The complete List of Songs Banned by BBC is now available online, check BBC Banned Songs List here. British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) has guidelines and standards for the content it broadcasts. There have been instances where certain songs or artists have faced restrictions due to their explicit lyrics or controversial themes. However, these decisions are typically made on a case-by-case basis and may vary depending on the context and time period.
The following is a list of songs which have been banned by the BBC over the years. Some were banned from particular shows (e.g. children’s programming), while others were banned for a limited period and have since received BBC airplay. Here is the complete list of songs banned by the BBC.
List of Songs Banned by BBC
Here is the character wise list of songs banned by BBC:-
A
- “Act of War” – Elton John and Millie Jackson (1985)
- “A-huggin’ and A-chalkin'” – Johnny Mercer (1946)
- “All the Young Dudes” – Mott the Hoople (1972)
- “Angels in the Sky” – The Crew-Cuts (1955)
- “Answer Me” – Frankie Laine (1953)
- “Armed and Extremely Dangerous” – First Choice (1973)
- “Army Dreamers” – Kate Bush (1980)
- “Atomic” – Blondie (1979)
B
- “Baby, Let Me Follow You Down” – Bob Dylan (1962)
- “Back in the U.S.S.R” – The Beatles (1968)
- “Ball of Confusion (That’s What the World Is Today)” – The Temptations (1970)
- “Bang Bang” – BA Robertson (1979)
- “Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)” – Cher (1966)
- “The Battle of New Orleans” – Johnny Horton (1959)
- “Baubles, Bangles and Beads” – Kirby Stone Four (1958)
- “Be Prepared” – Tom Lehrer (1953)
- “Beep Beep” – The Playmates (1958)
- “Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered” – Ella Fitzgerald (1958)
- “Big Eight” – Judge Dread (1973)
- “Big Seven” – Judge Dread (1972)
- “Big Six” – Judge Dread (1972)
- “Big Ten” – Judge Dread (1975)
- “Billy Don’t Be a Hero” – Paper Lace (1974)
- “The Blue Danube” – Spike Jones and His City Slickers (1945)
- “Boom Bang-a-Bang” – Lulu (1969)
- “Boris Johnson Is a Fucking Cunt” – The Kunts (2020)
- “Boris Johnson Is Still a Fucking Cunt” – The Kunts (2021)
- “Brothers in Arms” – Dire Straits (1985)
- “Buffalo Soldier” – Bob Marley and the Wailers (1983)
- “Burn My Candle” – Shirley Bassey (1956)
- “Burning Bridges” – Status Quo (1988)
C
- “(Celebrate) The Day After You” – The Blow Monkeys and Curtis Mayfield (1987)
- “Celebrate the Bullet” – The Selecter (1981)
- “Chaabian Boyz” – Frenzo Harami (2019)
- “Charlie Brown” – The Coasters (1959)
- “The Christening” – Arthur Askey (1943)
- “Christmas in Dreadland” – Judge Dread (1975)
- “Come Again” – Au Pairs (1981)
- “Come Monday” – Jimmy Buffett (1974)
- “Come Together” – The Beatles (1969)
- “The Cover of Rolling Stone” – Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show (1973)
- “Cradle Song (Brahms’ Lullaby)” – Frank Sinatra (1944)
- “Creep” – Radiohead (1992)
- “Croce di Oro (Cross of Gold)” – Joan Regan (1955)
- “Crying in the Chapel” – Lee Lawrence (1953)
- “Cuddle Me” – Ted Heath featuring Dennis Lotis (1954)
