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Activist Times Inc. Issue 237
Caught in the crossfire?
...hmmm...
Have you tried Staples?
237 000812
,
_ || ' What is
< \, =||= \\ the color
/-|| || || of nuisance.
(( || || || is it
\/\\ \\, \\ democrat
or republican?
Hey LA! Are you ready for boredom with Goredom.
"So what did your dad say when you told
him you'd been accepted to Columbia?"
"That's nice, we're broke. Now move
over. You're in the way, I can't see
my show, 'Baretta.'"
--[what sitcom was it? They all
blurr 2gether, nowadaze.]
Well, hello. I'm prime anarchist and
here's issue 237 of ATI. Activist's Time
to Informya. You're going to LOVE this
issue. We've got some real treats for you.
And to top it off, there's gorilla bisquits
and crispy crab cakes for everyone. Free
for the taking. Wait, there's more.
[not sold in stores.] You might pay 119.99
for this zine, but you won't. You might pay
99 bucks, or 39 bucks. Or even 19.99. But
that's right folks, for just 0.0099 of a
dollar you can get the 'zine for free.
And we'll toss in floormats free. That's
right, you heard right. Matching floormats.
Free.
ATI, where not only do we write a zine, but
we treat you right.
"Enjoy..."
marco.
So who's the blonde woman doing E!'s
"talk soup" now? I'm sooooo relieved.
But I've got to say, I don't enjoy
hearing the word "ta ta's" anymore
from a woman OR a man. Grow up, ok?
Well, I'm prime anarchist, and
I wrote that.
LETTUCE From Our Readers:
"aye tee eye haz h1z 386 4nd h3 gn0z h0w3 t3w Us3 17^#^%"
--[malkav #2600]
to ati@etext.org
Gloria from All In The Family?!?!
And what about Murphy Brown?
Or Ophra? What about Judge Judy?
And Hillary? What about Hillary?
Gloria from all in the family...
Give me a break!
Pio
to ati@etext.org
"I'm very happy to not receive your disjointed ranting.
Wish you would get a new computer every week!
:)"
--Shadow's husband.
Fine Tuning Your "Eye."
-----------------------
Tara Lipinski likes everything.
She really IS beginning to grow into her lips, face and bod
isn't she? About time! Call me weird, but I'm sick of seeing
someone who looks, I don't know. Nine? Positioned and situated
in sexy setups.
I'm watching a rerun of The List and it made me think of
your zine.
Say, do you ever get the feeling they pick your 1, 2 and
3 for you and you just have to come up with your own reasons?
You notice the audience members look exactly like the stars
and hosts?
Mort Downey
NUMBERS FOR YOUR HEAD:
http://www.fcuk.com
http://phillyimc.org
http://drink.to/Damien
http://www.tompaine.com
http://www.angrycoffee.com
http://www.screechmagazine.com
http://watch.pair.com/database1.html
http://www.netwizards.net/~acohen/nicole.html
http://www.prospect.org/archives/43/43chait.html
http://www.misanthropy.net/articles/hearings.html
http://void.simplenet.com/articles/nyt/nyt12.html
http://www.contentbiz.com/sample.cfm?contentID=617
http://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/schlussel030900.asp
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/jbfranklins/canf.htm
http://www.science.uva.nl/~robbert/zappa/albums/Broadway_The_Hard_Way
http://csociety.ecn.purdue.edu/pipermail/slashdot-mailer/1999-July/000161.html
http://www.metroactive.com/papers/sonoma/01.09.97/walmart-music-9702.html
http://www.infosubway.org/infosubway/wto_report/index.html
http://www.forteantimes.com/artic/94/moon.html
http://users.erols.com/sevarask/stocklst.htm
http://www.ravenswoodinc.com/edit.htm
http://www.clicks-and-klangs.com
http://www.undergroundnews.com
http://www.walmartwatch.com
http://www.casadelpan.com
http://www.subvertise.org
http://www.subvert.com
http://www.fibbles.com
----------------- ---------------------------
To Beat The Devil : Parenting In Modern America
----------------- ---------------------------
By Patrick Moore
Special to ATI World News
Part 1
I was setting up a computer table one day with my son, Matt, when WCBI,
our local CBS affilliate ran a special report. Joseph Lieberman
(D-Conn.) had just accepted Al Gore's offer to be his running mate in
the 2000 Presidential race. I listened to Lieberman's acceptance speech,
and eventually he mentioned that Tipper was "helping America raise PG
kids in an X-rated society".
I dropped my tools in surprise. There it was. The ghost of the PMRC was
now alive and well. It didn't take long to realize that the Gores may
well be up to their old tricks again.
Over the past 20 years, there has been an enormous move to sanitize
American electronic culture. Some of it done voluntarily, to be sure,
but by and large, most of it done without the artists' knowledge or
consent. And, with few exceptions, this has been done only in America.
European artists are, for the most part, free from government
interference in their art.
I write this in response to Tipper's book, "Raising PG Kids In An
X-Rated Society" (Abingdon Press, 1987).
