Filthy Fifteen: continued

7. Twisted Sister - "We're Not Gonna Take It" (1984)
Not sexual, political. Just another a go-to-hell tune from a child to his parents. But Dee Snider's “look” - long blond curls, make-up, leather - was so sexually rad that the PMRC accounted for both the singer and the song. Rated V.
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8. Madonna - "Dress You Up" (1984)
The singer rose to the top by being an agent provoacteur, so with the resonance of the phrase "like a virgin" ringing in everyone's ears, the PMRC heard the reletively mild refrain "gonna dress you up in my love/all over your body" as degenerate. We metaphor lovers are still confused about what's actually wrong here.
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9. W.A.S.P. - "Animal/F**k Like A Beast" (1984)
Given that it italicizes lines like “A pelvic thrust and the sweat starts to sting ya,” you might call Blackie Lawless a sensualist. But Tipper and her troops merely found him sick. Regardless, this was W*A*S*P’s finest hour, where the band sounded as evil as Lawless’ seamy id. Rated X for sexually explicit or profane lyrics.
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10. Def Leppard - "High 'N Dry" (1981)
The Lep’s anthemic celebration of all-day drinking - a common past-time in their depressed hometown of Sheffield, England - fell on the PMRC’s def ears. Rated D/A for advocating the use of drugs or alcohol.
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11. Mercyful Fate - "Into the Coven" (1983)
This Danish group’s entire Melissa debut album was obsessed with witchcraft, but its worst song deserved special attention for the emotive command, “Crush the cross/ Suck the blood from this unholy knife!,” sung by drama queen King Diamond like he was Satan’s own Pavarotti. Rated O for referring to the occult.


12. Black Sabbath - "Trashed" (1983)
“Trashed,” where Ian Gillian drunkenly flips over his car on his country estate, is probably the best tune on the fading Sabs’ grim 1983 Born Again album. The subsequent tour boasted, Spinal Tap-style, a Stonehenge set too big for the stages they played. Rated D/A for advocating the use of drugs or alcohol.


13. The Mary Jane Girls - "In my House" (1985)
Each girl boasted a different persona in this Rick James project: street kid, Valley Girl, model, and dominatrix. Their funk glistened on this No. 7 hit, but attracted PMRC ire with the line “When it comes down to makin’ love/ I’ll satisfy you every need.” Rated X for sexually explicit or profane lyrics.


14. Venom - "Possessed" (1985)
More opportunist than Satanic, Britain’s Venom were definitely the bottom of the inferno. Creating black metal by sheer lack of talent, they were running low on brimstone by their third album. Still, cartoon sloganeering like “I sit at the virgin you worship” earned “Possessed” an O for referring to the occult.
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15. Cyndi Lauper - "She-Bop" (1983)
Lauper’s two-fingered salute to the joys of masturbation tempted fate by stressing that there "ain’t no law against it yet.” The PMRC was listening, of course. But the rest of us were too busy messing with the danger zone to notice. Blame the hypnotic effect of track's classic guitar riff. Rated X.
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> Go to the Banned Song Collection