Radio 1 Censors Pogues And Kirsty MacColl Christmas Song - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

waichingliu81 · 12-18-2007, 05:58 PM

By Sky News SkyNews - Tuesday, December 18 02:13 pm

The mother of late singer Kirsty MacColl has branded Radio 1 "pathetic" for banning the word "******" from her hit Fairytale Of New York.

The words appear in a verse where she and co-star Shane MacGowan insult each other.

"You're a bum, you're a punk, you're an old slut on junk, lying there almost dead on a drip in that bed," he says.

"You scumbag, you maggot, you cheap lousy ******, Happy Christmas your arse, I pray God it's our last," she replies.

MacColl's duet with the Pogues star is heading up the charts again this Christmas.

But Radio 1 has decided to bleep out the word "******" because it might offend listeners - sparking outrage from MacColl's mother, Jean.

She told BBC Radio 5 Live Breakfast the move was "pathetic" because the language reflected the characters it describes.

"Today we have a lot of gratuitous vulgarity and 'f****** and whatever' from people all over, which I think is quite unnecessary. But these are characters and they speak like that," she said.

"It's like a play and it's very amusing and sad, and it's a great song."

Founder of gay rights group OutRage Peter Tatchell told Sky News online that it was all a "bit of a storm in a teacup".

"Obviously the song was not intended as a major hate campaign against the gay community," he said.

But Mr Tatchell pointed out that the BBC would have bleeped out a racial insult and so had taken the right decision.

Fairytale Of New York has been covered by more than 10 different bands since it first hit top spot in Ireland in 1987.

In 2000, Ronan Keating and Maire Brennan caused controversy when they changed the sentence "you cheap lousy ******" to "you're cheap and you're haggard" in their cover version.

MacColl died at the age of 41 the same year when she was hit by a speedboat while diving during a holiday in Mexico.

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/skynews/200...a-45dbed5.html

waichingliu81 · 12-18-2007, 06:01 PM

Reuters - 36 minutes ago

LONDON (Reuters) - A boss at BBC Radio reversed on Tuesday a decision to cut the word "******" from a Christmas hit after the mother of the singer branded the move "ridiculous".

In "Fairytale of New York", released 20 years ago by the Irish band the Pogues and the late Kirsty MacColl, she sings "You scumbag, you maggot/You cheap lousy ******".

BBC bosses decided to edit the word "******" each time the song was played because it was offensive to some of their audience. But they backed down after MacColl's mother and hundreds of fans complained.

Andy Parfitt, controller of the public broadcaster's Radio 1, said the decision to edit the song was wrong.

"Radio 1 does not play homophobic lyrics or condone bullying of any kind," he said. "It is not always easy to get this right, mindful of our responsibility to our young audience. The unedited version will be played from now on."

The song is a perennial favourite around Christmas and is battling for the lucrative number one spot in the charts this year. It has also topped several Best Christmas Song polls.

MacColl died in 2000 when she was killed by a speedboat off the coast of Mexico. Her mother Jean, speaking on the BBC Radio 5 Live programme, called the ban "too ridiculous".

"These are a couple of characters," she said, referring to the characters in the song.

"Today we have a lot of a gratuitous vulgarity and ... whatever from people all over which I think is quite unnecessary. These are characters and they speak like that."

A spokeswoman for the band said they would be amused to hear about Radio 1's initial decision to edit the song.

"This song now goes with Christmas like the Queen's speech and mince pies, and all of a sudden it's offensive," she said. "It strikes me as very odd and I'm sure the band will be very amused."

