Was 'Walk on the wild side' played uncut in 1972?

I still hear Stevie Wonder's "Living (or was it "livin'") for the City," in which he uses the line, "they don't use colored people." That came out circa 1973-74, and as far as I know, that line was never edited out, nor was it ever deemed controversial, and for that matter, still isn't. But it probably doesn't still get enough airplay to make a difference.

firepoint525 said:

I still hear Stevie Wonder's "Living (or was it "livin'") for the City," in which he uses the line, "they don't use colored people." That came out circa 1973-74, and as far as I know, that line was never edited out, nor was it ever deemed controversial, and for that matter, still isn't. But it probably doesn't still get enough airplay to make a difference.

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Rhyming "people" with the awkward "like the haystack needle" wasn't one of Stevie's finest lyrical moments. But I interpret his use of "colored people" as referring to the language older white business owners -- the ones who had no jobs for black people -- would use when referring to blacks.

CTListener said:

Rhyming "people" with the awkward "like the haystack needle" wasn't one of Stevie's finest lyrical moments. But I interpret his use of "colored people" as referring to the language older white business owners -- the ones who had no jobs for black people -- would use when referring to blacks.

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Okay, I will buy that, but I seriously doubt that Stevie (or anyone else for that matter) could get that language on mainstream radio in 2016. (Trying to get used to saying 2016!) But just as an aside, I believe that the gibberish at the beginning of "Don't You Worry About a Thing" was not one of his better moments, either. Tamla/Motown should have talked him out of that. But maybe he was on their board of directors by then.

Humorous moment here in Nashville radio: Howard Gentry, the black former vice mayor of metro Nashville, also does sports play by play. He is the color commentator. You know where this is going! At any rate, the main announcer said something to the effect of "let's throw it to our color man, Howard Gentry." Gentry later claimed that friends/acquaintances said, "are you going to let him talk about you on the air like that?" Gentry had to explain to them the difference between being "color man" and a "colored man."

firepoint525 said:

But just as an aside, I believe that the gibberish at the beginning of "Don't You Worry About a Thing" was not one of his better moments, either. Tamla/Motown should have talked him out of that. But maybe he was on their board of directors by then.

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"I've been to EYE-RACK, EYE-RAN, Eu-RAY-sia ... I speak very, very fluent Spanish." Big deal. More Americans speak at least some Spanish than any other non-English language. If you really want to impress the girl, Stevie, show off your skills in Arabic, Farsi, or any of the other languages of Europe and Asia.

CTListener said:

Rhyming "people" with the awkward "like the haystack needle" wasn't one of Stevie's finest lyrical moments. But I interpret his use of "colored people" as referring to the language older white business owners -- the ones who had no jobs for black people -- would use when referring to blacks.

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Yes, but also the massive elephant in the room is that Stevie is black and Lou wasn't. You can't ignore that, and it's bound to make a difference to peoples perception even if they don't think it does.

Personally I think a similar song would get airplay today, if the singer was him/herself black.

CTListener said:

"I've been to EYE-RACK, EYE-RAN, Eu-RAY-sia ... I speak very, very fluent Spanish." Big deal. More Americans speak at least some Spanish than any other non-English language. If you really want to impress the girl, Stevie, show off your skills in Arabic, Farsi, or any of the other languages of Europe and Asia.

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The original 1974 Radio Edit of the Stevie Wonder song cuts that part out.

eriedj said:

The original 1974 Radio Edit of the Stevie Wonder song cuts that part out.

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Until I read these posts I never even realised it was a Stevie Wonder song! <blush>

The Incognito version of the song still crops up on UK radio from time to time, and I never even knew it was a cover!

You learn something everyday etc.