Historical
See other Historical Articles
Title: 6 Banned Rock and Roll Hit Songs
Source:
Entertainment Cheat Sheet
URL Source: http://www.cheatsheet.com/entertain ... -and-roll-hits.html/?a=viewall
Published: May 15, 2015
Author: Jacqueline Sahagian
Post Date: 2015-05-15 11:14:29 by Orwellian Nightmare
Keywords: None
Views: 12713
Comments: 31
The following is a list of some of the most famous examples in rock and roll history of songs that have been widely banned by radio stations and record stores for a variety of reasons. Sometimes it’s the typical offensive content or political messages, sometimes it’s for reasons less expected, but musicians throughout the relatively recent history of rock and roll music have been punished with bans for boundary-pushing music. Larry Ellis/Hulton Archive/Getty Images The Stones were never any strangers to controversy from the beginning of their career. 1967’s “Let’s Spend the Night Together” was one of their early songs to draw the most rage from the powers that be, getting banned by the BBC for encouraging promiscuity. When the Stones appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show planning to play the song, Sullivan requested that they change the lyric from “let’s spend the night together” to “let’s spend some time together.” While Mick Jagger superficially agreed, when it came time to sing it he ostentatiously rolled his eyes and mumbled the line, letting listeners mentally put in the correct lyric. Sullivan was reportedly furious and banned the group from ever returning to the program, a promise he didn’t end up keeping. The song was again banned along with four other songs in 2006 due to its “suggestive lyrics” when the group gave its first-ever performance in China. “I’m pleased that the Ministry of Culture is protecting the morals of the expat bankers and their girlfriends that are going to be coming,” Jagger sarcastically told the BBC of the Chinese government’s decision, although he added that they fully expected some censorship would be involved with the China show. Hulton Archive/Getty Images Many different Beatles songs were banned by various groups and radio stations at different times in the band’s career, particularly after John Lennon’s infamous “we’re more popular than Jesus” comments. While those comments and various aspects of the group’s image resulted in widespread bans and boycotts of the group’s music as a whole, particular songs drew ire for their supposed references to drugs. “Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds” and “A Day in the Life” are two Beatles songs that were banned from radio stations for their alleged references to drugs. The title of “Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds” was thought by some to be an acronym for the hallucinogenic drug LSD, while John Lennon says it came from a drawing his young son Julian did of a classmate named Lucy with that title. He also pointed to the Lewis Carroll book Alice in Wonderland as an inspiration for the song. Lennon and McCartney both adamantly denied that the song was about LSD. The closing track from the same album, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, was also banned by the BBC for the lyrics “I’d love to turn you on” and “found my way upstairs and had a smoke,” both of which the puritanical radio station decided were references to drugs. Lennon and McCartney also denied these accusations. Hulton Archive/Getty Images The country queen might seem quite benign now, but popular contemporary country music is not the rebellious, raw music that country was when people like Lynn and Patsy Cline and Johnny Cash were in their prime. Lynn’s 1975 song “The Pill” is really an early feminist punk song, celebrating how her life would be different now that she could have access to contraception and not be relegated to being a baby-making machine. It’s considered to be one of the first songs about the birth control pill and was banned from many radio stations due to its controversial subject matter. The song reflected elements of Lynn’s personal life, as she’d been a teenage bride and already had six children by the time she wrote the song. While the ban prevented the song from becoming as big a hit as it should’ve been given the magnitude of Lynn’s popularity, it’s now considered one of her biggest contributions to music history. Graham Wood/Hulton Archive/Getty Images U.K. punks the Sex Pistols perfectly timed the release of their single “God Save the Queen” to coincide with the Queen’s Silver Jubilee celebration in May of 1977. While many mindlessly celebrated the monarchy’s milestone, the working class of England was being ignored and falling into poverty. The punks protested these social conditions with seething, riotous music that scared the establishment. When “God Save the Queen” was released, the BBC refused to play the song even though it skyrocketed to No. 1 on the Billboard charts. With