I have no idea how I missed that!
Edit: Yup, started on page 2 and totally missed page 1.
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How did radio stations edit this Meredith Brooks song?
- Thread starter tall_guy1
- Start date
I have no idea how I missed that!
Edit: Yup, started on page 2 and totally missed page 1.
I remember that Casey Kasem had no problem with saying "The Bitch Is Back" while that one was riding the charts (or for that matter, "Ain't Love a Bitch" just a few years later), but he seemed to be very reluctant to say "I Want Your Sex" when George Michael had that one on the charts. (They even had markers in the cue sheets for stations that wanted to censor that song! So it was kinda like the "13th floor" in some buildings!)
That was the record company (in this case, Epic) doing that, and not any of the stations. I recall continuing controversy over this years later when stations played the "bitch" version of the song. But as I recall, it seems like the only place where the "son of a gun" version could be found on CD was Billboard's Top 10 of 1979 compilation CD, and I am guessing that not many country stations had a copy of that one, unless they could borrow a copy of it from the pop station down the hall! Even the Urban Cowboy soundtrack only featured the "bitch" version of the song.
Joan Rivers?
Okay, I wasn't aware of that difference. I thought you just couldn't use the word.
The way I remember it, by the 90s most country stations would play the clean version but I remember hearing the SOB version on "new country" stations.
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Groove1670
Guest
1997 was a low point for top 40 Hot AC radio. The Meredith Brooks song got a break and reached #2 and disappeared shortly after (I don't even remember it lasting as a recurrent for long). Many songs from that period have disappeared because they don't test well. I don't think I've heard this song played more than a half a dozen times since the 90's on the radio.
Elton John's song is considered one of the best uptempo songs that he and Taupin produced. He was on the way up, and was a established artist. 1974 was a different time. Some radio stations ignored it, but most didn't.
In 1997, Brooks song wasn't really that much of a fuss, and it just a footnote in chart history.
Elton John's song is considered one of the best uptempo songs that he and Taupin produced. He was on the way up, and was a established artist. 1974 was a different time. Some radio stations ignored it, but most didn't.
In 1997, Brooks song wasn't really that much of a fuss, and it just a footnote in chart history.
I seem to recall seeing the video for it quite a bit on VH-1 back then. It must have been in heavy rotation at the time.
Yeah, Elton was an established performer; Brooks turned out to be a one-hit wonder. (I saw a followup single listed on that wikipedia page that was linked to, earlier in this thread, but can't say that I ever heard it.)
It probably rocked too hard for "chicken rock"-leaning Top 40s of the day, or got played only at night. Songs like "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" and "Daniel" didn't have that problem and both charted higher than "Saturday."
Just Star Search!Probably so since Rosie O'Donnell wasn't around at that time.
Possibly, but "Bitch is Back" had that "offensive" word in the title, AND rocked quite hard! I am guessing that maybe the controversy helped push it up to#4 stateside.
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Groove1670
Guest
Played it on our Top 40 station at the time. Had no issues.
When Elton John was honored by the Kennedy Center, I wondered how they would handle this song. For the first time ever, the V-chip rating was not TV-G. That's how. Yes, they did play the song.
Getting back to how the word is used, Charles Barkley ended a "Modern Family" episode I saw for the first time this week with SOB. He was calmly commenting on how the SOB did hit the basket that would have won the game if not for a scheme to keep his free throw at the end of regulation from ever happening. The power went out and they evacuated the gym. Phil took the shot anyway in the dark, alone, not knowing Charles was even watching.
When Elton John was honored by the Kennedy Center, I wondered how they would handle this song. For the first time ever, the V-chip rating was not TV-G. That's how. Yes, they did play the song.
Getting back to how the word is used, Charles Barkley ended a "Modern Family" episode I saw for the first time this week with SOB. He was calmly commenting on how the SOB did hit the basket that would have won the game if not for a scheme to keep his free throw at the end of regulation from ever happening. The power went out and they evacuated the gym. Phil took the shot anyway in the dark, alone, not knowing Charles was even watching.
A local A/C at the time played a custom edit of Rich Girl from WWWE in Cleveland that edited in "You're A Rich Girl" for every "It's A Bitch Girl." I never worked for the station but I remember hanging out there and saw the custom edit on a small reel box.
"Bitch" repeated over and over in the chorus wasn't a problem, but "goddess on my knees" might have been a bit much in decades prior to the 90s.
UPN's TV series "Clueless", based on the movie, had a character say the word as an insult, and yet the V-chip rating was still TV-G.
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