Prologue
From the mid-1950's to today, censorship has been used to tame "wild" or
unseemly music, but more often, the performers.. While black doo-wop
groups were popular, the group's album cover usually featured WHITE
people. This was to get them in record stores that would otherwise not
take them. Even black artists were barred from so-called "white" radio
stations. Of course, the only way to get a black song on a white station
was to play a cover version by a white artist. Pat Boone started out
performing songs by black artists, and all too frequently, these
versions lacked the energy and charisma of the original.
A white disc jockey named Dewey Phillips on WHBQ radio in Memphis
frequently played records by black artists on his "Red, Hot And Blue"
radio program. Phillips' rural black dialect and rapid-fire speaking
manner endeared him to Mid-South audiences. But most importantly, it
helped WHBQ's ratings in the mostly black Mississippi Delta.
In 1954, he played a record by an unknown truck driver named Elvis
Presley. The response was so great that Dewey wanted to interview Elvis
that night. Audiences were unsure whether Elvis was black or white, as
he performed Bill Monroe's "Blue Moon Of Kentucky" in a style similar to
black blues singers. Elvis was indeed white, and in the heavily
segregated south, white people didn't imitate blacks. Elvis' records
were restricted to "race" stations or, more frequently, sold under the
counter to avoid offending white customers.
When Elvis hit nationally, White citizens' councils tried to put the
brakes on Elvis' popularity. The main TV networks then, NBC and CBS,
decreed that he could only be shown from the waist up after "Concerned
Citizens" groups complained of Presley's "vulgar" appearances on the
Steve Allen show.
The 1960's rolled around, and the censors were quiet for a while, but
soon the Vietnam conflict was upon us, and "advisors" were coming home
in body bags. People started asking why, and the government wasn't
telling. Instead, folk musicians started performing songs critical of
the government, while Elvis was in Hollywood.
1966 saw the first instance of a record cover being censored by a record
company. When Capitol Records released the Beatles' "Yesterday and
Today" Lp, the original cover featured the group in bloody butcher
smocks, with broken baby dolls and pieces of raw meat strewn about.
Commonly referred to as the "butcher" cover, this was the Beatles'
response to their US label's practice of issuing bowdlerized versions of
their albums.
1966 was also the year "Freak Out", by The Mothers Of Invention was
released. The "head mother", Frank Zappa, would face off with his label,
MGM Records, more than once. In 1968, MGM committed a mortal sin when
the album "We're Only In It For The Money" was released. Without Zappa's
knowledge or consent, MGM edited the album. When Zappa recieved an award
for WOIIFTM, he insisted the award go to the person who censored the
album, because it was "more representative of his work than mine". The
head of MGM records at the time was Mike Curb, an ultra-conservative who
openly supported Ronald Reagan.
After the turmoil of the 1960's, record companies looked for ways to
cash in on the youth market. In the mid-1970's, Disco became the first
musical trend the major record companies fully embraced. It should be no
surprise then that the soundtrack album to "Saturday Night Fever" became
one of the biggest selling records in history.
But as surely as disco swept the nation, another trend was taking hold.
Punk music was the exact antithesis to disco; it was highly charged,
sometimes political, and always volatile. Subject matter was diverse, it
could be about a war or it could be about an artists' relationship with
their record company. And it was all personal.
One thing that set punk apart was that it was "Do-It-Yourself"; that is,
groups could write, publish, record and release their material. And it
was done the way the artists wanted, free of outside interference. The
Dead Kennedys is one of the best examples of this philosophy.
Eventually, the major labels found a way to get in on punk too. "New
Wave" became BIG business in the 1980's.
The video boom of the late 1970's created a market for video
performances of music. Now, not only did an artist have to perform
musically, they also had to act too. On August 1, 1981, MTV was born.
Music would never be the same.
It must be stated that in the early days of music video, station
managers weren't so much concerned with the videos themselves, as long
as there were music videos to air. Michael Jackson's 1982 blockbuster,
"Thriller" owed much of its success to MTV, as it did constant airplay
on American radio.
All this was about to change.
In 1984, Prince starred in and wrote the music for "Purple Rain", a
semi-autobiographical movie. The sountrack album became one of Warner
Bros. Records biggest selling titles. Among the millions who bought the
album were the children of Sen. Albert Gore and his wife, Mary, better
known as "Tipper". When they brought the album home, they were shocked
at the lyrics of one song, "Darling Nikki". Tipper contacted some of her
friends (also wives of high-powered congressmen) and they jointly wrote
a letter to each of the major labels. But in signing the letter, they
used their husbands' names, as opposed to their own. For example, rather
than signing "Mrs. Tipper Gore", she signed "Mrs. Albert Gore". The
major labels laughed the idea off.
Enter the RIAA
The Recording Industry Association Of America is best known as the
lobbying group for the recording industry. They represent most of the
record labels operating in the US. After Tipper got the brush-off from
CBS and Warner Bros., she contacted the head of the RIAA, Stan Gortikov.
Now calling themselves the "Parents' Music Resource Center", she
explained the groups demands to Gortikov. This time, the labels took
notice. The RIAA and the PMRC entered into an informal agreement: the
old "scratch my back and I'll scratch yours" routine.
