"The last election just laid the foundation of the next 500 years of Dark Ages." -Frank Zappa in 1981

America has a long and distinguished history of freaking out over really stupid shit. In 2010, you should be well aware by now that the atheists, fags, and Mexicans are all out to get us. But in the 1980s, it was music. Concerned Parents (tm) took it upon themselves to eliminate music that promoted sex, violence, nonexistent occultism, and backward messages that weren't actually there. We make fun of this shit now, but it these morons literally thought rock music was associated with the devil, and that it was responsible for rape and violence.

So in 1985, the Parents Music Resource Center was formed. This senate committee was cofounded by Tipper Gore, the wife of Al Gore. It eventually grew to 22 people, who were nicknamed the 'Washington Wives,' as they were all married to politicians. It's as true today with Wikileaks as it was back then: America is bipartisan when it comes to shitting on rights. The PMRC called three rock stars before the hearing to defend what they do: John Denver, Twisted Sister's Dee Snider, and... Frank Zappa.

Frank Zappa, being one of the greatest composers and musicians of the last hundred years, was naturally an extremely intelligent person. Back in the sixties, he countered the counter-culture. He hated hippies. He was militantly anti-drug, and called those who took them "assholes in action." He was very opinionated and very passionate, and when you put those qualities into an intelligent person, you get the very last man this bullshit committee would want to put in front of the cameras. Below is part 1. Here's part 2, part 3, and part 4. It really is worth watching in its entirety at some point. Grab something to eat, because this is epic.

"I think you should leave it up to the parent, because not all parents want to keep their children totally ignorant."



And just for shits and giggles, here's one of my favorite Zappa songs. It's insane. It switches all over the place from 19/16, to 4/4, to 21/16. Oh, and it's about prison rape. Art.