A show on VH-1 said that it was illegal to play the song “Short People” on the radio in the state of Maryland. Is this true? What about free speech?
A google search on “short people” “maryland” “newman” “illegal” showed 123 results. I looked at a couple and scanned the descriptions of others, and they seem to be of the “Hey, did you know that…?” variety. I didn’t see any cites.
Is it illegal to play Short People on Maryland radio? Probably not; but I don’t know. I heard that for a while Frankie Goes To Hollywood’s Relax could not be played on the radio in Oklahoma ($100 fine for doing so) because it “violated community standards of decency”. But I don’t have a cite for that either.
Why would VH-1 spread this if it’s just a UL?
Also, wouldn’t someone, somewhere, challenge such a law?
why on earth would anyone ban th e song? It is about discrimination against short people - Randy Newman is very short himself
This is absurd and was addressed in another thread recently IIRC. I am in MD and I have heard this song on the radio.
Why does/has every major and local wire service, news organization, magazine, newspaper, or anything repeat urban legends?
Because things slip through the cracks, reporters check facts less and less, and most people won’t catch them on it. And if you try to challenge them by writing a letter demanding that they retract an urban legend reported as fact, supplying cites and so forth, you get back a form letter saying “Thank you for your concern. We stand by our (anonymous) unnamed sources. We notice that you are not currently a subscriber…”
If anything, I would say Randy Newman is above average height. I couldn’t dig up his actual height in a quick search, but from most photos it’s clear that he’s not particularly short, and appears to be a fairly good sized guy.
Not that it matters, of course, since he did the song as a broad satire on bigotry in general, picking “short” as a criteria that was obviously ridiculous. Here, and elsewhere in his career he has provided a graphic example of the dangers inherent in attempting to be ironic in popular music.