It really irks me that different stations seem to randomly edit songs with seemingly no understanding of what they’re doing. “Play That Funky Music” edited really sounds dumb.
Evidently, someone somewhere (since the station is probably part of a conglomerate) complained, and they edited the song to avoid trouble. If other songs aren’t bleeped, it’s because no one complained.
Something new moves to the top of my “Stupidest Things I Ever Heard” list. “Niggas”, “hos” and “bitches” is okay (or was until a few weeks ago) but “white boy” is bad? No wonder Fox News gets such high ratings. The stupid people have the majority.
The band “Wild cherry” is from Steubenville OH, where I live and work, and I work with a reletive of the lead singer. Upon reading this thread, I had to go tell him that his family’s legacy had been despoiled.
And there is the problem with modern namby-pambyism. If one person complains that they are offended by something, it will be changed to meet their whims, despite the fact that the censored version will offend thousands more people. But if you complain about the censored version, will anything happen? Will it _____…
jali, what misinterpretation is going to be needed for ‘funky’ to get it to upset someone from the Offenderati? Isn’t it a word with serious racial connotations of it’s own? My understanding has been that it started as a derogatory description of “negro music.” Given that, the people who could be upset by the word are legion, I think.
In radio, it has to do with the fact that the FCC can levy some pretty big fines if they decide you shouldn’t have played the song. It the nutcase complains to them, and they agree (and they’ve been pretty restrictive lately), you’re out so much money that it’s best to play it cautiously.
Wow. I didn’t know there were actual negative racial connotations. I remember James Brown, “…and it’s gots to be funky”. I remember “Do the Funky Chicken”. I remember Parliament Funkadelic and a host of bands playing “funk music”. I missed the whole negative vibe.
Actually, I am pretty sure that this is not new censorship. I think that the bowdlerized version of “Play that Funky Music” has been around for as long as the original. I’m pretty sure I heard it back when I was a teenager.