Q Why do radio stations ban certain records

A.� There are a number of sensible, and sometimes not so sensible, reasons for not playing records on the radio. These are usually governed by the blanket criteria of what is referred to as 'good taste'. It may be an old-fashioned expression, but the thinking behind it is as relevant today as ever.

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Q.� How does taste come into it

A.� Think of it like this. If you are a teenager and you like listening to extreme rap bands using every expletive you can imagine, no problem. But would you want your little sister, or your granny listening No Well that's what radio station bosses have to consider.�Their listeners can be anyone at all, and not just the specific audience a particular song is aimed at. You can offend people on religious grounds, racial grounds, grounds of taste, the list is endless, but everyone who might be listening has to be considered.

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Q.� What about freedom of expression

A.� Not quite the point, where daytime radio is concerned, the majority of which is funded by taxpayers. Free speech doesn't give you the right to shout 'Fire!' in a crowded theatre, and freedom of expression doesn't allow you to offend innocent listeners to radio programmes.

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Q.� What sort of songs gets banned

A.� The two broadest categories are the old chestnuts�- sex, religion and politics, and 'bad' language. Stray too far over acceptable guidelines, and before you know where you are, your record won't be appearing as Terry Wogan's 'Record Of The Week', and possibly no one�else's either! If you are Eminem for instance, this may not bother you too much, although there are ways around that particular difficulty.

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Q.� How is that achieved

A.� By the modern miracle of the radio edit�- the 'bleep' as it is known. For an artist like Eminem who courts controversy with his challenging lyrical style, but also wants to reach as wide an audience as possible, record companies are happy to provide edited versions of his songs, with offensive words bleeped out. In fact, such is the popularity of Eminem's material, it is possible to buy a censored version of his latest album.

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Q.� So it's just the more 'extreme' artists who are likely to find themselves banned

Surprisingly not. Paul McCartney, as wholesome an entertainer as it's possible to find, has fallen foul of broadcasting standards more than once.�His�Hi Hi Hi song was deemed overtly drug-orientated, and probably less arguable was a 'B' side called Give Ireland Back To The Irish, which stated Mr McCartney's views on Ulster fairly and squarely, and was immediately banned from UK radio broadcast as possessing improper political bias.

Q.� Isn't that censorship

A.� It depends on your point of view. The BBC would defend Mr McCartney's right to his opinions, and equally it would defend its right not to present them to the listening public via tax-funded radio media.�It depends which side of the argument you wish to take.

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Q.� What about the sexual content records that have been banned

A.� There are many many famous examples, some obvious, some less so. Most famous of all is Jane Birkin's Je T'aime which, apart from the heavy breathing, contains some dubious French lyrical content which cannot be relied on to pass over the heads of all listeners�- banned, until fairly recently at least. Famously, Radio One DJ Mike Read enforced a personal ban on Frankie Goes To Hollywood's Relax, the resulting publicity ensuring that the record reached Number One, and gained more sales and airplay elsewhere.

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Q.� Wasn't Je T'aime a Number One single as well

A.� It was, Top Of The Pops got round that by playing an instrumental version by Sounds Nice from 1969 to 1974.

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Q.� Are there more

A.� Loads of them�- some of which appear quite quaint to more modern ears. The Rolling Stones' Let Spend The Night Together was considered 'unacceptable promotion of promiscuity" - even the expression sounds old fashioned these days! Mick Jagger was warned to sing 'Let's spend some time together,' when the band performed on live Sunday night television in the 1960s. Mick, being Mick, made a point of not only singing the original words, but making sure he pronounced them very clearly, straight into a camera close-up, so no-one was left in any doubt about what he was saying!

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Q.� Which gets banned more often, sexual, or political content

A.� It's fairly evenly spread, with the exception of the Gulf Crisis in the late 80s, which saw a whole raft of songs, and even band names, coming under the censorship umbrella. Previously acceptabIe�songs such as Waterloo by Abba and I Shot The Sheriff by Eric Clapton were taken off daytime play-lists for fear of upsetting relatives and friends of serving military personnel. The Bristol band Massive Attack was obliged to drop the word 'Attack' from�its name when being announced on radio or TV for the duration of the conflict.

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Q.� Are there any other reasons why a record can be banned

A.� There are two less immediately obvious criteria that are used in passing music as fit for radio consumption, one is advertising,�which is obviously an issue for BBC stations, and the other is morbidity.

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Advertising first�- The Kinks' Lola was banned for reference to 'Coca Cola' eventually changed to 'cherry cola' for hit radio purposes.� Paul Simon's Me And Julio tripped up by referring to US publication Newsweek, as did Dr Hook, with�its Cover Of The Rolling Stone which didn't get as far as lyrical analysis, just the title was enough to send it onto the banned list. They even tried sweeteneing the BBC by releaseing a version called Cover Of The Radio Times - it didn't work, that was banned as well!

Morbidity is a matter of opinion, but again, all listeners have to be considered. Teenagers in the first flush of youth may not understand that Tell Laura I Love Her by Ricky Valance could be considered in less than acceptable taste, dealing as it does with a death in a stock car race, but banned it was,�as a result of that particular story line. The Downliner's Sect's I Want My Baby Back from 1965 was similarly excused from radio appearances because of its unsavoury lyrical content.

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Q.� Are some records always going to be banned

A.��Probably. Tastes may change, and it is certainly possible to get away with far more in terms of�sexual, political, advertising, or morbid content now than even ten years ago, but as long as�national radio remains funded by the Government, its strict guidelines of taste, and its remit to�provide suitable output for everyone will ensure that�airways will always remain free of the more outrageous ideas that musicians can conjure with.

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By Andy Hughes

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