Ernest F. Hollings
Ernest Frederick "Fritz" Hollings (January 1, 1922 - April 6, 2019) was a U.S. politician, affiliated with the U.S. Democratic Party. He served as a Senator from South Carolina (1966-2005) and was Governor of South Carolina (1959-1963).
He gained some pop culture notoriety on 21 October 1993, when during a U.S. Senate hearing, he argued that TV broadcasters should be pressured to curb violent or otherwise offensive shows, mentioning Beavis and Butt-head as a direct example. However, he was ridiculed for mispronouncing the character's names as Beaver and Buffcoat and admitting he never even watched the show. [1]
Zappa and Hollings
In the early 1980s Hollings was a strong supporter of the PMRC. On 19 September 1985 he and Zappa were present during the same hearings. [2] Zappa started his testimony by asking whether Hollings and other members in the committee where in favor of legislation. Hollings later replied to Zappa and agreed with his suggestion to print lyrics in the album sleeve, because it "would go a long way satisfying everyone's objections." Zappa then mentioned in a dry voice: "All we have to do is find out how it's gonna be paid for." This entire conversation can be heard on Congress Shall Make No Law (The Track).
Parts of Hollings' speech were later sampled by Zappa on the tracks Porn Wars (Frank Zappa Meets The Mothers Of Prevention), Any Kind Of Pain, Jezebel Boy (Broadway The Hard Way), Fire And Chains and King Kong (both on Make A Jazz Noise Here). Hollings' voice was later sampled again on the tracks Congress Shall Make No Law (The Track) (on "Congress Shall Make No Law . . .") and Porn Wars The Luxe (on Understanding America).
Zappa also printed a quote by Hollings in the liner notes of Frank Zappa Meets The Mothers Of Prevention, namely: "If I could find some way constitutionally to do away with it I would.". The same line is also looped during Porn Wars. He mentioned Hollings again in Z-Pack - Closing letter.
Zappa additionally talked about Hollings a few times in the WRIF Radio Interview, recorded on 28 October 1985.
Quotes by Hollings
"Outrageous filth" ... "maybe I could make a good rock star, I don't know."
