Grateful Dead song banned from radio stations
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The Grateful Dead were a band never destined for widespread radio airplay. Although their music was rarely offensive or overly controversial, the widespread conservative views on America’s radio stations and mainstream media meant that the likelihood of an acid-soaked psychedelic counterculture band becoming commercially successful was pretty slim. Despite this, the Dead managed to garner an incredibly loyal fan base and a considerable level of commercial recognition during their tenure, despite the best efforts of radio stations.
As was often the case in popular music history, mainstream radio stations were initially concerned about the new wave of psychedelic groups that dominated the hippie movement in the late 1960s. The rise of the hippie subculture coincided with the prevailing paranoia of the Cold War, in which anything remotely daring or left-leaning was seen as a danger to the youth of the United States. Given their penchant for acid testing, the Grateful Dead inevitably fell into this category.
In its early years, the Gospel of the Dead spread primarily through word of mouth, concerts, and underground radio stations. Soon, however, the mainstream began to dissipate this psychedelic revolution, and Jerry Garcia’s group enjoyed some commercial and chart success – much to the chagrin of conservative parents and America’s older generations. But even as their reputation grew across the country, the band still had to fend off rampant conservatism and paranoia.
Perhaps the best example of these setbacks is the release of the Grateful Dead’s 1970 song “Uncle John’s Band.” Interestingly, it was this song that first established the band in the musical mainstream in the United States, soaring to number 69 on the Billboard Hot 100 when it was first released. On the other hand, the song’s release was also marked by difficulties and resistance from radio stations.
One might assume that radio stations rejected the song because of the Grateful Dead’s inherent connections to drug culture and psychedelia. However, when the Metromedia Group, which operated radio stations across New York, banned “Uncle John’s Band,” it was actually because of the song’s language. The company reportedly took issue with the lyric “Goddamn, well I declare have you seen the like?” and promptly pulled the song from its schedule.
Adding to the difficulties of “Uncle John’s Band” was the fact that the song had been widely pirated by opportunistic Deadheads a year before its official release. Of course, the song became an instant favorite for many of the band’s fans and also helped introduce new listeners to the cult of the Dead. However, without the pirated copies and radio ban, “Uncle John’s Band” would probably have charted much higher than number 69.
To get around the ban, Warner Bros. released an edited version of the song – without the band members’ permission or knowledge – that omitted the offending line. By this time, however, the initial hype surrounding the song’s release had largely died down. Fortunately, the Grateful Dead gained some radio attention over the course of the rest of their discography, allowing them to reach their full potential and become one of America’s defining rock bands.
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