Customer Reviews

Parental Advisory: Music Censorship in America

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4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I think I had my jaw on the floor the entire time I read this book. I started thumbing through it soon after it arrived, and couldn't stop reading. I've read books about music history before, but Mr. Nuzum has done a great job of making sense of music censorship. I was surprised at the number of music censorings throughout history and at how people didn't learn from the PMRC in 1985! I hope Tipper Gore and her friends get real uncomfrtable reading this book!

Although he is not the most unbiased source on the subject, radio programmer, Eric D. Nuzum, takes readers along the often-treaded path of music censorship in the United States. From interracial dancing at Fats Domino gigs to John Lennon's inflammatory statement about the Beatles being bigger than Jesus to Tipper Gore and the PMRC, the road is interesting, outrageous and often hilarious. The excellent first section separates the subject into the histories of controversies concerning sex, religion, drugs, protest, violence and others. The unnecessary and less interesting second section is a chronological listing of instances of censorship. Consistent or well-rounded it is not, but Parental Advisory: Music Censorship in America is an interesting read and a decent rallying call for those who have already made up their minds on the issue of music censorship.

This is a good reference book for the history of music (and video) censorship or attempted censorship. It shows the ridiculous as well as the warrented (in who's opinion?). While I'm sure that no one wants their child to listen to songs of suicide, sex and drugs when they are ten years old, this book, to me, enforces the fact that it is more a parental responsibility that anything else.

To rely on others to tell you what is bad for your child is nuts. Tipper Gore started the PMRC because of her lack of parental initiative, even though she claims it was because of it. The book details the episode, when she bought an album based on her 11 year old daughter's recommendation and listened to it with her child and two younger siblings without first previewing its contents and then gets mad at the artist and the record company for releasing it. Come on! She should have previewed this album before playing it for her daughter, I would have.

Relying on others to make these determinations is dangerous. For instance some wanted the Captain and Tenille banned because they endorsed vegetarianism and believe in reincarnation. The Beach Boys because they practice yoga. Carlos Santana because if you drop the first N and the last A you have a devil worshipper. The list goes on and are presented in this book as food for thought on following rather than thinking. In the 1960's some thought The Beatles music was part of a Communist plot to jam the nervous systems of young people (I know, sounds too weird).

The FBI has investigated many rock and rollers throughout the 1950-1960-1970s for subversive statements and lyrics. Church groups think music promotes the Devil. Conservatives don't like the liberal message and liberals don't like the conservative message. Jesse Jackson thought Disco music was morality- damaging!

The bottom line is GET A GRIP! Think for yourself and your children, within' the family unit. Did any rational person really think that "Rocky Mountain High" was about drug abuse? This book shows you why people must continue to think and make their own choices.

A classic, that is a good addition to any library for a reader or a music fan I consider this book a must have.

About three quarters of the way through this acceptable book on music censorship, one gets the feeling that one has read a certain part a second, or even third, time. This book is broken down into two sections: the first breaks down music censorship by subject matter (sex, drugs, politics, race, etc.); the second is broken down by decades, starting from pre-1950 into 2000. It feels more like he wrote the first section and decided to rearrange it for the sake of increasing the books length. The chronology feels more like an appendix (of which there are three, including bibliography, suggested reading, and, in my opinion, an unneeded glossary.) If you're looking for a starting point for censorship research, this is a good place to jump off. However, if you are well educated in the matter, skip this one.

America: a country where everyone turns to entertainment for something to blame. Music Censorship is a major playing key in this. Parental Advisory: Music Censorship in America by Eric Nuzum is one book that demonstrates this.
In the Book he (the author) talks about how far people will go to ban Rock-N-Roll, pop music, rap, and many others. He talks about how racist people were and still are today dealing with themes in music, such as the rapper Ice-T. They, the people of America, tried to get his song "Cop Killer" banned because it talked about shooting cops. Other themes that got artists in trouble were Sex, violence, and many more. Other things that got them in trouble were album art, song titles, and lyrics.
This book can be closely related to To Kill a Mocking Bird by Harper Lee. In To Kill a Mocking Bird there are racial controversies, such as the rape, and murders of a few characters, one being black. In Parental Advisory; Music Censorship in America people die or are killed "due to Rock-N-Roll themes and subliminal messages." Such incidents occurred with Ozzy Osborne and Judas Priest, whom were both sued for the suicides of children. Ozzy Osborne was sued twice for the suicides of two boys due to the song "Suicide Solution," as was Judas Priest for there song "Stained Class." Like the two boys in Ozzy's case, the two boys shot themselves, one dieing instantly with the other living for three years before dieing of surgery and an overdose of prescribed medicine. Also right before their deaths they signed a Suicide pact. Judas Priest's case differed from Ozzy's because in "Stained Class" there was "subliminal messages" such as "do it" and "try suicide." In all cases the artists won due to the lack of evidence against their songs.
I preferred this book to others about music because it was hilarious in its ways. One example of a funny moment was when Tipper Gore bought her 11 year old daughter a R-Rated track off of a movie and sued the music industry for it! This book uses vocabulary a young adult can understand. He shows both sides of the story and he shows that there is more to music then you think there is.

This is an outstanding view written by a music lover for a music lover! This book has everything from censorship broken down into parts (drugs, politics, sex etc) to a history of it. This book in it's entirety is very informative and persuasive.

This book not only adequately portrays the role censors have played in the history of music - it points out just how ridiculous some of their attempts have been.

Spoken of here are the aspects of politics, sex, violence, etc. - common themes to music, yet always at the forefront of some controversy or another.

What I really enjoyed about this book is the author's fresh, approachable voice. He speaks in a language everyone can understand, while still maintaining his purpose the entire time.

He uses humor in several passages (such as the one in which he questions Tipper Gore's logic behind picking out a soundtrack to an R-rated movie [Purple Rain : Prince] for her eleven-year-old daughter). Such humor, which is interspersed throughout, ensures that the reader maintains interest. However, at no time does the author lose focus - he keeps his focus and never loses the reader.

Also unique and eye-opening are interesting sidebars, interspersed throughout.

All-in-all, the author succeeds at making an understandable, eye-opening book about the history and continuation of censorship in the music world. A definite recommendation to any music fan and people concerned with censorship in America.

I haven't read this in a few years but from what I remember it was a decent overview of musical censorship. The problem is that there were too many fairly egregious factual errors. For instance, when he talks about nirvana's In Utero, he refers to it as their "second studio album" and references the "multiplatinum success of their debut album, Nevermind." I know that doesn't have a lot to do with his argument, but it's not like Bleach is a particularly obscure or hard-to-find album...nailing basic facts about his subjects' histories would do a lot to add to the credibility of the rest of this book. There are better books on this subject.

I didn't always agree with his opinions, but he always supported them well enough for me to belive him. He has a very unique point of view, which comes across as he covers everything from Elvis waist up on Ed Sullivan, to record companies changing songs so they can be sold at Wal-Mart. It is amazing what was censored, and when. Most times I could see the reason behind why something was censored, but sometimes I could not. The book is a must read for anyone who wants to know more about cencored music.

This is a great reference book to learn more about the history of music. Everything you ever wanted to know about the music your parents never wanted you to hear is in this book. Read it. Recommended.