It seems like record labels would post a warning for radio stations if any songs were of an "Offensive" nature , way back when.The most recent BIG controversy I remember was that of 2 Live Crew in The 90's. Personally , I did'nt care. We were still talking six , maybe seven digit returns at the end of the day. But , at the same time , you had people who knew their music was more than likely to offend , like GG Allin , and David Allan Coe's X- Rated LPs (He at least had the good sense to sell them privately.) before that.
The late , great Cub Koda told me he saw a cassette tape in a truck stop with a song listed as "My Wife Ran Off With a N *****". He said he did'nt buy it , but , he could'nt believe how outrageous that sounded. "Hell" , I said , "I heard that on the RADIO , in Texas , when it came out.". (That's not the title , the title was a woman's name , and yes , there was an ironic , sorta -kinda - anti racist twist ending.). With the internet , now , there's so much material , I don't know who has the time to deal with all this , but , it WAS a big deal , from The FBI's unsuccessful attempt to prove "Louie , Louie" obscene to The MC5's (Clean version of) "Kick Out The Jams" being pulled from the radio playlists as it climbed up the charts , because it was suddenly discovered the LP version had an "F - Bomb" , and John Sinclair's liner notes had several. The Isley Bros.' "Fight The Power " contained the most annoying "BLEEEEEEEEP" EVER , IN PLACE OF THE WORD "Bullshit", on the radio version. So did Charlie Daniel's "Uneasy Rider" , Johnny Cash's "A Boy Named Sue", and others . I think , thoughwith the popularity of REM , Nirvana , etc. , at least in Rock music , the trend was going toward unintelligible lyrical delivery , so , some songs could have contained all manner of "Dirty words" and still sold millions without any backlash. But , I don't know. Radio's so awful.
John Battles said:
Mina , I can't think of any songs that were officially banned or censored , lately , but 20 years ago , and then some , it was still a big deal. I remember the Sound Warehouse chain , where I lived , removing ANY record thought to contain "Satanic content". Which meant anything from early Black Metal or Speedmetal to , yes , "Aloha From Hell" by The Cramps.
kopper said:
It used to happen a lot in the '50s & '60s, but not so much since then. I find it funny that Link Wray's "Rumble" was banned simply because people feared it would lead to increased street violence and gang wars, even though it's an instrumental!
Mina said:
Censorship where? I don't know any banned songs. Usually musicians change the lyrics, cuz they're too much of a coward and they like the money.
