Tipper Gore makes her PMRC case for rating labels on record albums in this 1987 TV news report that includes clips and quotes from the Beastie Boys, Blackie Lawless and Wasp, Judas Priest, Frank Zappa, Prince, and more. The BetaGems channel also has "Suicidal Rock Music: Satan's Other Deception 1993 TV report ," "PMRC Senate hearings 1985: Dee Snider, John Denver, Tipper Gore" and "Frank Zappa debates Tipper Gore, summer 1987."
BetaGems are culled from an archive of over 1000 beta video tapes recorded between from 1983 into the 1990s. Most feature live music performances broadcast on television in San Diego CA, though there are also rarely seen commercials, comedy clips, and other material that doesn't seem to be anywhere else on Youtube or online. Most of the tapes were recorded on a Sony SL-HFT7 Super Beta Theater Hi-Fi Stereo - the same model was refurbished and is being used for these digital transfers and uploads.
In rare occasions where a BetaGems clip does appear elsewhere, we're only uploading if our own beta master is better quality or contains material not seen previously. Much footage comes from public television and public access broadcasts that the taper, who worked for a local cable TV production company in the 1980s, monitored nightly for several years. Some of the programming is strictly regional, mostly from the San Diego area.