D
- “Danny Boy” – Conway Twitty (1959)
- “A Day in the Life” – The Beatles (1967)
- “The Deck of Cards” – T. Texas Tyler (1948)
- “Deep in the Heart of Texas” – Bing Crosby and Woody Herman (1942)
- “The Devil Is a Woman” – Herb Jeffries (1957)
- “Diggin’ My Potatoes” – Lonnie Donegan (1954)
- “Dinner with Drac” – John Zacherle (1958)
- “Don’t Let’s Be Beastly to the Germans” – Noël Coward (1943)
- “Disarm” – The Smashing Pumpkins (1994)
E
- “Ebeneezer Goode” – The Shamen (1992)
- “Ebony Eyes” – The Everly Brothers (1961)
- “The End of the World” – Skeeter Davis (1962)
- “Enola Gay” – Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark
- “Eve of Destruction” – Barry McGuire (1965)
- “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” – Tears for Fears (1985)
F
- “Fields of Fire” – Big Country (1982)
- “Fire” – The Crazy World of Arthur Brown (1968)
- “Flash” – Queen (1980)
- “The Foggy, Foggy, Dew” – Peter Pears (1950)
- “Fools Rush In” – Ricky Nelson (1963)
- “Forget Me Not” – Martha and the Vandellas (1968)
- “French Kiss” – Lil Louis (1989)
- “Fucking in Heaven” – Fatboy Slim (1998)
- “Fuck the T*ries” – The Kunts
G
- “The Garden of Eden” – Frankie Vaughan (1957)
- “Ghost Town” – The Specials (1981)
- “Gimme a Pigfoot (And a Bottle of Beer)” – Bessie Smith (1933)
- “Gimme Hope Jo’anna” – Eddy Grant (1988)
- “Give Ireland Back to the Irish” – Wings (1972)
- “Give Peace a Chance” – Plastic Ono Band (1969)
- “Glad to Be Gay” – Tom Robinson Band (1978)
- “Gloomy Sunday” – Billie Holiday (1941)
- “God Bless the Child” – Billie Holiday (1942)
- “God Save the Queen” – Sex Pistols (1977)
- “Green Jeans” – The Flee-Rekkers (1960)
- “Granny Takes a Trip” – Purple Gang (1967)
- “Greensleeves” – The Beverley Sisters (1956)
- “Guess Things Happen That Way” – Johnny Cash (1958)
H
- “Hank Janson Blues” – Anne Shelton (1953)
- “Have a Whiff on Me” – Mungo Jerry (1971)
- “Happiness Is a Warm Gun” – The Beatles (1968)
- “Hard Headed Woman” – Elvis Presley (1958)
- “He” – Al Hibbler (1955)
- “Heaven and Hell” – The Easybeats (1967)
- “Heaven Help Us All” – Stevie Wonder (1979)
- “The Heel” – Eartha Kitt (1955)
- “Hi, Hi, Hi” – Wings (1972)
- “High Class Baby” – Cliff Richard and the Drifters (1958)
- “Hold My Hand” – Don Cornell (1954)
- “Honey Hush” – The Rock and Roll Trio (1956)
- “Honey Love” – Dennis Lotis (1954)
- “Honeycomb” – Jimmie Rodgers (1957)
- “(How Little It Matters) How Little We Know” – Frank Sinatra (1956)
- “The House of the Rising Sun” – Josh White (1950)
- “Hunting High and Low” – A-ha (1985)
- “Hype on the Mic” – Frenzo Harami (2019)
I
- “I Am the Walrus” – The Beatles (1967)
- “I Can’t Control Myself” – The Troggs (1966)
- “I Can’t Make It” – Small Faces (1967)
- “I Don’t Like Mondays” – The Boomtown Rats (1979)
- “I Don’t Want to Be a Hero” – Johnny Hates Jazz (1987)
- “I Hear the Angels Singing” – Frankie Laine (1954)
- “(I Just) Died in Your Arms” – Cutting Crew (1986)
- “I Leaned on a Man” – Connie Francis (1957)
- “I Love a Man in Uniform” – Gang of Four (1982)
- “I Want to Be Evil” – Eartha Kitt (1953)