lyrics like “God save the Queen / She ain’t no human being / She made you a moron,” Billboard even blanked out the name of the song and the band on the charts for that week, making the top spot for that week technically blank; as if there were no No. 1 song. In addition to the censorship from the BBC, other radio stations also refused to play the song and many major chains refused to sell the record. The Guardian has called it “the most heavily censored record in British history.” Warner Bros./Hulton Archive/Getty Images This is one of the stranger examples on the list. While the famous Kinks song gained controversy for being about the love between a man and a transvestite, it was banned by the BBC for product placement regarding a reference in the lyrics to Coca-Cola. Kinks frontman and songwriter Ray Davies responded by recording a different version of the song that changed the line “where you drink champagne and it tastes like Coca Cola” to “cherry cola” so that the government-run station, which at the time could not be seen as endorsing any product, could play the song. Frank Micelotta/Hulton Archive/Getty Images The very title of this track from 1993’s In Utero was enough to get it pulled from the shelves of Walmart and Kmart. While Kurt Cobain was known for his strict adherence to his punk ethos, he relented to pressure by changing the title to “Waif Me” for sales at those stores that demanded it, because he recognized that some of his fans didn’t have access to other resources for buying music in the pre-Internet age. “I just feel bad for all the kids who are forced to buy their music from big chain stores and have to have the edited music,” Cobain said, according to Mental Floss. The release of In Utero wasn’t the first time the band encountered issues with the song, as they wanted to perform it at the MTV Video Music Awards in 1992, but were told “no” by MTV execs. They agreed to play “Lithium” instead, but just to give the MTV people a good scare Cobain started playing the intro to “Rape Me” before starting “Lithium.” This was also the famous performance in which Krist Novoselic accidentally dropped his bass on his head and the group taunted their sworn enemy Axl Rose a lot. I couldn’t include all the great songs from rock and roll history that have been banned in this post! If I missed one of your favorites, tweet it to me @Jacqui_WSCS
1. The Rolling Stones, “Let’s Spend the Night Together”
2. The Beatles, “Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds,” “A Day in the Life”
3. Loretta Lynn, “The Pill”
4. The Sex Pistols, “God Save the Queen”
5. The Kinks, “Lola”
6. Nirvana, “Rape Me”
Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread
Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest
Begin Trace Mode for Comment # 13.
#2. To: Orwellian Nightmare, sneakypete (#0)
They seem to exclude the one that first came to mind. It was getting to be pretty popular in the charts and you heard it played and then suddenly it just disappeared off the radio. Due to complaints that the song was degrading to mental patients who often listened to radio in mental hospitals, this song got pulled off the air for decades, until they released most public psychiatric patients and closed the big psychiatric hospitals a few decades back.
And I thought political correctness was a recent phenomenon.
I remember some states passing laws that made it illegal to show Elvis from the waist down while he were performing because of his "sexual gyrations". IIRC,Frank Sinatra had some censor trouble too,back in the 40's. And let's not even get started on Blues music. That was being censored back in the 30's,with songs like "Cathouse Blues" and "Tom Cat and Pussy Blues" in 1932.
Surprisingly, that song got a lot of airplay when it was released. It was ranked as the #15 hit song by Billboard in 1972 and was Chuck Berry's only only song that charted at the top spot. A shame really because there were so many others that were head and shoulders above "My Ding-a-ling".
#20. To: Orwellian Nightmare (#13)
A shame really because there were so many others that were head and shoulders above "My Ding-a-ling". The first time I saw The Eagles,they opened up their second encore with Memphis. The sold out auditorium went absolutely freaking nuts. People were dancing all over the place that had no business at all dancing anywhere.
Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest
#3. To: TooConservative (#2)
Due to complaints that the song was degrading to mental patients who often listened to radio in mental hospitals, this song got pulled off the air for decades,
#7. To: Orwellian Nightmare (#3)
And I thought political correctness was a recent phenomenon.
#11. To: sneakypete (#7)
#13. To: Willie Green, sneakypete, (#11)
Replies to Comment # 13.
End Trace Mode for Comment # 13.
[Home] [Headlines] [Latest Articles] [Latest Comments] [Post] [Mail] [Sign-in] [Setup] [Help] [Register]