Disclaimer. I will play any song at any time. As long as the song is clean or has a clean version! However, one thing I really care about as a DJ is to never play a song that would make anyone uncomfortable. I never want to play a song that could be thought as not family-friendly!
So why make a blog about this?
Cardi B’s new hit song is one I will go out of my way not to play right now.
I have been DJing since 1989, and I have heard many songs that we (as DJ’s) cringe slightly when people ask us to play them. Maybe people do not know the meaning of a song. Or maybe (at the time when the song was new) it had some push back from the FCC, FBI, BBC, ETC!
With that said… here are a few songs that (at their time) were very controversial. But now we play them with no problem!
The list below is not in any order!
1. Louie Louie – The Kingsman
Come on Lou! Your crazy! This is an amazing party song! Easy to listen and sing, and it’s perfect for all ages.
Yes, you are right. But when the song came out, it faced being banned for obscene lyrics! The band attempted to cover up the sexual content by slurring the lyrics, beginning a 31-month FBI investigation of the song. The investigation was inconclusive, as they were unable to interpret the true lyrics.
FYI, I still have zero clue what is being said.
2. Physical- Olivia Newton-John
There you go again Lou! I heard this song almost everyday when it came out. Plus, it was all over MTV!
Yes, again you are right!
I loved this video because it made fun of working out… and Olivia was a secret crush of mine in the 80’s!
But did you know it was banned by many radio stations in UTAH for being “more suggestive than most songs”? But perhaps this just reveals KFMY and KSL-FM’s dirty minds. There are plenty of things that Olivia could have been talking about doing “horizontally” with her boyfriend.
3. Greased Lighting- (Grease) John Travolta
In 1978, the movie Grease was all the rage! Everyone wanted to see the movie and listen to its songs. Oh, but some songs were not made for the ears of little ones.
The song “Greased Lightning”, from the musical and film Grease, surprisingly features some fairly crude content. The line, “it ain’t no s&$t” is usually cut from air play. But ironically, when the character Rizzo used the Italian curse word “fongool” in the song “Look At Me, I’m Sandra Dee,” it was not censored. I guess the censors didn’t know Italian! But my mom did and told me never to repeat that word.
4. Brown Eye Girl- Van Morrison
I love, love, love this song! I love making people dance to it, sing to it and just love watching all ages dance to this gem.
Believe it or not, this song has a dark past, and what I am about to tell you might change the way you look at it.
This rock classic, originally called “Brown Skinned Girl,” is about an interracial relationship. Morrison changed the title because he believed it would make it more radio-friendly. Some stations banned the song anyway for the line, “making love in the green grass.” However, an edited version was released later on, changing it to “laughin’ and a-runnin’, hey, hey.” Rock stations everywhere now play “Brown Eyed Girl” consistently!
FYI. I do have both versions. I do play the clean edited version when a crowd is very worried about what is said in each song!
5. Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow- The Shirelles
When I hear this song, I think of slow dancing with my girl. It has nothing to do with “slow” dancing.
“Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow” is a song about the day following an intimate encounter with a man. It is nothing less than an American classic and made history by becoming the first #1 hit by a black female group. It was also the first #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts, which debuted in 1958. The song was banned by radio stations for its mild sexual content, but it still sold over a million copies
6. Stagger Lee- Lloyd Price
You want a good song to swing dance to? This is it! Upbeat, fun, and exciting!
Lloyd Price recorded two versions of this song. The first had Stagger Lee and Billy gambling (Stagger Lee shot Billy at the end), and the second, rushed out by ABC-Paramount after hearing complaints from radio listeners, had Stagger Lee and Billy arguing over a girlfriend, who goes back to Stagger at the end.
Even Dick Clark thought Price’s original version was too violent, so Price performed the tamer rendition for his appearance on Clark’s American Bandstand.
7. Wake Up Little Susie- The Everly Brothers
As a teenager, the worst thing you could do is get home after curfew! And that is what happens in this classic hit.
The idea that this tune was ever banned would have most young listeners today laughing, but it was considered blatantly offensive by some radio stations when it came out in 1958.
8. God Only Knows- The Beach Boys
I know what you might be thinking! What could be wrong with this song? It’s so peaceful and about love!
Yet another song that makes you say “hmmmm…” Some U.S. radio stations refused to play this song from the album “Pet Sounds” – considered by some to be a recording masterpiece – because it was blasphemy. Apparently, using the word “God” was a little too out there for the parents of the hippy generation in 1966.
9. Mack the Knife- Bobby Darin
If you took away the lyrics, you’d have an upbeat, seemingly happy 1959 pop number similar to Wayne Newton’s “Danke Schoen.” But there’s a sinister side to Darin’s cheerful cover of a story originally written for the 1928 German musical “The Threepenny Opera” (“Die Dreigroschenoper” in German, which, ironically perhaps, also was banned from performance by the Nazis). Darin’s zippy tune belies the deadly menace of the song’s titular character. Despite the discomfort the song brought to some audiences, it became a No. 1 hit in both the U.K. and U.S. Still, the song was banned by many stations for its seemingly positive portrayal of serial killers.
No wonder it’s always played in Mob movies!!
ONE MORE!!
10. I’ll Be Home for Christmas- Bing Crosby
NO, NO, NO Lou! You can’t bash a Christmas song! That’s not you!
But sometimes a song can be considered subversive without having any political or negative content whatsoever. That’s the case with this Christmas classic, which was banned after it came out as a featured song in the 1942 movie “Holiday Inn.” It was thought that hearing the song could hurt morale among soldiers during World War II who couldn’t be home with their families.
Next time you listen to this song, think about when it was out and how sad it is. Sorry to do that to you!
Well there you have it!
Ten songs that in 2020 couldn’t make anyone upset, but during their times were huge problems with the FCC.
You see how far we have come with music and how (maybe) it was better back when our parents were growing up!
See you on the dance floor!
