14 Years Ago In Time

Once again, the U.S. is in a tizzy over raunchy doings in pop culture. When rappers and foul-mouthed comedians were the main bugaboos, TIME devoted a cover to X-RATED CULTURE.

Words and ideas formerly on the extremes have engulfed the cultural mainstream. But have they polluted it? Many people think so. The moral right wing surely does, and it has friends in powerful places. Senator Jesse Helms fights to force artists to forswear any unwholesome intentions before receiving Government support. Alfred Sikes, the new chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, leans on radio disk jockeys to clean up their acts. No less than the FBI sends a warning letter to a rap group. Susan Baker (wife of the Secretary of State) and Tipper Gore (wife of the Tennessee Senator) lobby for proscriptive labeling of certain albums ... Stranded in the middle are the majority of Americans. They wonder at the effluence of raw language and worry about its impact on old-fashioned notions of civilized discourse. Is there room for subtlety and gentility in a culture overrun by expressions of gross intolerance?

--Time, May 7, 1990