ENTERTAINMENT and POLITICS - 99% Invisible Episode 124: Longbox

By ROMAN on July 22, 2014

R.E.M.’s  Out of Time is the most politically significant album in the history of the United States. Because of its packaging.

In 1985, the pop charts were full of Prince and Sheena Easton and the youth of America were being corrupted. Tipper Gore and other elite women of Washington formed the “Parents Music Resource Center” (PMRC) to put pressure on the creators and distributors of “objectionable” music.

There were Senate hearings, and eventually those little black and white Parental Advisory stickers started appearing on albums.

This set off a wave of censorship across the country.

For more: http://99percentinvisible.org/episode/longbox/