The mega retailer Walmart has influenced artists to alter cover art that is not deemed "family oriented" if the releases are to be stocked in their stores. John Mellencamp's 1996 release "Mr. Happy Go Lucky" had Jesus and the devil removed from the scene.
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The mega retailer Walmart has influenced artists to alter cover art that is not deemed "family oriented" if the releases are to be stocked in their stores. White Zombie's 1996 release "Supersexy Swingin' Sounds" had a bikini painted on the originally nude model.
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In 1990 six states banned 2 Live Crew's album "As Nasty As They Wanna Be" on the grounds of obscenity. Selling the album could get you a $10,000 to $100,000 fine in Tennessee, and felony charges in Florida. The group followed in 1990 with "Banned in the USA."
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The Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC) was reportedly formed by Tipper Gore (wife to then Senator Al Gore) upon Gore's listening to Prince's 1985 "Purple Rain" and the track "Darling Nikki." The PMRC would go on to promote parental advisory stickers on music in the mid to late '80s.
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Released to the public in 1985 by the PMRC, the Filthy Fifteen was a list of songs deemed typical of songs that should be banned. Examples include Prince's "Darling Nikki," Madonna's "Dress You Up" and Cyndi Lauper's "She Bop."
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The Filthy Fifteen was released to the public in 1985 by the PMRC. The list included songs deemed typical of the songs that should be banned. Examples include Sheena Easton's "Sugar Walls," the Mary Jane Girl's "In My House" and Twisted Sister's "We're Not Gonna Take It."
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The cover of 1966's "Yesterday and Today" was the first cover to be banned in the US. The original featured the quartet in butcher smocks, doll parts and raw meat. The replacement featured the group seated on and in a trunk with a simple white background.
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An unlikely team of Frank Zappa, Dee Snider (of Twisted Sister) and John Denver banded together to speak at Senate hearings in September 1985 protesting the Tipper Gore's PMRC-proposed music labeling system, then under consideration.
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In 1973, record company executives altered the cover of the band Mama Lion's "Preserve Wildlife" cover. The original featured lead singer, Lynn Carey, seemingly nursing a lion cub.
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In 1966, John Lennon made a remark about the Beatles being more popular than Jesus. The remark caused a severe backlash in the US with boycotts and record burning. Lennon apologized for the comment while on tour to support the "Revolver" album in the US.
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Pepsi pulled its 1989 commercial set just to the music of Madonna's "Like a Prayer" because the link was offensive to religious groups. The original video featured imagery such as Madonna making love and dancing among burning crosses inside a church.
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Frank Zappa's 1986 "Jazz From Hell" release was slapped with an "explicit lyric" sticker in some retail chains despite it being an instrumental album. Zappa's stance against censorship surely earned him this unfair labeling. The album would go on to win a Grammy.
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A rumor developed in 1984 that Bruce Springsteen was actually urinating on the flag on his "Born in the U.S.A." album cover. Springsteen defused the untrue rumor by remarking that he thought that his backside was a more interesting pose than his face.
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After 9/11, the U.S. communications behemoth, Clear Channel Communications, was reported to have sent a list of 150 songs to its thousands of radio stations. The songs on the list were considered to be inappropriate for the national mental health as they either portrayed explicit violence or had themes reminiscent of the recent tragedy. The songs selected spanned many genres and decades of popular music. Clear Channel did not deny that such a list existed, and the idea of a banned list went down as an urban legend. Included on the (alleged) list were Norman Greenbaum's "Spirit in the Sky," John Lennon's "Imagine" and Simon and Garfunkel's "Bridge Over Troubled Water."
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After 9/11, the U.S. communications behemoth, Clear Channel Communications, was reported to have sent a list of 150 songs to its thousands of radio stations. The songs on the list were considered to be inappropriate for the national mental health as they either portrayed explicit violence or had themes reminiscent of the recent tragedy. The songs selected spanned many genres and decades of popular music. Clear Channel did not deny that such a list existed, and the idea of a banned list went down as an urban legend. Included on the (alleged) list were Pat Benatar's "Hit Me With Your Best Shot," Carol King's "I Feel the Earth Move" and Simon and Garfunkel's "Bridge Over Troubled Water."
