204 sLAde goRton: A hALf centuRy in poLitics
performers, and retailers in order to pass H.R. 2911, the Blank Tape Tax,
a private tax levied by an industry on consumers for the benefit of a select
group within that industry.”^3
Zappa had told reporters he was suspicious the hearing was merely a
front for the proposed tax: “A couple of blowjobs here and there and
Bingo! — you get a hearing.” The major record labels wanted the bill to
“whiz through a few committees before anybody smells a rat,” Zappa
added, denouncing the proposal as something “whipped up like an in-
stant pudding by The Wives of Big Brother.”^4
For a man whose wife had been told by Zappa “May your shit come to
life and kiss you on the face,” Gore’s remarks at the hearing struck Gor-
ton as pathetically obsequious. “I found your statement very interesting,”
Gore told Zappa, “and although I disagree with some of the statements
that you make and have made on other occasions I have been a fan of your
music, believe it or not. I respect you as a true original and a tremen-
dously talented musician.... The proposals made by those concerned
about this problem do not involve a government role of any kind what-
soever. They are not asking for any form of censorship or regulation of
speech in any manner, shape, or form. What they are asking for is whether
or not the music industry can show some self-restraint... Your sugges-
tion of printing the lyrics on the album is a very interesting one.... You
are very articulate and forceful.”^5
Then it was Gorton’s turn: “Mr. Zappa, I am astounded at the courtesy
and soft-voiced nature of the comments of my friend, the senator from
Tennessee. I can only say that I found your statement to be boorish, in-
credibly and insensitively insulting to the people who were here previ-
ously; that you could manage to give the first amendment of the Constitu-
tion of the United States a bad name, if I felt that you had the slightest
understanding of it, which I do not. You do not have the slightest under-
standing of the difference between government action and private action,
and you have certainly destroyed any case you might otherwise have had
with this senator... .”
“Is this private action?” Zappa shot back.^6
Gorton warned Zappa he might be held in contempt of Congress for
his defiant attitude. “Go ahead Senator,” Zappa snarled. “I already hold
you in contempt.”^7
Zappa’s bravura performance made him a sought-after public speaker
on freedom of expression. Not long before he died of prostate cancer in
1993 at the age of 52, he observed, “Since 1985 I’m probably more famous
for having Slade Gorton tell me I didn’t know anything about the First