Clean vs Explicit in the 1970 Top 40
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Topic: Clean vs Explicit in the 1970 Top 40
Posted By: PopArchivist
Subject: Clean vs Explicit in the 1970 Top 40
Date Posted: 31 August 2019 at 10:49pm
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Thought it would be interesting if anyone knows which songs are easily identifiable by the clean lyric radio edits vs the controversial LP ones from this decade.
So far the two easy one's, one is mentioned in a thread on this board but not by title: Jimmy Buffett's 45 and LP versions of "Changes In Latitudes, Changes In Attitudes" About a minute into the song, the LP lyric is "son of a bitches" and the 45 lyric is "some bruises and stitches". The second one I know of is in The Devil Went Down To Georgia by The Charlie Daniels Band at 2:55 on the LP version it is "son of a bitch" and on the 45 it is "son of a gun" instead. Anyone know of any other songs? I am assembling the 70's top 40 and just want to check. I know in 1969 A Boy Named Sue by Johnny Cash has the bleep in it and the stereo version has it uncensored on the LP, but I didn't think any 60's hits really were censored from 45 to LP, were they? Edit: I couldn't fit the 's after 1970, I meant the decade not just one year... |
Replies:
Posted By: thecdguy
Date Posted: 01 September 2019 at 4:01am
The only other 60's songs with censored/uncensored versions I can think of are Lou Christie's "Rhapsody In The Rain" and The Swingin' Medallions' "Double Shot (Of My Baby's Love)". I've never had the albums they were originally on, but I would guess the uncensored versions would be on those. |
PopArchivist wrote:Posted By: Paul Haney
Date Posted: 01 September 2019 at 5:33am
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From the 1960s:
Big Bad John - Jimmy Dean (some 45s censor "one hell of a man" to "big, big man") From the 1970s: Money - Pink Floyd (mono promo 45 censors "bullshit") Fight The Power (Part 1) - Isley Brothers (some promo 45s censor "bullshit") Jet Airliner - Steve Miller (45 is censored "funky kicks" vs LP "funky shit") Who Are You - The Who (45 is censored "who the hell are you" vs LP "who the fuck are you") Good Girls Don't - The Knack - this one has a couple of lyric changes (45 is censored "wishing she was givin' you a chance" and "puts you in your place" vs LP "wishing you could get inside her pants" and "sittin' on your face") |
Posted By: Hykker
Date Posted: 01 September 2019 at 5:55am
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Bob Dylan's "Hurricane" the word "shit" was ducked on the
45. There was a really awkward edit of Wild Cherry's "Play That Funky Music" where the term "white boy" was excised. Not sure if this was something created later...don'e ever recall hearing it in 1976. This wasn't a top 40 hit, but I'm mentioning it because the "edit" was so clumsily done...the Magic Lanterns' "One Night Stand". The song has a line "..you'd be easy as hell"...the line was intact on the non-charting original 1970 release on Atlantic, but on the 1971 reissue on Big Tree the word "hell" is obliterated by loud hum!! |
Posted By: RichM921
Date Posted: 01 September 2019 at 6:43am
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For the '60s there is a version of Van Morrison's "Brown Eyed Girl"
which omits "making love in the green grass." |
Posted By: Kevin711
Date Posted: 01 September 2019 at 3:32pm
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Ever so slightly off-topic here perhaps, but from the
late '60s, there are two different versions of "Let's Live For Today" by the Grass Roots. One listed as "uncensored" and the other listed, of course, as "censored". Both versions can be found on "The Complete Dunhill/ABC Hit Singles". And as regards the "one hell of a man" version of "Big Bad John", that one is on "Billboard Top Country Hits: 1961". |
Posted By: Indy500
Date Posted: 02 September 2019 at 9:41am
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Indiana Wants Me had the siren removed in some promos.
