For my 16th birthday, my girlfriend and I went to Walmart so she could buy me a VHS copy of the movie Clerks. When we asked about it, they laughed in our faces and said, "We'll never sell R Rated movies." How the times have changed.
A couple of friends bought me a cassette copy of Undertow by tool for my 16th birthday,but they had to buy the copy that was censored - the artwork in the liner notes was removed,and there was an apology from the band for having to remove it just to make it okay for a retailer to sell it. Bear in mind though that this was back during the Tipper Gore era,when that hateful "b" was trying to censor ALL kinds of music.
Censoring was the main reason my friends and me would avoid buying CDs at Walmart back in the day. It just feels wrong to hear hard rock or hip hop song lyrics muted out. 😑
I remember buying korn's issues at Walmart and being pissed that it was muted I was 13 they still sold the album which is weird cause even if u mute f*** and s*** etc but the subject matter in that album still is very dark but that's fin just no bad words lmao.
Some bands actually make alternate versions of songs with different lyrics on the censored versions, those are way better. Like I'm Not Okay (I Promise) by My Chemical Romance for example, the censored version replaces a line which goes "I'm not o-f&**in' kay" with "I'm really not okay".
I hated buying any music at Walmart... Still do even today... Great example is Metallica "Garage Inc.". Me and a buddy was hanging out at Subway (where he worked) around closing time. He tells me that he had a copy of Garage Inc. and proceeded to put it on. When the song "So What?!" came on and the bleeping began, we realized that copy came from Walmart... I told my buddy to toss that in the garbage where it belonged (he never did). Walmart... Where cussing and questionable cover art in music is bad... But nudity, graphic violence, and everything under the sun in movies and video games is ok...
At the time Walmart had a bigger music section, and they wanted a family friendly atmosphere. With that ethos in place contoversial art was in need of being toned down. Currently Walmart has a much smaller music display and the empasis on cleaned up lyrics is prety much gone. I bought a Shania Twain album where she drops a few F Bombs in one song, but there is a Tipper Sticker printed on the cover. Truth is I'm past 61 and I guess I'm old enough to buy a record with a few bad words on it if I choose to. Tipper Gore the moral crusader who played a set with The Grateful Dead. Bad words and sexual themes were horrid things, but playing with a drug addicted psychedelic rock band is ok for a mom to do.
It was a weird time indeed for that kind of stuff (80s/90s)... last time I stepped into a WalMart here, they did't even have a music section anymore... No CDs, no records... heck, not even any movies.
Man, I'm glad I live in the UK - none of this record sleeve B/S occurs. I have worked in record shops, and not once do I remember anyone being offended by a record sleeve.
Don't forget the 'Video Nasties' situation though in the UK back in the 70s and 80s when various gory horror movies were banned in Britain and shop owners could have been arrested for stocking them and selling them. There are documentaries all about that "Video Nasties" era.
There are always exceptions, but if someone finds a record disconcerting, normally, they just scrunch their face up, mumble something and then put it back. Well, that's what happens here in the UK. Apparently others will attempt to sue the store for, well, I don't know what. (Money, I guess.)
@@TorontoJon yes, someone actually went to prison it's well documented. Ban the sadist videos and draconian days are excellent docs on this absolutely shameful time. I don't know what this guy is on about UK was and is the most censored place in the western world.
Regarding the White Zombie cover, I wonder if WalMart ever banned Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass's album "Whipped Cream and Other Delights." If you're not familiar with this lp, the image is readily available via a quick search.
Also in the 80’s they banned Love At First Sting due to the album cover. They did carry an altered version which had a photo of the band on the cover. That’s the version I had on cassette.
Yeah, in those days Kmart / Caldor / Bradlees/ Ames and walmart all carried the cover with the band in black and white. I still have the band cover vinyl I got at Kmart in 84
@ I’m sure you can find it on discogs. It’s just a black and white photo of the band. As stated this was the Kmart/Walmart/Target edited cover. I eventually found the original cover on vinyl about 10 years ago at Goodwill for a dollar.
Jane's Addiction "Ritual..." was banned and Perry Ferrell released it for Walmart with the cover changed to just have the 1st amendment on it. Body Count was banned even when Ice-T took "Cop Killer" off of it. Fuck Darrell Gates.
Thankfully we don’t have Walmart in Seattle. For decades they weren’t any in all of Washington State… Now there are a few in smaller towns, but even then most people either go to Fred Meyer or Target.
When I lived in Pullman, WA we had a Walmart but it was minimally stocked, low amount of aisles and probably the smallest Walmart I've been to. It would have been better to not have one tbh
I have a funny story about buying a movie at Wal-Mart. I bought a VHS of the movie of Pink Floyd's The Wall there, I think I was about 15. The clerk said "This movie is rated R, I don't know if I can sell it to you." I said "I've already seen it, it's done all the damage it's going to do" and the guy sold it to me lol.
I had one guy almost refuse to rent me mortal kombat 2 on snes back in the mid 90s... he was like.... I don't think you can rent this due to the mature rating.. took one look at ne and said.... yeah it's fine... you're cool
I remember when they banned Stryper’s album. Thought back then that was weak on Walmart’s part. That said, several of their fans also didn't like the title either. Most got it however. Stryper is not new to controversy. Only look at To Hell with the Devil album cover.
It's so stupid Walmart would ban Stryper. Christian book stores sold Stryper CDs, though some of them refused to carry _Against the Law_ , the last album of their initial run, because the band had gone in a "secular" direction.
Funny story... I actually bought Caligula at Wal-Mart many years ago and was confused after watching it because the film seemed very disjointed and it certainly didn't live up to the hype. It turns out it was the censored version of Caligula with damn near half the movie cut out. Lol
Top of my head, my 1960s album (Surrealistic Pillow, I think) by Jefferson Airplane, was very popular because of the song (White Rabbit?): “Up against the wall, mother f&cker.” Didn’t remember it being banned, when it was released. Also, for soundtrack and movie of Woodstock”, there was “Country Joe and the Fish onstage, “Give me an “F”; give me a “U”, etc. then, “What’s that spell.” We loved it!
In Canada most of those albums were available in Walmart with original covers/lyrics. Walmart in US was more " family friendly" and sensitive to offensive material. Many magazines are not carried by Walmart in the US but are by Walmart in Canada. I presume the same with movies.
