Acts Who Could Be Cancelled for Racially Dodgy Lyrics or Videos

[ProvanFan]

Alison Moyet using the n word on Rise from the Hoodoo album.

I was picturing Kate Lawler's reaction for a split second there

[Mr Farenheit]

Slightly off topic as this song was so dodgy it was actually canceled before it could be recorded. In the 50s.

'Colored Folks' was written by Leiber and Stoller (white) for The Coasters (black) who refused to record it.

We have songs in the trunk, we have songs, we wrote a song for them called "Colored Folks." [sings] Colored folks don't act like colored folks, colored folks don't talk like colored folks no more. Colored folks don't walk the way they did before. Billy Guy said, they're going to lynch us in Ricksburg. You know, they're gonna, man, and they looked at each other and Carl would look at him and then Dub would look up and they would look at me and they would look at me like, ha ha ha, these two white cats are crazy. We are not going to sing that song. We are not going to sing that song. You think it's funny? You think it's great? You want to be political? You want to make comments. You sing them.

[idunnosomename]

led zeppelin cancelled for cultural appropriation in dyer maker

oh also jimmy page being a paedophile :*(

[bgmnts]

Civilization (Bongo, Bongo, Bongo) by Danny Kaye and the Andrew Sisters is a bit of an odd one.

Obviously its a bit rum with the whole "people in the congo are tribal" and spears and that but then its actually a satire of 'civil' societies and I suppose the white man's burden and all that shit. So i'm not 100% sure.

[famethrowa]

Beatles - Ob-la-di-ob-la-da is a bit condescending to Jamaicans.

What's it got to do with Jamaicans?

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

It's a song about a Jamaican couple.

[famethrowa]

It's a song about a Jamaican couple.

who says

[Sin Agog]

Desmond isn't exactly the waspiest name on the planet.

[Prison Biscuits]

[Purple Toupee]

Randy Newman's in trouble if people are getting #cancelled despite their lyrics obviously being satirical.

The last part of Jesus Hates Faggots by John Grant might be dodgy too.

[daf]

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On Wednesday, 3 July 1968, sessions began for 'Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da', written by Paul McCartney in India as an attempt at a ska-influenced recording.

Paul : "We went to a cinema show in a village where a guy put up a mobile screen and all the villagers came along and loved it. I remember walking down a little jungle path with my guitar to get to the village from the camp. I was playing 'Desmond has a barrow in the market place...'"

'Ob la di, ob la da' was a phrase McCartney had heard from his friend, Jimmy Anonmuogharan Scott Emuakpor, whom he met in the Bag O'Nails club in Soho, London. The title was said to be Urhobo for 'Life goes on', but was actually just a family phrase.

Paul : "I had a friend called Jimmy Scott who was a Nigerian conga player, who I used to meet in the clubs in London. He had a few expressions, one of which was, 'Ob la di ob la da, life goes on, bra'. I used to love this expression... He sounded like a philosopher to me. He was a great guy anyway and I said to him, 'I really like that expression and I'm thinking of using it,' and I sent him a cheque in recognition of that fact later because even though I had written the whole song and he didn't help me, it was his expression. It's a very me song, in as much as it's a fantasy about a couple of people who don't really exist, Desmond and Molly. I'm keen on names too. Desmond is a very Caribbean name."

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[Brundle-Fly]

Perversely, Jimmy Scott became a member of the original line up of Bad Manners as their congo player in the early 80s until his death in 1986. Once, when I saw them live he performed a bongos solo that went on forever all the time shouting "Life goes on.." repeatedly. Eventually, the band launched into a beefed-up rocksteady version of Ob-Li-Di Ob-La-Da.   And the skinheads danced...

[Shit Good Nose]

Apropos of nothing other than Bad Manners getting a mention, time to whip out my minor Bad Manners story that I whip out every time Bad Manners gets a mention on CaB - I once saw them when Buster was AWOL (I can't remember why - it was quite a few years ago now) and his replacement was Erkan "Ro-land" Mustafa.  And he was pretty good. 

End of my minor Bad Manners story that I whip out every time Bad Manners gets a mention on CaB.

[Sebastian Cobb]

Apropos of nothing other than Bad Manners getting a mention, time to whip out my minor Bad Manners story that I whip out every time Bad Manners gets a mention on CaB - I once saw them when Buster was AWOL (I can't remember why - it was quite a few years ago now) and his replacement was Erkan "Ro-land" Mustafa.  And he was pretty good. 

End of my minor Bad Manners story that I whip out every time Bad Manners gets a mention on CaB.

My Bad Manners story is that me and my mate bob were outside a snooker hall smoking tabs by the loading entrance of a club. We were supposed to have gone for a day out with other friend but it fell through after we'd all booked time of work so just went for a local  piss up instead. A guy appeared out the loading bay then a HUGE winnebago with stickers all over it started reversing up the road. Bob and I asked each other 'what the fuck's that?' and the bloke said, 'bad manners tourbus'.

'w-what? how d-you know that?'
'I'm the keyboardist!'

Bob and I saw Bad Manners that night. I can't remember much of it, but I think we had a good time.

