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On-Air Caller Cursing

Yesterday evening I was listening to a local Boston radio station. An on-air called said "that sh*t sucks". Is that allowed? I think FCC guidelines have changed recently. I would think the board operators are responsible for a delay to catch something like that, and if a caller did curse, the hosts would correct them or drop the call.
 
Sometimes board ops don't catch it. There's supposed to be a dump button. I'm guessing the s word is still prohibited but it's still up in the air as to whether or not it's a "fleeting expletive"

Often when you listen to Howie Carr you will suddenly hear Howie say, "oops, he said a bad word,
Sandy cut that out" (dump button--suddenly jumps to _after_ the word and eventually the
delay builds up again)

Once on Labor Day I was heading up to NH and heard Bill Lee being interviewed on WEEI, talking about a charity baseball game. Lee: "The manager came to the mound to take me out of the
game. He tells me, 'I'm taking you out.' I said, 'No s---.'" Board op didn't catch it. It happens.

A friend had recorded some American Top 40: The 70s for me from KOLA out in California. The
original programs--you could tell Casey was playing 45s, etc. The Isley Bros. had a hit called
Fight The Power (later remade by Public Enemy for Spike Lee's 'Do The Right Thing'). One of
the lyrics says, "'cause all of this bulls--- comin' down". To my amazement 2 or 3 times,
the BS word showed up, unedited. Casey's engineers didn't catch it back then? Neither
did KOLA...we're talking early 70s here.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fight_the_Power_Pts._1_&_2

There are some songs where it almost sounds like someone's swearing. Rob Base and DJ Easy Rock "It takes two" has
repeated "Woo! Yeah!" (or maybe "Woo! Hit it!") and it sounds like the S word. And the
70s hit by Wild Cherry, "Play That Funky Music" almost sounds like he's saying "Play that
f----in' music" but I guess he isn't..."funky".
 
I'm glad you mention music versus conversation. My understanding is that if a curse is part of music, you could include it, versus a conversation where you are not supposed to allow it.
 
The FCC isn't going to come after you for that (more concerned with Stern-level graphic talk). It's more about a station's standards. Some are strict about language others aren't.
 
ive heard fbombs and sbombs on the sports hub when there doing the patriots press conference since its live its only happened a few times and gary said we are sorry for the offensive language
 
i thought there was awhile where creative use vs. blatent use was an fcc distinction? that is before colin powell's son was appointed to head. this left an unfair and semi racist gap betwen wbcn playing melodic rock songs with swears unedited but urban stations unable to play songs with swears.

does the 10pm rule still exist?
 
Is it any different from playing songs by which an audience has to figure out between the lines what a disc jockey is saying about them? Calling them scags, telling them what a drag it is to see them, etc.

It's all a matter of context, and here and there are those who carry on the tradition. Fortunately I am assured that such freaks on the air are incredibly few and far between. They are simply not the norm, and that is why they are so clearly understood when they do surface.
 
If that call was on between 10pm to 6am I guess you're fine.

I was once listening to KLOS on June or July. The jock was going off at BP for the oil spill and said the word a**hole, which was heard uncensored. That was during the 10pm hour so I believe they were safe.
 
raccoonradio said:
There are some songs where it almost sounds like someone's swearing.

And there are songs where someone is swearing. Many many times in the song. Unbelievable by EMF has the "F" world repeated over and over. They lyrics is "what the f--k was that"? It was just never edited and that version continues to be played on radio today.
 
musicman3355 said:
If that call was on between 10pm to 6am I guess you're fine.

I was once listening to KLOS on June or July. The jock was going off at BP for the oil spill and said the word a**hole, which was heard uncensored. That was during the 10pm hour so I believe they were safe.

That is one of those questionable words that is used on the radio. Questionable in that there is a question whether or not it falls under "expletive". Back before the whole FCC crackdown after the Janet Jackson incident that word was becoming more and more common on the air as an "okay" word. I have heard it starting to come back. I hear it every now and then on the WAAF morning show.
 
>>The pirate stations may not care to censor out curse words.

They don't have a license to lose...

