Banned By The BBC!

Ah yes,  BBC radio, they only people on earth to ban  “Ding dong The Witch Is Dead”. How could they do it? Well, with ease actually. BBC Radio have a history of censorship from “Lola” to “Hi Hi Hi” to all points inbetween, this government owned and operated not for profit, PBS on steroids, outfit, don’t like being  messed with.

Essentially, songs are banned for only sex and politics, sometimes drug references are thrown in for good measure. And back in the day? No flippant references to God, indeed, no references at all if you please.

Our crackerjack team of fact checkers have been working day and night cut and pasting this list off Wikipedia. The comments are mostly my own when I choose to make em.

 

A

"A-huggin' and A-chalkin'" – Johnny Mercer (1946)

• "Angels in the Sky" – The Crew-Cuts (1955)
• "Answer Me" – Frankie Laine (1953)

 

B

"Baby, Let Me Follow You Down" – Bob Dylan (1962)  (the “God almighty world” reference is my bet)

• "Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)" – Cher (1966) (banned during Gulf War)
• "The Battle of New Orleans" – Johnny Horton (1959)^[
• "Baubles, Bangles and Beads" from the musical Kismet (1953)
• "Baubles, Bangles and Beads" – Kirby Stone Four (1958)
• "Be Prepared" – Tom Lehrer (1953)
• "Beep Beep" – The Playmates (1958)
• "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered" – Ella Fitzgerald (1958)
• "The Blue Danube" – Spike Jones and His City Slickers (1945)
• "Boom Bang-a-Bang" – Lulu (1969) (banned during Gulf War)
• "Burn My Candle" – Shirley Bassey (1956) (sexual innuendo)
•  
•  C

 

• "Charlie Brown" – The Coasters (1959)
• "The Christening" – Arthur Askey (1943)^[
• "Cradle Song (Brahms' Lullaby)" – Frank Sinatra (1944)
• "Croce di Oro (Cross of Gold)" – Joan Regan
• "Crying in the Chapel" – Lee Lawrence (1953)
• "Cuddle Me" – Ted Heath featuring Dennis Lotis (1954)

 

D

 

• "Danny Boy" – Conway Twitty (1959)
• "A Day in the Life" – The Beatles (1967)  (the we’d love to turn you on” line)
• "The Deck of Cards" – T. Texas Tyler (1948)
• "Deep in the Heart of Texas" – Bing Crosby and Woody Herman (1942)
• "The Devil Is a Woman" – Herb Jeffries (1957)
• "Diggin' My Potatoes" – Lonnie Donegan (1954)
• "Dinner with Drac" – John Zacherle (1958)
• "Don't Let's Be Beastly to the Germans" – Noël Coward (1943) (I guess the BBC had no sense of humor during WW2)

 

 E

 

• "Ebeneezer Goode" – The Shamen (1992)
• "Ebony Eyes" – The Everly Brothers (1961) (No death please we’re British)
• "Eve of Destruction" – Barry McGuire (1965) (banned from usage in "general entertainment programmes")

 

F

 

• "Fairytale of New York" – The Pogues featuring Kirsty MacColl (1987) (bad lannguage?)
• "The Foggy, Foggy, Dew" – Peter Pears (1950)

 

G

 

• "The Garden of Eden" – Frankie Vaughan (1957)
• "Gimme a Pigfoot (And a Bottle of Beer)" – Bessie Smith (1933)   (booze?)
• "Give Ireland Back to the Irish" – Wings (1972) (politics)
• "Glad to Be Gay" – Tom Robinson Band (1978) (sex,,, they should be ashamed of that one)
• "Gloomy Sunday" – Billie Holiday (1941)^[
• "God Bless the Child" – Billie Holiday (1942) (two for two with Billie)
• "God Save the Queen" – Sex Pistols (1977) (“a song by the Sex Pistols”)
• "Green Jeans" – The Flee-Rekkers (1960)^[
• "Greensleeves" – The Beverley Sisters (1956) (I can’t begin to think…)
• "Guess Things Happen That Way" – Johnny Cash (1958)

 

H

 

• "Hank Janson Blues" – Anne Shelton (1953)
• "Hard Headed Woman" – Elvis Presley (1958)  (maybe you could hear his hips move)^[
• "He" – Al Hibbler (1955)
• "The Heel" – Eartha Kitt (1955)
• "Hi, Hi, Hi" – Wings (1972) (Go to jail in Japan, do not pass go, pay $1M and get out)
• "High Class Baby" – Cliff Richard and the Drifters (1958)
• "Hold My Hand" – Don Cornell (1954)
• "Honey Hush" – The Rock and Roll Trio (1956)
• "Honey Love" – Dennis Lotis (1954)
• "Honeycomb" – Jimmie Rodgers (1957)
• "(How Little It Matters) How Little We Know" – Frank Sinatra (1956)
• "The House of the Rising Sun" – Josh White (1950)