I work in the electronics department of Walmart. We sell Green Day's Dookie, a Nirvana compilation album that has R^pe Me on it, and the entire series of Beavis and Butthead on DVD. We do carry many R rated movies and TV shows, but no porn. Not sure if there are sex scenes in any of the movies we have. That has become pretty common now, so it's possible.
SuperSexy Swingin' Sounds is an absolute grail LP for a lot of us collectors. Only 500 were pressed, and that was in 1995, so not a ton of them have survived (and most of the ones that have are in mediocre shape). I finally got a NM+ copy recently from a source in Sweden after trying to snag one for about 15 years. Rob had the same cover art issue with another of his remix albums, Mondo Sex Head. All the pressings except the first have alternate cover art.
And because of this, we stopped buying music at Walmart. I mean we bought our local music store in the same goodie, but then there was a department store called ShopKo across the street and we would buy music there because it was cheaper than the mall and it was close to the mall and independent music store was on the other side of town.
Frank Zapoa won an award for Were Only In It For The Money in the late 60s. When he heard the lp, he refused the award. The label had changed the mix, and the sentence was reversed. He said that the record was more the labels than his. They also objected to the word paid in the sentence about a Waitress. It referred to a writing pad. But the label was concerned it referred to a lady's sanitary product. It was totally ridiculous.
@@kemlay2451 There's nothing better than walking into a record store and taking a good whiff of the burning incense. There's also pouring through all the selections and finding that one thing you don't have or are looking for. It's something that I miss from the 90s.
The issue with CDs and lyrics with Walmart and not with movies is that movies have a rating system (G-PG-PG13-R). Even games have a rating system. Music doesn't have the same rating codes. They only have the Parental Advisory stickers and because the Parental Advisory stickers was so new it was also controversial. Many bands didn't care about the sticker while others put out two versions with one being stickered and the others not stickered. (The stickered versions always outsold the non-stickered version.) I myself stopped buying any CDs from Walmart back with Straight Outa Compton came out and exclusively went to mall CD stores like Sam Goodys, FYE or Virgin. That is until I used BMG and Columbia House for those free CDs and then I'd stop the subscription and rejoin a few months later.
I'm more offended that the baby on the Nirvana album cover might be drowning! Also,t his just in: Walmart changes mind about Stryker album after band renames it: "God Praise Evil!"
Instead of banning offensive albums, Walmart should have been more concerned with treating their employees better and paying them better wages. A union just got into the Walmart distribution centre here in Canada (Mississauga, Ontario). I hope the stores eventually follow suit and unionize. They’ve worked their asses off in the stores for years, it’s time for Walmart to pay up now.
@andrewmachado6988 Good Luck !!! This store "SOLD GUNS" !!! And nobody said or did 💩💩💩💩 Meanwhile .....No Cashiers, You're Fired In An Instant, Customers Fight And Stealing they care about. So you're arrested and they Have this. 6 TV System with 3 Wal-Mart "Cops" sitting on their Asses. And they close without a moments notice And "No Job For You".
Yes Frank. Banning the STRYPER album was WAY TOO SESNSITIVE. Well Frank, you know my TOP 5. But I just listened to some more vinyl LPs worthy of HONORABLE MENTION. "Men of the Mall" (1959) (marching band) , JUDY COLLINS "Recollections" (1972) , MONKEYS "Best of" (1976) , RITA COOLIDGE "Love Me Again" (1978) , and ST "Arthur" (1981) . A couple more possibly on the way, I will let you know.
Funny that Mellow Gold would be one of them. What's even more weird is that was the last CD I bought out at our mall that had the Wal Mart in it. Until they moved across town and tore it all down. I bet I even went into Wal Mart looking for that cd first. And guessing they didn't have it. I just went to the record store that was right next to Mal Wart to buy it. And I just can't see them stocking Kerplunk. But with how Dookie exploded. I still can't see them carrying anything on Lookout Records. So this is obviously a timing thing. And all these years later. Never seen 1 single copy of Waif Me yet. And if Bal Wart were stocking Offspring's Smash back then. Did they even want to stock Heavy Petting Zoo or Eating Lamb by NOFX?
The oddest album i ever bought on Cassett at Walmart was Dead Horse Peaceful Death and Pretty Flowers...Best purchase ever.Never would have bought it if i wasn't in that Walmart back in 1991...took a chance on it and blew me away....uncensored too,don't think it needed to be.
This is one of the many reasons I don't go to walmart. I would rather pay a few more dollars to a local merchant. I don't need the walmart thought police thinking for me. I can think for myself.
About green day i got both kurplunk and dookie both unedited from Walmart in the early 2000s And funny how Walmart can sell guns and rated r movies but won't sell a parental advisory album at least back then
Nevermind is slightly overproduced but In Utero is kind of a mess. I think Kurt was _trying_ to chase away some of the audience with that one, but that wasn't gonna happen in '94, Nirvana was too strong. A lot of fans _made_ themselves like that album. I like half of it. I actually prefer Incesticide.
I never knew most of these albums existed at the time. I wasn't a fan of any of these groups or artists(outside of Willie Nelson). The only one I ever bought was the 10" box set of "Nevermind" by Nirvana. I bought it as a collector's item and it is still sealed. None of it was the kind of music I like. In my era of music, the uncensored covers of "Two Virgins" and one by Blind Faith were banned in the U.S. for awhile. I didn't buy those either. The only "new" music which piqued my interest were the 100 songs banned from radio after 9-11. Now, I had to have those!
My wife has refused to shop at Walmart her entire life because of their censorship aspects when it comes to rock music, and I have honored that wish except for two mail order items over the years; Walmart is just too prudish in most cases for us.
They also banned the Goo Goo Dolls 1995 release "A Boy Named Goo" over the album art that showed a toddler boy covered in crushed berries that Walmart said looked like blood and promoted child abuse.
Walmart is weird, I bought "Truth Killer" by Sevendust which was the regular explicit version and I also bought "Afterlife" by FFDP which was a clean version. They can't make up their minds!
Walmart will be Walmart...I don't buy records from them...Roadrunner, the E Fetus, Cheapo's, Hymie's and others do me quite well...plus they have bigger selections than they and other mainstreamers... Great show, Frank!
