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Hit Songs That Should Never Be Played On Radio Today
- Thread starter TheFonz
- Start date
As I said, he doesn't need the money. Had you said he wants the attention, I'd agree.
Look, he's an old white guy from the south. What do you expect his politics to be?
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If you're going to judge a performer by their politics, I'd never listen to anything by John Lennon. His solo hit "Imagine" is Marx's Communist Manifesto set to music! But despite that, as a song, it's pretty good. I might not agree with the lyrics, but it's still a good song. I have nothing but contempt for the former Cat Stevens, but "Moonshadow", "Morning Has Broken", and "The First Cut is the Deepest" are still good songs.
I am also amazed at the hypocrisy of those who see nothing wrong with attacking the political beliefs of people that they disagree with, especially when it is totally unrelated to the topic at hand, but who demand tolerance and acceptance for their own positions.
I am also amazed at the hypocrisy of those who see nothing wrong with attacking the political beliefs of people that they disagree with, especially when it is totally unrelated to the topic at hand, but who demand tolerance and acceptance for their own positions.
Yet you probably played them over your stations when they were "hits," if you were old enough.
On the subject of political correctness:
Obama criticized John McCain during the 2008 presidential campaign for referencing the following song, yet when it first came out in 1980, it got airplay, and NO ONE complained about it!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBGPw_LBiRA
No, I did not. I was not going to play songs with, even then, questionable lyrics about "indians" in a country that had over 50% indigenous population.
Interestingly, the Spanish language cover of "Please Mr. Custer" was written from the exact opposite point of view.. it was "Please, Mr Apache" ("Señor Apache").
Trust me you will get your wish soon enough I predict that Ohbahma's legacy will be the death of political correctness.......we need America to stop being such wussies, and be honest with each other. And if that means being "offensive" eg: personal choice and responsibility does matter then so be it.
The whole Redskins controversy is plain retarded, yup we can use that word. Plus where are the American Indian bands anyway......
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However, though they aren't worth replaying today because as novelty songs they just aren't funny anymore, they are not "politically incorrect". It is one of my biggest wishes that the phrase (and concept of) "political correctness" would disappear totally from American culture, once and for all.
The whole Redskins controversy is plain retarded, yup we can use that word. Plus where are the American Indian bands anyway......
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However, though they aren't worth replaying today because as novelty songs they just aren't funny anymore, they are not "politically incorrect". It is one of my biggest wishes that the phrase (and concept of) "political correctness" would disappear totally from American culture, once and for all.
All I did in my original post was reflect that Stevens' material of the past decade is only likely to be considered humorous by those of a particular political persuasion. But there's been nothing cooking on the News-Talk forum for a few days, so Avid and Fonz were evidently looking around for someone to dogpile onto. (Hey, where's Small Market Guy?) So I've had to defend my original observation, and the heat's gone up a few degrees...they're only managing to distract this thread further from its original topic. Not that that's anything new.
Re the Vince Vance record mentioned by Firepoint; I recall there was some controversy about it when it was new, not the least from the composers and/or copyright holders of "Barbara Ann," who had not been consulted for clearance to publish the parody lyrics.
(Oh goody gumdrops, now Stefan's in on it too...)
Re the Vince Vance record mentioned by Firepoint; I recall there was some controversy about it when it was new, not the least from the composers and/or copyright holders of "Barbara Ann," who had not been consulted for clearance to publish the parody lyrics.
(Oh goody gumdrops, now Stefan's in on it too...)
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So you were, in essence, making yourself judge, jury, and executioner over what your audience did, and did not, get to hear.
So I am guessing that you played that one? I wouldn't mind taking a listen to that one myself, although I now may not remember enough Spanish to decipher it.
(Oh goody gumdrops, now Stefan's in on it too...) so is Cher's half breed not politically correct......yet its an honest song https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6E98ZRaU1s
No, my staff and I at a station that got as high as a 90% share of audience at night in a 40 station market (meaning that we knew what we were doing) decided that the songs were not relevant to the market and not worth playing.
In that sense, no different than not playing both James Brown and Bob Dylan... as those musical sub-genres or styles did not work historically for us.
No, we thought that a song that was a hit in Mexico that talked about Apaches was not relevant in a place where the Inca heritage majority did not have a heritage of "taking scalps".
Some of this is more about language and terminology than the song's overall meaning.
R&B stations in the US used to run ads in Broadcasting and Sponsor in the 50's in which they described their format as "race music". While R&B stations today tend to call themselves "Urban" they still play music with a strong African American appeal... but they use terms that are accepted today to describe it.
Times change, and outmoded vocabulary... or vocabulary that has acquired negative meanings... is an item programmers have to be sensitive to. That's not "political correctness" as much as simple common sense and a knowledge of how people think and react today.
Here is another "song for thought" complete with a delightful (not) album cover:
http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwo...ho-indian-giver-history-offensive-term-151639
Hopefully you didn't program a radio station when those songs were hits.
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What you did in your original post was mention Sarah Palin's name. You know that liberals panic at the mention of her name..
I think we should start a new thread: "Songs That Should Have Never Been Hits Because They Were Offensive".
I, too, like some others here, shifted from a long career in radio to weddings and events. Any time I play "Apache" at a wedding it fills the dance floor. So, the people in attendance don't find it too offensive. Same holds true for "Baby Got Back." There are many songs that were never hits on the radio that are a hit at events.
When the Spanish version was a hit, I programmed a Top 40 station which I also owned.
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