Censorship

At the end of the first English Civil War, influenced by the Puritans, the British Parliament passes a law banning any celebration of Christmas. This new law is much disliked and will cause riots in the streets. The popular ballad The World Is Turned Upside Down will be inspired this law, and is best known in a version by Maddy Prior And The Carnival Band.

The Washington Times reports that Chevy Chase Lake resort has banned "freak dancing" in its pavilion. In this context, "freak dancing" includes the Bunny Wiggle, Grizzly Hug and other so-called "animal dances", often associated with ragtime and jazz music. It is recommended that dancers "should confine themselves to the old straight-away waits and the two step" but "even in these, no fancy steps will be permitted."

The Pittsburgh Daily Post reports that The Western Pennsylvania Canoe association has banned 'animal' dances — including the Kangaroo Dip and Sloth Squeeze — from its social gatherings. This is part of ongoing national attempts to ban such dances, usually performed to ragtime or jazz music.

Slim and Slam (Slim Gaillard and Slam Stewart) record Flat Foot Floogie for Vocalion Records in New York City, USA. Despite the title, Slim and Slam actually sing "Flat Feet Floozie", but Vocalian changed the title on the disc because a 'floozie' is slang for a prostitute.

The dystopian sci-fi novel Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell is published in the UK. The book and its sinister character, Big Brother, will inspire numerous songs, including 1984 by Spirit and Big Brother by Stevie Wonder. In September 2009, the English alternative rock band Muse will release The Resistance, which includes songs influenced by 1984.

The Perry Como Show on CBS-tv in the USA features 13-year old guest artist Jimmy Boyd singing his hit I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus. When first released, Boyd's record had been banned in Boston, Massachgusetts, by the Roman Catholic Church on the grounds that it mixed sex with Christmas.

Mambo Italiano, a hit by Rosemary Clooney, is banned by ABC radio and TV in the USA because of its suggestive lyrics. (censorship)

Ruth Brown's American hit, Mama, He Treats Your Daughter Mean, is banned from radio broadcasts by the BBC in the UK, on the grounds that it might encourage wife-beating.

Elvis Presley shocks his audience by simulating sex with a stuffed dog called Nipper when he plays the first of two nights at the Pan-Pacific Auditorium, Los Angeles, California, USA. After the show, local police caution Elvis about his on-stage behaviour. The following day, local press run headlines saying Elvis would have to clean up his act, and that night the Los Angeles Vice Squad films his entire concert, to study his performance.

In the UK, the BBC bans airplay of The Coasters song Charlie Brown because the lyric includes the word 'spitball' which is deemed too offensive for radio broadcast. Two weeks later, once the meaning of the term has been explained, the BBC will change its mind and allow the song to be played.

UK pop paper Melody Maker reveals that the BBC has banned the Mark Dinning song Teen Angel.

Teen pop idol Fabian makes his dramatic debut, playing a pathological killer, in A Lion Walks Among Us, an episode of the ABC-tv series Bus Stop in the USA. The storyline is deemed somewhat risque, so the show's normal sponsors refuse to handle it. Warner Bros step into the sponsorship gap, but critics will describe it as "sleazy", "sex-laden" and "just plain nasty".

Awake, the magazine of the Jehovah's Witness religion, publishes an article criticising The Twist dance craze for its immoral influence on young people. Later, articles in Awake will claim that The Twist has its origins in "pagan fertility dances".

The Jehovah's Witness magazine Watchtower runs a feature about the morality of dancing The Twist, concluding that, "even if a Christian can participate in a dance with a good conscience before God, because of having no wrong motive, that is not enough. He must consider the effect upon the onlooker."

The BBC in the UK bans the US hit single Monster Mash by Bobby 'Boris' Pickett for being 'offensive'.

Music trade magazine Billboard in the USA reports that the single Christine by Miss X on Ember Records has been banned by BBC Radio and by Radio Luxembourg in the UK. The reason for the ban is that the Christine in the title refers to Christine Keeler, the woman at the heart of the Profumo scandal. The identity of Miss X is actually Joyce Blair, sister of popular dancer Lionel Blair.

It is reported that civil rights activist Lena Horne's latest single, Now, is not being played by some radio stations in Philadelphia, USA, because it is deemed "too controversial". In essence, the song questions the morality of contemporary racial attitudes in the USA.

Long-haired student George Leonard of Attleboro High School in Massachusetts, USA, is sent home by the school principal and told not to return until his hair is 'decent'. Leonard plays in a band called The Cry Babies, and will take the case to court, arguing that his long hair is required for his work with the band.

