Music News

Rock All Stars Scuzz TV,
19 August 2012, 20:40

Scuzz TV is a UK digital satellite television channel that broadcasts rock and pop- punk music videos and music related entertainment programming on Sky and Freesat. The licence for this channel is held by CSC Media Group.

During a block of music video programming called Rock All Stars, Scuzz TV broadcast a music video by the American rap-rock band Hollywood Undead performing a track called Undead ( the video ) at 20:40. The video, which was set in a motel room, intercut footage of the band performing the track to camera with footage of the male band members partying with female performers and fans in various locations including a motel bedroom, a bathroom and by a swimming pool.

The video, which lasted for just over three minutes and 30 seconds, included over 25 uses of language such as fuck , motherfuckers , fucking and faggots. Ofcom was also concerned by the imagery included in this video. We noted in particular: over 35 brief but close-up shots of naked or near naked breasts; around 20 close-up shots of women's buttocks in bikinis or underwear; frequent close-up shots of women climbing onto or simulating sexual actions with men and other women; scenes in which male band members fondled the breasts of female performers; footage in which two semi-naked female performers simulated sex acts together in a shower cubicle while a male band member vomited into a toilet; shots of illegal drug paraphernalia; and a sequence in which a female performer appeared to take illegal drugs and then perform sex acts on herself and with others. The video concluded with shots of the band members violently smashing up the contents of the motel room, and then throwing the broken items into the swimming pool.

Ofcom considered rules:

• Rule 1.3: Children must...be protected by appropriate scheduling from material that is unsuitable for them.
• Rule 1.10: The use of illegal drugs, the abuse of drugs, smoking, solvent abuse and the misuse of alcohol:...must generally be avoided and in any case must not be condoned, encouraged or glamorised in...programmes broadcast before the watershed (in the case of television)...unless there is editorial justification.
• Rule 1.14: The most offensive language must not be broadcast before the watershed (in the case of television)[.]
• Rule 1.16: Offensive language must not be broadcast before the watershed (in the case of television)...unless it is justified by the context.
• Rule 1.21: Nudity before the watershed must be justified by the context.
• Rule 2.3: In applying generally accepted standards broadcasters must ensure that material which may cause offence is justified by the context...Such material may include, but is not limited to, offensive language, violence, sex, sexual violence, [and] violation of human dignity[.]

This case involved the broadcast of material that was extremely unsuitable for children and had the potential to be highly offensive to the audience. Ofcom therefore considers the breaches of Rules 1.3, 1.10, 1.14, 1.16, 1.21 and 2.3 in this case to be serious. Ofcom was particularly concerned that the Licensee described the broadcast of this video before the watershed and during the school summer holidays as having occurred as a result of a loophole and staff error.

Ofcom have now decided that it was appropriate and proportionate in the circumstances to impose a financial penalty of £10,000 on the Licensee in respect of the Code Breaches (payable to HM Paymaster General) and to direct the Licensee to broadcast a statement of Ofcom's findings, on a date and in a form to be determined by Ofcom.

Tunisian rapper Alaa Yacoub has been sent two prison for two years for an anti-police song.

The rapper, who performs under the name Weld 15, has been accused of threatening police officers with a song he posted online called Boulicia Kleb (the police are dogs).

In the video, Yacoub sings that he would like to slaughter a police officer instead of sheep at Eid al-Adha .

Update: Suspended

3rd July 2013. See  article from  indexoncensorship.org

Tunisian rapper Weld El 15 (real name Alaa Yaacoubi) walked free from Tunis's Court of Appeal today after his jail sentence for insulting police was reduced from two years to a six month suspended sentence, Padraig Reidy writes

According to AFP, the rapper's lawyer Ghazi Mrabet hailed the court decision as a victory for liberty, for democracy, and for Weld el 15, who did nothing but create a work of art.

Update: Sentenced to jail again

5th September 2013. See  article from  indexoncensorship.org

Two Tunisian rappers Aladine Yacoubi (aka Weld EL 15) and Ahmed Ben Ahmed (aka Klay BBJ) have been sentenced in absentia to 21 months in jail. A court in Hammamet issued the verdict on 29 August without summoning the two rappers to appear for trial, their lawyer Ghazi Mrabet said yesterday.