 

I

 

• "I Am the Walrus" – The Beatles (1967)^[
• "I Can't Control Myself" – The Troggs (1966)
• "I Hear the Angels Singing" – Frankie Laine (1954) (did they have something against God?)
• "I Leaned on a Man" – Connie Francis (1957)
• "I Want to Be Evil" – Eartha Kitt (1953) (And she was…)
• "I'll Be Home for Christmas" – Bing Crosby (1943)
• "Imagine" – John Lennon (1971) (banned during Gulf War)
• "I'm Always Chasing Rainbows" from the musical Oh, Look! (1918)
• "I'm Always Chasing Rainbows" – Ken Dodd (1963)
• "I'm Always Chasing Rainbows" – Perry Como (1949) (weirdos)  
• "I'm Nobody's Baby" – Frankie Howerd (1948)
• "In the Air Tonight" – Phil Collins (1981) (banned during Gulf War)
• "In the Beginning" – Frankie Laine (1955)
• "In the Hall of the Mountain King" – Nero and the Gladiators (1961)
• "Invisible Sun" – The Police (1981)
• "It Is No Secret" – Jo Stafford (1954)^[
• "It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels" – Kitty Kallen (1962)
• "It Would Be So Nice" – Pink Floyd (1968)
• "I've Come of Age" – Billy Storm (1959)
• "I Want You to Be My Baby" – Annie Ross (1956) (I bet every song Adele ever sang would have been banned in the 1950s.)
• "I Went to Your Wedding" – Spike Jones and His City Slickers (1953)

 

 J

 

• "Jackie" – Scott Walker (1967)
• "Je t'aime… moi non plus" – Jane Birkin and Serge Gainsbourg (1969) (I see no reason to ban this one t all)
• "John and Marsha" – Stan Freberg (1950)^[
• "Johnny Remember Me" – John Leyton (1961)
• "Jungle Fever" – The Chakachas (1972)

 

K

 

• "Keep Me in Mind" – Lita Roza with Al Timothy (1955)
• "Killing an Arab" – The Cure (1979) (banned during Gulf War)
• "Kodachrome" – Paul Simon (1973)  

 

 L

 

• "La Petite Tonkenoise" – Josephine Baker (1930)
• "Lazy Mary" – Lou Monte (1958)
• "Let the People Go" – McGuinness Flint (1972)
• "Let's Spend the Night Together" – The Rolling Stones (1967) (what if they just spent some time together instead?) 
• "Light a Candle in the Chapel" – Frank Sinatra (1942)
• "Light My Fire" – Jose Feliciano (1968) (banned during Gulf War)
• "Lili Marleen" – Lale Andersen (1939)^[
• "Little Star" – The Elegants (1958)
• "Lola" – The Kinks (1970) (the BBC don’t appear to enjoy the transgendered)
• "Love for Sale" – Cole Porter (1930) (Auntie Beeb frowns on prostitution as well)^[
• "Love for Sale" – Ella Fitzgerald (1956)
• "Love Is a Word" – Alma Cogan (1965)
• "Love Is Strange" – Mickey & Sylvia (1956)
• "Love to Love You Baby" – Donna Summer (1975)
• "Lovin' Machine" – Wynonie Harris (1951)
• "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" – The Beatles (1967) (more drug refernces)

 

M

 

• "Mack the Knife" – Bobby Darin (1959)^[
• "Made You" – Adam Faith (1960)^[
• "Maggie May" – The Vipers Skiffle Group (1957)
• "The Man with the Golden Arm" – Eddie Calvert (1956)
• "Mighty Mighty Man" – Bobby Darin (1958)
• "Minnie the Moocher" – Cab Calloway (1931) (not Minnie the Moocher!!!)
• "Miss You" – Bing Crosby (1942)
• "The Mocking Bird" – The Four Lads (1952)
• "Moonlight Love" – Perry Como (1956)
• "My Christmas Prayer" – Billy Fury (1959)
• "My Friend" – Eddie Fisher (1954)
• "My Friend Jack" – The Smoke (1967)
• "My Little Ukelele" – Joe Brown and The Bruvvers (1963)

 

N

 

• "Night of the Vampire" – The Moontrekkers (1961) (then what about “Monster Mash”?)
• "Ninety-Nine Years (Dead or Alive)" – Guy Mitchell (1961)
• "Nobody Loves Like an Irishman" – Lonnie Donegan (1958)^[21]

 

O

 

• "The Old Dope Peddler" – Tom Lehrer (1953)
• "Old Man Atom" – The Sons of the Pioneers (1950)
• "One Has My Name (The Other Has My Heart)" – Jimmy Wakely (1948)

 

P

 

• "Paper Doll" – The Mills Brothers (1943)
• "Peaceful Street" – Ernest Butcher (1936)
• "Please No Squeeza da Banana" – Louis Prima (1963) ( I gotta go along with the Beeb on this one)
• Free Palestine- LowKey 2010 (no? really??)

