From the MCRFB NEWS Archive: 1967
Broadcasters To Hold Private Session Amid National Association of Broadcasters Meet April 2-5
CHICAGO – Broadcasters will hold private meetings here Sunday to Wednesday (April 2 -5) during the National Association of Broadcasters‘ convention seeking some method of eliminating or censoring pornographic lyrics on records.
At present, two different factions are working on the same objective. One is headed by the McLendon Stations, who are calling for printed lyrics of both sides of every record submitted to their six music stations. The chain will refuse to play records sent without lyric sheets and refuse consideration of both sides of a record if one side is considered in bad taste.
This would have hurt “Ruby Tuesday” by the Rolling Stones, a big hit, because the flip side “Let’s Spend the Night Together” stirred up a national fuss.
The other radio faction is being headed by Harry Availl, general manager of WEAM in Washington. He said he had “half a dozen” stations lined up who have expressed strong interest in some method of avoiding the “dirty lyric” problem.
Averill said he will be meeting (no official connection with the NAB convention) with other station managers at the NAB to “formulate and pursue aggressively some system” of control.
He, too, wants to see lyrics. “Today, the records have to be watched very carefully,” he said. “We don’t want to be involved in any restraint of trade situation, so we’ll also be discussing this matter with our lawyers. But I think all the better operators in the top 25 markets will be involved in our campaign.”
Recently, several stations have refused to play records featuring even a suggestion of bad taste. One Hot 100 format station recently taped backward a possible suggestive line so listeners wouldn’t understand it on the air. END
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(Information and news source: Billboard; April; 8, 1967)
