Songs banned by the BBC

That Sex Pistols one.

Relax

The Sex P's one was called God Save the Queen!

Let's spend the night together

Ooops - need to differentiate between banning and censoring.

What's the difference then?

Whom are you propositioning, bluebell?

Banning - they wouldn't play it at all. Censoring - they would dub some of the words.

well I've just read that with Lets Spend the Night Together it was OK if the words were changed to Lets Spend Some Time Together!!!

anno

Was Doris Day's Move over Darling ever banned?
It was just as 'suggestive' (one if our favourite words at school) as Lets Spend the Night Together but I don't think it was.

They did that with that other lot - don't marry her, f--- me.

They hadn't thought of it then Jane. Before the internet gave everybody ideas.

I blame it all on the i' net.

Fairy tale in New York had f****t replaced

All this censorship business - I remember our school editions of Shakespeare - we were doing The Tempest in the third form and my best friend and me realised some lines were missing. At break, we rushed to the library and read up the missing lines - and then spent ages working out why they had been omitted. When we finally got there, it enhanced our understanding of Caliban no end!!

I was also doing the Tempest with a class, but I was teaching them - African 4th formers. I was reading from my Arden edition whereas they had a version bought by my predecessor. A puzzled look came over their faces. 'Where does it say that, Miss?'- Prospero's words 'If thou her virgin knot untie...' were missing. I immediately ordered a set of unexpurgated books.

I still remember (52 years later) - 'I would have people'd else this isle with Calibans'

Bluebell Half the last act of The Merchant of Venice disappeared from school editions. Portia makes some very fruity – and funny – comments about being free and easy with her body when her betrothed has been free and easy with her token of love – which, unbeknownst to him, he has actually already given back to her. We had a very bowdlerised version in the Upper Fourth.

Do you remember the Lady Chatterly trial. Was it the prosecution counsel who asked ' Would you let your servants read it'?

Oh remember words like the third form, upper forth, lower sixth?

or fourth - I'm not concentrating

Our nuns had some trouble finding texts for English Literature that did not mention sex or reproduction in any way. So we did Silas Marner and Cranford and Northanger Abbey.

Ohhhhh Greatnan - didn't the nuns have a problem with that bit in Cranford about sucking oranges ( second form) - we giggled and our teacher blushed