The big banned sound

Spencer Leigh delves through the history of musical censorship by the British Broadcasting Corporation

There has always been speculation about which records were banned by the BBC over the years and why the Corporation banned them. For many years, the BBC denied the existence of a vetting committee and their deliberations were private.

The BBC’s files prior to 1980 are held at their Written Archives Centre in Caversham. With thanks to their staff, I have been through the correspondence.

In 1961, the music weekly Disc complained that every month a record was being banned. The BBC did not confirm the true picture, which was closer to 10 a month, mostly for mutilation of the classics.

For the first time, we list 100 records banned by the Beeb!

by Spencer Leigh
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