Taboo Tunes: A History of Banned Bands and Censored Songs [Paperback]

Peter Blecha (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2004

In this extensively researched ode to scandal, Peter Blecha recounts the travails of musicians who have dared to air inch.unacceptable inch. topics. Filled with several centuries' worth of raunchy sex ditties, morbid murder ballads, satanic songs, paeans to intoxication and radical political anthems, this book lays the censors' stories bare, and casts a much-needed spotlight on civil liberties and artistic freedom in our post-9/11 world. Highlights the work of hundreds of controversial musicians, including: The Beatles, Ray Charles, the Dixie Chicks, Dylan, Eminem, Billie Holiday, Nirvana, Elvis, Public Enemy, Sex Pistols, Springsteen, Zappa and others. inch.Blecha tells a story of how free we aren't. It's a story every music fan needs to know. inch. - Dave Marsh

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Blecha charts a fear of ideas, and the power of music, that's continued through the ages." -- Gillian G. Gaar, The Seattle Times, May 4, 2004

"Blecha isn't going all conspiracy theorist, shouting in paranoia; he's got solid, tangible evidence for his research." -- davedavies.com, May 25, 2004

"Blecha provides some good historical perspective, especially as we could learn from this history so we don't repeat it." -- Jason Gross & David Manning, Perfect Sound Forever, July 2004

"Blecha shows what a history there is when it comes to government acting as a societal baby-sitter." -- Dan Nailen, The Salt Lake Tribune, May 12, 2004

"Culled from the annals of the naughty, provocative, blasphemous, heretical, outrageous, anarchical, and downright dirty, this compendium is... Original." -- Ein-gutes-buch.de, July 2004

"packed with delightful trivia... it's a depressing litany of cultural obstruction that apparently has no end in sight..." -- Mojo Magazine, London July 2004

Blecha's escalating outrage is refreshingly partisan, and many morsels throughout Taboo Tunes are revelatory...excellent...highly entertaining... -- San Francisco Bay Guardian, August 25,2004

Like Howard Zinn's seminal 'A People's History,' Blecha's book is a study of the edges of sanctioned culture... immensely valuable". -- AM New York City, May 28, 2004

Peter Blecha has written the first comprehensive history of music censorship. -- New York Press, June 2, 2004

superb...If we’re ever going to mount a successful resistance [to right-wing censors], we’ll need heralds such as Blecha... -- Scram Magazine, Summer 2004

From the Inside Flap

"Fear of music? Talking Heads didn't know the half of it. Peter Blecha’s tragicomic, comprehensive account of how paranoid conservatism has always ranged itself against artists and fans in its attempts to suppress the most innovative rock, jazz, blues and rap is an education, an entertainment and a warning of how the price of cultural freedom is eternal vigilance." Charles Shaar Murray [author]

"Peter Blecha tells a story of how free we aren't. It's a story every music fan needs to know. Otherwise, we might come to the false conclusion that 'You Gotta Fight for Your Right to Party' is just a slogan." Dave Marsh [editor, Rock & Rap Confidential]

"Fundamentally, we have to recognize that powerful music speaks to people in a way the censor can’t – and having a compiled history like Taboo Tunes at hand makes this realization most clear." Krist Novoselic

Product Details

• Paperback: 214 pages
• Publisher: Backbeat Books (April 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0879307927
• ISBN-13: 978-0879307929
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,180,276 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Naughty, but nice!, April 21, 2004

By 

S.A. (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Taboo Tunes: A History of Banned Bands and Censored Songs (Paperback)