I always thought it was funny that you could you couldn’t buy these kind of albums at Walmart because of stupid reasons, but you could buy the glorious horror movie without problem
In utero from Nirvana said "waif me" instead of "rape me"😂😂😂😂😂me and my older brother laughed about that for years. Nowadays they have the Nirvana black greatest hits vinyl for sale with rape me on it. Actually printed "rape me" right on the back for all to see.
This is the main reason I refuse to shop at Walmart. Who is the person or team making these decisions? An album cover or lyrics can be deemed offensive by Walmart yet they were selling firearms by the buttload. And I am not against one owning firearms. Can an album cover or lyrics harm you?
Guns N Roses Appetite for Destruction was the album that was infamously unavailable at Walmart back in the day. Now, the LP is usually upfront and prominent in their record rack.
Use your illusion 1 and 2 were also banned and this was actually a good thing since it made the comp Use your illusion with all the song that didnt have cuss words i find this album as one of my favorites of all time!
Because of not having songs with cussing, a glaring omission from that compilation is “You Could Be Mine” but other than omitting that, I don’t mind it. It’s nice to have both versions of “Don’t Cry” on one disc.
Kmart was pretty much the same. This was pretty standard during this timeframe. It's why 2 live crew and others have gone to court over it. Same with other countries having different versions of movies and albums. Ironically Walmart sells uncensored albums and sex toys now.
Walmart also banned the LoveSexy album by Prince in 1988, due to cover art. I remember many record stores keeping it behind the counter as well. The cover had a tasteful nude of Prince that showed nothing graphic.
I actually did buy a copy of Dookie at Walmart probably 10-15 years ago when the $5 CD bins were still a thing. I didn’t take a close look at it but the cover may have been edited.
Related...in 1985 (40 year ago by next Sept 2025), Frank Zappa, John Denver and Dee Snider all spoke out against Tipper Gore's Parents Music Resource Center (PRMC) at what became known as the senate censorship trials. It has been decades since 15 songs - the so-called “Filthy Fifteen” - were declared obscene in America. The designation of a Filthy Fifteen was part of a backlash campaign that ended with the imposition of "Parental Advisory" stickers on albums warning of “explicit lyrics.” My favorite (and most humorous) part of The Frank Zappa Book (1989) was reading the transcripts between Zappa and the Senators (Fritz Hollings, Slade Gorton and Al Gore). I highly recommend it it anyone who either remembers this time period or wants to learn about the origins of the parental advisory sticker; which in the end only served to benefit the artists and generally caused an increase in album sales...this all predated the term now referred to as the (Barbra) "Streisand Effect" (2003). Cheers!
Hello Frank! Censoring and banning only creates more interest and ”want” , in my opinion. Some of those are ridicoulus. I’ll just buy them somewhere else. /R
Back in the day I never had a problem with them. I just didn’t buy my music there. It’s their store they can sell what they want I don’t have to buy it. Most of my music they wouldn’t sell.
Today Walmart in the US sells whatever albums they want. I was shocked (and delighted!) to see them selling Rage Against the Machine’s “Bombtrack” and Snoop Dogg’s “Doggystyle” both with parental advisory stickers.
We don't have Walmart in Australia (yet), but we do get to see heaps of images taken in Walmart stores and I am certain no album could even get close to as offensive as the clothing worn by shoppers in Walmart, but I guess it is their choice what they sell and their loss when they don't sell them
I remember these issues as a kid in the 80’s at other retailers before I’d ever even heard of Walmart. K-Mart had censored versions of albums as well. The one that always comes to mind was an alternate cover for Love At First Sting by the Scorpions. Apparently a little side boob was too much for them, so they did an alternate cover showing the same picture of the band that was on the back cover. That was the first copy I owned. Funny thing is that I eventually bought a second copy with the original cover (because unlike K-Mart I wanted a little side boob 😂). So in a sense, when they censored the cover, it actually helped sales of this record since I bought two copies of it!
i could of swore the censored nevermind cover (editing out the kids junk) was BECAUSE of walmart. perhaps it was a combination of many stores. anyway, props to sheryl crow for calling out the store. certain lyrics and / or albums covers are bad but selling guns in the store is ok.
This was crazy to see! Walmart must’ve changed their minds about this stuff at some point, because I see that Nirvana album with the baby on the front all the time at Walmart. Also, the Green Day album Dookie is there now. I bought my only copy from Walmart. I know this wasn’t on the list, but I also just saw American idiot for sale the other day. It’s crazy that they would ban 21st century breakdown but allow American idiot.
When I was a teenager in the 90s I was a serial CD shoplifter. I would not steal CD'S from Walmart as I couldn't sell a censored CD at my highschool. Used to make good money. 8-10 bucks for a CD when they were close to $20 at times.
Of course Nirvana and Jane's Addiction, some of the first bands to bring alternative rock to the mainstream. Part of the whole identity of this movement was to be controversial and make statements calling out hypocrisy, injustice and whatnot. Rage Against The Machine goes to the same camp, although they were quite serious with their messages while some were more light hearted having fun with being controversial.
We didn’t have Walmart in Canada until 1994 and 1999 in the Niagara Reguon . We didn’t have Walmart in the Niagara Eegion for the majority of the 90s. We had Zellers and Future Shop instead ld Walmart,Target,and Best Buy(it wasn’t until after 9/11 we had Best Buy in Canada). Walmart and Best Buy weren’t common until the 2000s or after the millennium 9n Monday Jan 1st 2001. We did have a loot of record shops,arcades,and Donut Diners
Yeah I never used to buy my CDs from Walmart. Usually if there were any swear words, they would just bleep over the whole track… If I’m paying full price I want the dirty wordies man 😂🔥
Some artists didn't do the bleeping. They recorded 2 different versions of their albums, one with profanity, and the other with clean words. This usually happened with hip hop. The clean versions would also be the ones played on the radio and/or used for the music videos.
I bought both Nirvana albums when they came out & don't recall any issues other than the song being renamed "waif me." They used to special order albums for people like regular record stores do & refused to order a Charles Manson album for me. 😂😂😂
Remind me never to shop in Walmart if I am ever to visit North America. That's the problem with overt conservatism, it's hypocritical. Recent events prove this.
I never bought a CD at walmart. Did they censor albums here in Canada or was it only in the U.S. ? Also i remember hearing Evan Dando of The Lemonheads say walmart forced Atlantic/Warner to change the name of his song "my drug buddy" to "my buddy" on the back of their "It's A Shame About Ray" album.