(Reporting by Mike Collett-White and Peter Griffiths; Editing by Steve Addison and Robert Woodward)

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/rtrs/200712...a6b408_10.html

Dean Winchester · 12-18-2007, 06:05 PM

I only heard the song once years ago and that part did piss me off, but I didn't really pay enough attention to the song (it was on MTV's old 120 Minutes show) to really pay attention to the context of the song, all I heard out of nowhere is "******", and tuned back out on it

waichingliu81 · 12-18-2007, 06:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dean Winchester

I only heard the song once years ago and that part did piss me off, but I didn't really pay enough attention to the song (it was on MTV's old 120 Minutes show) to really pay attention to the context of the song, all I heard out of nowhere is "******", and tuned back out on it

every xmas in the uk, radio stations would play this song and yet not one of them edited out that 'f' word. its a good song, but i thought that line 'you scumbag you maggot, you cheap lousy f***** was always going to cause a stir. people will say yeah on rap records nowadays so many rappers mention the 'n' word and how they'd get away with it. and yet an argument to that is that blacks can use that word however wish they like and people from other ethnic groups cannot.

i think that derogatory term for gay and lesbian people is terrible and should not be used because it is offensive

ABlairican Pie · 12-19-2007, 12:02 AM

Kirsty MacColl died in a terrible way when a speedboat driven by a rich Mexican tycoon collided with her. The guilty man merely got off with a mere financial slap on the wrist. She deserves to have her songs heard uncensored and in their original form. That song is quite a piece of cake, as I recall.

If we're going on about "political correctness" in music, then the song "Money For Nothing" by Dire Straits should be also censored or banned for using the exact same "f-word" for gays--but it was part of department store banter Mark Knopfler heard while viewers were watching MTV in the home electronics section.

Dean Winchester · 12-19-2007, 12:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ABlairican Pie

Kirsty MacColl died in a terrible way when a speedboat driven by a rich Mexican tycoon collided with her. The guilty man merely got off with a mere financial slap on the wrist. She deserves to have her songs heard uncensored and in their original form. That song is quite a piece of cake, as I recall.

If we're going on about "political correctness" in music, then the song "Money For Nothing" by Dire Straits should be also censored or banned for using the exact same "f-word" for gays--but it was part of department store banter Mark Knopfler heard while viewers were watching MTV in the home electronics section.

rofl, you beat me to it, seriously. I just heard "Money For Nothing" on the radio today and the word is still uncensored in the song. Even tho I hate the usage of the word, the song is still a classic and it was a drastically different time than today. I think the word is more offensive when used in hip hop songs than it is in 20+ year old Pogues or Dire Straits songs. I always thought Mark was referring to Boy George in that part of the song, was he?

ABlairican Pie · 12-19-2007, 02:26 AM

I also think the use of the word depends on the context.

12-18-2007, 05:58 PM	#1
waichingliu81 debbie allen Forum 4000 Club Member Join Date: Dec 28, 2006 Location: london, england, UK Posts: 4,347	Radio 1 Censors Pogues And Kirsty MacColl Christmas Song By Sky News SkyNews - Tuesday, December 18 02:13 pm The mother of late singer Kirsty MacColl has branded Radio 1 "pathetic" for banning the word "****" from her hit Fairytale Of New York. The words appear in a verse where she and co-star Shane MacGowan insult each other. "You're a bum, you're a punk, you're an old slut on junk, lying there almost dead on a drip in that bed," he says. "You scumbag, you maggot, you cheap lousy **, Happy Christmas your arse, I pray God it's our last," she replies. MacColl's duet with the Pogues star is heading up the charts again this Christmas. But Radio 1 has decided to bleep out the word "**" because it might offend listeners - sparking outrage from MacColl's mother, Jean. She told BBC Radio 5 Live Breakfast the move was "pathetic" because the language reflected the characters it describes. "Today we have a lot of gratuitous vulgarity and 'f** and whatever' from people all over, which I think is quite unnecessary. But these are characters and they speak like that," she said. "It's like a play and it's very amusing and sad, and it's a great song." Founder of gay rights group OutRage Peter Tatchell told Sky News online that it was all a "bit of a storm in a teacup". "Obviously the song was not intended as a major hate campaign against the gay community," he said. But Mr Tatchell pointed out that the BBC would have bleeped out a racial insult and so had taken the right decision. Fairytale Of New York has been covered by more than 10 different bands since it first hit top spot in Ireland in 1987. In 2000, Ronan Keating and Maire Brennan caused controversy when they changed the sentence "you cheap lousy ****" to "you're cheap and you're haggard" in their cover version. MacColl died at the age of 41 the same year when she was hit by a speedboat while diving during a holiday in Mexico. http://uk.news.yahoo.com/skynews/200...a-45dbed5.html

