Mother F****n’ Compliance by Tim Vernon

06Jul

Every week Geoff Lloyd and I collaborate on a list of songs that make up our Sunday night specialist show ‘Absolute Xtreme’ – which partly reflects the new music featured on our DAB sister station with the same name.

This week I vetoed one of Geoff’ choices on the basis that it contained repetitive swearing throughout the track. The track in question is Ian Dury & The Blockheads’ ‘There Ain’t Half Been Some Clever Bastards’, from the classic album ‘Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll’.

Its not so much the use of the word ‘bastard’ that concerned me, more the repetitive nature of it; its used a dozen times throughout the song, along with the word ‘shitless’ – which in itself is quite an amusing word.

Everyone reading this blog will be aware of how recent scandals like the Ross/Sachsgate affair have made the misuse of audience trust in TV and Radio such a hot topic. Absolute Radio, like all other UK stations, is regulated by Ofcom and it only needs 1 complaint to Ofcom for them to launch an investigation.

We recently had an in-station presentation from a guest speaker on Ofcom guidelines and swearing took up a large part of it – as you can imagine we all had a good laugh trying to guess what the most offensive words were (for the record ‘Motherfucker is THE most offensive). So its part of my job as a producer to be slightly cautious, especially when there’s planning involved and it can be easily avoided.

This has opened up an interesting debate on social platforms where we can use the word (and presumably use it repetitively) – facebook, twitter and so on – and I’ve had a number of messages imploring me to lighten up and let Geoff play the song. And thankyou if you sent a note – we do read them all.

So, why shouldn’t we play a record like this after 9pm on a station whose core audience is made up of adults aged 25-44 years old?

Radio doesn’t have a watershed as such, unlike TV. And there is an unwritten understanding that we can be a bit more flexible with these things after 9pm. Although of course that doesn’t preclude children (under 18s, as defined by Ofcom) from listening, or anyone else who should feel the desire to make a complaint for that matter.

I suppose its bizarre we have to have this debate at all really, given how blue the air turns on many TV channels after 9pm, but them’s the rules, for radio at least.

Geoff’s on holidays for 2 weeks now so we won’t get chance to play it for a fortnight. But I’m not totally against playing it, if the demand is there. Interested to hear your thoughts on this and other radio-friendly tracks like the Sex Pistols ‘Bodies’!

In the meantime, be sure to check out Geoff’s Sunday night show, it starts at 8pm and if you’re into music it’s a great listen. Also, while I’m here, it would be remiss of me not to implore you to check out Blur’s live concert at Absoluteradio.co.uk – streaming for 7 days from Monday 6th Jul. It’s a must-listen.

Tim Producer

Comments (11)

mike @ July 6, 2009 at 12:00 pm | Permalink

I think you are being unduly cautious. If you look at Ofcom’s research, “bastard” is considered a minor/less offensive swearword, and playing that track at, say 9.30pm, when few children would be listening is defensible

Ofcom research talks about most offence about rude words on radio being taken during the school run, and also about the different expectations from different radio stations. Absolute Radio is pretty clearly a station aimed at adults. If a radio station aimed at adults can’t broadcast the word “bastard” at 9.30 at night, we might as well all pack up and go home.
Dominic Small @ July 6, 2009 at 1:47 pm | Permalink

It’s all a question of balance, and as the Ofcom rules have it, context. On a sensible (well, sensible enough), ‘adult’ station (not in a dirty sense), Absolute could probably play more challenging works than, say, The Hits could get away with. The audience is expecting that Absolute’s chief reason for playing a song is its musical quality – as enforced in the ‘discover real music’ strapline – and that whilst the station would be mindful of its obligations and regulations, it should not be cowed by them. Much of the recent research into offence/strong language (such as the recent BBC report) has stated that audiences are tolerant of strong language and offensive content if it is handled appropriately; it is excessive, gratuitous and unjustified bad behaviour that is most offensive.
Marty from new yawk @ July 6, 2009 at 5:45 pm | Permalink

Tim, this is a tough one and a no-win situation.

My initial reaction was to say go ahead and play it.

However, as your initial reaction was to hold it back, I think you should stick with it.

As it takes just one asshole to complain to Ofcom to cause the station aggravation, leave it be.
Sam Howells @ July 6, 2009 at 7:38 pm | Permalink

It’s a great record and there is no reason at all why it shouldn’t be played after 9pm. You’re not CBeebies.

(Use of the word ‘bastard’, of course, is not necessarily swearing. Ian Dury was aware of that: let’s credit one of this country’s best ever lyricists with more than half-an-inch of brain.)

