#464/1097
November 21 1985
Frank Zappa
Frank Zappa Meets the Mothers of Prevention
Genre: Experimental Jazz Rock
2 out of 5
Highlights:
We’re Turning Again
The title. A sublime bit of wordplay considering the history here.
As much as I am for freedom of expression, I will admit something. I really don’t care that there were advisory stickers put on records. Why not? As a society we had already accepted the rating guidelines for movies, right? Spielberg pushed the envelope and a new one, PG-13 was invented in the 80s.
As a parent I use Common Sense Media as a guidepost for tons of stuff. Mostly I just rely on my self, my judgment and my kids.
When I was 9 my father told me to pick up a couple records from the record store. One of them was a Richard Pryor comedy record and when I told the guy behind the counter that my dad wanted me to buy it he said, “He’s crazy”. I thought he meant Pryor. He didn’t. He meant my father. There was no good reason that a 9 year old should be listening to some of Pryor. Or Redd Foxx. Or songs about murder and rape. I mean, sure, when you are a little older and you have developed a bit, great, whatever. But I don’t want my eight year old to be listening to that stuff. He’s in the other room right now, watching Pixar videos on YouTube kids. He isn’t ready for Pryor. Or to delve into themes that are outside his realm of comprehension.
And a sticker on a record with “intended for mature audiences” isn’t a bad thing. You know?
What makes it worse in retrospect is just how terrible Zappa’s music is that he’s fighting to keep free.
If you like Zappa’s Jazz instrumental stylings, those are present here as well. Note: I do not care one way or another about them.
The centerpiece is supposed to be “Porn Wars”, which includes Senate testimony and other conversations surrounding the Meese report and the PMRC of the time. It’s not a well done montage, not by a long shot and it brings to mind the extraordinary work of The Kleptones in the 00s and makes me think how spectacularly they would’ve attacked this and how their use of music in audio montage would probably be a stronger indictment of what Zappa was trying to address.
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