The early 1990s saw possibly the most famous censorship case yet. 2 Live Crew, a prominent rap band, found its sales restricted in Florida as police began arresting children under 18 for purchasing the band's sexually provocative CD, "As Nasty As They Want to Be." Odd enough, this might have actually benefited the rap group, because before Broward County, Florida tried to ban distribution of their music, most Americans have never heard of them. In the album, the band uses the word "fuck" 226 times, refers to women as "bitches" and "whores" 163 times, uses 87 words or phrases referring to oral sex, and one mention of incest. (Nuzum "Radio Suckers") Nick Navarro, the Sheriff in Broward County who sought 2 Live Crew's conviction, pressed charges against Luke Records Inc. to ban the album from all stores in Florida due to its obscenity. The one song on the CD that was banned from radio stations was their title track, "Me So Horny." The band decided to put out a cleaner, less provocative CD called "As Clean As They Want to Be." The band was arrested for performing the song in their concerts. After long and considerable debates, the band was released and the song was allowed to be purchased. (Moran 14) By the mid to late 90s, we have seen efforts undertaken by retail stores to limit and prohibit sales of music that they find offensive. (Lowenthal) Album covers that have been found to be offensive have either been changed or banned. The same applies for lyrics. (Katz)
For example, in December 1996, the retail store Wal-Mart decided to not sell any CDs that contained content that could be objectionable to some people. (Jansen) Wal-Mart, which last year sold 52 million CDs in its 2,300 stores, accounted for nearly 9% of total domestic music CD sales. (Denisoff) The reason Wal-Mart took this direction, was because they wanted to make their store a "family oriented and family friendly corporation." (Nuzum "Parental") Many artists now have to clean up their lyrics to meet Wal-Mart's family standards. For example, a John Mellencamp CD titled "Mr. Happy-Go-Lucky" shows the artist with two children and a dog. In the background on either side are faded drawings of Jesus and the Devil. (Radio Free World) The background on the Wal-Mart case is airbrushed out. The band Nirvana had to change the fourth song's title in their album "In Utero" to "Waif Me" instead of "Rape Me" because Wal-Mart thought it was inappropriate for their family friendly corporation. (Radio Free World)
Wal-Mart's strict policies have occasionaly backfired on them. For example, they stopped carrying the Goo Goo Dolls' "A Boy Named Goo" because they felt the cover art depicted a child abuse victim. However, the press scolded and attacked Wal-Mart's decision, showing that the cover art was not of an abused child but of a child covered in "goo" (hince the name, "A Boy Named Goo.") (Diehl 15) Wal-Mart eventually put the album back in their stores' shelves. (Diehl 16) |