Arctic Monkeys are a UK band and no-one in the UK would bat an eye at "Suck it and See". It's just a fairly common way of saying try it and see if it's any good. Banning it suggests that Walmart execs have slightly twistwed minds. Kenneth Horne, a very popular comedian back in the day, put it quite succinctly, " Anything can have a double meaning, if you try hard enough.".
I remember in the 90s and up to like 2005 since 2005 I don’t know but the Walmart here in California if it had a parental advisory sticker, they wouldn’t sell it. I live way out in the country thank God for BMG. Because the nearest record store is a 4 1/2 hour round-trip good video thank you.
They refuse to sell Stryper's God Damn Evil, when I went to Walmart that same week they had Cannibal Corpse's Red Before Black in stock. I never laugh so much in a Walmart.
My Walmart sells Kerplunk. But the artwork is altered so it's just the flower and the album title. The back has a photo of the band and the tracklist. they used the dookie version of welcome to Paradise instead of the Kerplunk recording. they banned father of all because of its reviews
I ❤❤ "Garage Days" And GnR "Lies" !!! I played the 💩💩💩💩 Outta Those Cassettes on my Walkman. Can You Say Walkman, Boys and Girls. ?? It was a Badge Of Honor...and my "Metallica" Mix Tape. 😁😁😁
I think some bands deliberately dropped a few f-bombs just to get those Parental Advisory stickers. I always thought they looked pretty cool and made sure you were careful playing the record if your parents were in earshot!)) The White Zombie cover is homage to a lot of 60s albums especially cheesy compilations which used to be on sale very cheap in British charity shops!
Not sure if this was also a thing in Canada, or maybe it was just the US. I remember buying a CD in Vegas at a Frye's Electronics in the early 2000's that was censored in the music mix itself. The artist cursed (nothing heavy) in a couple of songs and those words were actually removed at the recording level. No mention of this anywhere on the cover. I didn't buy the CD for the cursing, so it didn't bother me. Just thought it was interesting.
I personally prefer In Utero over Nevermind had more of a raw sound. And Mechanical Animals despite the cover, was honestly an underrated album. (Also the only album I have fully downloaded by Manson)
Excellent point about the movies that Walmart may still be selling! For the past 25 years or so, Hollywood has seemingly become OBSESSED with the “F”-word; you can’t get away from it as it is now commonplace in the majority of films produced today. I have noticed that it has had a direct effect on people, in general. Back in the 70’s, I rarely heard the word as a teenager. Today, you can’t leave the house and not hear the word spoken at least once a day out in public!
Walmart refuses to even sell CDs that have a Parental Advisory sticker, meaning it'll either have a censored version of the CD, or not even sell the CD at all. It's a shame, since Walmart is literally the only place in my city that sells CDs, so if I'm to buy a CD that has a Parental Advisory sticker, then I'm ordering it through Amazon, which is what I just did with Linkin Park's From Zero.
Talk about sensorship overkill !! I know some people like to get the weekly groceries and purchase an album at the same time but i stick to record shops to get mine.. and there is no sensorship there !!
For my 16th birthday, my girlfriend and I went to Walmart so she could buy me a VHS copy of the movie Clerks. When we asked about it, they laughed in our faces and said, "We'll never sell R Rated movies." How the times have changed.
At which Walmart location was this? I recall purchasing and seeing numerous R-rated VHS tapes for sale at Walmart from the late 80s onward.
I remember being carded when I bought Face/Off.
A couple of friends bought me a cassette copy of Undertow by tool for my 16th birthday,but they had to buy the copy that was censored -
the artwork in the liner notes was removed,and there was an apology from the band for having to remove it just to make it okay for a retailer to sell it. Bear in mind though that this was back during the Tipper Gore era,when that hateful "b" was trying to censor ALL kinds of music.
I'm on Walmart side
Nothing but filth
Censoring was the main reason my friends and me would avoid buying CDs at Walmart back in the day. It just feels wrong to hear hard rock or hip hop song lyrics muted out. 😑
I remember being 12 and buying the Avril Lavigne best damn thing album at Walmart and not realizing it was censored until I got home smh
I remember buying korn's issues at Walmart and being pissed that it was muted I was 13 they still sold the album which is weird cause even if u mute f*** and s*** etc but the subject matter in that album still is very dark but that's fin just no bad words lmao.
Some bands actually make alternate versions of songs with different lyrics on the censored versions, those are way better. Like I'm Not Okay (I Promise) by My Chemical Romance for example, the censored version replaces a line which goes "I'm not o-f&**in' kay" with "I'm really not okay".
@@6balanced9 they actually bleeped or muted words on the actual cd? walmart are garbage
Now Wal Mart sells uncensored CD’s and albums.
I hated buying any music at Walmart... Still do even today... Great example is Metallica "Garage Inc.". Me and a buddy was hanging out at Subway (where he worked) around closing time. He tells me that he had a copy of Garage Inc. and proceeded to put it on. When the song "So What?!" came on and the bleeping began, we realized that copy came from Walmart... I told my buddy to toss that in the garbage where it belonged (he never did). Walmart... Where cussing and questionable cover art in music is bad... But nudity, graphic violence, and everything under the sun in movies and video games is ok...
That bleeping sucks.
@@Channel33RPMit was so annoying... We had to stop it mid song and never play the CD again...
Absolutely not. Censorship is BS.
At the time Walmart had a bigger music section, and they wanted a family friendly atmosphere. With that ethos in place contoversial art was in need of being toned down. Currently Walmart has a much smaller music display and the empasis on cleaned up lyrics is prety much gone. I bought a Shania Twain album where she drops a few F Bombs in one song, but there is a Tipper Sticker printed on the cover. Truth is I'm past 61 and I guess I'm old enough to buy a record with a few bad words on it if I choose to. Tipper Gore the moral crusader who played a set with The Grateful Dead. Bad words and sexual themes were horrid things, but playing with a drug addicted psychedelic rock band is ok for a mom to do.
It was a weird time indeed for that kind of stuff (80s/90s)... last time I stepped into a WalMart here, they did't even have a music section anymore... No CDs, no records... heck, not even any movies.
Whoever thought up the terms "family values" and "family friendly" never met MY family!
I remember seeing a reissue record of Snoop Dogg's "Doggystyle" album in Walmart with uncensored track names on the back a few months ago.
