Winehouse Not the Only Musician Banned in America
February 8th, 2008 by KarenWith the recent controversy surrounding what appears to be a video of Amy Winehouse smoking crack, it seems that things just keep getting worse for the troubled singer.
Although the singer has been nominated for several awards for her album Back to Black and the hit single, “Rehab”, it was recently announced that the US government has banned Winehouse from entering the country due to her criminal record.
Of course, Winehouse isn’t the first musician to be banned from the land of the free.
Music Banned in America
The Kinks
As their career was exploding in the 1960s thanks to hit songs like “You Really Got Me,” the Kinks hit something of a brick wall after being banned from the United States for four years following their 1965 tour, likely due to their wild behavior–onstage and off. Regardless of this sizable hurdle, group’s career endured, and the Kinks’ influence remains strong. However, the band never tapped into the mainstream the way contemporaries like the Beatles and Rolling Stones did.
Sex Pistols
It took quite a bit of persuasion, but the members of controversial punk band behind “Anarchy in the U.K” were eventually issued visas and permitted to enter the US to tour in 1978. The delay was due to US authorities’ concern over the group’s rowdy reputation and criminal records. The band may have been better off staying home. After less than a month of touring, bassist Sid Vicious fell deeper into heroin addiction and numerous violent brawls, and singer Johnny Rotten quit the band during a show in California. The band broke up and shortly thereafter Vicious stood accused of murdering his girlfriend before eventually overdosing in 1979. Vicious’ turbulent life is famously chronicled in the (fictionalized) film, “Sid and Nancy.”
And…
In addition to the instances where performers have been barred or delayed from entering the US, music censorship is common on American television and radio.Websites such as Free Muse do a nice job of chronicling the patterns of censorship in America, including the common practice of cutting or altering offensive lyrics in radio broadcasts (even Avril Lavigne’s bubblegum pop song “Girlfriend” has had lyrics cut).
MTV
Although it positions itself as the home of “reality” TV and coolness, MTV is no stranger to censorship. Recently, Sean Kingston’s popular song “Beautiful Girls” video had the word “suicidal” cut by MTV. Many other songs have faces similar fates, although the station doesn’t have an official list of banned words or phrases.
9/11
And does anyone remember the list of “lyrically inappropriate” songs that over a thousand Clear Channel radio stations allegedly temporarily banned in the wake of 9/11? Among the list of 160 songs recommended for the black list were Buddy Holly & the Crickets “That’ll Be the Day,” Van Halen “Jump,” Beastie Boys “Sabotage” and Frank Sinatra “New York, New York.” (view the complete list here)
While ideas of censorship are always ugly, in Winehouse’s case, it seems as though staying home and attending rehab should be much more important to performing “Rehab” on the Grammys.
Was the US right to ban Winehouse from traveling to America? Leave a comment and tell us what you think.
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