Texas called for a boycott of Time Warner because of Cop Killer. Doug Elder, President of the Houston Police Officers Association, stated that if you mix Ice-Ts music "with the summer, the violence, and a little drugs, they are going to unleash a reign of terror on communities all across this country" (in Donelley 1992:66). Several police organizations sent letters of complaint to the record company that released the album, Warner Brothers, and the debate over the songs impact linger on until today (see, for instance, the discussion between the President of the National Association of Chiefs of Police, Dennis Martin, and criminologists Mark Hamm and Jeff Ferrell; see Martin 1993; Hamm and Ferrell 1994). When the stir erupted, Ice-T agreed to voluntarily withdraw the song from the album (Morant 1992:6). Ice-T meanwhile left Warner Brothers because of a disagreement over the cover of his new album. The album cover depicts a Caucasian kid listening to music and dreaming of black people beating up white folks. V. THE MOBILIZATION OF SOCIETY: CLAIMING AND COUNTER-CLAIMING MUSIC In this section I review some of the ways in which claims for and counter-claims against music are mobilized in different social movements and institutions that have engaged in the music censorship debate. The significance of this issue is offered, first, by the variety of people and institutions that are involved in the debate, and, second, by the alliances between organizations that are usually thought off as representing different, even conflicting interests. 1. The PMRC, Its Allies and Enemies An account of the formation of the PMRC and the way in which it has attracted allies and made enemies cannot ignore the social and political climate at the time of the Senate Hearing and PMRCs rise to infamy (Gray 1989b:12-13). President Reagan was serving his second conservative term in the White House; the debate on family values was springing up; and in the wake of eco...
