On occasion the BBC has seen fit to prevent certain pieces of music from being broadcast if it was felt that these recordings were unsuitable for the British public.[4] Files in the BBC's Written Archives Centre in Caversham, Berkshire that are now available for public inspection show that the Dance Music Policy Committee, set up in the 1930s, took its role as Britain's cultural guardian seriously: one 1942 directive read:
We have recently adopted a policy of excluding sickly sentimentality which, particularly when sung by certain vocalists, can become nauseating and not at all in keeping with what we feel to be the need of the public in this country in the fourth year of war.[4]
Other justifications for such bans have included the use offoul language in lyrics, explicitsexual content, allegeddrug references, and controversial political subject matter.[5]Don Cornell's 1954 song "Hold My Hand" was banned from airplay due to religious references.[5]Bob Dylan's song "Baby, Let Me Follow You Down" was banned in 1962, as it included the phrase, "God-almighty world".[5]Satire was another possible reason for banning: in 1953, ten of the twelve tracks on humoristTom Lehrer's albumSongs by Tom Lehrer were banned.[5] In February 1956, the British music magazineNME reported that the theme for thefilmThe Man with the Golden Arm, recorded byEddie Calvert, was also banned.[6] Despite the song being aninstrumental, a BBC spokesman reported: "The ban is due to its connection with a film about drugs."Billy May's version, retitled "Main Theme", was approved for transmission.[6]
In certain cases, appeals to the BBC in favour of banning a song have failed or have only been partial. In 1972, Christian morality campaignerMary Whitehouse failed in her campaign to stop the BBC from playingChuck Berry's "My Ding-a-Ling",[7][8] and featuringAlice Cooper's "School's Out" onTop of the Pops.[9] In the case ofOrchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark's 1980 anti-war song "Enola Gay", a ban was applied only to its airing on the BBC's children's programming, as some within the organisation perceived the word "gay" as a corrupting sexual influence.[10] Occasionally, a ban has first been imposed by an individualDJ refusing to play a particular song; in January 1984,Radio 1'sMike Read refused to playFrankie Goes to Hollywood's "Relax" on his mid-morning show, declaring it "overtly obscene",[11] a decision which the BBC then followed.[12]
In 1997, "Smack My Bitch Up" bythe Prodigy was banned due to controversy regarding its lyrics, "change my pitch up, smack my bitch up", which prompted criticism from feminist groups.[13][14] At the time, the BBC was attempting to shed its old-fashioned image and embrace dance culture, but at the same time they were concerned about broadcasting a song that was believed by some to be about physically assaulting women.[14] In the end, the corporation decided to restrict the song's airplay to a minimum and generally used an instrumental remix version whenever they did play it.[14]
TheBroadcasting Standards Council has also made rulings about whether songs played by the BBC were offensive or indecent. In 1992, they ruled that the song "Ebeneezer Goode" bythe Shamen should not have been broadcast by the programmeTop of the Pops because it encouraged drug use. In 1994, they upheld another complaint against Radio One for playing theRadiohead song "Creep", which includes the word "fuck", during the daytime.[15]
Since the early 2000s, the BBC has claimed that it no longer bans any records.[16] However, cases of direct or indirect censorship have occurred; according to a BBC spokesperson, no official ban was imposed in the case ofLinda McCartney's posthumous "The Light Comes from Within", despite her widowerPaul McCartney running advertisements in the national press criticising a supposed ban.[17] While the bans on some songs have been lifted, other songs have never been officially cleared for airing on BBC radio, and their status is uncertain – in some cases, records which had been banned have since been played on BBC radio without any official announcement that the ban has ended, such asthe Beatles' "A Day in the Life".[18]BBC Radio 1 banned the full version ofthe Pogues' "Fairytale of New York" in 2007, replacing it with an edited version; however, the ban was quickly lifted due to public outcry.[19]
In some cases, it was considered sufficient to censor certain words, rather than banning a song outright. In the case of the Kinks' song "Lola", the BBC's strict ban on advertising led to singer and songwriterRay Davies replacing the brand name "Coca-Cola" with "cherry cola" in the lyrics prior to the release of the record to avoid a possible ban.[20] In other cases, it was not necessary for the BBC to formally ban a particular song, since both parties were well aware of what would be acceptable or not, as was the case ofGeorge Formby's 1937 song "With My Little Stick of Blackpool Rock".[21]
In the case of songs that the BBC deemed politically controversial, many were not banned outright and were instead placed on a "restricted" list, in order that they not be used in "general entertainment programmes".[5] Some of Bob Dylan's early 1960sprotest songs were put on this list and so too wasBarry McGuire's 1965 hit, "Eve of Destruction".[5]
After the death of former British prime ministerMargaret Thatcher on 8 April 2013, anti-Thatcher sentiment prompted campaigns on social media platforms which resulted in the song "Ding-Dong! The Witch Is Dead" reaching number 2 on theUK Singles Chart.[22] On 12 April, Radio 1 controllerBen Cooper said that the station'schart show would not play the song in the usual format, but that a short snippet would be aired as part of a news item.[23]
The following is a list of songs which have been banned by the BBC over the years. Some were banned from particular shows (e.g., children's programming), while others were banned for a limited period, and have since received BBC airplay. In some cases, more information about the banned songs can be found in their respective articles.
As the firstGulf War began, the BBC deemed several songs inappropriate for airplay in light of the situation and subsequently banned them from their radio stations for the duration of the war. A list of 67 banned songs was published byNew Statesman and Society in conjunction with British public-service television broadcasterChannel 4.[24][25] These songs have this icon against them.[24]
^abcdefghijklJudge Dread "made 11 records of innuendo set to reggae, all banned by the BBC, a record."[3] Judge Dread "holds the record for having the most songs banned by the BBC, 11 in all, which incidentally is precisely the number of singles he placed on the charts".[2] The 11 records that entered theUK Singles Chart were, "Big Six", "Big Seven", "Big Eight", "Je t'aime... moi non plus", "Big Ten", "Christmas in Dreadland", "The Winkle Man", "Y Viva Suspenders", "5th Anniversary EP", "Up With the Cock!/Big Punk", "Jingle Bells/Hokey Cokey" and "Relax".[66]
^"Eve of Destruction" was not banned outright, but was placed on a "restricted" list which meant it was not used in "general entertainment programmes".
^An instrumental remix of "Smack My Bitch Up" did receive limited airplay
^Prior to 2014, the BBC had an informal ban on Glitter's music, with the corporation reportedly having a "Gary Glitter list" of banned artists. In 2012, the BBC showed a 1977 performance by Glitter onTop of the Pops and in 2014,BBC Radio 6 Music broadcast two minutes of Glitter's "Rock and Roll Part Two".
^Cloonan, Martin (1 September 1995). "Popular music and censorship in Britain: An overview".Popular Music and Society.19 (3):75–104.doi:10.1080/03007769508591600.
^abcdefPetridis, Alexis (12 April 2002)."Leaders of the banned".The Guardian. London.Archived from the original on 26 August 2013. Retrieved16 December 2008.
^abCloonan, Martin (1996).Banned! Censorship of Popular Music in Britain: 1967–92. Suffolk, United Kingdom: Arena Books. pp. 117, 122.ISBN978-1857422993.In 1967, prior to the start of 1, the BBC banned a Beatles track for the only time. This was 'A Day in the Life', from Sergeant Pepper.
against them.[24]