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Songs That Were Banned On The Radio
It was a very different time. But back in the 60s and 70s, there were any number of reasons why a hit record might be unceremoniously banned from the airwaves of some radio stations.
In the past week, I've come across a long series of articles about songs that they wouldn't play on many stations for certain reasons. The two biggest websites where these have appeared are Parade and, for some reason, Men's Journal. Clickbait? Well, maybe but they make the point about what was acceptable between yesterday and today.
Standards have certainly changed since these tunes were on the charts. Today, almost anything goes, including on some stations, the infamous "F" word in more provocative lyrics. But back then, if it wasn't the words, it was the subject matter. Here are some of the examples cited in these articles. Click on the song title to see more.
My Generation- The Who
Why? The stuttering on the infamous "Why don't you all just f-f-f-ade away" was too close to the "F" word for some programmers.
Melanie's "Brand New Key"
Why? Some felt the lyrics about the roller skates and the key were too loaded with sexual innuendos.
Brown Eyed Girl - Van Morrison
Why? The lyrics "Makin' love in the green grass," was considered scandalous by some in 1967.
Louie Louie - The Kingsmen
Perhaps the most famous banned song that even inspired an FBI investigation. Recorded on one mic up on a ceiling explained why the lyrics were completely unintelligible. In the end, the lawmen concluded that no one could figure out what they were saying and it all went away.
My Ding A Ling - Chuck Berry
Why? Songs about masturbation are bound to attract scrutiny. But it got played anyway and even reached #1!
Only The Good Die Young - Billy Joel
Why? Because it tells Catholic girls they start having sex much too late.
A Horse With No Name - America
Why? Was that "horse" really code for heroin?
Then there were those that were restricted to a country.
Lola - The Kinks
Why? It wasn't the fact of the controversy over Lola's actual gender. It was because the BBC had a rule no commercial product could be mentioned on its airwaves. So Ray Davies had to re-record "Coca Cola" to "Cherry Cola" before the Beeb would play it. The same thing happened to Paul Simon's "Kodachrome."
Other provocative lyrics were a problem for some stations.
Satisfaction - The Rolling Stones
Why? The lyrics, as usual. "Trying to make some girl" and other sexual innuendos were not seen in a good light by the BBC and a few others.
Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds - The Beatles
Why? Was it really a reference to a child's drawing or LSD?
Love To Love You Baby - Donna Summer
Why? When you sound like you're having sex in the middle of a recording session, you can see why some stations wouldn't play it.
Perhaps the most disappointing ban wasn't in the articles I saw. Society's Child was a hit for Janis Ian - in the markets where it got played. The story of a white girl being forced to leave her black boyfriend over prejudice was too much for some southern radio stations. Proud to say CHUM played it in 1967.
- Paul Jeffries
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For "Lola", Ray Davies had to make a 6,000-mile round trip from New York to London and back, interrupting The Kinks' American tour in 1970 so he could record the words "cherry cola" for the single release of the song, making it playable on the BBC. Both versions have appeared on various compilations over the years.
PJ
ClassicHitsOnline.com...Toronto's ORIGINAL classic hits station!
- turkeytop
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RadioActive wrote:
It was a very different time. But back in the 60s and 70s, there were any number of reasons why a hit record might be unceremoniously banned from the airwaves of some radio stations.
In the past week, I've come across a long series of articles about songs that they wouldn't play on many stations for certain reasons. The two biggest websites where these have appeared are Parade and, for some reason, Men's Journal. Clickbait? Well, maybe but they make the point about what was acceptable between yesterday and today.
Standards have certainly changed since these tunes were on the charts. Today, almost anything goes, including on some stations, the infamous "F" word in more provocative lyrics. But back then, if it wasn't the words, it was the subject matter. Here are some of the examples cited in these articles. Click on the song title to see more.
My Generation- The Who
Why? The stuttering on the infamous "Why don't you all just f-f-f-ade away" was too close to the "F" word for some programmers.
Melanie's "Brand New Key"
Why? Some felt the lyrics about the roller skates and the key were too loaded with sexual innuendos.
Brown Eyed Girl - Van Morrison
Why? The lyrics "Makin' love in the green grass," was considered scandalous by some in 1967.
Louie Louie - The Kingsmen
Perhaps the most famous banned song that even inspired an FBI investigation. Recorded on one mic up on a ceiling explained why the lyrics were completely unintelligible. In the end, the lawmen concluded that no one could figure out what they were saying and it all went away.
My Ding A Ling - Chuck Berry
Why? Songs about masturbation are bound to attract scrutiny. But it got played anyway and even reached #1!
Only The Good Die Young - Billy Joel
Why? Because it tells Catholic girls they start having sex much too late.
A Horse With No Name - America
Why? Was that "horse" really code for heroin?
Then there were those that were restricted to a country.