Taboo Tunes is not the first book ever published on music censorship, but FINALLY we get one written with skill, serious spunk, attitude, and flair. The author lays out the basics of what arts-censorship is, the deep history of the practice as a socio-political tool of the powerful, a brief survey of modern-day censorship in a global context, and then gets down to business: relating the story of censorship in America. Written in a humorous, fun, and wickedly wild style, Taboo Tunes' author sure knows what he's talking about. From the banning of early dance steps like the Waltz and Tango nearly a century ago, to radio bans on early jazz, rock `n' roll, and hip-hop, this book covers a lot of ground at a good lively clip. Nothing is over-looked: I almost died laughing while reading this telling of the FBI's silly investigation of the Kingsmen's "Louie Louie" -- and nearly wept reading how the Nazi's suppressed the German jazz and classical scenes - and how America's government harassed artists like Billie Holiday, paul Robeson, and Woody Guthrie. Tipper Gore gets no mercy for her role in the 1980's PMRC incidents just as Nixon is excoriated for letting the FBI harass John Lennon, Jim Morrison, and other musicians with a political bent. Taboo Tunes makes clear exactly what happened during the Ice-T "Cop Killer" scandal in the `90s, and distills into entertaining form all the uproars in recent years over record "Warning Labels," satanic "back-masking," radio payola, censored album jackets, banned MTV videos, and controversial artists like Madonna, Rage Against The Machine, and the Dixie Chicks. Speaking of which: perhaps the book's strongest point is the even-handed way it presents the history of political dissent (in song) and the amazing things that have happened to various bands who have spoken out against war since 9/11. Scary stuff! Just raced through the book and can't imagine a finer telling of all this history of sex, drugs, dissent, and, yes, Rock N Roll. I'm going to read it again. Right now. Highly Recommended!

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars While we do value every Reader's opinion..., November 19, 2005

By 

Avid Reader (Portland, OR) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Taboo Tunes: A History of Banned Bands and Censored Songs (Paperback)

...I would like to offer a review of "Taboo Tunes" and also weigh in on the impossibly contradictory reviews posted here by other reviewers. I have now had a chance to read this book and "Parental Advisory" (another book about music censorship, as referenced in those reviews). First of all: both books are worthwhile and have their own merits. However, some of the snarky attacks on "Taboo Tunes" by "A Reader" are downright untrue and ought to be addressed for the sake of Amazon.com customers. Let's examine the points raised: Yes, "Parental Advisory" was published first. And, it was a fine book that covered a lot of the topic's basics (though its format - narrative first, and then restating all that information a second time by presenting it in a chronological time-line form makes the book repetitive and exactly twice the length it needed to be). But the notion that "Taboo Tunes" used Nuzum's book as its "one source" of information, is flatly false. Blecha's book covers far more historical ground, a fact that puts the lie to the statement that "Parental Advisory" is "much more thorough and conprehensive" (sic). While Eric Nuzum devoted much more attention to the one historic incident of Tipper Gore's mid-1980s PMRC crusade, Peter Blecha covers that period as well and goes much further in documenting the deeper history of censorship over the centuries and around the globe. Regarding that undeniably superior breadth of story-telling, "A Reader" misleads again by posting the quip that "Taboo Tunes" includes "a few things" that Nuzum "missed or chose not to include." Well, that's putting it lightly: In fact, "Taboo Tunes" - which does share 4 out of 90 photo images with "Parental Advisory" - was published four full years later, and so it includes plenty of information that Nuzum was simply not in the position to cover in his book. "Taboo Tunes" digs deeper into the history, and also succeeds in bringing that history up to current times. "Parental Advisory" was a commendable introduction to the topic, but as a professional historian and writer, Blecha has the skills to frame the big picture in a form that is compelling and up to date. In sum, "A Reader's" review amounts to an unfair attack, an inaccurate analysis, and a bit of naked propaganda that does Amazon.com customers a disservice through its not-so-hidden agenda.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Light reading on a heavy topic, June 27, 2004

By 

A librarian (Chicago) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Taboo Tunes: A History of Banned Bands and Censored Songs (Paperback)

After hearing a recent NPR interview with the author I ordered Taboo Tunes and have been totally charmed by it. Music censorship is an issue that has always interested me, and I've read and enjoyed a few others books about the topic -- including Eric Nuzum's good contribution from a few years back -- but there is just no doubt that Blecha's book shines. He brings to the table a distinct voice, an eye for meaningful detail, a background as a professional music historian and museum curator, but also a sense of fun. The author explicates the deep historical background of the music (and musicians) who have faced scorn for producing challenging music or lyrics, and he accomplishes this in a witty (if occasionally sarcastic) way that will attract even those who don't usually gravitate to history books. Because it was written with obvious commitment to rigorous scholarly standards (the Source and Reference citations run to 15 long pages) the book includes info about hundreds of controversial songs that, to my knowledge, haven't been documented in any one other place. The inclusion of many photographs of censored album covers and vintage sheet music spices up the book visually, but what keeps you reading is the "tongue in cheek" (and sometimes "laugh out loud") humor of the author. I'll view Taboo as a most unusual case of a masterful research effort that has resulted in a remarkably fun summer read.