The Not So Filthy Fifteen: Darling Nikki

In 1985, the Parents Music Resource Center launched a full-scale assault on popular music.  They selected what they deemed the fifteen most offensive songs they could find as examples of why the music industry needed to be closely monitored and censored.  Thankfully, Frank Zappa, Dee Snider and John Denver staved that off.  This is a track-by-track breakdown of the songs the PRMC picked as the so-called “filthy fifteen.”

The song.

“Darling Nikki” by Prince.  Ah, Prince.  Appearing for the first time (but not the last) on this list.  And the song that started it all.  Tipper Gore heard this intentionally raunchy tune playing from her daughter’s room and decided that artists should notify people if they were making art that might be considered inappropriate.  She asserted this onus on the creators, but did not consider ANY of the following:  1. This song was from the soundtrack of an R-rated movie.  2. It was used in said movie by the protagonist as a trigger to shock other characters.  3. One of the most popular singles (and the reason her daughter most likely bought the record), “When Doves Cry,” is an incredibly dark and sensual song when you take it at face value.  4. It was released by an artist who had made a name for himself with albums titled Dirty Mind and Controversy.  5. One of those album covers featured the artist wearing nothing but a speedo, a bandana and a dinner jacket.  But, you know, he should have given some kind of warning that he was doing a risqué song… 

What they should have chosen.

“Head” by Prince.  Remember that aforementioned album with the speedo?  It was called Dirty Mind.  And pretty much any song  on it could’ve made this list.  This album has a song about incest because of course it does.  But “Head” is about exactly what it sounds like it’s about.  This track makes Darling Nikki’s exploits seem tame. 

What has come since.

“Sexy M.F.” by Prince.  Prince spent the rest of the 80s and 90s pushing whatever boundaries might be left.  He put out singles with titles like “Cream” and “Come,”, but (apart from telling Batman to get the funk up) this was his boldest and most overt statement.  Seriously, just watch the first two minutes of the full official video and you’ll know all you need to.  He vaulted this track as an open assault on the “norm,” and it soared against all odds.   By comparison, “Darling Nikki” was a relatively mild entry in the purple one’s catalogue, and merely a stepping stone in his path as a provocateur. 

The Not So Filthy Fifteen: We're Not Gonna Take It

In 1985, the Parents Music Resource Center launched a full-scale assault on popular music.  They selected what they deemed the fifteen most offensive songs they could find as examples of why the music industry needed to be closely monitored and censored.  Thankfully, Frank Zappa, Dee Snider and John Denver staved that off.  This is a track-by-track breakdown of the songs the PRMC picked as the so-called “filthy fifteen.”

The song.

“We’re Not Gonna Take It” by Twisted Sister.  Seriously?  SERIOUSLY?!  This song got flagged on account of “violence.”  The most violent image in the whole thing is its use of the word “fight” three times.  As a point of comparison, the University of Kentucky’s pep song is only a minute long, but uses that same word eight times.  Violence, indeed.  It’s pretty clear this song was pegged for its video which features less violence than a roadrunner cartoon and less drag than a traditional Shakespearean play.  Thirty-plus years later, I can’t help but love the fact that a song the PRMC deemed dangerous to children ended up as this.

What they should have chosen.

“Coward of the County” by Kenny Rogers.  This song topped the country charts.  It almost topped the pop charts.  It got made into a movie.  And it makes my skin crawl every time I hear it.  “They took turns at Becky.  There was three of them.”  In case you aren’t familiar with the track, the subject matter is exactly what that line suggests.  In the context of this narrative, any atrocity can be resolved with a good old fashioned fist fight.  Violence begets violence.  Violence resolves violence.  And when it does, the world is completely right again and all problems are solved.  I think that’s a far more dangerous message than some dudes in makeup saying “if that’s your best, your best won’t do.”

What has come since.

“Pumped Up Kicks” by Foster the People.  My daughter was eight when this song came out and she loved it.  To be fair, it has to be the catchiest song ever written about mass homicide.  Rewatching the video for this entry, I think about my daughter (now eight years older).  I think about the paranoia and lingering vigilance that she and others her age have to endure.  I think about conversations I never dreamed I would need to have with her.  I think about how this single song disproves every single idea championed by “Coward of the County.”  I think I would much rather just go listen to some more Twisted Sister.

The Not-So Filthy Fifteen: She Bop

In 1985, the Parents Music Resource Center launched a full-scale assault on popular music.  They selected what they deemed the fifteen most offensive songs they could find as examples of why the music industry needed to be closely monitored and censored.  Thankfully, Frank Zappa, Dee Snider and John Denver staved that off.  This is a track-by-track breakdown of the songs the PRMC picked as the so-called “filthy fifteen.”

The song.

“She Bop” by Cyndi Lauper.  To be fair, the song is blatantly and unabashedly about self pleasure.  What seems less than fair is that it happens to be about female pleasure (that will prove to have been a recurring theme to the PRMC).  There were already myriad songs about this topic out there, they just happened to come from a male perspective – from Chuck Berry to Simon and Garfunkel and many, many others.   And many of those songs had some incredibly suggestive lyrics.  The diciest line in “She Bop” lands as a tie between “I wanna go south and get some more” and “they say I better stop or I’ll go blind.”  Again, the topic of discussion is clear.  However, the language used to describe it is tamer than that of “Wooly Bully” or anything put out by popular rock bands like Kiss, well, ever.  Of note, their hit “Lick It Up” from the previous year failed to gain the PRMC’s attention.

What they should have chosen.

If we’re talking about 80s pop heroes who wrote songs about sexual topics (not counting Prince or Madonna – they’ll each get their own entry), then we have to discuss the man who came to imbue blue collar ‘Merica more than any other, excepting maybe The Boss.  The PRMC should have turned their focus to John Cougar.  Yes, THAT John Cougar.  (Is there another?)  His 1980 release of Nothin’ Matters and What If It Did gave him a proper hit and set the stage for his next behemoth American Fool.  It also contained the track “Tonight” with a line so raw in a pop tune that you can’t help but be caught off guard the first time you hear it.  My dad always skipped this one when the cassette played in the car and now I see why.  That single line foreshadowed the dirty-old-man tendencies JCM would put on full display with his later work in the 90s and 00s.  Seriously, if you've never heard the song, listen to it while looking at the album cover and fight back the bile.

What has come since.

Thankfully, “She Bop” opened a new door for expression of female sexuality in pop music.  There have been many artists who built their entire catalogue around this concept.  In my mind though, there has been one song that took this track’s less-than-subtle innuendo and put on full display for the world to see.  Whatever envelopes Britney and Pink and Gaga may have pushed, they owe a deep debt to Cyndi Lauper.  And to Divinyls’ 1990 hit, “I Touch Myself,” with its thematic concept being laid bare in the title. The single didn’t chart as highly as “She Bop,” but it much more overtly restated that previous sentiment of female expression.