In consideration for helping the PMRC with their agenda (creation of a
rating system for recorded music), the husbands of the 'Washington
Wives" would pledge to support HR 2911, a bill that, if passed, would
add a tax on blank recording tape and home recording equipment. Needless
to say, the major labels asked their artists not to testify at the
Senate hearing where HR 2911 would be debated. A few did.
Frank Zappa and John Denver testified. So did Dee Snider of Twisted
Sister. Despite repeated statements that the PMRC wasn't attempting to
censor rock music, high-powered record store chains began distributing
letters that said they would not carry any record with any warning
sticker on it whatsoever. And those who testified against the PMRC were
dealt with. Frank Zappa was rewarded with the first "Tipper Sticker"
(parental advisory stickers) on his 1986 "Jazz From Hell" album, the
first (and only) fully instrumental album to be given such treatment.
John Denver was dropped from RCA Records after 16 years.
All the while, several local and state governments began expanding their
"obscenity" laws to include music. And, the PMRC was a willing partner
in these endeavors. The first legal battle came in 1987, when Jello
Biafra was tried on a charge of "distributing harmful matter to minors".
On April 15, 1986, a joint force of San Francisco and Los Angeles police
officers raided Biafra's apartment, trying to find Swiss artist H.R.
Giger, whose painting "Penis Landscape" was included in copies of Dead
Kennedys' "Frankenchrist" album. The trial ended in a hung jury. The
prosecutor, Michael Guarino, later regretted carrying Biafra to court.
The 1990's saw the first convictions of artists who say naughty things.
And, the most famous song you've never heard, Ice-T's "Cop Killer"
became the target of right-wing protests. William Bennett and C. Delores
Tucker stormed a meeting of Time Warner shareholders, accosting the
stockholders of "peddling smut". Time Warner caved in, and dropped
artists and labels that had been controversial, including Ice-T's label,
Interscope.
One of the more onerous practices invented in the 1990's was having full
and edited versions of certain records released. The first major release
treated in this manner was Nirvana's "In Utero". Geffen Records edited
the back cover and track listing to get the record into chain stores
like Wal-Mart. If an artist refused to be edited, then Wal-Mart refused
the album. In one of the more unusual twists of fate, Sheryl Crow found
herself banned from Wal-Mart shelves. Not because of profanity, but
because her song "Love Is A Good Thing", from her self-titled 1996
album, has the lyric: "Watch out sister, watch out brother, Watch our
children as they kill each other with a gun they bought at the Wal-Mart
discount stores."
(Con't next issue:) [ Part 2: A Parent opposes the PMRC ]
"Politicians marinated in money."
--Theresa Amato
A PAWN rePRESS reRELEASE
For Immediate Perusal.
1-800-primeanarchist
extention WRLDNWZ for more info.
Nasty New Worm Proliferates.
The CDC (center for distress control)
has issued an advisory that a viral
pneumo-worm has finally been released.
This strain is much more obnoxious
than happy95, unhappy99 and even the
herbiethelovebug virus that attacks
address books.
Explaining the process is Captain
Dreadnaught, a security analyst at
Computational Computer Computing,
Incorporated, a think-tank in Alexander,
Virginuous.
"Well, basically what it does is sets cookie
crumbs into your hard drive if you're using
version 48.9 of Winthose2000. And the minute
you open up your Inert Exploder browser,
it changes all your bookmarks to sites
like http://www.softpinkxxxgrlz.com,
http://www.touchmymonkey.net
or http://www.haveone.org/asmic/time.html
This gets people in a lot of trouble with spouses,
parents, children, local law enforcement and
sometimes even makes their local ISP mad at
them."
Dreadnaught went on to say this virus is not
harmful in any other way, that's why his thinktank
is using the words "obnoxious" rather than dangerous
as you are in no particular danger other than having
your whole mind [expletive]'d with.
CCCI recommends you clean out your bookmarks file
after every session if you know anyone "faint of heart."
And as usual, says the CCCI, diabetics should never order
the white bread at Subway counterfood Sandwich Shops.
(A)(C)(T)(I)(V)(I)(S)(T) (T)(I)(M)(E)(S)
We end ATI with thoughts:
"a thousand spiders can live in your bedroom without
ever biting you."
{ yiddish proverb , not attributed to Josef Lieberman }
[][][][][][][][]
For Russ
by Marc Levy
His name was Mark.
Only knew him to say hello.
Squad leader in 1/6.
Went out to police his own automatic
And told his men to stay back,
He'd do it on his own.
Then walked into it
Blowing three Claymores.
Not much left
But a suicide note in his pack.
"Stop the war," it said.
WAVE - Win A Vermouth Enema.
_disc lamer_
This 'zine marked up while under the influence
of 20 ounces RC Cola, four Carlos V mexican
Nestle candy bars, 2 lactaids, 2 teaspoons
cayenne pepper, con agua y hielo, and one
Annie Humphrey CD.
Send all Tide Arm & Hammer
to ati@etext.org
Website:
http://cosmos.lod.com/~ati
Newsgroup:
alt.society.ati
FTP:
ftp://ftp.downcity.net/pub/ati
H O L L Y W O O D V I D E O
<-- Squeeze & Shake -->