[Brundle-Fly]

Apropos of nothing other than Bad Manners getting a mention, time to whip out my minor Bad Manners story that I whip out every time Bad Manners gets a mention on CaB - I once saw them when Buster was AWOL (I can't remember why - it was quite a few years ago now) and his replacement was Erkan "Ro-land" Mustafa.  And he was pretty good. 

End of my minor Bad Manners story that I whip out every time Bad Manners gets a mention on CaB.

I wonder if it was ex-Grange Hill actor, the late Mark Farmer (Gary Hargreaves) who got Ro-Land that gig? Farmer joined Bad Manners in their later years.

[flotemysost]

i take it you mean this incident https://youtu.be/7i_22PrQsp8?t=137

God, I'd forgotten about that.

A few 21st-century, otherwise 'woke'-seeming artists (Taylor Swift and Lily Allen come to mind) have had flak for music videos that show black female backing dancers in a pretty stereotyped way, seemingly intended as a way of mocking the evil corporate shallowness of the music industry (which apparently only white artists are allowed to do).

Oh and Gwen Stefani with her Harajuku girls, although I don't think that was intended to make any point other than seeming kooky.

[daf]

Peter Wyngarde - Rape *



Unbelievably, this was released as a single!



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* (don't worry, it's also tremendously racist!)

[Lisa Jesusandmarychain]

" I thought it was the newspaper boy" ?

[Catalogue Trousers]

Hot Chocolate's version of Brother Louie, while clearly well-intentioned (as was the original), kind of shoots itself in the foot with its spoken sections where a very stereotypically African voice castigates 'honkies' and a stuffy Caucasian voice equally denounces 'spooks'.

Way to Hell, and all that.

[Phoenix Lazarus]

Abba for their tracks Lynch the N*****s and We're all Nazis

[kngen]

Funnily enough I was just wondering this morning why Die Antwoord haven't been rightfully shunned by everyone for their bullshit yet. Alongside the allegations of grooming another artist for sex because she resembled their daughter (???????????????? Yeah, that exists), they're renowned for their attitude of "we're in character, it's an elaborate part of our artistic expression", which extends (but is by no means limited to) cultural appropriation which is racist as fuck:

https://shadesofnoir.org.uk/the-treatment-of-black-bodies-by-die-antwoord/

While I'm all for castigating Die Antwoord for their nonsense, that's a difficult read. Not because it makes me uncomfortable. It's just incredibly badly written, and makes some fairly sweeping judgements based on ... not a lot.

"If we all agree on the fact that non-black races are politically anti-black as the result of colonialism, Die Antwoord are bluntly and openly offering their actively anti-black views to us and being praised for it by the media. "

I'm trying to unpick that, and what I end up with is - Anyone who isn't black is anti-black therefore Die Antwoord are anti-black, and are encouraged to be so by the non-black media who are also anti-black.

It's not exactly the most nuanced analysis.

[Twonty Gostelow]

Contrary to popular belief, Alan Price's "No, don't stop de carnival" was actually an attempt at a Welsh accent in a song about the Eisteddfod.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hywhSFg0b9w [Savile warning]

[bgmnts]

Abba for their tracks Lynch the N*****s and We're all Nazis

Wasn't one of the lady ABBAs a product of the Nazi breeding programme in Norway?

[phantom_power]

Perversely, Jimmy Scott became a member of the original line up of Bad Manners as their congo player in the early 80s until his death in 1986. Once, when I saw them live he performed a bongos solo that went on forever all the time shouting "Life goes on.." repeatedly. Eventually, the band launched into a beefed-up rocksteady version of Ob-Li-Di Ob-La-Da.   And the skinheads danced...

A rare sighting of Jon Richardson in his fishnet phase on the right there

[Bently Sheds]

Worst Split Enz covers album, ever.

[thecuriousorange]

How wonder how many extra Christmas songs will be put on the naughty step this year.

[Sin Agog]

Going back to the cod-reggae thing, what's the difference between The Beatles doing it and dozens of bands like The Slits and The Clash?  I guess the latter, despite adopting slightly flaky Caribbean accents, aren't evoking the 'noble savage' thing with their happy, simple lives, but it's weird how Mike Read doing a Calypso song feels genuinely ugly while all these ska-punks and whatnot are just out for a good time.

[Sin Agog]

Going back to the cod-reggae thing, what's the difference between The Beatles doing it and dozens of bands like The Slits and The Clash?  I guess the latter, despite adopting slightly flaky Caribbean accents, aren't evoking the 'noble savage' thing with their happy, simple lives, but it's weird how Mike Read doing a Calypso song feels genuinely ugly while all these ska-punks and whatnot are just out for a good time.

It's called context, mate.  Also the title of that Mike Read song might have had something to do with its iffy reception.  It was called 'The UKIP Calypso.'

[Sin Agog]

It's called context, mate.  Also the title of that Mike Read song might have had something to do with its iffy reception.  It was called 'The UKIP Calypso.'

No, I get all that.  I'm just saying I've never heard anyone call The Clash cultural appropriators.

[Sin Agog]

No, I get all that.  I'm just saying I've never heard anyone call The Clash cultural appropriators.

If you give me your address I'll happily stand outside your door and yell 'The Clash are cultural appropriators' up at you just so you can experience a new thing.