dChan - Q Origins Project Archive

Twisted Sister were riding high in 1985 when they got wind that a committee calling itself the Parents Music Resource Center had singled them out, along with a handful of other artists, for ostensibly making obscene music. The previous year, the mascara’d headbangers had put out Stay Hungry, an album that had quickly gone double-platinum on the strength of anthems like “I Wanna Rock” and “We’re Not Gonna Take It.” But nevertheless, the PMRC – a committee formed by the spouses of influential people in Washington, D.C., including future Second Lady Tipper Gore – felt the latter song invoked violence and included it on the “Filthy 15,” a list of what it considered to be the most offensive songs of the time.

“Ms. Gore claimed that one of my songs, ‘Under the Blade,’ had lyrics encouraging sadomasochism, bondage and rape,” Snider said in pointed turn of his testimony. “The lyrics she quoted have absolutely nothing to do with these topics. On the contrary, the words in question are about surgery and the fear that it instills in people. … I can say categorically that the only sadomasochism, bondage and rape in this song is in the mind of Ms. Gore.”