@@tomfurgas2844 Peg and Al Bundy
Man, I'm glad I live in the UK - none of this record sleeve B/S occurs. I have worked in record shops, and not once do I remember anyone being offended by a record sleeve.
It did occur in the 70s in the UK.
Some albums were sold in brown paper bags. More likely, it was due to naked images.
Don't forget the 'Video Nasties' situation though in the UK back in the 70s and 80s when various gory horror movies were banned in Britain and shop owners could have been arrested for stocking them and selling them. There are documentaries all about that "Video Nasties" era.
Now, UK authorities have people in jail over memes and tweets, so free speech and freedom of expression are being eroded in Britain.
There are always exceptions, but if someone finds a record disconcerting, normally, they just scrunch their face up, mumble something and then put it back. Well, that's what happens here in the UK. Apparently others will attempt to sue the store for, well, I don't know what. (Money, I guess.)
@@TorontoJon yes, someone actually went to prison it's well documented. Ban the sadist videos and draconian days are excellent docs on this absolutely shameful time. I don't know what this guy is on about UK was and is the most censored place in the western world.
Regarding the White Zombie cover, I wonder if WalMart ever banned Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass's album "Whipped Cream and Other Delights." If you're not familiar with this lp, the image is readily available via a quick search.
Also in the 80’s they banned Love At First Sting due to the album cover. They did carry an altered version which had a photo of the band on the cover. That’s the version I had on cassette.
Yeah, in those days Kmart / Caldor / Bradlees/ Ames and walmart all carried the cover with the band in black and white. I still have the band cover vinyl I got at Kmart in 84
I need to look that up... I've never seen that alternative cover.
@ I’m sure you can find it on discogs. It’s just a black and white photo of the band. As stated this was the Kmart/Walmart/Target edited cover. I eventually found the original cover on vinyl about 10 years ago at Goodwill for a dollar.
Jane's Addiction "Ritual..." was banned and Perry Ferrell released it for Walmart with the cover changed to just have the 1st amendment on it. Body Count was banned even when Ice-T took "Cop Killer" off of it. Fuck Darrell Gates.
Thankfully we don’t have Walmart in Seattle. For decades they weren’t any in all of Washington State… Now there are a few in smaller towns, but even then most people either go to Fred Meyer or Target.
Interesting... I didn't know that. I figured Walmarts were everywhere. Apparently, there are none in NYC either.
@@Channel33RPMNYC is clearly far too liberal. 😅
When I lived in Pullman, WA we had a Walmart but it was minimally stocked, low amount of aisles and probably the smallest Walmart I've been to.
It would have been better to not have one tbh
@MetalJessusRocks but it's Seattle, What is the upside? You have Walmart then Seattle in that order. Sounds like a lose lose situation
I have a funny story about buying a movie at Wal-Mart. I bought a VHS of the movie of Pink Floyd's The Wall there, I think I was about 15. The clerk said "This movie is rated R, I don't know if I can sell it to you." I said "I've already seen it, it's done all the damage it's going to do" and the guy sold it to me lol.
Ha!
I had one guy almost refuse to rent me mortal kombat 2 on snes back in the mid 90s... he was like.... I don't think you can rent this due to the mature rating.. took one look at ne and said.... yeah it's fine... you're cool
I remember when they banned Stryper’s album. Thought back then that was weak on Walmart’s part. That said, several of their fans also didn't like the title either. Most got it however. Stryper is not new to controversy. Only look at To Hell with the Devil album cover.
It's so stupid Walmart would ban Stryper. Christian book stores sold Stryper CDs, though some of them refused to carry _Against the Law_ , the last album of their initial run, because the band had gone in a "secular" direction.
Years ago when Walmart only sold edited versions of albums they had the movie Caligula on sale on DVD. So it was just the music.
So odd... I wonder why music was the issue?
Funny story... I actually bought Caligula at Wal-Mart many years ago and was confused after watching it because the film seemed very disjointed and it certainly didn't live up to the hype.
It turns out it was the censored version of Caligula with damn near half the movie cut out. Lol
Top of my head, my 1960s album (Surrealistic Pillow, I think) by Jefferson Airplane, was very popular because of the song (White Rabbit?): “Up against the wall, mother f&cker.” Didn’t remember it being banned, when it was released. Also, for soundtrack and movie of Woodstock”, there was “Country Joe and the Fish onstage, “Give me an “F”; give me a “U”, etc. then, “What’s that spell.” We loved it!
In Canada most of those albums were available in Walmart with original covers/lyrics. Walmart in US was more " family friendly" and sensitive to offensive material. Many magazines are not carried by Walmart in the US but are by Walmart in Canada. I presume the same with movies.
Interesting. I didn't realize that difference. Makes sense though. I think Canada is more chill about those kinda of things...
I work in the electronics department of Walmart. We sell Green Day's Dookie, a Nirvana compilation album that has R^pe Me on it, and the entire series of Beavis and Butthead on DVD. We do carry many R rated movies and TV shows, but no porn. Not sure if there are sex scenes in any of the movies we have. That has become pretty common now, so it's possible.
Walmart seems to have relaxed the rules in recent years.
I guess they're probably happy that people still come into the shop and buy physical media!
I’ve seen Dookie and Nirvana Icon compilation there many times in the fairly recent past.
Walmart: more guns less swearing
Yet management can be heard cussing employees
SuperSexy Swingin' Sounds is an absolute grail LP for a lot of us collectors. Only 500 were pressed, and that was in 1995, so not a ton of them have survived (and most of the ones that have are in mediocre shape). I finally got a NM+ copy recently from a source in Sweden after trying to snag one for about 15 years. Rob had the same cover art issue with another of his remix albums, Mondo Sex Head. All the pressings except the first have alternate cover art.
And because of this, we stopped buying music at Walmart. I mean we bought our local music store in the same goodie, but then there was a department store called ShopKo across the street and we would buy music there because it was cheaper than the mall and it was close to the mall and independent music store was on the other side of town.
Frank Zapoa won an award for Were Only In It For The Money in the late 60s. When he heard the lp, he refused the award. The label had changed the mix, and the sentence was reversed. He said that the record was more the labels than his. They also objected to the word paid in the sentence about a Waitress. It referred to a writing pad. But the label was concerned it referred to a lady's sanitary product. It was totally ridiculous.
Where i live, Walmart is the only source for cds,& vinyl . No vinyl,cd shops around 😢.
