I've noticed that Power 96-1 tends to cut out more questionable words on their music versus Q100. Why is this? Is this directed by corporate? For example...Mike Posner's new song is called "I Took a Pill in Ibiza." Power cuts the Pill part out in the song and titles the song "Ibiza." Any reference to Marijuana is also taken out of all the Power 96-1 hits. Q100 keeps this in their songs.
-
Get involved.
We want your input!
Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.
After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.
After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/
Thanks in advance and have fun!
RadioDiscussions Administrators
Censorship on Atlanta Radio
- Thread starter RadioDoogie
- Start date
That's pretty surprising. I always remembered it being Cumulus censoring out stuff that you wouldn't expect any station to censor and iHeart that would let more things slide. There's a thread in the CHR forum that goes into some of these Cumulus censors. That said, I've heard Cumulus alternative stations playing the word 'goddamn' while iHeart has always censored that one, so maybe there has been a company-wide change at the cloud.
You know, I was talking with a friend of mine the other day and we both noticed that Cumulus is playing full versions of classic rock songs that Iheart only plays reduced version. Many classic rock songs had different parts to them. For example, the cumulus classic rock station in Chattanooga will play the full version of Long Distance Runaround by Yes which includes "The Fish". Iheart Radio Q106 in Macon will not.
I've also noticed Rock 100.5 in Atlanta will play Breath and On the Run in one play by Pink Floyd but the Iheart stations cut the song just before On the Run begins. You classic rock fans will know what I'm talking about.
I've also noticed Rock 100.5 in Atlanta will play Breath and On the Run in one play by Pink Floyd but the Iheart stations cut the song just before On the Run begins. You classic rock fans will know what I'm talking about.
Back in the day (this would be the 80s and 90s, I'm guessing the turning point was the 9/11 "inappropriate radio lyric" freakout and the Superb Owl "wardrobe malfunction"), the classic rock stations (96 Rock and Z93) wouldn't censor anything. Either they played it as is or they didn't play it at all.
What has stayed the same:
Blasphemies:
G.D. in the Eagles' "Life In The Fast Lane" and "Christ" in Queen's "Bicycle Race" still get played as is, as they did then. I'm guessing if the FCC complained, someone could invoke the Establishment clause.
What has changed:
The first 4 of George Carlin's 7 Dirty Words:
--You used to hear the S-word; the most notable example being "Money" by Pink Floyd. Z-93 (the pop station) would censor it; Z93 (the classic rock station) and 96 Rock would leave it alone. Now they (River and Rock 100.5) censor it, and sometimes even the "bull" too. The same goes for "Jet Airliner" by Steve Miller; while pop would always play the "funky kicks" version, AOR would sometimes play the "funky s---" version, usually preceded by "Threshold". Not anymore.
--They would also play the F-word in The Who's "Who Are You". There was a single edit of the song that went "who the hell are you"; now you hear some totally new version that repeats another line of the song instead of going "who the (whatever) are you". Similarly, 96 Rock would occasionally play the uncensored version of Pink Floyd's "Not Now John".
--I've never heard the C-word on the air.
--The P-word is regularly bandied about by airstaff today. Not back then. Same goes for the milder crude slang terms for body parts. Nobody would dare play, say, Sammy Hagar's "D--- In The Dirt" back then.
Sex Acts:
--Rock stations used to play the verse about "giving head" in Lou Reed's "Walk On The Wild Side". Rock 100.5 sometimes does, sometimes not; River never does.
Ethnic Slurs:
--The Mother's Finest song "N------ Can't Play Rock & Roll" was controversial enough to not play back then. You won't ever hear it now.
Gay Slurs:
--The verse with the gay slur in the Dire Straits song "Money For Nothing" was customarily omitted in the single version played on pop stations. AOR stations played the whole song. Now River won't play the long version with the problem verse; Rock 100.5 sometimes does, sometimes not. The long version with the slur is becoming more common now.
--Related to that, when an old AT40 episode is playing the Charlie Daniels song "Uneasy Rider", a clunky period bleep censors out "asses", while a modern discreet mute censors the F-word. AOR stations used to leave both words uncensored; now they usually mute out the F-word and leave "asses" alone. Times change.
--Classic rock stations would play "I'd Love To Change The World" by Ten Years After uncensored; I haven't heard the song aired in a long time, but I guess they would mute out the "d---s and fairies" line.
What has stayed the same:
Blasphemies:
G.D. in the Eagles' "Life In The Fast Lane" and "Christ" in Queen's "Bicycle Race" still get played as is, as they did then. I'm guessing if the FCC complained, someone could invoke the Establishment clause.
What has changed:
The first 4 of George Carlin's 7 Dirty Words:
--You used to hear the S-word; the most notable example being "Money" by Pink Floyd. Z-93 (the pop station) would censor it; Z93 (the classic rock station) and 96 Rock would leave it alone. Now they (River and Rock 100.5) censor it, and sometimes even the "bull" too. The same goes for "Jet Airliner" by Steve Miller; while pop would always play the "funky kicks" version, AOR would sometimes play the "funky s---" version, usually preceded by "Threshold". Not anymore.
--They would also play the F-word in The Who's "Who Are You". There was a single edit of the song that went "who the hell are you"; now you hear some totally new version that repeats another line of the song instead of going "who the (whatever) are you". Similarly, 96 Rock would occasionally play the uncensored version of Pink Floyd's "Not Now John".
--I've never heard the C-word on the air.