We are surprised by this verdict...Our clients have not been summoned for trial as it is stipulated by law, Mrabet told the privately-owned radio station Mosaique FM. They were found guilty of insulting civil servants , undermining public decency and defamation.

On 22 August, police arrested the two rappers as they were on stage performing a rap concert at a music festival in Hammamet and physically assaulted them. They were detained, for targeting police' in their songs, the local chief police officer told the collective blog Nawaat.

Update: Reduced to 6 months

27th September 2013. See  article from  theguardian.com

A Tunisian court has sentenced a rapper to six months in prison for singing excerpts of an anti-police song at a concert, his lawyer said on Thursday.

Ahmed and fellow rapper Alaa Yacoub were convicted in absentia last month and sentenced to 21 months in prison. Ahmed sought a retrial resulting in the 6 month sentence, whilst Yacoub remains in hiding.

Rapper Kanye West may have the US number one album next week, but may have lost a few customers after offending the American Parkinson Disease Association.

The album Yeezus contains the track On Sight with the lyric:

A monster about to come alive again.
Soon as I pull up and park the Benz,
We get this bitch shaking like Parkinson's.

Gossip site TMZ reports that the American Parkinson Disease Association VP, Kathryn Whitford, said:  We find these lyrics distasteful and the product of obvious ignorance.

Rihanna's topless but unrevealing posters for her Diamonds world tour have offended the insensibilities of some Dublin residents, who took it upon themselves to cover her up by stapling clothes to the images.

The posters feature the image from her Unapologetic album and depict the singer apparently naked from the waist up but covered by her elbow and the album title.

She will be performing at the Aviva Stadium on June 21, and hopefully the modesty vigilantes will not be present at her show.

Extremist muslims in Saudi Arabia has smashed sculptures of horses erected on a roundabout in the town of Abu Arish after the kingdom's top cleric denounced them as supposedly sinful.

The decision came after Grand Mufti Abdulaziz al-Shaikh sent a letter to the governor of Jazan demanding that the sculptures be removed because they are a great sin and are prohibited under sharia .

Statues of people and animals are prohibited under Islam as they are said to represent a form of idolatry.

Jennifer Lopez performed her single Live It Up on Britain's Got Talent semi-final results show on Tuesday. The act was shown after the 9pm watershed.

She gyrated on stage in a thong and fishnet tights. Her dance routine provoked  the inevitable 'furious backlash', with campaigners calling on Ofcom to 'crack down' on ITV for airing it on a family show.

Apparently thousands of viewers took to Twitter to make their comments, with one saying the singer looked like a prostitute .

Judge Amanda Holden seemed to be a fan, declaring: JLo's arse. I just wanted to bite it. It was fabulous .

Mediawatch UK said the programme had deliberately targeted younger viewers by screening the episode during the half-term holiday. The group claimed that millions of children will have watched the performance, despite the lateness of the hour.

Director Vivienne Pattinson whiged:

Parents will have been more likely to let their children stay up beyond their normal bedtimes.

And given the main show is incredibly popular with children, lots of them will have wanted to stay up a bit later to find out who won. It was totally inappropriate to show something like this, given their audience. It seems as if they never learn.

TV censor Ofcom said it had received 30 complaints about the performance so far.

An ITV spokesman said:

We do not believe that Jennifer Lopez's performance would have exceeded the expectations of the vast majority of the audience for this long-established entertainment programme.

The government announces that more DVDs are to carry an age rating, more is to be done on online age ratings and WiFi will be family friendly. placeholder

Age ratings will be given to a range of video content that is currently exempt - such as some music and sports DVDs - so that those unsuitable for younger children will have to carry a British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) age rating in future.

Video Recordings Act

The government is publishing the response to its recent consultation on the Video Recordings Act which addresses concerns about the exemptions from age rating that are currently given to a range of music, sports, religious and educational DVDs and Blu-Ray discs.

The Video Recordings Act will now be changed so that any of these products that are unsuitable for younger children will have to carry the familiar 12 , 15 and 18 BBFC age ratings in future. The changes are expected to come into force in 2014.

Communications Minister Ed Vaizey said:

Government realises that the world has moved on since these exemptions were written into the Video Recordings Act some 30 years ago.

The changes we've announced today will help ensure children are better protected, and that parents are provided with the information necessary for them to make informed choices about what their children view.

