Sammy Hagar - I Can’t Drive 55

I was shocked to view Sammy Hagar's "I Can't Drive 55" video on YouTube and notice they edited the word @$$ out of:

"Yeah the judge said, 'boy just one more,
I'm gonna throw your ___ in the city joint!'
Looked me in the eye, said 'you get my point?'
I say 'yeah'..."

Was there seriously a radio edit that dropped that word? It sounds like it was done "in the mix," in other words only Sammy's voice drops out while the rest of the instruments continue.

I thought I remembered our local top 40 playing it unedited... I think I have a cassette tape around here somewhere that would back up my memory...

Anybody remember this censored version?

Edited by NightAire

I remember seeing the original video on MTV numerous times
in 1984. It was unedited then. Also, I never heard an
edited version on the radio at the time it was a hit.

Edited by Paul Haney

I vote this "most unnecessary censorship of the decade."

People have gotten more conscious about offending groups
over the years. Some things that were once deemed
acceptable or excusable are now censored. The most recent
example I can think of is "Money For Nothing" by Dire
Straits. In 1985, the "f____t word was played on radio
and TV, and was on the 45. On their first best of comp,
they simply removed the entire second verse, maybe not
understanding the context of the lyrics.

I don't know if it's true, but I once read that it was
Mark Knopfler's decision to edit it.

aaronk wrote: The Dire Straits best of CD contains the original 1985 promo 45 version. I would imagine many top 40 stations aired the 4:05 edit from that promo. I'm sure there were some, however, who played the commercial 45 version, also known as the Long Edit. The Long Edit was issued on the promo 12", but I'm not aware of a promo 45 with that version.

Aaron is correct. I remember some stations played the
edited 45 version, some played the longer 45 version and
some played the entire album version. At least one
station I listened to played all 3 versions, depending on
the time of day.