on the little warning signs

[serinde]

...which are, frankly, scarier than the big neon flashing ones. Because we're all getting accustomed to the fundamentalists' assaults on our rights, on what we may see and do--the abortion debates, the nekkid bQQbie debates, all that sort of thing, we see them coming; we mobilize, we write letters, we rant in LJ, the ACLU and the EFF and all their fellow-travelers weigh in; the battle isn't won, no, not by a long chalk, but the fight is there and we all see it.

And we never notice their Fifth Column silently stealing ground way in our backfield.

Like this morning, when 92.3, nee K-Rock, now Free FM, dropped the words "giving head" out of "Walk On The Wild Side".


I don't care for your new weekday talk format at all--I hate talk radio--but I've really loved your Free FM weekends; I keep my radio tuned to it almost constantly.

Until this morning, when I just heard you bleep the words "giving head" out of Lou Reed's "Walk On The Wild Side".

What the hell, people? This is not Saudi Arabia. You are allowed to say that on radio. I'm embarrassed and disgusted that any American station with any claim to upholding the spirit of music would do such a thing, and it's only the more pathetic that you're calling yourself "Free FM". Until and unless I hear that you've decided to play songs in their entirety without editing them for the ears of six-year-olds, 92.3 is completely off my dial.

Comments

[naudia.livejournal.com]

I have been noticing such things for a while, and even on "Jack FM" they are editing such works as fuck, asshole, dick, ass, and even such sentiments as "I was off to drink you away" are cut along with almost every drug reference. The music industry, I'm afraid, is not interested in free speech or even in music. We have a few options. We can try to fight, but we liberal types aren't really known for accomplishing much.. We can stop listening to the radio all together in favor of things such as internet radio, we can mix cd's and mini-disks (now only of music that we register for, even if we did buy the damn thing), and attempt to expand our own music libraries..We can support only stations which do not censor their music..If you know of any, I'd love to hear about them. On this issue, I do not wish to roll over. Music is a passion of mine. Not only does this speak of a disregard for the artists and listeners, this speaks of a frightening step toward controlling all forms of information and entertainment. Didn't we create a new country to avoid all of this?