Monday, February 25, 2013

Bobby Rush "Down In Louisiana"

While we at MVY don't actively try to get ourselves an FCC violation, we don't freak out about the possibility of getting in trouble either.

I can't say this is true for many of our peers in radio however.

The fear of an FCC fine, for whatever reason, looms large, and that fear has created a kind of tense culture between stations and the record promoters who service them.

It seems perfectly reasonable to receive a new album that comes with a sticker on the cover that tells you, for instance, "Tracks 2 and 7 are not FCC friendly."

Okay, so maybe the songs say "Fuck" or "Shit" or something that you don't want to unwittingly put on your airwaves.  Perfectly reasonable to point that out.

But often, the CD comes with a one-sheet, that tells you the same information.  And you get an email, or two, with a reminder.

Seems like a bit of overkill. 

True, WMVY has never been fined for airing a swear word.  Maybe some of these other stations have been fined, and they are skittish.

Because WOE BE UNTO THE PROMOTER who sends out a CD only to discover, after the fact, that a song, or songs, on the record have swear words.

Expect that poor promoter to issue multiple Mea Culpas and emails, and a reminder via a phone call, that the album is un-stickered and you shouldn't play on the People's Airwaves lest the bureaucratic wrath of the Federal Communications Commission rain hellfire down upon you.

It's all a little much.  And while I might want to tease the promoters about it, surely they are just reacting to the over-reacting of some radio folks.

Which is what makes this so funny . . .

Upon returning from vacation, I found one of those standard apology/correction emails from Lindsay Reid of Thirty Tigers.  He was warning folks about the opening track on the new Bobby Rush record.  "My apologies on this, as I was told it was FCC clean."

No doubt, the record had gone out un-stickered, some radio person played it and let Lindsay know that there WAS a swear word on it.  So it would have seemed . . . 

Hilariously, less than 24 hour later came the correction to the correction.

The song IS FCC clean.  But check out the lyrics below.

Dirty?  Nah.  Incomprehensible?  Hell yeah!

Listen in at that 1:10 mark, and you'll hear why folks thought Rush was swearing . . .


Hear the song on Youtube.


Way Down In Louisiana
Down In Cajun Land
Folks got somethin’ goin down there
That you might not understand

Diggy on the Scooby di lord
Diggy on the Scooby doo
Doin’ anything girl that you wanna doo
You ol Pooky Poo You
Oh’ what I’d like to do to you

Get Hip to the consultation to the Boolawee

Way Down In Louisiana
Down In New Orleans
Folks got somethin’ goin down there
Queue fauex cootsie tootsie

Diggy on the Scooby di lord
Diggy on the Scooby doo
Little Girl what I, what I’d like to do to you
You ol Pooky Poo You
Oh’ what I’d like to do to you

Get Hip to the consultation to the Boolawee

Golly golly Miss Molly
Everything is Copasetic now
Girl look at you, You ol Pooky Poo You
What I’d like to do to you You ol Pooky Poo You
Oh’ what I’d like to do to you

Get Hip to the consultation to the Boolawee
Get Hip to the consultation to the Boolawee

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