--The P-word is regularly bandied about by airstaff today. Not back then. Same goes for the milder crude slang terms for body parts. Nobody would dare play, say, Sammy Hagar's "D--- In The Dirt" back then.
Sex Acts:
--Rock stations used to play the verse about "giving head" in Lou Reed's "Walk On The Wild Side". Rock 100.5 sometimes does, sometimes not; River never does.
Ethnic Slurs:
--The Mother's Finest song "N------ Can't Play Rock & Roll" was controversial enough to not play back then. You won't ever hear it now.
Gay Slurs:
--The verse with the gay slur in the Dire Straits song "Money For Nothing" was customarily omitted in the single version played on pop stations. AOR stations played the whole song. Now River won't play the long version with the problem verse; Rock 100.5 sometimes does, sometimes not. The long version with the slur is becoming more common now.
--Related to that, when an old AT40 episode is playing the Charlie Daniels song "Uneasy Rider", a clunky period bleep censors out "asses", while a modern discreet mute censors the F-word. AOR stations used to leave both words uncensored; now they usually mute out the F-word and leave "asses" alone. Times change.
--Classic rock stations would play "I'd Love To Change The World" by Ten Years After uncensored; I haven't heard the song aired in a long time, but I guess they would mute out the "d---s and fairies" line.
Last edited:
When I-Heart (then-Clear Channel) owned Radio 104 WMRQ in Hartford, Connecticut they edited out the word "w.h.o.r.e." in the song "What It's Like" by Everlast. Now that the station has been resurrected and is owned by an independent company they play the song with the word in tact.
Every station that I have heard "Boom-Boom Pow" by The Black Eyed Peas on except for a Spanish station on Long Island edits out the word "satellite" in the line where it says "satellite radio." Hell that's the version I had from the subscription service we subscribed to when I used to DJ at a club.
Every station that I have heard "Boom-Boom Pow" by The Black Eyed Peas on except for a Spanish station on Long Island edits out the word "satellite" in the line where it says "satellite radio." Hell that's the version I had from the subscription service we subscribed to when I used to DJ at a club.
I can tell you for a fact that this is an Atlanta thing with Power 96.1 and “I Took A Pill In Ibiza.” Just heard the song this morning on my local iHeart station with “pill” left in. The other CHR station here plays it unedited as well (except for the f-bomb in the first verse of course).
Anyone else see the irony that the word “pill” gets zapped in Atlanta but the city continues to spew forth trash like “Love and Hip-Hop” and “Real Housewives”? I find that crap far more offensive than the word “pill” in a Top 40 song.
Atlanta = lame media.
Anyone else see the irony that the word “pill” gets zapped in Atlanta but the city continues to spew forth trash like “Love and Hip-Hop” and “Real Housewives”? I find that crap far more offensive than the word “pill” in a Top 40 song.
Atlanta = lame media.
K
kf4rca
Guest
As I recall, it goes back to the late Sixties. There was an FCC directive that music glorifying drugs was not to be aired.
As for "whore", I have never heard Tom Petty's The Last DJ on commercial radio. BUT I have heard it on SW along with other vulgarities. There was an owner-operator in Tenn. on a 100 KW SW station (WWRB) who had been drinking a little too much, decided to go live. In his rant, he stated that "when the Pope takes a s**t, he sits on a jeweled toilet seat".
So, apparantly, what goes for commercial radio, does not go for SW.
As for "whore", I have never heard Tom Petty's The Last DJ on commercial radio. BUT I have heard it on SW along with other vulgarities. There was an owner-operator in Tenn. on a 100 KW SW station (WWRB) who had been drinking a little too much, decided to go live. In his rant, he stated that "when the Pope takes a s**t, he sits on a jeweled toilet seat".
So, apparantly, what goes for commercial radio, does not go for SW.
I noticed when I moved to Atlanta from New England that songs were edited a lot heavier here than back home. I just assumed it's because we are in the bible belt.
I notice all the posts in this thread are censored more than the songs are on - air. Just sayin'
Censoring "BROWN EYED GIRL"
If I remember in the Top 40 heyday of Quixie in Dixie, that section of the lyrics of BROWN EYED GIRL "Making love in the green grass/Behind the stadium" they took that line out, flipped it (so it played reverse). That kept the tempo and timing the same but screwed understanding the lyrics. Can anybody confirm?
If I remember in the Top 40 heyday of Quixie in Dixie, that section of the lyrics of BROWN EYED GIRL "Making love in the green grass/Behind the stadium" they took that line out, flipped it (so it played reverse). That kept the tempo and timing the same but screwed understanding the lyrics. Can anybody confirm?
WSB back in the 70s had an issue with Jim Croce's "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown" saying "damn". They were also "shocked, shocked" over the subject matter of "YMCA" by the Village People.
Listen to Hits 96.5 in Chattanooga. They don't censor much. "Weed" is left in roses by The Chainsmokers. I haven't heard that left in on many stations.
I heard Power 96.1 today censoring 21 Pilots "Heathens." Omitting the words "Hand Grenades" and "murderer." What's up with this? It sounds like Power is appealing to the Fish audience. Safe for the whole family. I would think a CHR audience would care the least about censorship.
I noticed even the title of the song "Took a Pill in Ibeza" is edited on the radio as saying "Ibiza". This is an Atlanta thing though because Z100 and KISS doesn't edit it. Ironically, Q100 doesn't edit it but it's Q100 that is the conservative station. Not sure if Star edits it.
- Status