Classic Songs That Were Once Banned
The Beatles - "HAPPINESS IS A WARM GUN" (1968)
Both John Lennon and Paul McCartney called this track from the White Album one of their favorite Beatles songs, but the BBC didn't share their enthusiasm. The British broadcaster banned it on the grounds that "gun" was a phallic symbol. True enough, but Lennon actually took the title from an American gun magazine. "I thought it was a fantastic, insane thing to say," he said. "A warm gun means that you just shot something."
The Rolling Stones - "STAR STAR" (1973)
No symbolism in this one. Between the unambiguous lyrics ("Yeah, Ali MacGraw got mad with you / For givin' head to Steve McQueen") and the catchy chorus (which repeats the phrase "star f-----" a dozen times), the Rolling Stones had to know
"Star Star" would be censored. But not everyone was outraged. An amused Steve McQueen reportedly gave the Stones permission to use his name.
Billy Joel - "ONLY THE GOOD DIE YOUNG" (1977)
A Catholic university radio station initiated a boycott of
this Billy Joel single, which includes the lines: "You Catholic girls start much too late / But sooner or later it comes down to fate / I might as well be the one"). The move backfired. "The minute the kids found out it was banned, they ran out in droves and it became a huge hit," Joel later recalled, noting that the girl in the song—inspired by his high school crush—remains a virgin.
Van Morrison - "BROWN-EYED GIRL" (1967)
Van Morrison changed the original title from "Brown-Skinned Girl," which wouldn't have gone over well at the time. (When the song was written, interracial marriage was still illegal in 17 states.) But after hearing the line about "making love in the green grass," some radio stations banned
Invalid Link Removed anyway.
Donna Summer - "LOVE TO LOVE YOU BABY" (1975)
Donna Summer simulated 22 orgasms in
this disco hit (Time magazine kept a tally), but one would have been plenty for the BBC, which promptly banned it. Summer later spoke to the Guardian about the controversy. "Everyone's asking, 'Were you alone in the studio?'" she said. "Yes, I was alone in the studio. 'Did you touch yourself?' Yes, well, actually, I had my hand on my knee."
Rod Stewart - "TONIGHT'S THE NIGHT" (1976)
Rod Stewart coaxed the Swedish actress Britt Ekland (then his girlfriend) into cooing and whispering in French à la Jane Birkin at the end of
Invalid Link Removed Some radio stations simply edited that part out, Others blanched at the none-too-subtle lyrics ("Spread your wings and let me come inside") and banned the song altogether.
The Kingsmen - "LOUIE LOUIE" (1963)
The dirtiest song of the '60s? Decades later, The New Yorker set out to answer that question about the Kingsmen's incomprehensible garage-rock anthem, Many radio stations refused to play
Invalid Link Removed and the FBI studied its elusive lyrics to determine if they were obscene. Here's what they heard: "At night at ten / I lay her again / F--- you. girl, oh / All the way." Actual lyrics: "Three nights and days, I sailed the sea / Me think of girl, ah, constantly."
The Shangri-Las - "LEADER OF THE PACK" (1964)
A No. 1 hit for the Shangi-Las,
this archetype of the "teenage tragedy" genre recounts a breakup that leads to the death of the singer's biker boyfriend. Ominous lyrics ("Look out! Look out! Look out! Look out!") are accompanied by the rumble of a Harley. Some broadcasters refused to play the song because they felt it glorified motorcycle gangs.
John Denver - "ROCKY MOUNTAIN HIGH" (1973)
In 1971, the FCC ordered broadcasters to quit airing songs that "promote or glorify the use of illegal drugs." Erring on the side of caution, many decided not to play
Invalid Link Removed John Denver's tribute to his home state of Colorado, solely because of the last word in the title. Denver eventually testified before Congress and said, "This was obviously done by people who had never seen or been to the Rocky Mountains."
The Who - "MY GENERATION" (1965)
"Why don't you all f-f-f-fade away," sings Roger Daltry in the Who's baby boomer anthem (No. 11 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time). But it wasn't the sly suggestion of another F-word—or even the nihilism of "Hope I die before I get old"—that triggered a BBC ban. The broadcaster just feared that "My Generation" would be offensive to stutterers.
The Everly Brothers - "WAKE UP LITTLE SUSIE" (1957)
Back in the '50s, you didn't have to go very far to get banned in Boston. This No. 1 hit for the Everly Brothers is a case in point. Some radio stations decided not to play it because the lyrics raised a question: What were those kids up to before they fell asleep? Of course, times change. In 2000, presidential candidate and born-again Christian George W. Bush said
"Wake Up Little Susie" was his favorite song.
The Kinks - "LOLA" (1970)
The transgender theme was decades ahead of its time and controversial enough to provoke a ban in Australia. But the BBC found another reason to boycott
"Lola"—a line about "Coca-Cola," which violated its rules against product placement. The Kinks were on tour at the time, but frontman Ray Davies flew home to London to change the lyric to "cherry cola" in time for the release of the single.
Paul Simon - "KODACHROME" (1973)
The BBC's policy against product endorsement also applied to
this Paul Simon hit, which received only minimal exposure in the U.K. because its title is a registered trademark. Meanwhile, some U.S. radio stations refused to play the song because of the word "crap" in its opening lines: "When I think back on all the crap I learned in high school / it's a wonder I can think at all."
The Wizard of Oz - "DING-DONG! THE WITCH IS DEAD" (1939)
In April 2013, a week after Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher died,
this upbeat ditty from 1939's "The Wizard of Oz" became an unlikely hit, reaching No. 2 on the British charts. The sudden surge in sales happened despite a ban by the BBC, which noted that the song was "clearly a celebration of death."
Van Morrison / Them - "GLORIA" (1964)
Also in the Grammy Hall of Fame, this Van Morrison song—written when he was lead singer of Them—scared off Chicago radio stations with lines like: "She comes around here / Just about midnight / She make me feel so good, Lord / I wanna say she makes me feel all right." Two years later the Shadows of Knight, a Chicago proto-punk band, toned down the lyrics and turned the garage-rock classic into a Top 10 hit.