Interesting topic. Well done 👏
Thanks for watching!
You do know you can order music online?
@kemlay2451 Yes, that's true, but I really like to have the product right away, sometimes . I have ordered online, thx.
...and THAT is why you have the internet.
@@kemlay2451 There's nothing better than walking into a record store and taking a good whiff of the burning incense. There's also pouring through all the selections and finding that one thing you don't have or are looking for. It's something that I miss from the 90s.
The issue with CDs and lyrics with Walmart and not with movies is that movies have a rating system (G-PG-PG13-R). Even games have a rating system. Music doesn't have the same rating codes. They only have the Parental Advisory stickers and because the Parental Advisory stickers was so new it was also controversial. Many bands didn't care about the sticker while others put out two versions with one being stickered and the others not stickered. (The stickered versions always outsold the non-stickered version.) I myself stopped buying any CDs from Walmart back with Straight Outa Compton came out and exclusively went to mall CD stores like Sam Goodys, FYE or Virgin. That is until I used BMG and Columbia House for those free CDs and then I'd stop the subscription and rejoin a few months later.
I'm more offended that the baby on the Nirvana album cover might be drowning! Also,t his just in: Walmart changes mind about Stryker album after band renames it: "God Praise Evil!"
:)
Instead of banning offensive albums, Walmart should have been more concerned with treating their employees better and paying them better wages. A union just got into the Walmart distribution centre here in Canada (Mississauga, Ontario). I hope the stores eventually follow suit and unionize. They’ve worked their asses off in the stores for years, it’s time for Walmart to pay up now.
Put a union in individual stores, and everything will disintegrate. Unions have outlived their usefulness....
@andrewmachado6988
Good Luck !!!
This store "SOLD GUNS" !!! And nobody said or did 💩💩💩💩
Meanwhile .....No Cashiers, You're Fired In An Instant, Customers Fight And Stealing they care about. So you're arrested and they
Have this. 6 TV System with 3 Wal-Mart
"Cops" sitting on their Asses.
And they close without a moments notice
And "No Job For You".
Undertow cover was also changed for Walmart to a barcode.
Yes Frank. Banning the STRYPER album was WAY TOO SESNSITIVE. Well Frank, you know my TOP 5. But I just listened to some more vinyl LPs worthy of HONORABLE MENTION. "Men of the Mall" (1959) (marching band) , JUDY COLLINS "Recollections" (1972) , MONKEYS "Best of" (1976) , RITA COOLIDGE "Love Me Again" (1978) , and ST "Arthur" (1981) . A couple more possibly on the way, I will let you know.
Funny that Mellow Gold would be one of them. What's even more weird is that was the last CD I bought out at our mall that had the Wal Mart in it. Until they moved across town and tore it all down. I bet I even went into Wal Mart looking for that cd first. And guessing they didn't have it. I just went to the record store that was right next to Mal Wart to buy it.
And I just can't see them stocking Kerplunk. But with how Dookie exploded. I still can't see them carrying anything on Lookout Records. So this is obviously a timing thing.
And all these years later. Never seen 1 single copy of Waif Me yet.
And if Bal Wart were stocking Offspring's Smash back then. Did they even want to stock Heavy Petting Zoo or Eating Lamb by NOFX?
The oddest album i ever bought on Cassett at Walmart was Dead Horse Peaceful Death and Pretty Flowers...Best purchase ever.Never would have bought it if i wasn't in that Walmart back in 1991...took a chance on it and blew me away....uncensored too,don't think it needed to be.
Bought Megadeth's 'The Sick. The dying, and The Dead
at our Walmart. Megadeth. Great album one song features Ice T.
But will they sell Cannibal Corpse......nah
This is one of the many reasons I don't go to walmart. I would rather pay a few more dollars to a local merchant. I don't need the walmart thought police thinking for me. I can think for myself.
Nobody cares if you go to Walmart or not, it's just you
@Matt-uh3fu Did my opinion trigger you.
@@AlbinStegne No, I'm not a Democrat
@@Matt-uh3fu I would never have guessed.
Times have definitely changed hilariously, I bought both Nevermind and In Utero at walmart, as well as Incesticide
About green day i got both kurplunk and dookie both unedited from Walmart in the early 2000s
And funny how Walmart can sell guns and rated r movies but won't sell a parental advisory album at least back then
A long time ago, I bought the Beavis and Butthead TV series at Walmart. I do not know if they still have it or not.
I recall some retailers being up in arms over the Van Halen title "For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge" when it was released.
Yes, I never understood that one...
@@Channel33RPMthe title spells fuck when abbreviated.
I guess Walmart really censored a lot of content. At least back in those days we still had tower records, and other music stores.
Whaaaat!!! In Utero was so much better than Nevermind 😭😭
Nevermind is slightly overproduced but In Utero is kind of a mess. I think Kurt was _trying_ to chase away some of the audience with that one, but that wasn't gonna happen in '94, Nirvana was too strong. A lot of fans _made_ themselves like that album. I like half of it. I actually prefer Incesticide.
@@zmbdog I love the messiness of it. "Milk it" and "Scentless Apprentice" never get old!! I still like Nevermind too but def prefer In Utero :)
You're right it is hypocritical. They carry rated R movies with worse stuff than some of these albums.
I never knew most of these albums existed at the time. I wasn't a fan of any of these groups or artists(outside of Willie Nelson). The only one I ever bought was the 10" box set of "Nevermind" by Nirvana. I bought it as a collector's item and it is still sealed. None of it was the kind of music I like.
In my era of music, the uncensored covers of "Two Virgins" and one by Blind Faith were banned in the U.S. for awhile. I didn't buy those either.
The only "new" music which piqued my interest were the 100 songs banned from radio after 9-11. Now, I had to have those!
Never believed art should be censored. Worst case sell in a paper bag. That's what was done back in 1968 with Lennon's Two Virgins.
Every store including Target has the "willie" cover all out in the open now.
Especially Ohio ,where they just legalize the shit
That Christian rock band that I've never heard of could have used some punctuation. "God, Damn Evil".
My wife has refused to shop at Walmart her entire life because of their censorship aspects when it comes to rock music, and I have honored that wish except for two mail order items over the years; Walmart is just too prudish in most cases for us.
They don't censor anything anymore.
We don't really shop at Walmart either... I probably drop in once or twice a year.