Despite (or, arguably, because of) being banned by some radio stations, Louie Louie by The Kingsmen peaks at No2 on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart in the USA. It is held off the top spot by The Singing Nun with Dominique.

A UK Silver Disc is awarded to the single Terry by Twinkle, which had been banned by both the BBC and ITV on grounds of 'bad taste', because it referred to the death of a teenager in a motorcycle smash.

San Francisco-based music business tip-sheet The Gavin Report lists several current hits, including Rainy Day Women Nos12 And 35 by Bob Dylan, Eight Miles High by The Byrds and Along Comes Mary by The Association as containing thinly-veiled drug references.

The Diocese of Rome announces that it "deplores the concept," of rock and roll masses but does not prohibit such services at The Church of San Lessio Falconieri in Italy, Europe.

The rock musical Hair (which includes a scene with a fully nude cast) has its British premiere at the Shaftesbury Theatre, London, England, UK, Europe. (N.B. This was made possible because censorship of plays was abolished in the UK by the Theatres Act 1968, which was approved on July 26) The cast includes Marsha Hunt, Paul Nicholas, Sonja Kristina and Jimmy Winston.

Folk singer Judy Collins writes to the Federal Communications Commission in the USA to protest that ABC-tv news programmes have censored her criticisms of the trial of the Chicago Seven.

US Vice President Spiro T. Agnew, speaking in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, attacks The Beatles for their use of drug references in such songs as With A Little Help From My Friends.

Rod Swensen, manager of The Plasmatics, goes on trial in the Circuit Court for Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, USA, for obstructing a police officer who was arresting Plasmatics singer Wendy O. Williams on obscenity charges earlier in the year. Plasmatics fans come from more than 2,000 miles away and make it standing room only in the court room. Swenson will be found not guilty and all charges against Williams will also be dropped.

Tommy Lee, drummer for Motley Crue, is arrested for dropping his pants and baring his bottom at the Augusta- Richmond County Civic Center in Augusta, Georgia, USA. The gesture is the standard capper to his extended drum solo. (Lee will forfeit his $1,600 bail when he fails to make his court date.)

Rapper Luther Campbell, whose group 2 Live Crew is facing record store bans because of obscene lyrics, announces that the music industry has failed to come to his aid. He declares, "When the stores say they're going to take my albums out, the record companies should say, ‘OK, then you're not going to get the next Michael Jackson or Madonna record'.

Luther Campbell, leader of 2 Live Crew, releases his solo debut LP Banned In The USA on Luke/Atlantic Records in the USA.

Madonna's Justify My Love video, recently banned by MTV, is aired in full on ABC-tv's Nightline.

Apparently horrified that the art work for the Pulp single Sorted For Es And Wizz gives instructions for drug abuse, UK tabloid newspaper the Daily Mirror runs a front page headline "Ban This Sick Stunt".

Yusuf Islam, formerly Cat Stevens, is detained on arrival in Israel and deported just hours later because the intelligence service believes that Islam has funded Hamas, the Islamic terrorist group, to the tune of tens of thousands of pounds.

On his Against All Gods tour, Marilyn Manson plays at The Arena, Pula, Croatia, Europe. Prior to the show, the touring crew is delayed from entering the venue because a group of local Catholic bishops is exorcising the stage, in the belief that Manson is in league with satanic forces.

UK radio station BBC Radio 1 announces a ban on playing Candy, the new single by Robbie Williams, on the grounds that Williams' music is 'irrelvant to their listeners'.

The Amnesty International Bringing Human Rights Home Concert, featuring Imagine Dragons, Flaming Lips, The Fray, Ms Lauryn Hill, Colbie Caillat, Tegan And Sara, Blondie, Cold War Kids, Cake, Yoko Ono, Bob Geldof and others, takes place at The Barclays Center, Brooklyn, New York City, USA. The event also includes a special address by members of Pussy Riot, introduced by Madonna.

A group of Iranian youths who posted a video of themselves dancing to the Pharrell Williams hit Happy are arrested by Iranian police.

Speaking at a meeting of the presidential Council for Culture and Art in St Petersburg, Russian President Vladimir Putin asks his government to "take charge" of rap music after a number of rap concerts were cancelled across the country. Putin declares that efforts to ban rap were "impossible" and so the state should play a greater role in controlling it. The Ministry of Culture, he added, would find the best way to "navigate" youth concerts.

Grime rapper Wiley is dropped by his management company, A-List Management, and temporarily banned from posting on Twitter after he makes a series of social media posts widely considered to be antisemitic. The police are also reported to be investigating the posts after being asked to do so by the Campaign Against Antisemitism.