Here are a few songs that were banned from airplay...
Wings - "Give Ireland Back to the Irish":
The song was written as a protest against Bloody Sunday, a notorious incident which took place in Northern Ireland on January 30 that year (1972) in which British troops shot dead a number of protesters. At the time the song was #23 in Melody Maker's chart and #19 in the BBC chart but was banned as "unsuitable for broadcasting."
Billy Joel - "Only the Good Die Young":
(It) didn't do very well until church officials around the US heard it and condemned the song. The controversy was great publicity and sent the song up the charts. Joel recalled to the Metro newspaper July 6, 2006 about the controversy stirred up by this number: "That song was released as a single back in 1977, I think. It was not really doing very well, just languishing in the charts. Then it was banned by a radio station in New Jersey at a Catholic university. The minute the kids found out it was banned, they ran out in droves and it became a huge hit. If you tell kids they can't have something, that's what they want. I don't understand the problem with the song. It's about a guy trying to seduce a girl but, at the end of the song, she's still chaste and pure and he hasn't got anything. So I never understood what the furor was about. But I did write a letter to the archdiocese who'd banned it, asking them to ban my next record."
Elton John - "The Bitch is Back":
Elton is the "Bitch." One day when he was in a foul mood, complaining about anything and everything, Bernie Taupin's wife, Maxine, saw him and said "Uh-Oh, the bitch is back." Bernie Taupin, who was Elton's lyricist, thought it was a great phrase. He wrote lyrics around it and Elton put it to music. This was the first hit song with the word "bitch" in the title, which was rather risqué in 1974. Many radio stations refused to play it when it was released, but when it became a hit, most relented and added it to their playlists. A few stations tried editing out the word "bitch," but it appears 42 times in the song and the censored versions sounded ludicrous.
Charlie Rich - "Behind Closed Doors":
Country love songs didn't get much more suggestive than "Behind Closed Doors" in 1973 and some radio stations banned the record initially as being too racy for their listeners.
Pink Floyd - "Arnold Layne":
Radio London banned this song, since it was about a man who steals women's undergarments. The far more conservative BBC played it, indicating they either didn't have a problem with this particular subject matter or didn't understand it.
Wings - "Give Ireland Back to the Irish":
The song was written as a protest against Bloody Sunday, a notorious incident which took place in Northern Ireland on January 30 that year (1972) in which British troops shot dead a number of protesters. At the time the song was #23 in Melody Maker's chart and #19 in the BBC chart but was banned as "unsuitable for broadcasting."
Billy Joel - "Only the Good Die Young":
(It) didn't do very well until church officials around the US heard it and condemned the song. The controversy was great publicity and sent the song up the charts. Joel recalled to the Metro newspaper July 6, 2006 about the controversy stirred up by this number: "That song was released as a single back in 1977, I think. It was not really doing very well, just languishing in the charts. Then it was banned by a radio station in New Jersey at a Catholic university. The minute the kids found out it was banned, they ran out in droves and it became a huge hit. If you tell kids they can't have something, that's what they want. I don't understand the problem with the song. It's about a guy trying to seduce a girl but, at the end of the song, she's still chaste and pure and he hasn't got anything. So I never understood what the furor was about. But I did write a letter to the archdiocese who'd banned it, asking them to ban my next record."
Elton John - "The Bitch is Back":
Elton is the "Bitch." One day when he was in a foul mood, complaining about anything and everything, Bernie Taupin's wife, Maxine, saw him and said "Uh-Oh, the bitch is back." Bernie Taupin, who was Elton's lyricist, thought it was a great phrase. He wrote lyrics around it and Elton put it to music. This was the first hit song with the word "bitch" in the title, which was rather risqué in 1974. Many radio stations refused to play it when it was released, but when it became a hit, most relented and added it to their playlists. A few stations tried editing out the word "bitch," but it appears 42 times in the song and the censored versions sounded ludicrous.
Charlie Rich - "Behind Closed Doors":
Country love songs didn't get much more suggestive than "Behind Closed Doors" in 1973 and some radio stations banned the record initially as being too racy for their listeners.
Pink Floyd - "Arnold Layne":
Radio London banned this song, since it was about a man who steals women's undergarments. The far more conservative BBC played it, indicating they either didn't have a problem with this particular subject matter or didn't understand it.