- “I Want You to Be My Baby” – Annie Ross (1956)
- “I Want Your Sex” – George Michael (1987)
- “I Went to Your Wedding” – Spike Jones and His City Slickers (1953)
- “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” – Bing Crosby (1943)
- “I’ll Fly for You” – Spandau Ballet (1984)
- “I’m Always Chasing Rainbows” – Ken Dodd (1963)
- “I’m Always Chasing Rainbows” – Perry Como (1949)
- “I’m Gonna Get Me a Gun” – Cat Stevens (1967)
- “I’m Nobody’s Baby” – Frankie Howerd (1948)
- “I’m on Fire” – Bruce Springsteen (1984)
- “Imagine” – John Lennon (1971)
- “I Shot the Sheriff” – Eric Clapton (1974)
- “In the Air Tonight” – Phil Collins (1981)
- “In the Army Now” – Status Quo (1986)
- “In the Beginning” – Frankie Laine (1955)
- “In the Hall of the Mountain King” – Nero and the Gladiators (1961)
- “Invisible Sun” – The Police (1981)
- “Israelites” – Desmond Dekker & the Aces (1968)
- “It Is No Secret” – Jo Stafford (1954)
- “It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels” – Kitty Wells (1952)
- “It Would Be So Nice” – Pink Floyd (1968)
- “I’ve Come of Age” – Billy Storm (1959)
- “I Will Survive” – Arrival (1980)
J
- “Jack The Ripper” – Screaming Lord Sutch (1963)
- “Jackie” – Scott Walker (1967)
- “Je t’aime… moi non plus” – Jane Birkin and Serge Gainsbourg (1969)
- “Je t’aime… moi non plus” – Judge Dread
- “Jingle Bells/Hokey Cokey” – Judge Dread (1978)
- “John and Marsha” – Stan Freberg (1950)
- “Johnny Remember Me” – John Leyton (1961)
- “Jungle Fever” – The Chakachas (1971)
K
- “Keep Me in Mind” – Lita Roza and Al Timothy (1955)
- “Killer Queen” – Queen (1974)
- “Killing an Arab” – The Cure (1979)
- “Killing Me Softly with His Song” – Roberta Flack (1973)
- “Kodachrome” – Paul Simon (1973)
L
- “Landing of the Daleks” – The Earthlings (1965)
- “La Petite Tonkinoise” – Josephine Baker (1930)
- “Lazy Mary” – Lou Monte (1958)
- “Leader of the Pack” – The Shangri-Las (1964)
- “Let the People Go” – McGuinness Flint (1972)
- “Let’s Spend the Night Together” – The Rolling Stones (1967)
- “Light a Candle in the Chapel” – Frank Sinatra (1942)
- “Light My Fire” – José Feliciano (1968)
- “Lili Marleen” – Lale Andersen (1939)
- “A Little Peace” – Nicole (1982)
- “Little Star” – The Elegants (1958)
- “Living on the Front Line” – Eddy Grant (1979)
- “Lola” – The Kinks (1970)
- “Love for Sale” – Cole Porter (1930)
- “Love for Sale” – Ella Fitzgerald (1956)
- “Love Is” – Alma Cogan (1958)
- “Love Is a Battlefield” – Pat Benatar (1983)
- “Love Is Strange” – Mickey & Sylvia (1956)
- “Love to Love You Baby” – Donna Summer (1975)
- “Lovin’ Machine” – Wynonie Harris (1951)
- “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” – The Beatles (1967)
M
- “Mack the Knife” – Bobby Darin (1959)
- “Made You” – Adam Faith (1960)
- “Maggie May” – The Vipers Skiffle Group (1957)
- “Magic Roundabout” – Jasper Carrott (1975)
- “The Man with the Golden Arm” – Eddie Calvert (1956)
- “Maybellene” – Chuck Berry (1955)
- “Midnight at the Oasis” – Maria Muldaur (1974)
- “Mighty Mighty Man” – Bobby Darin (1958)
- “Minnie the Moocher” – Cab Calloway (1931)
