iefje wrote:Arpeggio wrote:Aha....but read on, read on. In 1965 "My Generation" was slated for a BBC ban on account of Roger Daltrey's stuttering "Why Don't you all...F...F.. Fade away..." (etc). BUT......to the huge and massive embarrassment of the ultra starchy / stuffy Music and Dance Policy Committee (responsible for such bans)...it was pointed out to them (by a junior research aide) that "K...K..K..Katy (The Sensational Stammering Song)" had been performed on BBC radio over 2,000 times - most recently...the previous week on Sing Something Simple. Metaphorically 'Red - Faced' - they immediately rescinded the ban on "My Generation" AND....lifted the ban on "Mumblin' Mosie"!!!!!
There are some other tracks by The Who with controversial lyrics, for which alternative vocal tracks were recorded, just to get them released in the United States! Their 1966 hit "Substitute" has the lyric "I look all white, but my dad was black", which was changed for the US version to "I try walking forward, but my feet walk back". Their 1978 hit "Who Are You" has the lyric "who the f*** are you", which was changed for the US version to "who the hell are you". In England both tracks were released with the original lyrics.
Before the advent of the internet, it was possible for most people never to hear recordings as released in other territories. No chance of that nowadays.
iefje wrote:I think there are also a few cases where some of The Beatles' songs were considered controversial. "A Day In The Life" and "The Ballad Of John And Yoko" spring to mind.
One or two of The Beatles' lyrics seem to have gone unremarked outside Liverpool.
The "Walrus" line
Yellow matter custard, dripping from a dead dog's eye, for instance, was quoted almost-but-not-quite verbatim from a Liverpool street skipping song (as unlikely as that may seem). And even in an adult forum such as this, I am not prepared to explain the meaning and significance of the Liverpool euphemism contained within the line:
fish and finger pie.
Like a few others here, I've always had misgivings about the lyrics for
Mumblin' Mosie.