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After 9/11, the U.S. communications behemoth, Clear Channel Communications, was reported to have sent a list of 150 songs to its thousands of radio stations. The songs on the list were considered to be inappropriate for the national mental health as they either portrayed explicit violence or had themes reminiscent of the recent tragedy. The songs selected spanned many genres and decades of popular music. Clear Channel did not deny that such a list existed, and the idea of a banned list went down as an urban legend. Included on the (alleged) list were the Bangles' "Walk Like an Egyptian," Billy Joel's "Only the Good Die Young" and Elton John's "Bennie and the Jets."
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After 9/11, the U.S. communications behemoth, Clear Channel Communications, was reported to have sent a list of 150 songs to its thousands of radio stations. The songs on the list were considered to be inappropriate for the national mental health as they either portrayed explicit violence or had themes reminiscent of the recent tragedy. The songs selected spanned many genres and decades of popular music. Clear Channel did not deny that such a list existed, and the idea of a banned list went down as an urban legend. Included on the (alleged) list were the Drifters' "On Broadway," Peter and Gordon's "I Go to Pieces" and Cat Stevens' "Morning Has Broken" and "Peace Train."
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A comment from lead singer, Natalie Maines, of the American trio, the Dixie Chicks, over the 2003 Iraq War conflict drew criticisms and some censorship. While on tour in London, Maines issued the comment about being "ashamed" of the current president, but later apologized. What happens to artists expressing political views not expressed in their music? Do they attract or alienate fans?
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After 9/11, the U.S. communications behemoth, Clear Channel Communications, was reported to have sent a list of 150 songs to its thousands of radio stations. The songs on the list were considered to be inappropriate for the national mental health as they either portrayed explicit violence or had themes reminiscent of the recent tragedy. The songs selected spanned many genres and decades of popular music. Clear Channel did not deny that such a list existed, and the idea of a banned list went down as an urban legend. Included on the (alleged) list were Neil Diamond's "America," James Taylor's "Fire and Rain" and the Clash's "Rock the Casbah."
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It is not commonly known that the Beatles, originators of some of the most imitated album covers, caused a controversy with the album artwork used for 1966's "Yesterday and Today." The cover art, a butcher theme with baby doll parts, was meant to be a pictorial metephor on how the album was assembled, that is by piecing together singles in an hodge podge manner as if a butcher assembled it. The butcher theme did not go over very well in America and a new, less metaphorical, cover was designed.
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The Irish band U2's fiery debut in 1980, "Boy," deals with coming-of-age themes. The original album cover featured, appropriately, a topless young boy. When it was rumored that the album was beginning to become popular in San Francisco gay clubs, U2's American label replace the photo with a monochrome shot of the four band members to avoid any accusations of catering to pedophilia.
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Guitar legend, Jimi Hendrix's 1968 double album, "Electric Ladyland" pushed the bounds of psychedelic music. The album cover of the U.K. release pushed the bounds of what some considered acceptable as it featured a bevy of lounging, nude woman with some of them holding a photo of Hendrix over their private parts. This cover version was done without Hendrix's knowledge. The cover of the American release of the album featured just a blurred head shot of Hendrix.
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Constitution Hall is owned by Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR). It was built in 1929 and is one of Washington, D.C.'s largest concert halls. DAR, founded in 1890, is a volunteer women's service organization dedicated to promoting patriotism, preserving American history, and securing America's future through better education for children. It is an inclusive lineal society that has often been criticized for denying membership to the group and performing at Constitution Hall based on skin color. Two performers that were denied permission to perform at the Hall were Joan Baez (of Mexican heritage) in 1967 and Marian Anderson (of African American heritage) in 1939. In protest over DAR's denial to Anderson, first lady, Eleanor Roosevelt, resigned from DAR.
