Earlier this week I was tracking MTV’s bleep-button trigger-finger, so it seems that I should mention this: Last night marked the prime-time debut of Peaches’ 2002 stripper favorite “Fuck The Pain Away,” thanks to a jaw-dropping episode of South Park that was focused on twin outbreaks of prostitution in the cartoon Colorado town. The track didn’t reach the f-word-happy chorus, but it did manage to have the “titties” in its opening line pass without being bleeped. [South Park Studios; fairly NSFW, even though it somehow got past the censors] MORE »
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Tracking The Ever-Shifting Priorities Of MTV Networks’ Standards And Practices Department
Over the weekend, 50 Cent appeared on Vh1’s Top 20 countdown—yes, it is focused on music videos!—and while introducing the No. 6 video of the week, Green Day’s “21 Guns,” Curtis said to host Jim Shearer, “Man, I’d love to be able to have a song called ‘21 Guns’ on VH1.” This isn’t the first time that 50 has (rightly) noted the odd discrepancies in MTV Networks’ lyric-bleeping thresholds, but it is a good moment to maybe do a rundown of what MTV and its matrix of sister networks have censored lately? (Hey, the lousy economy is resulting in all those channels playing more music videos!) A few noticeable omissions and non-omissions from recent tracks after the jump—feel free to add your own! MORE »
idolator's american idolatry
If “American Idol” Rankings Tank Next Season, Expect Kara And Randy To Start Working Blue
The Czech TV giant TV Nova has figured out a way to get people to tune into its show “virally,” and it doesn’t even involve a Kanye West run-in! They’re letting their judges’ freak flags fly, leaving their profanity-laced barbs at the hopefuls uncensored—even though the show runs during the state-mandated pre-10 p.m. “family time.” The Wall Street Journal notes that this new turn toward fast-and-loose language has coincided with a ratings boom for the program! Hmm. Hmm! MORE »
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Water: Too Sexy For BET
The video for Jeremih’s sinuous summer hit “Birthday Sex” has dropped, and it’s a refreshingly straightforward, if slightly camp affair. In the clip, Jeremih invites his paramour over to his nicely outfitted home for the purpose of giving her a few gifts: a video camera, a blindfold, and some fruit. (The gift of a tape featuring both of their sexy bits–perhaps in the shower!–will come later.) The version of the clip that I watched on YouTube is labeled the “BET Edit,” and wouldn’t you know that there are a few terms in the song that were deemed too hot for the channel. This despite a overflowing champagne flute apparently passing muster!. A complete list of what you won’t hear should you catch this video on 106 & Park after the jump. MORE »
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The PMRC’s “Filthy Fifteen” Sure Looks Cute In 2009
Twisted Sister’s Stay Hungry is being reissued, the latest example of getting every piece of pop music every made back out there before the recorded-music industry goes tits-up, and the press release about the new version touts the fact that “We’re Not Gonna Take It” was a member of the Filthy Fifteen. That was a list of songs put together in 1985 by the Parents’ Music Resource Council, the group of moms who were pretty much the driving force behind the now-ubiquitous “Parental Advisory: Explicit Lyrics” stickers on albums deemed too hot for young ears; they put together a playlist of songs that in their mind glorified sex, drugs, and violence in such a way that one had to conclude that The Pop Music Was Killing Our Kids. Given that “We’re Not Gonna Take It” seems positively benign right now, I decided to remind myself of the list’s other contents. The artists whose songs were cited fall into two categories for the most part: Heavy metal bands and people who worked with Prince, including the man himself. All 15–complete with some filthy-in-85, safe-for-work now clips–after the jump! MORE »
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Jamey Johnson Finds Out That Country Radio Doesn’t Take Chances
For a rough-looking guy with a giant beard, Jamey Johnson has done relatively well in mainstream country music, with award nominations and a top ten hit, “In Color.” However, “In Color” was a touching track about a veteran showing old pictures to his grandson, the sort of thing that tends to do well at country radio. What about when Johnson’s label floats a track that contains lyrics about smoking pot in a church parking lot? MORE »
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Superheroic Christina Aguilera Can’t Save Her Song From Target’s Censor-Bots
Christina Aguilera’s Target-only greatest-hits… MORE »
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In The Eyes Of MTV, “Kazaa” Is Now Just As Bad A Word As “Shirt”
Who knew that the names of nearly obsolete… MORE »
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The Pogues Fall Foul Of The BBC’s Censors (20 Years Later)
After two decades of airplay, the BBC just noticed that the Pogues’ classic Christmas jam “Fairytale Of New York” has a naughty word tucked into it–you know, the one singer Kirsty MacColl rhymes with “maggot”–and has excised it in order to keep its audience from fainting or getting the vapors or whatever uptight British people do when aghast. Naturally, many of the song’s millions of fans think the Beeb is being a bit silly, including the late MacColl’s mum, who pulled out the Mark Knopfler defense to put Radio 1 on blast. MORE »
