Band... I mean Banned

Thank god (or whatever) for freedom of expression! Pity the repressed denizens of countries under the influence of communism or dictatorships! Thankfully our ‘liberal’ society has no truck with such restrictions eh? Oh, hang on, have you met my Auntie Beeb? Apparently, she’s quite puritanical really, and interferes… a lot. Out of hundreds of banned artists/songs, here are some of the highlights.

Sex

'Relax… when you want to come', but not all over our airwaves Frankie! Oi! Jane Birkin! That sounds suspiciously like you’re having an orgasm. And Serge Gainsbourg, you naughty boy! I speak French and know that ‘entre tes reins’ means ‘between your kidneys’. Au revoir, Je ne t’aime pas!

Profanity

Too Drunk to Fuck by the Dead Kennedys? Well that’s just an average Saturday night out is it not? What about those naughty Super Furries, when the Man couldn’t give a fuck over 50 times a song… pretty sure Fatboy Slim’s Fucking in Heaven (f-word x 100) was only banned cos it’s shit though.

War / Politics

‘Queen’ rhyming with ‘Fascist Regime’? Schoolboy poetry really, but all you Sex Pistols can get to detention right now. Meantime, during the first Gulf War a huge plethora of songs/artists were ‘unofficially’ struck off the playlist to avoid the potential of sedition. These acts included Bomb The Bass (yeah, cos that’d have given us ideas) and Massive Attack who were referred to simply as ‘Massive’ while the crisis was ongoing. Other tracks discouraged included The Cure, Killing an Arab (it’s a pretentious Camus reference), Abba’s Waterloo, Blondie’s Atomic and Lulu’s Boom Bang a Bang… Really, no comment needed!