Part two will focus on what can be done to combat the wave of censorship and will be featured in next week’s Huskie Weekender.

From its birth, rock & roll has been met by detractors who have tried to censor it or eliminate it completely. And heavy metal is not the only popular musical form to feel their ever-tightening grip.

The Parents Music Research Center (PMRC) is fighting a war on the many fronts of popular music.

The PMRC began as the brainchild of Tipper Gore, wife of Tennessee Senator Albert Gore. Her main cohort is Susan Baker, the wife of Secretary of State James Baker. The PMRC boasts the membership of other political wives as well.

The PMRC is not the first group to try to censor the music industry. But in the last five years, they have succeeded in being the leaders of the war and have become the most powerful anti-music lobby so far.

Their original goal was to force record companies to print warnings on records which contain lyrics considered to be obscene or offensive. The PMRC believes this to be a tool for parents wishing to monitor the music which their children buy.

Record warning labels have not been mandated yet, but the PMRC has persuaded some companies to voluntarily use them.

This seemingly innocent gesture has snowballed into what is now an outrage in America. What began as a possible aid for parents has turned into government-encouraged censorship.

Legislation denying artists the right to perform their craft has been growing steadily across the “land of the free.” It is no longer just the sales of records which are feeling the wrath of the ideological right.

Singer Bobby Brown was arrested in January of 1989 for “dancing suggestively” at Columbus, Georgia’s Municipal Auditorium. He was arrested under a law dealing with performance behavior. The law was a result of a 1987 Beastie Boys show at the facility.

Others arrested for their performances in Georgia include Gene Simmons and LL Cool J. And in some cities, artists aren’t allowed to perform at all.

Some politicians are beginning to run on platforms which include the banning of certain music. Cameron Cosgrove, Irvine, California city councilman, ran for lieutenant governor with the promise of banning heavy metal shows.

It seems as though the guarantors of free speech, our government, now has become the manufacturer of gags for musical artists.

In an apparent attempt to avoid controversy, music retailers around the country are pulling artist’s albums off their shelves.

The albums are pulled on the premise they are obscene. A clear definition of obscene still remains to be legally formulated, but records continue to be pulled.

Artists identified by pro-censorship groups as making obscene albums include Prince, LL Cool J, XTC, the Cure, Simply Red, Madonna, Bruce Springsteen, the Grateful Dead, the Rolling Stones and a host of rap artists.

The success of pro-censorship groups appears to hinge on their political ties and their organization. Anti-censorship forces have been slow to react. However, they are beginning to gain members and resources.