Why musicians can’t make videos aboard Navy ships

The USS Missouri has a long and storied history. She earned numerous battle stars for her service in three American wars. She was the site where Japan signed its formal surrender, ending World War II. The last battleship produced by the United States, she was decommissioned in 1955 and reactivated in 1984 to support the Gulf War. She even made appearances in the 1992 movie Under Siege and in 2012's Battleship.

Its most infamous moment came in 1989, when Cher sang "If I Could Turn Back Time" in front of the ship's crew wearing a one-piece bathing suit and stockings that didn't leave much to the imagination.

Almost no one but the director (and, presumably, Cher) was happy with the video. According to the book "I Want My MTV: The Uncensored Story of the Music Video Revolution," MTV pretty much banned the video outright because of the visibility of Cher's butt cheeks. The network later rolled that back and would play it only after 9pm – though MTV still pushed the envelope as "Safe Harbor" programming for broadcasters in the U.S. began at 10pm.

See how safe the harbor is in the music video below.

The outfit, of course, completely surprised the U.S. Navy, who had given their blessing for the shoot. Once he saw the singer's costume on the set of the video, the Navy's entertainment liaison for the Missouri asked the director to choose something else for Cher to wear. The director, of course, declined.

After all the flak the Navy took for the video, it decreed that never again would musicians be allowed to film music videos on ships of the U.S. Navy. In an attempt to placate the Navy, Cher later filmed parts of the song in a less-revealing outfit and without the crew present, but the new video was too little, too late.

For Cher, the song completely revived her 20-plus year long career. It was her second consecutive number one hit on the Billboard charts and was a certified gold record.