oh, naughty pete shelley. call a song homosapien and think you can pull a fast one, huh? no. one. fools. the. BBC!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3KzwpihR_Ui often wonder who at the Beeb is responsible for banning music. what his/her day must be like:
hmmm, let’s ban this one because of its political overtones. let’s ban this one because it sounds like an advertisement. let’s ban this one because he drops the f-bomb.
being the modern-day bowdler must be wildly rewarding.
[i laugh, especially since the aforementioned example dinged for political overtones (thanks to the falklands conflict) was eventually covered by aussie kiddy group the wiggles:]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ey55AEW3muA(i’m a mom. that’s how i know.)
so pete shelley, esteemed founder of hugely influential punk band the buzzcocks, pretty much trips through the BBC’s wires with this little dance gem. was this your coming out song, pete? i imagine it was, though there was certainly an element of sexual intrigue in lots of the buzzcock classics: ever fallen in love (with someone you shouldn’t’ve) took on a whole new meaning after i first contemplated shelley’s world.
so i often wonder: did the Beeb ban homosapien because of it’s overt sexual references — or did it ban homosapien because of it’s overt references to gay sex?
who cares. banning a song almost guarantees that people will clamor to hear it. and gay, straight, or otherwise gendered, anyone can dance to this song.
(and some can copy it, too — tell me this doesn’t remind you of shelley’s song!)
This was really interesting. I never knew the backstory to that song, nor even really ever thought about its meaning. Cool.
(And yeah, that “North American Scum” song sounds quite derivative!)