The reciept checkers is a joke.... I haven't bought anything at walmart since 2016
They also banned the Goo Goo Dolls 1995 release "A Boy Named Goo" over the album art that showed a toddler boy covered in crushed berries that Walmart said looked like blood and promoted child abuse.
Walmart is weird, I bought "Truth Killer" by Sevendust which was the regular explicit version and I also bought "Afterlife" by FFDP which was a clean version. They can't make up their minds!
Walmart will be Walmart...I don't buy records from them...Roadrunner, the E Fetus, Cheapo's, Hymie's and others do me quite well...plus they have bigger selections than they and other mainstreamers...
Great show, Frank!
I always thought it was funny that you could you couldn’t buy these kind of albums at Walmart because of stupid reasons, but you could buy the glorious horror movie without problem
In utero from Nirvana said "waif me" instead of "rape me"😂😂😂😂😂me and my older brother laughed about that for years.
Nowadays they have the Nirvana black greatest hits vinyl for sale with rape me on it. Actually printed "rape me" right on the back for all to see.
This is the main reason I refuse to shop at Walmart. Who is the person or team making these decisions? An album cover or lyrics can be deemed offensive by Walmart yet they were selling firearms by the buttload. And I am not against one owning firearms. Can an album cover or lyrics harm you?
Guns N Roses Appetite for Destruction was the album that was infamously unavailable at Walmart back in the day. Now, the LP is usually upfront and prominent in their record rack.
Use your illusion 1 and 2 were also banned and this was actually a good thing since it made the comp Use your illusion with all the song that didnt have cuss words i find this album as one of my favorites of all time!
Walmart banned those albums because they suck
Because of not having songs with cussing, a glaring omission from that compilation is “You Could Be Mine” but other than omitting that, I don’t mind it. It’s nice to have both versions of “Don’t Cry” on one disc.
Kmart was pretty much the same. This was pretty standard during this timeframe. It's why 2 live crew and others have gone to court over it. Same with other countries having different versions of movies and albums. Ironically Walmart sells uncensored albums and sex toys now.
Kmart did sell albums with Parental Advisory eventually. I think sometime in the mid/late 00s I was in one and some albums had the sticker on them.
I have seen at least half these records in my local Walmart in the US
They have probably eased the ban... I think this article applied mostly to initial release.
I was in Walmart yesterday..... they have the Albums and CDs... Target is not selling much hard media now 😮
They mainly have vinyl but not that much and maybe 5 or 6 different CDs.
Oddly , Walmart always carries the most extreme unrated horror films on dvd 📀.
I never considered buying CDs from Walmart as the local music store usually had what I was looking for, or would order it back in the day.
I once found a Misfits shirt at Walmart. It was $5 and I’ve never seen another one there since.
I saw a Ramones shirt a few years ago sold there
When Walmart gets offended by Stryper you know it's pretty pathetic 🤣🤣
That was pretty surprising.
Walmart also banned the LoveSexy album by Prince in 1988, due to cover art. I remember many record stores keeping it behind the counter as well. The cover had a tasteful nude of Prince that showed nothing graphic.
I actually did buy a copy of Dookie at Walmart probably 10-15 years ago when the $5 CD bins were still a thing. I didn’t take a close look at it but the cover may have been edited.
Really? I just saw the Snoop Dogg album display at Walmart earlier this year
Related...in 1985 (40 year ago by next Sept 2025), Frank Zappa, John Denver and Dee Snider all spoke out against Tipper Gore's Parents Music Resource Center (PRMC) at what became known as the senate censorship trials. It has been decades since 15 songs - the so-called “Filthy Fifteen” - were declared obscene in America. The designation of a Filthy Fifteen was part of a backlash campaign that ended with the imposition of "Parental Advisory" stickers on albums warning of “explicit lyrics.”
My favorite (and most humorous) part of The Frank Zappa Book (1989) was reading the transcripts between Zappa and the Senators (Fritz Hollings, Slade Gorton and Al Gore). I highly recommend it it anyone who either remembers this time period or wants to learn about the origins of the parental advisory sticker; which in the end only served to benefit the artists and generally caused an increase in album sales...this all predated the term now referred to as the (Barbra) "Streisand Effect" (2003). Cheers!
I remember all that well...
Hello Frank! Censoring and banning only creates more interest and ”want” , in my opinion. Some of those are ridicoulus. I’ll just buy them somewhere else. /R
Back in the day I never had a problem with them. I just didn’t buy my music there. It’s their store they can sell what they want I don’t have to buy it. Most of my music they wouldn’t sell.
Today Walmart in the US sells whatever albums they want.
I was shocked (and delighted!) to see them selling Rage Against the Machine’s “Bombtrack” and Snoop Dogg’s “Doggystyle” both with parental advisory stickers.
What I find funny is they refused to sell uncensored Rob Zombie albums, but they were happy to stock the director's cut of The Devil's Rejects.
didnt know walmart is a moral compass for us all
I wonder if any of the Walmart altered versions of these discs are collectible today?
I was wondering the same...
We don't have Walmart in Australia (yet), but we do get to see heaps of images taken in Walmart stores and I am certain no album could even get close to as offensive as the clothing worn by shoppers in Walmart, but I guess it is their choice what they sell and their loss when they don't sell them
I remember these issues as a kid in the 80’s at other retailers before I’d ever even heard of Walmart. K-Mart had censored versions of albums as well. The one that always comes to mind was an alternate cover for Love At First Sting by the Scorpions. Apparently a little side boob was too much for them, so they did an alternate cover showing the same picture of the band that was on the back cover. That was the first copy I owned. Funny thing is that I eventually bought a second copy with the original cover (because unlike K-Mart I wanted a little side boob 😂). So in a sense, when they censored the cover, it actually helped sales of this record since I bought two copies of it!
A few folks have mentioned this alternative cover, but I've never seen it. I'm going to have to check that out. Thanks for the comment.
i could of swore the censored nevermind cover (editing out the kids junk) was BECAUSE of walmart. perhaps it was a combination of many stores. anyway, props to sheryl crow for calling out the store. certain lyrics and / or albums covers are bad but selling guns in the store is ok.
It’s crazy that R me was, and still is, played regularly on radio.
