agreement between the Recording Industry Association of America and major record companies. The industry ultimately adopted the “Parental Advisory: Explicit Content” label, which became a lasting symbol of the debate.
Al Gore was serving as a U.S. senator at the time of the hearing. He later became vice president and ran for president in 2000, when he formally announced his campaign on June 16, 1999. Lawless continues to view the PMRC controversy through that political lens, while the episode remains one of the most prominent clashes between heavy metal, popular culture, and calls for censorship.