You play Oliver’s Army in daytime, which contains the word ‘nigger’. Isn’t that word on Ofcom’s annual ‘most offensive’ list, too?

George Michael got to number one with a song that contained the word ‘bullshit’ in its first verse and it wasn’t censored by any radio station I heard. Yet the same year Alanis Morissette’s ‘chicken shit’ had to be faded out – and the uncensored version still can’t be played more than a decade later even in the middle of the night.

And while I’m not one of them, some people are offended by any blasphemy but I heard the words ‘God’ and ‘Christ’ regularly invoked on any number of radio stations.

I’m not singling out Absolute – there’s simply no consistency on this point in British radio. It’s a nonsense that there is no radio watershed. It’s frankly embarrassing that words that flow freely on ITV1 at 9pm can’t be uttered occasionally at midnight on radio.

Plenty of research shows that most people don’t really care about some swearing after 9pm and in context: http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/may/17/bbc-swearing-jonathan-ross-brand is merely the latest such research.

That doesn’t necessarily mean that Chubby Brown should be your new breakfast show presenter but I’d like to think that a progressive radio station would be prepared to unclench its buttocks just a teensy weensy bit.
mynameisbainsy @ July 6, 2009 at 8:55 pm | Permalink

I think there is a serious lack of swearing on radio. The more we do it, the less people will be offended…

Lets start desenitising the nation with back to back gangsta rap!
Colin Crawford @ July 7, 2009 at 7:22 am | Permalink

It’s a no-brainer TBH Tim. You should be playing anything and everything by the Blockheads. Clearly there are going to be other tracks which take things a little closer to the wire (though personally I’d love to hear Eminem’s White America on the radio), but I agree with you that if TV can show just about anything it wants (with audio to match) after 9pm, then why is radio any different? Is the difference based on the fact that many children have/had radios in their rooms while they never used to have TVs? If so, the tables have completely turned haven’t they!

So bring on the full uncut versions of decent (and even indecent) songs. I’m sick of radio edits.
Kathy C @ July 7, 2009 at 2:29 pm | Permalink

Funnily enough, I was reading this at about 1:30pm while the track “I touch myself” was being played on Absolute. That made me smile. I guess I, Touch and Myself aren’t swearwords…
Macky @ July 8, 2009 at 9:20 am | Permalink

I’m really sorry, but I have to say I JUST DON’T GET swearing in music. Ok, ok, artists are expressing themselves by creating these works – but WHY must they express their feelings through profanity?

My wife and I are about to become parents, and have taken a real check on the ‘language’ we use – it really highlights how inappropriate and unnecessary these words are.

I think I’m old fashioned (I’m 32 yrs old), but for years I have felt strongly about this. For decent, polite human beings there is no need to use this ugly manner of speech (why must Amy Winehouse use the words “kept his dick wet?” to convey her point? Its just unpleasant and as a form of entertainment, music’s sole purpose (in general) is for pleasure is it not?

Surely someone can see my point?

I too am sick of radio edits – clean your act up music industry!
PF @ July 8, 2009 at 2:33 pm | Permalink

It’s all about context. In this case – used comedically in a great song. Gratuitous use of profane language for offensive purposes would be another matter entirely.

Additionally at that time of night and in the context of this programme, which presumably exists to take more risks than the average Absolute show, there’s no real reason to avoid it. Become a clever bastard.
Dan Thornton @ July 9, 2009 at 12:06 pm | Permalink

I’ll echo PF and suggest it’s all about context – and perhaps warning people when a song is about to be played which includes offensive language, and then letting them make the choice to listen or not.

Swearing in the right context is great for providing emphasis, or used imaginatively for commedy effect, and certainl Chaucer and Shakespeare weren’t averse to using contraversial language now and again.

Whether it’s Bill Hicks or Bikini Kill, swearing has a place in language and entertainment – but whereas I’d happily swear in front of adult friends and family, I try not to in front of my young son for example (He’s at the age where he’s started mimicking his parents for one thing!), and I’m also far more careful about my language in a public space like a supermarket than I am in the pub.

And if an artist has used language to make a point, then I’d much rather have the option to hear it as originally intended than as a radio edit, even if it means only hearing it after a certain point in the evening – there’s probably an argument that radio edits played on stations which attract a much younger audience will simply lead to more young people (who already use that language in conversation) seeking out the original anyway!
Chris Humphris @ July 26, 2009 at 10:08 pm | Permalink

The Jam’s “Beat Surrender” has the line “bullshit is bullshit, it just goes by different names”, and it doesn’t get censored for radio play. Any idea why?