Timothy the Buoys: There are two known edited versions of this song released as white label promo 45s on Scepter. The A-side of both promos feature the unedited version. The B-side of SDR-12275 indicates "REVISED LYRIC" under the song title. The "My stomach was full" lyric is changed to "Both of us fine as we could be." The B-side of the other promo (SDJ-12275) indicates "EDITED, BLEEPED OUT" under the song title. While the "My stomach..." lyric is kept in this one, the word "hell" in the second verse is covered up with a quick bleep. |
Posted By: TomDiehl1
Date Posted: 02 September 2019 at 2:07pm
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The mono side of the promo 45 for Cat
Scratch Fever by Ted Nugent has the lyric "well I make those kitties purr with the stroke of my hand" in place of the regular lyric (found on the stereo side, and presumably stock 45) of "well I make a pussy purr with the stroke of my hand" ------------- Live in stereo. |
Posted By: AndrewChouffi
Date Posted: 03 September 2019 at 4:41am
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To Tom Diehl or anyone else out there...
I seem to remember that "Cat Scratch Fever" lyric change from the radio, but I never could verify its existence! I started to think it was an in-house edit or my imagination gone awry. Does anyone out there have a clean dub of the mono version that I can hear? Andy |
Posted By: TomDiehl1
Date Posted: 04 September 2019 at 9:22pm
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Andy, I'll see if I can dig my promo 45
out this weekend. I'm not sure if I've even come across it since moving here 2 years ago... and another move is in my near future. ------------- Live in stereo. |
Posted By: TomDiehl1
Date Posted: 04 September 2019 at 9:24pm
Epic did issue this on a promo 45 with a special catalog number, but I don't own a copy of it. ------------- Live in stereo. |
Posted By: AutumnAarilyn
Date Posted: 04 September 2019 at 10:19pm
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Here's a youtube upload of the censored Wild Cherry
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=On6VtPhOxr4 |
Posted By: AndrewChouffi
Date Posted: 05 September 2019 at 5:23am
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To Tom Diehl:
Thank you for looking for the promo 45 for me! If anyone else out there has a dub of that Nugent 45 handy, let me know! Thanks! Andy |
Posted By: aaronk
Date Posted: 05 September 2019 at 8:35am
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I'll have a look as soon as possible to see if I have it. ------------- Aaron Kannowski http://www.uptownsound.com" rel="nofollow - Uptown Sound http://www.919thepeak.com" rel="nofollow - 91.9 The Peak - Classic Hip Hop |
Posted By: eriejwg
Date Posted: 05 September 2019 at 11:35am
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Is there a stereo version of the "kitties purr..." lyric
anywhere? Would love to hear it... ------------- John Gallagher Erie, PA https://www.johngallagher.com" rel="nofollow - John Gallagher Wedding & Special Event Entertainment / Snapblast Photo Booth |
Posted By: EdisonLite
Date Posted: 06 September 2019 at 12:18am
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IIRC, in the Spinners' "Could It Be I'm Falling in Love", the single edits out a section that says "Fuh", in the adlib "I used to say fah fah fah fuh". And it was discussed here on the board. I suppose the record label's thought was that some people might think it was a swear word if they heard the line.
There also were edits not because of explicit issues but because of controversy. Dean Friedman's "Ariel" had a verse starting with "She was a Jewish girl" but the record label had that line (and even more of the verse) edited/resung. And of course, the Kinks' "Lola" has 2 versions - one that says "Cherry Cola" and one that says "Coca Cola", which was not explicit or controversial but broke the BBC rules of mentioning products in song lyrics on radio. Can anyone think of other edits done not because of explicit factors but controversial ones? |
Posted By: AndrewChouffi
Date Posted: 06 September 2019 at 4:51am
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To EdisonLite:
I believe the Spinners hit you're thinking of is "One Of A Kind (Love Affair)". That had a slightly longer original single with the line "you've just got to *blank* her" That was quickly excised on second pressings 'cos it sure sounded like "fuh" with a 'k' sound... I don't believe "Could It Be I'm Falling In Love" had the same fate; I could be in error. Andy |
Posted By: KentT
Date Posted: 10 September 2019 at 5:20am
The LP version of "A Boy Named Sue" was always bleeped. The uncensored version was only on the UK Granada TV broadcast of "Johnny Cash At Folsom Prison" until the Columbia Legacy CD was remastered. ------------- I turn up the good and turn down the bad! |