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On March 3, 2004 the "Broadcast Decency Enforcement Act of 2004" passed with a resounding margin in the U.S. House of Representatives. The bill was prompted by a series of events in the previous years including the exposing of Janet Jackson's breast at the 2004 super bowl, U2's Bono using the "F" word at the 2003 Golden Globes and decency violations by radio personality Howard Stern. In the latter case, Stern claims that he is being targeted because of his criticisms of president George W. Bush that were at odds with his employer, media behemoth Clear Channel Communications, and their political leanings.
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The rap group 2 Live Crew's 1989 album "As Nasty as They Want To Be" was a lightening rod for controversy in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The cover featured the group peaking out between the legs of four thong-clad women on a beach. Florida attorney Jack Thompson, affiliated with the conservative group the American Family Association, worked to have 2 Live Crew's music outlawed because of its sexual nature. He succeeded and the result was several record store retailer arrests as well as the arrest of three members of the group themselves.
The rapper MC Pooh Man released "Funky As I Wanna Be" in 1992 as a reference to the 2 Live Crew release. MC Pooh Man's cover features him peaking out behind legs, but in a very different position.
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The group 2 Live Crew was under attack from conservative forces in Florida especially after their 1989 album "As Nasty As They Wanna Be." The album was controversial for its sexual nature. To make matters worse, the group George Lucas (owner of the Star Wars franchise) later sued the group for the record label name their albums were released on - "Luke Skyywalker." The record label shortened its name to just "Luke" and released the follow-up album "Banned in the USA." To play it safe the group secured the rights to Bruce Springsteen's song legally.
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Dunhill Records was started in 1964 by record impresario Lou Adler (1935- ). The label included 1960s/1970s artists Barry McGuire, Three Dog Night, The Mamas & the Papas, and The Grass Roots. The label ended into 1975 as its remaining artists were incorporated into the ABC label. During Dunhill's lifetime it has three different album covers that had to be changed or censored. One example is the cover of Three Dog Night's 1974 "Hard Labor." The original cover featured a female creature giving birth to a record album. The offensive scene was blotted out by a huge band-aid. Another example was another Three Dog Night album, the 1970 "It Ain't Easy", which featured the group in the nude. This image was replaced by a photo of the three vocalists.
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Dunhill Records was started in 1964 by record impresario Lou Adler (1935- ). The label included 1960s/1970s artists Barry McGuire, Three Dog Night, The Mamas & the Papas, and The Grass Roots. The label ended into 1975 as its remaining artists were incorporated into the ABC label. During Dunhill's lifetime it has three different album covers that had to be changed or censored. One example is the cover of the Mamas & the Papas' 1966 debut "If You Can Believe Your Eyes and Ears." The original cover featured the group in a bathtub with a toilet pictured as well. The cover was deemed too offensive for some potential buyers and a revised cover was issued featuring the toilet obscured.
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The singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist artist Stufjan Stevens' began a musical map of the 50 states of the U.S. with his 2003 release "Michigan: The Great Lake State". In 2005, he followed with "Come on Feel the Illinoise." The original cover of "Illinoise" featured an image of Superman which earned Stevens a cease-and-desist order from DC Comics because the image was not properly licensed. The album cover was revised to remove the image of Superman, but not before some (collectable) versions of the cover made it to the public.
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Willie Nelson's 2005 release "Countryman" had its original cover - a marijuana leaf – changed to something more appropriate – a palm tree for Wal-Mart stores. The sanitized design adheres to Wal-Mart's policy of curbing objectionable package design. Besides the mild controversy of the album cover, the music content of the album itself raised some eyebrows as it featured classic Willie Nelson songs done up in reggae-style.
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Tin Machine's 1991 second release "Tin Machine II" originally featured four statues on the cover. The statues are kouros statues and are ancient Greek statues of nude young males dating from about 650 BC to about 500 BC. The genitals of the statues were deemed too offensive for the U.S. market and were rendered to appear broken off. The plural of kouros is kouroi, in case you were wondering.
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