Lola - The Kinks
Why? It wasn't the fact of the controversy over Lola's actual gender. It was because the BBC had a rule no commercial product could be mentioned on its airwaves. So Ray Davies had to re-record "Coca Cola" to "Cherry Cola" before the Beeb would play it. The same thing happened to Paul Simon's "Kodachrome."
Other provocative lyrics were a problem for some stations.
Satisfaction - The Rolling Stones
Why? The lyrics, as usual. "Trying to make some girl" and other sexual innuendos were not seen in a good light by the BBC and a few others.
Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds - The Beatles
Why? Was it really a reference to a child's drawing or LSD?
Love To Love You Baby - Donna Summer
Why? When you sound like you're having sex in the middle of a recording session, you can see why some stations wouldn't play it.
Perhaps the most disappointing ban wasn't in the articles I saw. Society's Child was a hit for Janis Ian - in the markets where it got played. The story of a white girl being forced to leave her black boyfriend over prejudice was too much for some southern radio stations. Proud to say CHUM played it in 1967.
I remember all of those recordings. I didn't realize anyone had ever banned them.
I remember a song called "Tell Me a Story" by Jimmy Boyd. There is a line where someone says "Along came junior swinging his little axe." CBC banned that record.
Someone (I forget who) recorded a rock version of Danny Boy. Some stations refused to play it because they thought it was disrespectful to listeners of Irish heritage.
Johny Horton recorded a song called "The Battle of New Orleans." He recorded a different version of the record for the Canadian audience. In the original version, the Americans won the battle against the British. Someone felt that would be offensive to Canadians. So they recorded a Canadian version where the British won the battle.
The Platters had a lot of hit records in the 50s. When word got out that one of the group had been involved in a extramarital affair, many stations refused to play their records. That was the end for that group. How times have changed. Nowadays something like that would give a boost to their career.
Last edited by turkeytop (May 24, 2026 9:59 pm)
After all is said and done, more is usually said than done.
- mace
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Re: Songs That Were Banned On The Radio
Dr. Hook's On the Cover of the Rolling Stone couldn't get BBC airplay. So what did the band do? Reworked the song as "On The Cover of the Radio Times" That was fine in the eyes of the BBC. Also, to add to the Brown Eyed Girl story, the song was originally titled Brown Skinned Girl. Executives at Bang Records, who were set to release the song in the U.S. told Morrison that with that title, the song would get limited if any airplay in the South. They recommended the change to Brown Eyed Girl. Morrison reworked the song and it peaked at #10 on the Hot 100 in the summer of 1967.
- RadioActive
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I remember Napoleon XIV's "They're Coming To Take Me Away Ha-Haaa" novelty song was banned by some stations because it made fun of the mentally ill. That didn't stop it from becoming a hit anyway. (I think CHUM played it for a time and stopped when complaints started coming in.)
Check out these titles from the LP, which I found decades ago in a remainder bin. Best song is “I Live In A Place Where The Nuts Hunt The Squirrels.” An instant Dr. Demento classic.
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Thread Starter- RadioActive
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Parade Magazine is back with a new addition to the list - Barry McGuire's classic "Eve of Destruction," one of the great protest songs of the 60s.
Eve Of Destruction - Barry McGuire
Why? According to the article,"Radio stations in Chicago, Washington, Baltimore, and Memphis refused to play it and called it “leftist propaganda.” The ban and controversy only made the track more popular among young listeners and on the charts."
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Thread Starter- Paul Jeffries
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Re: Songs That Were Banned On The Radio
Dr. Hook's On the Cover of the Rolling Stone couldn't get BBC airplay. So what did the band do? Reworked the song as "On The Cover of the Radio Times".
Yeah, that was horrible. 
PJ
ClassicHitsOnline.com...Toronto's ORIGINAL classic hits station!
- Shorty Wave
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Dr. Hook's On the Cover of the Rolling Stone couldn't get BBC airplay. So what did the band do? Reworked the song as "On The Cover of the Radio Times".
Yeah, that was horrible.
PJ
This is the first time I’ve heard about the Doctor Hook rework but doesn’t surprise me. However, I lived overseas at the time and our pop charts were basically what was big in the UK. This song was a hit and they played the Rolling Stone version, not the Radio Times one.
Speaking of living overseas, some albums I had in the 70s were banned where we lived, the Stones’ Goat’s Head Soup for the track “Star Star” and Bowie’s Aladdin Sane for “Time” come to mind. I grabbed them both before the ban!
- RadioActive
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The BBC may be the all time leader in banning songs and sometimes for reasons that today (and even then) don't make a lot of sense.
"Monster Mash," a Doctor Who inspired recording, and David Bowie's classic "Space Oddity?" At one time, all of them and more were barred by the Beeb.
8 songs banned by the BBC for the strangest of reasons
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Thread Starter- Evuguy
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Rather surprised that George Michael's 1987 hit, "I want your sex", didn't make the list. It was later watered down to "I want your love" so that more stations felt comfortable playing it.