12-19-2007, 12:02 AM	#5
ABlairican Pie Member Forum Superstar Join Date: Dec 12, 2001 Location: Living where cats reign more Supreme than a pizza. Posts: 31,619	Kirsty MacColl died in a terrible way when a speedboat driven by a rich Mexican tycoon collided with her. The guilty man merely got off with a mere financial slap on the wrist. She deserves to have her songs heard uncensored and in their original form. That song is quite a piece of cake, as I recall. If we're going on about "political correctness" in music, then the song "Money For Nothing" by Dire Straits should be also censored or banned for using the exact same "f-word" for gays--but it was part of department store banter Mark Knopfler heard while viewers were watching MTV in the home electronics section.
	__________________ Release the kitties. --Nathan Explosion

12-18-2007, 06:01 PM	#2
waichingliu81 debbie allen Forum 4000 Club Member Join Date: Dec 28, 2006 Location: london, england, UK Posts: 4,347	Reuters - 36 minutes ago LONDON (Reuters) - A boss at BBC Radio reversed on Tuesday a decision to cut the word "****" from a Christmas hit after the mother of the singer branded the move "ridiculous". In "Fairytale of New York", released 20 years ago by the Irish band the Pogues and the late Kirsty MacColl, she sings "You scumbag, you maggot/You cheap lousy **". BBC bosses decided to edit the word "****" each time the song was played because it was offensive to some of their audience. But they backed down after MacColl's mother and hundreds of fans complained. Andy Parfitt, controller of the public broadcaster's Radio 1, said the decision to edit the song was wrong. "Radio 1 does not play homophobic lyrics or condone bullying of any kind," he said. "It is not always easy to get this right, mindful of our responsibility to our young audience. The unedited version will be played from now on." The song is a perennial favourite around Christmas and is battling for the lucrative number one spot in the charts this year. It has also topped several Best Christmas Song polls. MacColl died in 2000 when she was killed by a speedboat off the coast of Mexico. Her mother Jean, speaking on the BBC Radio 5 Live programme, called the ban "too ridiculous". "These are a couple of characters," she said, referring to the characters in the song. "Today we have a lot of a gratuitous vulgarity and ... whatever from people all over which I think is quite unnecessary. These are characters and they speak like that." A spokeswoman for the band said they would be amused to hear about Radio 1's initial decision to edit the song. "This song now goes with Christmas like the Queen's speech and mince pies, and all of a sudden it's offensive," she said. "It strikes me as very odd and I'm sure the band will be very amused." (Reporting by Mike Collett-White and Peter Griffiths; Editing by Steve Addison and Robert Woodward) http://uk.news.yahoo.com/rtrs/200712...a6b408_10.html

12-18-2007, 06:05 PM	#3
Dean Winchester Member Forum Fanatic Join Date: Sep 28, 2003 Location: Louisville KY Posts: 14,803	I only heard the song once years ago and that part did piss me off, but I didn't really pay enough attention to the song (it was on MTV's old 120 Minutes show) to really pay attention to the context of the song, all I heard out of nowhere is "******", and tuned back out on it

12-19-2007, 02:26 AM	#7
ABlairican Pie Member Forum Superstar Join Date: Dec 12, 2001 Location: Living where cats reign more Supreme than a pizza. Posts: 31,619	I also think the use of the word depends on the context.