Exhibit Guide Home

Exhibits
Introduction
Founding Generation
Founding Documents
You Be the Judge
Defining Freedom
The Struggle Continues
Faces of Freedom
Marketplace of Ideas
Censorship: What Is It?
Musical Hit List
Draw the Line


Resources
Museum Map
Glossary




While the right of singers and songwriters to express themselves through music is protected by the First Amendment, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) does regulate what can be transmitted over public airwaves and played on the radio. 'Obscene' broadcasts are prohibited at all times. Songs that include lyrics considered 'indecent' or 'profane,' however, can be played by radio stations outside the hours of 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. so that they are less likely to be heard by children. The FCC's Indecency Fact Sheet provides definitions of each term, as well as details on how the agency investigates violations and enforces regulations.

Yet even if FCC regulations do not prohibit a song from being played, a broadcast radio station's management may choose not to play it, or censor particular lyrics, if they are concerned the song will offend listeners. The songs listed below were banned or censored by radio stations between the 1950's and 2000's. In each instance, references to politics, religion, or sexuality prompted the decision.


1950's
Billie Holiday - Love For Sale
The Weavers - Wasn't That a Time
Donald Woods - Death of an Angel
Dean Martin - Wham Bam, Thank You Ma'am
Johnny Standley - It's in the Book
Screaming Jay Hawkins - I Put a Spell on You
Ray Charles - I Got a Woman
Elvis Presley - Santa Claus is Back in Town
Everly Brothers - Wake up Little Susie

  1980's
Frank Zappa - I Don't Wanna Get Drafted
Marvin Gaye - Sexual Healing
Olivia Newton-John - Physical
Kool G Rap and DJ Polo - Truly Yours
Cyndi Lauper - She Bop
George Michael - I Want Your Sex
Cat Stevens - Peace Train
Venom - Possessed
NWA – F*** tha Police
1960's
The Beatles - Ballad of John and Yoko
The Doors - The Unknown Soldier
The Who - Substitute
Phil Ochs - Outside a Small Circle of Friends
Janice Ian - Society's Child
Barry McGuire - Eve of Destruction
The Kingsmen - Louie, Louie
The Rolling Stones - (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction

  1990's
Sheryl Crow - Love is a Good Thing
2 Live Crew - Me So Horny
Michael Jackson - They Don't Care About Us
Ice Cube - No Vaseline
Tim McGraw - Indian Outlaw
Sinead O'Connor - War
KD Lang - Diet of Strange Places
Body Count - Cop Killer
1970's
John Denver - Rocky Mountain High
Bob Dylan - George Jackson
Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young - Ohio
Loretta Lynn - The Pill
Sex Pistols - God Save the Queen
Peter, Paul and Mary - Puff (the Magic Dragon)
Brewer and Shipley - One Toke Over the Line
  2000's
The Strokes - New York City Cops
Ani DiFranco - Subdivision
Dixie Chicks - Truth #2
Steve Earle - John Walker Blues
Lenny Kravitz - Fly Away
REM - Losing My Religion
Eminem - Real Slim Shady
Henry Rollins and Chuck D - Rise Above
Bruce Springsteen - American Skin (41 Shots)



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Onboard the
Freedom Express


In this exhibit, visitors can listen to music that was banned or censored by radio stations and stores between the 1950s and 2000s out of a concern for the common good. The examples provided illustrate how standards of decency have changed over time.