- “Miss You” – Bing Crosby (1942)
- “Mix-A-Fix” – Haydock’s Rockhouse (1967)
- “The Mocking Bird” – The Four Lads (1958)
- “Monster Mash” – Bobby “Boris” Pickett and the Crypt-Kickers (1962)
- “Moonlight Love” – Perry Como (1956)
- “My Christmas Prayer” – Billy Fury (1959)
- “My Friend” – Eddie Fisher (1954)
- “My Friend Jack” – The Smoke (1967)
- “My Generation” – The Who (1965)
- “My Little Ukulele” – Joe Brown and The Bruvvers (1963)
N
- “Night of the Vampire” – The Moontrekkers (1961)
- “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down” – Joan Baez (1971)
- “Ninety-Nine Years (Dead or Alive)” – Guy Mitchell (1956)
- “Nobody Loves Like an Irishman” – Lonnie Donegan (1958)
O
- “Oh Bondage Up Yours!” – X-Ray Spex (1977)
- “The Old Dope Peddler” – Tom Lehrer (1953)
- “Old Man Atom” – The Sons of the Pioneers (1950)
- “Oliver’s Army” – Elvis Costello (1979)
- “One Has My Name (The Other Has My Heart)” – Jimmy Wakely (1948)
- “Open Your Box” – Yoko Ono and the Plastic Ono Band (1971)
P
- “Paper Doll” – The Mills Brothers (1943)
- “Pass It Around” – Smokie (1975)
- “Peaceful Street” – Ernest Butcher (1936)
- “Peaches” – The Stranglers (1977)
- “Please No Squeeza da Banana” – Louis Prima (1945)
- “Prince Andrew Is a Sweaty Nonce” – The Kunts (2022)
R
- “Radio Times” – BBC Dance Orchestra (1935)
- “The Reefer Song (If You’re a Viper)” – Fats Waller (1943)
- “Relax” – Frankie Goes to Hollywood (1984)
- “Relax” – Judge Dread (1984)
- “Respectable Street” – XTC (1981)
- “Rock You Sinners” – Art Baxter and His Rock ‘n’ Roll Sinners (1958)
- “A Rose and a Baby Ruth” – George Hamilton IV (1956)
- “Rubber Bullets” – 10cc (1973)
- “Ruby, Don’t Take Your Love to Town” – Kenny Rogers and The First Edition (1969)
- “Rum and Coca-Cola” – The Andrews Sisters (1945)
- “A Russian Love Song” – The Goons (1957)
S
- “The Sabre Dance” – Woody Herman (1948)
- “Sad Affair” – Marxman (1993)
- “Sailing” – Rod Stewart (1972)
- Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting” – Elton John (1973)
- “Saturday Nite at the Duckpond” – The Cougars (1963)
- “Say a Prayer for the Boys Over There” – Deanna Durbin (1943)
- “Send Me to the ‘Lectric Chair” – George Melly (1953)
- “Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll” – Ian Dury (1977)
- “The Shag (Is Totally Cool)” – Billy Graves (1958)
- “Shall We Take a Trip” – Northside (1990)
- “She Had to Go and Lose It at the Astor” – Johnny Messner (1939)
- “She Was Only a Postmaster’s Daughter” – Durium Dance Band (1933)
- “Silent Running (On Dangerous Ground)” – Mike and the Mechanics (1985)
- “The Silver Madonna” – Kirk Stevens (1957)
- “Sincerely” – Liberace (1955)
- “Sink the Bismark – Johnny Horton (1960)
- “Six Months in a Leaky Boat” – Split Enz (1982) (banned during the Falklands War)
- “Sixty Eight Guns” – The Alarm (1983)
- “Sixty Minute Man” – The Dominoes (1951)
- “The Sky” – Petula Clark (1957)
- “Smack My Bitch Up” – The Prodigy (1997)
- “Song of India” – Tommy Dorsey (1938)
- “So What?” – Anti-Nowhere League (1981)
- “Soldier” – Harvey Andrews (1972)
