Earth to Moon by Moon Unit Zappa

Author:Moon Unit Zappa
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2024-06-25T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 33

Art and Artists

I am eighteen and still recovering from seeing Sixteen Candles and finding out that dads can say sorry to their daughters. It’s 1985, and my father decides to go after the Parents Music Resource Center, or PMRC, a group of Washington wives hell-bent on music censorship. The story going around our great nation was that children were vandalizing property and committing suicide because of heavy metal music, so these women began to insist that record companies affix labels to albums to warn people of what they consider objectionable content. I overhear Frank explaining the danger of their proposal to Gail, his attorney, and the press. From what I gather, the problem is multipronged: Who has the right to say what constitutes a danger? Wouldn’t this kind of labeling directly impact sales, not just his but any artist’s? Additionally, I hear him discuss something called “the HR 2911 tape tax,” hidden within the PMRC’s proposal, that would create “handshake profit” and control between the government and record companies, another blow to any artist because they wouldn’t receive any of the piggyback revenue and the label would be allowing artist censorship. Not yet a voter myself, I am struggling to grasp all the potential outcomes my civic-minded father foresees so easily, that he fears and feels he must prevent.

He invites Dweezil and me to go with him when he speaks in Congress. Frank wants us to see how our country is run, but also to show the politicians proof that children raised in a First Amendment–loving home exposed to all things do not become degenerate. It is scary and thrilling, but also a bit sad, watching my father get hammered by the self-righteous religious robots. A wave of press follows. Frank does Crossfire and does so well his wheels start turning about a future in politics. I can tell he feels good in this new role, and he likes wearing suits. I feel so proud of him but also powerless about what I can do to make a difference.

The invisible external and internal pressure to follow in my father’s footsteps intensifies. I want Frank’s depth and breadth and intelligence and work ethic, but I also want his mutual respect and love. I have chosen acting instead of music to entertain and educate the world and win my father’s respect, but it’s not choosing me back. Do I have to become political too?

We return to LA, and my father sends Washington a message by crafting his own hilarious, scathing warning labels for his albums, announcing "This album contains material which a truly free society would neither fear nor suppress" and satirizing their “God-fearing concerns” to an extreme, stating his albums feature music and lyrics that "are GUARANTEED NOT TO CAUSE ETERNAL TORMENT IN THE PLACE WHERE THE GUY WITH THE HORNS AND POINTED STICK CONDUCTS HIS BUSINESS." Even his classical music gets this over-the-top warning sticker. Me? I am still so angry that heavy metal music is being blamed for

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