Banned by the BBC

Music Music: Chat / Discussions
1

Down the years the BBC have banned many records for a variety of reasons…and after pirate/commercial radio came along many of those could be heard freely on our airwaves.
I have found a very long list …I will add one song a day.
Nothing to stop you consulting Wiki of course and posting.
…

This Donna Summer one was banned in 1979…

The BBC calculated 23 climaxes marked by “intimate moans,” while Time magazine called the 17-minute song “a marathon of 22 peaks.” The sensuous sounds of breaths and moans on the recording gained further controversy as she was rumored to have recorded the track laying on the floor in a dark studio. The BBC banned it immediately. When the Guardian interviewed her about the controversy, they said, “everyone’s asking” if she touched herself. She replied, “Yes, well, actually, I had my hand on my knee.

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So the song was banned for sexual content? Because they imagined how she sang the song? That would leave out quite a few songs, limited only by their imagination. Or was there another reason?

3

Back in the 1990’s, didn’t the BBC ban quite a few songs or “deemed them unsuitable to broadcast” during the Gulf War?
I read somewhere that any song that had a reference to guns or killing were banned - they even banned songs promoting peace, such as “Give Peace a Chance”
The daftest of all was deeming this song as “unsuitable”, just because it mentioned “killing” in the lyrics, even though it was nothing to do with killing or war - it was about the power of beautiful music to move us.
Who decided to ban it? Crazy.

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4

That was the reason😀

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5

This…

“Some people think little girls should be seen and not heard
But I think
“Oh bondage, up yours”
One, two, three, four”

That is the intro to the 1977 incendiary single by X-Ray Spex. It is a statement of intent and a battle cry against female objectification. Due to what some have interpreted as literal BDSM terminology, the tune was banned by the BBC, which kept it off the charts. But the song had a lasting impact as a timeless feminist anthem and was important in developing the Riot Grrrl movement.

6

“Beep Beep” was a huge favorite, but there was controversy. The original recording was actually banned by the BBC because advertising in songs wasn’t allowed. Hence the words ‘Cadillac’ and ‘Nash Rambler’ were definitely out. Incredibly, the group decided to re-record the song for the UK market. Cadillac became ‘limousine’ and Nash Rambler ‘bubble car.’ The ending on the UK version is just slightly different

7

Much too explicit for the BBC

Take off your clothes
Let me see what it is that your hiding,
And don’t look so shocked you have nothing to fear from my eyes
Ha ha ha

My daddy, is a priest you know
And I am, not a beast you know

I just, want to, look
I just, want to look

So take off your clothes and stand naked as nature intended,
And I’ll take off mine just to show you that I’m in good faith

My daddy, is a priest you know
And I am, not a beast you know

I just, want to, look
Yes i, just, want to look

Well now you can see that it isn’t, as bad as all that,
So lie on the bed and I’ll talk of my unhappy childhood, oh

My daddy, is the pope you know
And I just want to grope you know
No, I just want to love
Yes I just want to love

Well it will not hurt you
I promise you that cross my heart,
The first time is always the best
You can ask anybody, ask your mother

My daddy, is a priest you know
And I am, not a beast you know

I just, want to, fff-eel
I just, want to, fff-eel

Well how can you say that I brought you here just for one purpose ha,
There’s thousands of girls I could get
If I just wanted that yes there are

My daddy, is a priest you know
And I am, not a beast you know

I just, want to love, haw haw
I just, a want to love

Well how does it feel now that you are no longer a maiden,
What do you mean you want more?
And you want it right now, oh my god!

My daddy, is a priest you know
And I am, not a beast you know

I just, want to sleep, yes
I just, want to sleep

Take off your clothes let me see what it is that your hiding, yeah,
And don’t look so shocked
You have nothing to fear from my eyes boring

8

rather a boring song really for seriouus musician?

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9

I’d rather see her stand in the candlelight anyway dude?

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10

In 1962 Bobby Pickett and his band “The Crypt-Kickers” released an instant holiday classic, one that would reach number 1 in the charts multiple times since its release.

You can probably tell by the fact his band is called the Crypt-Kickers that the holiday in question was Halloween and you can also tell by the title of this article that the song was called “The Monster Mash”.

Not everyone was a fan of the mash though, the British Broadcasting Corporation, better known as the BBC, felt the song was too morbid to be played on the radio and banned the song for 11 years.

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Wow, unimaginable! Monster Mash is the staple anthem for Halloween parties. :jack_o_lantern:

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12

That’s a surprise I’m sure I heard it in the 60’s.Could have been on Luxembourg 208.
“It was a grave yard smash”

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13

Quite likely.
I remember it being a hit here in the seventies,

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14

banned by the Music Policy committee due to “distortion of melody, harmony and rhythm” for using music from Swan Lake,

15

This was pretty predictable given the title, and the BBC banned it on the grounds that it “promoted promiscuity.” This song also got them in hot water in the US with Ed Sullivan, who made Jagger change the lyrics to “let’s spend some time together” when he sang it on The Ed Sullivan Show .

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I am the Walrus

So why did the BBC take offence to ‘I Am The Walrus’? Surely, John Lennon’s nonsensical lyrics would have allowed it to escape the ever-watchful eye of the BBC censorship board? Well, unfortunately, those bizzare lyrics weren’t quite bizzare enough. While lines such as “I am the egg man/they are the egg men” were given the green light, the BBC took offence to: “pornographic priestess/ Boy, you’ve been a naughty girl, you let your knickers down,” taking the lyrics as an indication that ‘I Am The Walrus’ was about sex. No doubt, the gender-swapping in this line also made the sweat run cold of many a tweed-suited BBC official

17

Wow, quite a lot of analyzing going on there. I wonder if they got paid well for doing this.

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18

That’s the best line in it.Everyone used to sing it out when it came on the jukebox down the pub.

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Why don’t you all f-f-fade away (Talkin’ ’bout my generation) / And don’t try to dig what we all s-s-say

Songs were banned by the busload during the radical Sixties. The change was bad from the elders’ perspective. The Who’s debut album, “My Generation,” included the song that defined it with its titular track. It was offensive! Roger Daltrey sings that he’d rather die before he gets old (like his censors). It was the stutter in “Why don’t you all f-f-fade away,” which seemed to imply an impending “f-word” that raised the ire of BBC officials. But since the word doesn’t develop, the broadcasting company claimed it offends people who stutter or stammer.

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Very educational thread.I’m a bit confused though.The BBC didn’t play many pop chart records in the early days before Radio 1 in 67.You could hear them on the pirates and Luxembourg though.The stutter was allegedly to be the sound of someone on speed.

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