- “Soldier of Love” – Donny Osmond (1989)
- “Somebody Up There Likes Me” – Perry Como (1956)
- “A Souvenir of London” – Procol Harum (1973)
- “Space Oddity” – David Bowie (1969)
- “Spasticus Autisticus” – Ian Dury and the Blockheads (1981)
- “State of Independence” – Donna Summer (1982)
- “Statue of Liberty” – XTC (1978)
- “St. Therese of the Roses” – Malcolm Vaughan (1956)
- “Stop the Cavalry” – Jona Lewie (1980)
- “The Story of a Starry Night” – Glenn Miller (1943)
- “The Story of Three Loves” – Ray Martin (1954)
- “Stranger in Paradise” – The Four Aces (1953)
- “Such a Night” – Johnnie Ray (1954)
- “Suicide Is Painless” – MAS*H (1970)
- “Summer Smash” – Denim (1997)
T
- “Take Off Your Clothes” – Peter Sarstedt (1969)
- “Teen Angel” – Mark Dinning (1959)
- “Teen Age Prayer” – Gale Storm (1955)
- “Tell Laura I Love Her” – Ray Peterson (1960)
- “Tell Laura I Love Her” – Ricky Valance (1960)
- “Terry” – Twinkle (1964)
- “The Test of Time” – Robert Earl (1959)
- “A Theme from the Threepenny Orchestra (Mack the Knife)” – Louis Armstrong (1956)
- “Three Stars” – Ruby Wright (1959)
- “‘Til the Following Night” – Screaming Lord Sutch (1961)
- “Till the End of Time” – Perry Como (1945)
- “Ting Tong Tang” – Ken Platt (1958)
- “To Keep My Love Alive” – Ella Fitzgerald (1956)
- “Toll the Bell Easy” – Les Hobeaux (1957)
- “The Tommy Rot Story” – Morris & Mitch (1957)
- “Too Drunk to Fuck” – Dead Kennedys (1981)
- “Tribute to Buddy Holly” – Mike Berry and The Outlaws (1961)
- “Two Tribes” – Frankie Goes to Hollywood (1984)
U
- “The Unbeliever” – Guy Mitchell (1957)
- “Under Attack” – ABBA (1982)
- “Up With the Cock!/Big Punk” – Judge Dread (1978)
- “Urban Guerrilla” – Hawkwind (1973)
V
- “A View to a Kill” – Duran Duran (1985)
- “The Voice in My Heart” – Eydie Gormé (1958)
W
- “Walk Hand in Hand” – Tony Martin (1956)
- “Walk Like an Egyptian” – The Bangles (1986)
- “Walking on Water” – Eliza Doolittle (2013)
- “War” – Edwin Starr (1970)
- “War Baby” – Tom Robinson (1982)
- “Warpaint” – The Brook Brothers (1961)
- “Waterloo” – ABBA (1974)
- “We Call It Acieed” – D-Mob (1988)
- “We Can’t Let You Broadcast That” – Norman Long (1932)
- “(We Don’t Need This) Fascist Groove Thang” – Heaven 17 (1981)
- “We Gotta Get Out of This Place” – The Animals (1965)
- “We Have to Be So Careful” – The Beverley Sisters (1953)
- “We Will All Go Together When We Go” – Tom Lehrer (1959)
- “Wet Dream” – Max Romeo (1969)
- “What God Wants, Part I” – Roger Waters (1992)
- “When I’m Cleaning Windows” – George Formby (1936)
- “When I’m Dead and Gone” – McGuinness Flint (1970)
- “When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Get Going” – Billy Ocean (1985)
- “When Your Lights Turned On” – The Hollies (1967)
- “Whoa Buck” – Lonnie Donegan (1959)
- “The Winkle Man” – Judge Dread (1976)
- “With My Little Stick of Blackpool Rock” – George Formby (1937)
- “With My Little Ukulele in My Hand” – George Formby (1933)
- “Woman Love” – Gene Vincent (1956)
- “A Worried Man” – The Kingston Trio (1959)
Y
- “Y Viva Suspenders” – Judge Dread (1976)
- “You’ll Get Yours” – Frank Sinatra (1956)
