Zappa speaks out about censorship

In the mid-'80s, iconoclastic rocker Frank Zappa testified at Senate hearings regarding the stickering of record albums. The pop composer saw PMRC agenda as a threat to a citizen's freedom of speech. Below we present an interview regarding his participation, a bit of his testimony, and an amusing exchange with a senator.

A 1986 Interview with Frank Zappa. By VH1's Jim Macnie

Jim Macnie: It seems like the PMRC is the perfect absurdist area for your observations. What did you learn from your participation in the hearings?

Frank Zappa: I learned that people in government are much smaller in real life than they are on television, and on television they're already pretty teeny.

Macnie: Easy to tackle?

Zappa: Sure they are. Clue number one should be this: they work for you. They live and die by your vote. They spend your tax money: that's what they eat from. They are yours, buddy, you're not theirs. They have a duty to perform on behalf of you, the citizen. Citizens should always remember that, and people in government should, too. This is not the royal family here; these are former used car salesmen wearing fancy suits, sitting in Washington, D.C. So what's there to be afraid of? I have the right as a private citizen to speak my piece and look out for my own business interests. Just like every other person in the United States does.

Macnie: Have the PMRC made their statement?

Zappa: Of course. And their clout has been felt. But it was really the clout of their husbands by proxy.

Macnie: I read that a journalist called the PMRC looking for an interview and the person answered the phone with "Gore for president."

Zappa: That's right. I said it in 1985: the whole thing looked like the groundwork for a Gore presidential run. But the fact that they'd actually answer the phone at the PMRC like that makes me wonder whether or not any of the money the PMRC collected got put into his campaign - which would be a really cheesy way to run for president.

Macnie: It's fairly insidious and fairly typical that someone would use a first amendment brouhaha to grab headlines for a campaign down the line.

Zappa: How else are you going to get the guy's name in the paper? Take a look at his legislative record. He introduced a bill to declare October 25 a National Mule Appreciation Day. That's real. I've got the bill in my briefcase.

Macnie: Social commentary has always been the essence of your work.

Zappa: Well, there's a lot of material in America; just turn on the TV and you've got it. There's so much stupid stuff going on you can't even keep track of it. The Jimmy Swaggart stuff is hilarious. We had an old song from '71 called "What's a Girl Like You Doing in a Place Like This." Now I've changed the words: "What's a Girl Like You Doing in a Church Like This."

Macnie: Sarcasm has been a writing tool for you. Is that how you act day and day?

Zappa: Most of the stuff I do is quite mundane. If you picture me as a guy who goes around being snotty to people 24 hours a day, that's not the way it is.

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