America, the land of freedom, has produced some of the best music ever heard but is also the world leader in ridiculous attempts to censor it. Here are ten examples over the past fifty years; #5 is my favourite !!
1. 1954
Ruth Thompson, US Congress argues that rock and roll is porno and introduces legislation which means that mailing an album would get you 5 years in jail i
2. 1957
The Ed Sullivan Show cameramen are told to only show the top half of Elvis during his appearance
3. 1964
Matthew Welsh, Governor of Indiana bans "Louie, Louie"
4. 1966
John Lennon says the beatles are more popular than the beatles, leading to record burnings around the US
5. 1968
Texas radio station bans all records by Bob Dylan: they cant understand any of the lyrics and are worried they may contain lewd material
6. 1970
Richard Nixon, US President tells radio stations to screen all songs for content and ban anything referring to drugs
7. 1976
The Sex PIstols refused entry to the US because their music had little artistic value
8. 1985
Wife of Al, Tipper Gore creates the Parents Music Resource Group, Frank Zappa appears before them to argue against their case for censorship
9. 1990
Judas Priest is sued by the family of 2 men who beat one of their mothers. The families argue that the song "Stained Glass" told them to do it
10. 1997
Florida legislator John Grant prevents the funding of a public radio station for playing protest songs, including Iris Dement's Wasteland, containing the lyrics "We got CEOs makin' 200 times the workers' pay/But they'll fight like hell against raisin' the minimum wage"
Image: Courtesy RCA
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