Radio 1 Bans Faggots
Then buzz it up
December 18th, 2007 at 18:00 by Paul Sorrenti
BBC Radio 1 has made the decision to censor the word 'faggot' from Kirsty MacColl and Shane McGowan's yuletide anthem Fairytale Of New York.
Inevitably, various groups are up in arms at this display of censorship, calling it political correctness gone mad and everything else you'd probably expect it to. However, the real outrage isn't that Radio 1 has censored the word 'faggot' from Fairytale Of New York, or that it's even playing a song that originally contained the word 'faggot' - no, the real outrage is that Radio 1 is playing a song that's about three times older than its average listener in the first place.
BBC Radio 1’s decision to silence the word 'faggot' from Fairytale Of New York was criticised by Kirsty MacColl's mother on Radio 5 Live this morning, on the grounds that the song is about two characters speaking in a dialect true to themselves. She said:
"These are a couple of characters. 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."
Radio 1 released a statement defending the decision:
“Radio 1 are playing an edited version of the Fairytale of New York that does not include the world 'faggot' as this is a word that members of our audience would find offensive."
The song was first released in 1987, and is now as synonymous with Christmas time as mince pies, intense family feuds and merry old St. Nick himself. A spokesperson for McGowan’s band The Pogues commented:
"It strikes me as very odd and I'm sure the band will be very amused."
Whatever the reason for the ban, though, censoring the song's 'faggot' line seems to us like a pretty futile attempt on Radio 1’s part because everyone knows what the missing word is anyway. The silence at the end of "You scumbag, you maggot, you cheap lousy…” makes the word stand out stronger in its absence, like when the wedding reception DJ turns down the volume after "It’s fun to stay at the…” everyone knows to scream out "YMCA!”
And even if they don't know the censored word, the only two words that rhyme with 'maggot' are 'faggot' and 'cagot' and we don't think Kirsty MacColl would ever dream of calling Shane McGowan a member of the race inhabiting the valleys of the Pyrenees who until 1793 were political and social outcasts for supposedly being remnants of the Visigoths.
What's our view on the matter? We don't have one. We're waiting for the remixed duet between Isaiah Washington and Jerry Lewis to come out.
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December 18th, 2007 at 7:33 pm
[...] it why not make it Number One this Xmas - it sure beats Mr Cowell’s latest pick for stardom. Heckler Spray started the debate and other influential blogs like p2pnet were in on the argument soon after. But [...]
December 18th, 2007 at 7:44 pm
Bad precedence, pretty soon they will try to censor history from the kiddies whilst slowly trying to rewrite it, as if WW2 didnt happen.That´ll be the nazi christian, corporate global paedophiles, who are at this time roaming the planet trying to find the elixir of immortality. They( the prevertors in my paranoid daymares) will try to supplant us with a revamped royal breeding program, using knockoff modern day cloning methods, this time they, the clones won’t be so horsey looking and may have cybernetic extras built in like phone fax and plastic tits.
We will be too stoned from pills and mystery stuff inside the food, waiting for our bigger penis meds, to realise until its too late.
There will be the organlcks, us humans born of imperfection, but possessing within us part of the true universal soul, and, the seeming to be perfect clones…the stupid ones will long to be plastic, the saviours will hold on to every shred humanity…BUT, fear not the evil ones missed something out, something crucial… in the words of Nelson from the Simpsons… HA HA!
no its not funny..its lost,for now.
My advice smoke lotsa, lotsa Ganja…Partickal 72 signing off.
December 19th, 2007 at 1:44 pm
You’re right, Higgy Ratstar - we’re doomed. Did you know in school history books they’ve airbrushed out Churchills cigar from all photo’s? What’s next? Airbrushing Kel’s orange soda out of all the Kenan and Kel episodes because it contains too many e numbers??? I think it’s time for us few remaining good folk to take our benevolent dreams and live under the sea as, in the words of Homer Simpson, “there’ll be no accusations, just friendly crustations, under the sea!”. Dunno what the weed’s like down there though. We know more about Alpha Centauri than we do about the bottom of the ocean. There’s bound to be some kind of coral ganj lying about.
December 19th, 2007 at 2:35 pm
thanks brother…you make the day a little easier to bear. its completely out of control.
The news and these amazing contraptions we have to bring real time news to everybody is our most precious resource, apart from the air, and the sea, and the food we all need.
But in these days even reality will be corrupted by a few irresponsible newsspin marketing PR freaks,who are afraid, cause they know in their deepest selves that when people finally get bored of the small smell of celeb shit(if it ever happens..I dont know) they wil have less than no job,they will have no human left.
The internet, long may it live, untampered with and unhacked by The Man.
Big Up and thanks to hecklersprayfor reminding us starstruck common folk that the celebs are an industry promoted by themsleves, for themselves by their followers.
We are art,film and music,without them we woudlnt be human, they(art film music) contribute to our very evolution…BUT artists are simply the messengers, the mediums of things greater than themsleves, bringing messages we all need to hear from ourselves, about our selves they are the speakers not the origin of the sparks.
When we try to change history we change a very important path we are walking back to a kind of promised land. Partickal72 signing off.
PS sorry to get all heavy.
December 19th, 2007 at 4:06 pm
I take issue with Phil Collins but no one censors that bald football-headed fuck pig. Actually I find offensive the Irish shitbag from x-factor, infact the entire twatting programme gets on my tits and that bloody celebrity horses dancing in the jungle on ice but no fucker censors any of them!
December 20th, 2007 at 1:31 pm
I think people are missing the point here, being that this song should be censored more fully, i.e. totally, and replaced by something less shite.