The AH word is interesting--you can say "a--" and "hole" but not together? When airing a Bill Cosby stand up, for example (and he usually doesn't get into foul language) he says "They say drugs
amplify your personality--okay, but what if you're an a-- hole?" Maybe stations can play a slightly bleeped version.
I have heard promos and such on college radio where the F word shows up and gets bleeped but you can pretty much tell the word. (Of course since I mentioned standup comedy I can only
think of the George Carlin routine where he imagined substituting the F word for the word kill.
"Okay sheriff we're gonna F you now! But we're gonna F you slow!"

Back to music, Steve Miller's Jet Airliner says "all that funky s--- goin' down in the city". That
may get aired on occasion but another version has it saying "funky kicks" instead.

What's interesting is that while in some ways I wouldn't mind seeing a more lax approach to words like these, keeping them taboo can make them funny or interesting. I'm thinking of the guy who
remixed that Bill O'Reilly blooper tape into a great dance remix, and the impact of the F word
being taboo makes it so great. "That's tomorrow--F it!--F--in' thing sucks! I don't know,
I don't know, I don't know, f---!" (He flips out when no words show up on the teleprompter:
"There's no, there's no words there!...F--- it, we'll do it live. DO IT LIVE!"

Here it is--not safe for work due to language. It's got a good beat and you can dance to it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5j2YDq6FkVE

See also Monty Python "I Bet You They Won't Play This Song On The Radio" ("You can't say
(bleep) on the radio. Or (bleep) or (bleep) or bleep"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uj7zi9Tp5s4
(look quick, spot a G.E. SuperRadio!)
 
I've had instances where callers have said "goddamn" or "chrissakes"...it happens..the worst thing you can do is call attention to it..

If you've noticed on television, ''Mad Men" and "Rescue Me", using two examples, have been able to use the "S" word, the "BS" word, and the "GD" word, as long as they use the "MA" (mature audiences) designation....during last night's "Mad Men" the "F" word was intended, but did not pass the censors muster, and was left out..

Given that Democrats are in power now, the FCC tends to be a little more lax towards things involving language..when Republicans are in charge, the Commission tends to act like a federal agency..
 
Speaker of Truth said:
If you've noticed on television, ''Mad Men" and "Rescue Me", using two examples, have been able to use the "S" word, the "BS" word, and the "GD" word, as long as they use the "MA" (mature audiences) designation....during last night's "Mad Men" the "F" word was intended, but did not pass the censors muster, and was left out..

If anything it is a self-imposed censorship. Since the show is on cable, FCC language decency regs do not apply. They could have used the "F" word if they wanted to.
 
GD and Crisssakes are not going to get you in trouble with the FCC, IMHO.

Carlin's 7 words, which was the basis for the Pacifica Decision, and the later additions, that I attribute to Howard Stern that deal with bodily secretions, etc, are the things you need to worry about.

Unless someone files an official complaint with the FCC, nothing is going to happen.
 
We also played "You" on WHEB unedited. The same held true for Steve Miller Band "Jet Airliner" Pink Floyd "Money" and The Who "Who are You" as is. Does anyone still play these songs in this form anymore? I hear them edited now.

A favorite example of a goof was soft rock stations who didn't have music service that played Sarah McLachlan "Building a Mystery". Then of course there was Alanis Morissette... :)

TravisWMLN said:
for long time candlebox's "you" was played unedited on WAAF
 
raccoonradio said:
There are some songs where it almost sounds like someone's swearing. Rob Base and DJ Easy Rock "It takes two" has repeated "Woo! Yeah!" (or maybe "Woo! Hit it!") and it sounds like the S word...

Same with the song "Push It" by Salt N' Pepa... ::)
 
raccoonradio said:
... Steve Miller's Jet Airliner says "all that funky s--- goin' down in the city". That may get aired on occasion but another version has it saying "funky kicks" instead...

Lately, many radio stations have shied away from the unedited version of this and other such classic rock staples and playing the safe edited versions. In other words, no longer can Steve Miller say that he can't get caught up in any of that funky [expletive] goin' down in the city, Pink Floyd can't refuse your do-good bull[expletive], and The Who can no longer ask, "Who the [expletive] are you?"

Yet, it is still okay for Chrissie Hynde to exclaim that she's "got a new skank." I don't get it.
 
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