Sex and Drugs and Music and Censorship
Reasons Why Songs Get Censored and Banned from Radio and TV
Dec 18, 2007
Every now and then, some radio or TV station bans a piece of music because it’s considered obscene, violent or offensive in some way. Conservatives applaud the action. Liberals protest it. Banning recorded music is nothing new. It’s been going on for decades; for as long as broadcasting has been around.
Why are records or tracks censored? Why do the broadcasters who do the banning, do it? The most popular reasons are sex, drugs, religion, trivializing the classics, satire and violence.
Here are some of the tracks that have been banned over the years by, amongst others, the BBC. Readers will be familiar with some. They will find others more surprising. Still others will raise a laugh and, in some cases, readers will notice that the censors just didn’t understand.
Music Censorship and Sex, Smut and Innuendo
This is the most common category. Censored songs include:
- Cole Porter - Love for Sale
- Jane Birkin and Serge Gainsbourg - Je t’aime…Moi Non Plus
- The Who – Pictures of Lily
- George Formby – My Little Stick of Blackpool Rock
- Donna Summer – Love to Love You Baby
- Sex Pistols – God Save the Queen
- Frankie Goes to Hollywood – Relax
Music Censorship and Drugs
- Frank Sinatra – I Get a Kick Out of You
- Ramones – Carbona Not Glue
- The Beatles – A Day in the Life
- The Byrds – Eight Miles High
- The Who – I Can See For Miles
Music Censorship and Religion
This one has a very contemporary feel about it, although it has tended to be only the Christian religion which, historically at least, has led to bans.
- Frankie Laine – Answer Me
- Don Cornell – Hold My Hand
- Billy Fury – My Christmas Prayer
- Bob Dylan – Baby Let Me Follow You Down
Music Censorship for Trivializing the Classics and Other 'Proper' Music
Pop songs borrowing tunes from the classics did not go down well at the BBC. Versions of I’m Always Chasing Rainbows (based on a piece by Chopin) fell foul of the censors, as did many interpretations of Loch Lomond, and Greensleeves. A rock version of Swan Lake by The Cougars called Saturday Night at the Duckpond was not heard on UK radio.
Music Censorship and Satire
- Tom Lehrer – Most of the tracks on The Tom Lehrer Songbook were banned.
- Barry Maguire – Eve of Destruction (placed on the Restricted List rather than being banned altogether.
Music Censorship and Violence
- Mack the Knife, taken from the opera The Threepenny Opera could only be heard on the airwaves as part of the full opera. It was too violent and contained too much slang.
- The classic Rumble by Link Wray, the inventor back in the 1950s of the "KERRRRANG" guitar sound, was banned (but not this time by the BBC) for promoting gang violence.
- The Rolling Stones – Street Fighting Man
So Why is Music Censored?
As can be seen, banning music isn’t new. As can also be seen, one generation’s censored music is the next generation’s classic soundtrack and everyone wonders what all the fuss was about.
This article draws on a recent piece in The Independent and a webpage on the amiright website.