 

 R

 

• "Radio Times" – The BBC Dance Orchestra (1935)
• "The Reefer Song (If You're a Viper)" – Fats Waller (1943) (Drug reference? Nah)
• "Relax" – Frankie Goes to Hollywood (1984)^[10]
• "Rock You Sinners" – Art Baxter and His Rock 'n' Roll Sinners (1958)
• "A Rose and a Candy Bar" – George Hamilton IV (1956)
• "Rum and Coca-Cola" – The Andrews Sisters (1945)
• "A Russian Love Song" – The Goons (1957)

 

S

 

• "The Sabre Dance" – Woody Herman (1948)
• "Sad Affair" – Marxman (1993)^[
• "Sailing" – Rod Stewart (1972) (banned during Gulf War)
• "Saturday Nite at the Duckpond" – The Cougars (1963)
• "Say a Prayer for the Boys Over There" – Deanna Durbin (1943) (not for nothing but…)
• "The Sect Sing Sick Songs" – Downliners Sect (1965)
• "Send Me to the 'lectric Chair" – George Melly (1953)
• "The Shag (Is Totally Cool)" – Billy Graves (1958)
• "Shall We Take a Trip" – Northside (1990)
• "She Had to Go and Lose It at the Astor" – Johnny Messner (1939)
• "She Was Only a Postmaster's Daughter" – Durium Dance Band (1933)
• "The Silver Madonna" – Kirk Stevens (1956)
• "Sincerely" – Liberace (1955)
• "Six Months in a Leaky Boat" – Split Enz (1982) (banned during Falklands War)
• "Sixty Minute Man" – The Dominoes (1951)
• "The Sky" – Petula Clark (1957)
• "Smack My Bitch Up" – The Prodigy (1997)
• "Song of India" – Tommy Dorsey (1938)
• "So What?" – Anti-Nowhere League (1981)
• "Soldier" – Harvey Andrews (1972)
• "Somebody Up There Likes Me" – Perry Como (1956)
• "Statue of Liberty" – XTC (1978) (did I miss something here?)
• "St. Therese of the Roses" – Malcolm Vaughan (1956)^[
• "The Story of a Starry Night" – Glenn Miller (1954)
• "The Story of Three Loves" – Ray Martin (1957)
• "Stranger in Paradise" – The Four Aces (1953)^[
• "Such a Night" – Johnnie Ray (1954)
• "Summer Smash" – Denim (1997)
• "S&M" – Rihanna (2011) (oh please)

 

T

 

• "Teenage Prayer" – Gale Storm (1955)
• "Tell Laura I Love Her" – Ray Peterson (1960) (more death)
• "Tell Laura I Love Her" – Ricky Valance (1960)
• "The Test of Time" – Robert Earl (1959)
• "A Theme from the Threepenny Orchestra (Mack the Knife)" – Louis Armstrong (1956) (they banned Satchmo!)
• "They're Coming to Take Me Away Ha-Haaa!" – Napoleon XIV (1966)^[
• "Three Stars" – Ruby Wright (1959)
• "Till the End of Time" – Perry Como (1945)
• "Ting Tong Tang" – Ken Platt (1958)
• "To Keep My Love Alive" – Ella Fitzgerald (1956)
• "Toll the Bell Easy" – Les Hobeaux (1957)
• "The Tommy Rot Story" – Morris & Mitch (1957)
• "Too Drunk to Fuck" – Dead Kennedys (1981)
• "Tribute to Buddy Holly" – Mike Berry and The Outlaws (1961)

 

U

 

• "The Unbeliever" – Guy Mitchell (1957)
• "Urban Guerrilla" – Hawkwind (1973)

 

V

 

• "The Voice in My Heart" – Eydie Gormé (1958)

 

W

 

• "Walk Hand in Hand" – Tony Martin (1956)
• "Walk Like an Egyptian" – The Bangles (1986) (banned during Gulf War)
• "We Call It Acieeed" – D-Mob (1988)
• "We Can't Let You Broadcast That" – Norman Long (1932)
• "(We Don't Need This) Fascist Groove Thang" – Heaven 17 (1981) (apparently we do need this fascist groove thang)
• "We Have to Be So Careful" – The Beverley Sisters (1953)
• "We Will All Go Together When We Go" – Tom Lehrer (1959)
• "Wet Dream" – Max Romeo (1969)^[
• "When I'm Cleaning Windows" – George Formby (1936)^[
• "Whoa Buck" – Lonnie Donegan (1959)^[
• "With My Little Stick of Blackpool Rock" – George Formby (1937) (phallic?)
• "With My Little Ukelele in Hand" – George Formby (1933)
• "Woman Love" – Gene Vincent (1956)^[
• "A Worried Man" – The Kingston Trio (1959)

 

Y

 

• "You'll Get Yours" – Frank Sinatra (1956)