The X-Rated Critics Organization was founded in 1984 to give writers and editors from the adult entertainment industry a voice in selecting the yearly best in X-Rated movies. The purpose was to award works of excellence, recognizing specifically the unique qualities of sexually explicit films. Its original membership included writers from Los Angeles, New York, and Philadelphia. In 2005 the XRCO welcomed its first Euro confrere.
As the adult medium centralized in Los Angeles, so did the organization's members. With the rise of the Internet, membership has expanded to include writers from major adult web sites. The XRCO remains an organization of, by, and for professional working critics. Voters include writers from a wide range of adult publications and Internet sites.
The first XRCO Awards were presented in Hollywood on February 14, 1985. The original practice of presenting the awards on Valentine's Day, observed until 1991, became too limiting. The show is a relaxed, low-key affair, more like a big party than a formal presentation and is now usually staged in the spring of the year. It is the only awards show in adult entertainment that is not open to the general public. Admission is strictly by reservation or invitation only to recognizable members of the adult industry and to the voting members of the XRCO.
Awards are given in some twenty-plus categories, from traditional "Best Movie"-style prizes, to awards that are unique to the XRCO, to those that honor the achievements of individual performers (for example, Unsung Siren, Unsung Swordsman). The XRCO's Adult Movie Hall of Fame was the first such and it remains the keystone of the organization. Inductees must have been industry members for at least ten years, and they are chosen with a rigorous, discriminating selectivity equivalent to that of the professional sports Halls of Fame.
The late Jim Holliday was the "Honorary" Historian - a position temporarily filled by founding member Bill Margold until 2006. From 1984 until 2004 the Chairman of the XRCO was Jared Rutter. Jared stepped down as Chairman when his new position at AVN no longer afforded him the time to devote to the XRCO. Although no longer active, in appreciation of his past work Jared will always be considered the XRCO's "Honorary Chairman".
In May of 2004 two long-time XRCO members, "Dirty Bob" Krotts and Dick Freeman, assumed co-Chairmanship of the XRCO.
The official web site of the XRCO is: XRCO.com br
