It was one of the first odd, angry shots fired in what we now know as the culture wars. On the morning of 14 February 1989, a plain-clothed officer from Queensland police’s licensing branch was sniffing around Rocking Horse Records in Brisbane. He asked the owner, Warwick Vere, if he had any rude records that might be suitable for a “wild Valentine’s Day party”.
A couple of hours later, farcical scenes ensued as four uniformed police raided the store, seizing suggestively titled records and tapes by (among others) Sydney punk band the Hard-Ons, Guns N’ Roses’ blockbuster album Appetite for Destruction and – most tellingly – a number of items by San Francisco satirists the Dead Kennedys.
