From Blondie to Lulu: The songs the BBC banned during the Gulf War
When the Gulf War broke out in 1991, the BBC acted with responsibility. They were, after all, pretty much the centralised voice in disseminating all newsworthy information to the people of Britain concerning the conflict. This was a time long before the instantaneous nature of news would come to the fore with the advent of a more accessible form of the internet.
The BBC took on the act of cleansing the airwaves of any songs that would potentially trigger or upset the British public. Amongst those were songs that were anti-war, such as Kate Bush’s ‘Army Dreamers’ and Plastic Ono Band’s ‘Give Peace a Chance’, plus any tune that gave any attention to the act of war, dying, or shooting a gun, for instance, Bob Marley’s ‘I Shot the Sheriff’ or The Alarm’s ‘Sixty-Eight Guns’.
After all, the British involvement in the Gulf War had been deemed beyond criticism, at least at the time. Both the Gulf War and the Falklands War preceding it would be given critical attention by the British public throughout the decades to come. But the BBC, at the time, was an institution that would rarely have its credibility called into question. Rather they were a trusted broadcaster who seemed to have the public’s wellbeing at heart.
Also included in the airwaves ban were any songs that remotely made reference to peace (very strange), any song pertaining to the words ‘fire’ ‘bang’ or anything that would be experienced on a battlefield, and any song that referenced previous British Army enemies, say for example ‘Back in the USSR’ by the Beatles, or ABBA’s ‘Waterloo’.
The British involvement in the original Gulf War between 1990 and 1991 would last a very short time. The British Legion website states, “The Gulf War, fought from 1990 to 1991, saw the largest use of British troops in a single deployment since the Second World War. Known by many names, Persian Gulf War, First Gulf War, First Iraq War and Kuwait War, the war was sparked by the actions of Saddam Hussein, President of Iraq.”
It adds, “A coalition air war – known as Operation Desert Storm – began on 17 January 1991 against military, economic and communications targets in Iraq and Kuwait to force Iraqi troops to withdraw. During the attack, coalition aircrews flew over 100,000 missions. As the Iraqi Army retreated, and as a final act of destruction to slow down the advances of coalition forces, the Iraqi Army set fire to over 500 oil wells, causing huge plumes of smoke and years of environmental damage.”
Here is the list of many of the songs banned by the BBC during the Gulf War.
Songs the BBC banned during the Gulf War:
- 10cc – ‘Rubber Bullets’
- ABBA – ‘Under Attack’
- ABBA – ‘Waterloo’
- A-ha – ‘Hunting High and Low’
- The Alarm – ‘Sixty-Eight Guns’
- The Animals – ‘We Gotta Get Out of This Place’
- Arrival – ‘I Will Survive’
- Joan Baez – ‘The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down’
- The Bangles – ‘Walk Like an Egyptian’
- The Beatles – ‘Back in the USSR’
- Pat Benatar – ‘Love is a Battlefield’
- Big Country – ‘Fields of Fire’
- Blondie – ‘Atomic’
- The Boomtown Rats – ‘I Don’t Like Mondays’
- The Brook Brothers – ‘Warpaint’
- Kate Bush – ‘Army Dreamers’
- Eric Clapton – ‘I Shot the Sheriff’
- Phil Collins – ‘In the Air Tonight’
- The Crazy World of Arthur Brown – ‘Fire’
- Cutting Crew – ‘(I Just) Died In Your Arms’
- Skeeter Davis – ‘The End of the World’
- Desmond Dekker and the Aces – ‘The Israelites’
- Dire Straits – ‘Brothers in Arms’
- Duran Duran – ‘A View to a Kill’
- Elvis Costello and the Attractions – ‘Oliver’s Army’
- Jose Feliciano – ‘Light My Fire’
- First Choice – ‘Armed and Extremely Dangerous’
- Roberta Flack – ‘Killing Me Softly with His Song’
- Eddie Grant – ‘Gimme Hope Jo’Anna’
- Eddie Grant – ‘Living on the Front Line’
- Elton John – ‘Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting’
- Elton John & Millie Jackson – ‘Act of War’
- Frankie Goes To Hollywood – ‘Two Tribes’
- Johnny Hates Jazz – ‘I Don’t Want to Be a Hero’
- John Lennon – ‘Imagine’
- Jona Lewie – ‘Stop The Cavalry’
- Kenny Rogers and the First Edition – ‘Ruby Don’t Take Your Love To Town’
- Lulu – ‘Boom Bang-A-Bang’
- Bob Marley – ‘Buffalo Soldier’
- Martha and the Vandellas – ‘Forget Me Not’
- MASH – ‘Suicide is Painless’
- McGuinness Flint – ‘When I’m Dead and Gone’
- Mike and the Mechanics – ‘Silent Running (On Dangerous Ground)’
- Maria Muldaur – ‘Midnight at the Oasis’
- Rick Nelson – ‘Fools Rush In’
- Nicole – ‘A Little Peace’
- Billy Ocean – ‘When The Going Gets Tough, the Tough Get Going’
- Donny Osmond – ‘Soldier of Love’
- Queen – ‘Flash Gordon’
- Queen – ‘Killer Queen’
- Paper Lace – ‘Billy Don’t Be A Hero’
- Plastic Ono Band – ‘Give Peace a Chance’
- B.A. Robertson – ‘Bang Bang’
- Tom Robinson – ‘War Baby’
- Nancy Sinatra – ‘Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)’
- Spandau Ballet – ‘I’ll Fly for You’
- The Specials – Ghost Town’
- Bruce Springsteen – ‘I’m on Fire’
- Edwin Starr – ‘War’
- Status Quo – ‘Burning Bridges (On and Off and On Again)’
- Status Quo – ‘In the Army Now’
- Cat Stevens – ‘I’m Gonna Get Me a Gun’
- Rod Stewart – ‘Sailing’
- Donna Summer – ‘State of Independence’
- Tears for Fears – ‘Everybody Wants to Rule the World’
- The Temptations – ‘Ball of Confusion (That’s What the World Is Today)’
- Stevie Wonder – ‘Heaven Help Us All’
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