music censorship timeline
Music Censorship Timeline
This music censorship timeline is not a complete one, and it simply recounts some events in the United States that have shaped the censorship of the music industry. Over time, all these events have combined and brought several restrictions on the music industry, some of which are justified, and some of which are not.
- 1936: BBC Radio banned George Formby's When I'm Cleaning Windows for objectionable lyrics.
- 1955: Radio stations in Chicago receive 15,000 letters in one week which complain about the effect that rock and roll is having on youngsters.
- 1956: ABC Radio banned Billie Holiday's Love For Sale for singing about prostitution. ABC Radio also made Cole Porter change the lyrics of I Get A Kick Out Of You for mentioning the word cocaine.
- 1959: Rumble by Link Wray is banned by radio stations across the country even though it is an instrumental song, because it is feared that the song will encourage teenage gang violence.
- 1966: The Beatles are faced with severe public outcries and banishments after John Lennon claims that the band is more popular than Jesus Christ.
- 1968: A radio station in El Paso, Texas bans all songs by Bob Dylan because they could not understand the lyrics and felt it talked about offensive matters.
- 1969: BBC Radio banned Come Together by The Beatles and Lola by The Kinks because they felt that the songs could be misunderstood as advertisements for Coca-Cola.
- 1973: In a major happening, the Supreme Court granted the power to local communities to ban music that they felt was obscene and was influencing the youth.
- 1981: Olivia Newton John's song Physical is banned in Salt Lake City and Provo due to the sexual messages it carried.
- 1985: Tipper Gore and Susan Baker form the Parents Music Recourse Group (PMRG) to monitor and ban objectionable music.
- 1987: Ozzy Osborne is sued by parents of a boy who committed suicide. They claimed that the boy was led to do so after listening to Suicide Solution.
- 1990: Rap group N.W.A. are sent a letter from the FBI, informing them that the lyrics of their song Fuck the Police were not appreciated by law enforcement agencies.
- 1990: Judas Priest is sued by two families, who claim that the lyrics of their song Stained Class encouraged them to perform extremely obscene acts.
- 1990: In Dade County, Florida police set up a sting arrest to catch music retailers who are illegally selling records by 2 Live Crew to children below the age of 18.
- 2000: The parental advisory label is made more profound in the country, and more and more music censorship organizations are set up.