List of Songs Banned By The BBC - Censored Vs Banned

Censored Vs Banned

In some cases, it was considered sufficient to censor certain words rather than banning a song outright. In the case of The Kinks' "Lola", once the offending word had been changed (Coca-Cola to "Cherry cola"), the song was given airplay. In other cases, it was not necessary for the BBC to formally ban a particular song, since both parties were well aware of what would be acceptable or not, as was the case of George Formby's 1937 song, "With My Little Stick of Blackpool Rock". The "restricted" list included Barry McGuire's 1965 hit, "Eve of Destruction".

This article lists songs which have been banned by the BBC over the years. Some were banned for only a limited time, and have since received BBC airplay. Others were banned many years after having been first aired, as was the case of The Cure's 1979 single "Killing an Arab", which was banned from BBC airplay as the first Gulf War began, or Lulu's "Boom Bang-a-Bang", the United Kingdom's entry to the Eurovision Song Contest 1969 – more than two decades later.