This was crazy to see! Walmart must’ve changed their minds about this stuff at some point, because I see that Nirvana album with the baby on the front all the time at Walmart. Also, the Green Day album Dookie is there now. I bought my only copy from Walmart. I know this wasn’t on the list, but I also just saw American idiot for sale the other day. It’s crazy that they would ban 21st century breakdown but allow American idiot.
Stryper’s album name was definitely surprising but once you listen to its title track it makes total sense
Talking about Marilyn Manson, I highly recommend checking out the latest singles that are gonna be on the upcoming record, great great stuff!
Always great content Frank...
Thanks!
When I was a teenager in the 90s I was a serial CD shoplifter. I would not steal CD'S from Walmart as I couldn't sell a censored CD at my highschool. Used to make good money. 8-10 bucks for a CD when they were close to $20 at times.
Of course Nirvana and Jane's Addiction, some of the first bands to bring alternative rock to the mainstream. Part of the whole identity of this movement was to be controversial and make statements calling out hypocrisy, injustice and whatnot. Rage Against The Machine goes to the same camp, although they were quite serious with their messages while some were more light hearted having fun with being controversial.
We didn’t have Walmart in Canada until 1994 and 1999 in the Niagara Reguon . We didn’t have Walmart in the Niagara Eegion for the majority of the 90s. We had Zellers and Future Shop instead ld Walmart,Target,and Best Buy(it wasn’t until after 9/11 we had Best Buy in Canada). Walmart and Best Buy weren’t common until the 2000s or after the millennium 9n Monday Jan 1st 2001. We did have a loot of record shops,arcades,and Donut Diners
Yeah I never used to buy my CDs from Walmart. Usually if there were any swear words, they would just bleep over the whole track… If I’m paying full price I want the dirty wordies man 😂🔥
Absolutely!
Some artists didn't do the bleeping. They recorded 2 different versions of their albums, one with profanity, and the other with clean words. This usually happened with hip hop. The clean versions would also be the ones played on the radio and/or used for the music videos.
I bought both Nirvana albums when they came out & don't recall any issues other than the song being renamed "waif me." They used to special order albums for people like regular record stores do & refused to order a Charles Manson album for me. 😂😂😂
Remind me never to shop in Walmart if I am ever to visit North America. That's the problem with overt conservatism, it's hypocritical. Recent events prove this.
I never bought a CD at walmart. Did they censor albums here in Canada or was it only in the U.S. ? Also i remember hearing Evan Dando of The Lemonheads say walmart forced Atlantic/Warner to change the name of his song "my drug buddy" to "my buddy" on the back of their "It's A Shame About Ray" album.
I'm not sure... I don't think I've ever bought a Walmart CD.
Always great to see you Frank 👽✌️🤘
Thanks!
I always thought that was interesting that WM banned explicit cds yet they had exclusive explicit R rated games and movies.
Arctic Monkeys are a UK band and no-one in the UK would bat an eye at "Suck it and See". It's just a fairly common way of saying try it and see if it's any good. Banning it suggests that Walmart execs have slightly twistwed minds. Kenneth Horne, a very popular comedian back in the day, put it quite succinctly, " Anything can have a double meaning, if you try hard enough.".
I'm surprised they didn't sell any Madonna's albums at all but they did
I remember in the 90s and up to like 2005 since 2005 I don’t know but the Walmart here in California if it had a parental advisory sticker, they wouldn’t sell it. I live way out in the country thank God for BMG. Because the nearest record store is a 4 1/2 hour round-trip good video thank you.
Thanks for tuning in!
They refuse to sell Stryper's God Damn Evil, when I went to Walmart that same week they had Cannibal Corpse's Red Before Black in stock. I never laugh so much in a Walmart.
My Walmart sells Kerplunk. But the artwork is altered so it's just the flower and the album title. The back has a photo of the band and the tracklist. they used the dookie version of welcome to Paradise instead of the Kerplunk recording. they banned father of all because of its reviews
I ❤❤ "Garage Days" And GnR "Lies" !!! I played the 💩💩💩💩
Outta Those Cassettes on my Walkman.
Can You Say Walkman, Boys and Girls. ?? It was a Badge Of Honor...and my "Metallica" Mix Tape. 😁😁😁
I think some bands deliberately dropped a few f-bombs just to get those Parental Advisory stickers.
I always thought they looked pretty cool and made sure you were careful playing the record if your parents were in earshot!))
The White Zombie cover is homage to a lot of 60s albums especially cheesy compilations which used to be on sale very cheap in British charity shops!
I wouldn't be surprised... controversy sells.
I remember back when Walmart banned Smell The Glove even though it was changed to a black cover. They didn’t like the song Sex Farm.
Not sure if this was also a thing in Canada, or maybe it was just the US. I remember buying a CD in Vegas at a Frye's Electronics in the early 2000's that was censored in the music mix itself. The artist cursed (nothing heavy) in a couple of songs and those words were actually removed at the recording level. No mention of this anywhere on the cover. I didn't buy the CD for the cursing, so it didn't bother me. Just thought it was interesting.
I don't recall buying any music with the words removed, but that would definitely bug me.
What the big W does makes no difference to me.
I have never bought anything at WM and won't.
It was always funny to me that walmart had problems with these albums yet sold the movie Scar Face uncensored with no issues.
I personally prefer In Utero over Nevermind had more of a raw sound.
And Mechanical Animals despite the cover, was honestly an underrated album. (Also the only album I have fully downloaded by Manson)
Excellent point about the movies that Walmart may still be selling! For the past 25 years or so, Hollywood has seemingly become OBSESSED with the “F”-word; you can’t get away from it as it is now commonplace in the majority of films produced today. I have noticed that it has had a direct effect on people, in general. Back in the 70’s, I rarely heard the word as a teenager. Today, you can’t leave the house and not hear the word spoken at least once a day out in public!
Hmmmm.... interesting observation.
Walmart refuses to even sell CDs that have a Parental Advisory sticker, meaning it'll either have a censored version of the CD, or not even sell the CD at all. It's a shame, since Walmart is literally the only place in my city that sells CDs, so if I'm to buy a CD that has a Parental Advisory sticker, then I'm ordering it through Amazon, which is what I just did with Linkin Park's From Zero.
I love how they used to ban or edit music but would sell beer, guns and cigarettes without a second thought. Good times :)
Talk about sensorship overkill !! I know some people like to get the weekly groceries and purchase an album at the same time but i stick to record shops to get mine.. and there is no sensorship there !!
Exactly!!