Rock bands aren’t afraid to play by their own rules. That was the case with Cypress Hill during their SNL performance, getting banned by the sketch show. The same held true for The Doors following their appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show.
As for Queen, they battled it out with MTV on a number of occasions. This one in particular was especially troubling given that it became the first ever song banned by MTV. We’re going to reveal why the song was so controversial, and which other classic Queen song caused other problems with MTV. Looking back, the band revealed that their standing with MTV hurt their popularity in the US.
MTV Banned Several Music Videos Over The Years
Along the way, MTV issued several bans, especially for songs of the rock genre. The ’80s and ’90s in particular saw several music videos get banned. Among them included work from Twisted Sister and Alice Cooper, Be Chrool To Your Scuel. The clip proved to be a little too much for MTV, especially considering that it was a horror video with zombie students getting sacrificed for rock… Fans in general were unsure about the ban, and the song actually received lots of praise, and that includes the video itself.
Among the other bans along the way include 1987’s Girls, Girls, Girls by Motley Crue, Jesus Christ Pose By Soundgarden and Closer by Nine Inch Nails.
Madonna and Neil Young were among the other major names to get a song banned by MTV. It seemed to be of a more common occurrence back in the day. As it turns out, Queen also experienced difficulties with MTV on various occasions. One song in particular was banned, and it became the first song ever to be on the naughty list.
Body Language Was The First Banned Song Due To Its Undertones And Other Disturbances
The Guinness Book of World Records has this song in the history books, becoming the first-ever track to get banned by MTV. Queen’s song Body Language was too much for the network back in 1982, and was banned for several reasons.
Guinness Book of World Records writes, “Long before the likes of Rihanna and Miley Cyrus arrived on the scene with their X-rated music videos, MTV began the practice of banning or censoring videos that they deemed unsuitable for their viewers. In 1982, the channel banned the video for Queen’s (UK) “Body Language” due to its “homoerotic undertones” and the presence of human flesh, although the band members themselves were fully clothed throughout.”
“Arguably tame by today’s standards, the video was shot in a dimly lit steam room and featured sweaty, writhing, Lycra-clad bodies, with Queen’s bespectacled frontman, Freddie Mercury, observing the scene from close quarters.”
Despite the backlash against the video, some fans had a different interpretation, especially on YouTube.
One fan writes, “Love this song. Great beat, great lyrics, sexy video. Great dance song. A lot of dancers use this song in competitions and I can see why. And Freddie’s vocals are great as always.”
“I can’t believe some people would say this is the “worst” Queen song. I think it’s quite simple, and has a nice rhythm to it. I could put this on repeat all day.” another fan notes.
As it turns out, this wasn’t the only time Queen angered MTV with an edgy song.
MTV Wasn’t Crazy About ‘I Want To Break Free’ Either
I Want to Break Free turned into a smash hit for Queen, and the song continues to enjoy success all these years later, with over 67 million views on YouTube. However, drummer Roger Taylor recalls the process being a little more complicated. He called MTV very narrow-minded at the time.
He told EW, “MTV were very narrow-minded. It was Whitesnake, f—-ng Whitesnake, and then another Whitesnake track. And they decided they didn’t think that men in drag was ‘rock’ enough, I guess. So they didn’t play the video.”
Queen guitarist Brian May revealed that their treatment in the US hurt the band’s overall popularity.
“I remember being on the promo tour [for ‘I Want to Break Free’] in the Midwest of America and people’s faces turning ashen. And they would say, no, we can’t play this. We can’t possibly play this. You know, it looks homosexual… I know that it really damaged our sort of whole relationship with certainly radio in this country and probably the public as well.”
“That’s probably one of the reasons why this sort of hole developed between us and the States, which was really a tragedy because so many of our hits would have fitted very well into the life of the States. But we didn’t really get back in there until [1991’s] ‘The Show Must Go On’ and ‘These Are the Days of Our Lives.’ And even those weren’t the hits that they were around the rest of the world.”
Perhaps Queen’s success would have been that much greater had they made their rise during a different time.
Source: NewsFinale
