Well this embarrassing,I don't know if this piece of news has reached the world yet Here in Canada we awoke this morning and learned that the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council has says that the Dire Straits song Money For Nothing contravenes the human rights clauses of the Canadian Association of Broadcast Code of Ethic @E quitable Portrayal Code.They say the word Faggot is discriminatory to gays, there was a complaint filed by one person.
As for myself, I disagree with this decision,this song has been on the Canadian airwaves for 25 years, I cannot for the life of me understand this,I have a daughter who is gay a brother who is gay and good friend of 36yrs who is gay so I have been around gay people my whole life.what the hell is next?I don't even want to think where this could lead to.My fellow Canadians have been speaking their minds, the CBC News web site has many people who are shaking their heads as I am.
There is some good news on this front,the CRTC (the people in charge of telecommunications in Canada)has asked the CSBC to take a second look at their ruling concerning the banning of Money For Nothing. They want them to look at the context of the particular wording and the age and orgin of the song.This all comes after the CRTC received 250 letters complaining about the ban, along with musicans and radio stations who continued to play the song.So with any luck this idiotic ban will be lifted.In a clip I saw on the CTV news the head of the CSBC said "there was more to the back story that we realised that was there".Or as I got from it the **** hit the fan and he is ducking for cover.I am cautious because this is the same guy who after banning the song said" it was an easy decision to make"We here in Canada can only hope,stay tuned.
So does this mean there is a very limited selection of Rap and HipHop music in Canada? Opps, perhaps I'm asking the wrong crowd here. I have grown used to our freedom of speech. On the other hand the FCC has continued to overstep there boundries. Guess the bottom line is without a reversal in the decision to ban "Money For Nothing" you'll have to hop online or perhaps subscibe to XM or Sirius radio and hope it gets airplay.
Really, the Dire Straights music getting banned, what's next??
Well there has been a decision on the Money For Nothing ban,I think.
08/31/11
The CBSC says it is up to individual radio ststions to decide whether they want to play Dire Straits's Money For Nothing,but the slur has to be taken into context.The majority of the panel felt the song used the word satirically and not in a hateful manner.In it's decision the council said it reviewed the orginial decision and said it believed it was correct in deeming the song inapprorate but added the context of the song and the way the word was used in the lyric must be taken into consideration.
Well folks it has been over two years since I last updated this subject,and it seems that radio stations here in my neck of the Canadian woods have no F#CKIN' BALLS,they are still editing this great Rock N' Roll tune Money For Nothing.