In order to help ensure parents can make more informed decisions about the material their children watch online, ministers are also calling on industry to develop solutions so that more online videos - particularly those that are likely to be sought out by children and young people - carry advice about their age suitability in future.

David Bowie's rather brilliant promo video for The Next Day was briefly pulled from YouTube a few days ago.

...

Funnily enough, in that very same week another offensive music video finally surfaced after 20 years underground. A notoriously tough-to-watch short made by Nine Inch Nails (along with Peter Christopherson) to accompany their Broken EP in the early 90s popped up on Vimeo after 20 years of incomplete versions being traded on the black market. Despite the official sanction of the band, it lasted mere hours before Vimeo removed it on the grounds of it being really really horrible and yucky and nasty and putting them right off their tea (well, violating guidelines , but I'm pretty sure that was the gist).

...Read the full article

David Bowie's latest music video featuring him as a Christ-like figure surrounded by women in skimpy outfits and priests in a bar has been pulled from YouTube.

The video for the single The Next Day was temporarily removed from the video-sharing website with a screenshot saying it had been taken down because its content violated YouTube's terms of service, the singer's publicist said.

A spokeswoman for Google-owned YouTube said:

With the massive volume of videos on our site, sometimes we make the wrong call, she said. When it's brought to our attention that a video has been removed mistakenly, we act quickly to reinstate it. [albeit with a deserved 18 rating].

Update: Christian's recommend The Next Day by David Bowie

10th May 2013. See  article from  telegraph.co.uk . See also article from  contactmusic.com

David Bowie has incurred the wrath of America's Catholic League over his religious-themed new video.

Bowie appears in the video dressed in Christ-like robes, while Gary Oldman plays a beer-swilling priest and Marion Cotillard is a hooker who transforms into a saint.

The video has riled Catholic League president Bill Donohue, who claims the clip is a mess :

The switch-hitting, bisexual, senior citizen from London has resurfaced, this time playing a Jesus-like character who hangs out in a nightclub dump frequented by priests, cardinals and half-naked women.

The video is strewn with characteristic excess: one priest bashes a homeless man, while others are busy hitting on women; self-flagellation is depicted; a dancing gal with bleeding hands makes a stigmata statement; and a customer is served eyeballs on a plate... In short, the video reflects the artist - it is a mess.

Meanwhile ex-archbishop of Canterbury, George Carey said:

If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery perhaps Christians should not worry too much at such an exploitation of religious imagery.

I doubt that Bowie would have the courage to use Islamic imagery - I very much doubt it.

Frankly, I don't get offended by such juvenilia - Christians should have the courage to rise above offensive language although I hope Bowie will recognise that he may be upsetting some people.

Jack Valero of the Catholic Voices group said:

I wouldn't give him the time of day, it is just desperate. He used to be famous, why does he need to do this?

Andrea Williams, director of Christian Concern, added:

 It is actually just a bit sad -- what is he seeking to achieve?

Strangely none of the Christians seem to recognise that that the amount of abusive priests may be something to do with the justified criticism of the church.

Northern Ireland rockers Two Door Cinema Club have had their new video banned by MTV.

The video for their latest single Handshake was filmed at a bowling alley in London and features the decapitated heads of the band rolling down the bowling lane.

It was directed by Sam Piling and first aired on the music channel on Tuesday night. However it has now been unsurprisingly removed from the broadcast playlist.

Farmer Alan Graham got noticed by the tabloid press when he turfed Rihanna off his land for being sexy in a music video. The final edit of Rihanna's video for We Found Love featured sexy images and references to drug use and violence.

Graham and his wife were inspired to start a campaign against sexy music videos. He lives in a dream world where musicians are successful for their musical talent, and points to Adele as an example of someone who has achieved success without the kind of raunchy images and semi-nudity. Graham claims the culture of raunchy music videos points to a lack of respect for women . Graham spouted:

It certainly wasn't appropriate for children. I don't believe that it's good for anybody to watch from my point of view, but this stuff is readily available to children.

You would think there was a competition between the performers to see who could be the most raunchy.

Anybody can attract attention by taking their clothes off. Ideally a performance of any sort should be something that a man and his wife and children can go to together and not feel embarrassed.

In a documentary, Rihanna's Farmer , aired on BBC One Northern Ireland on Monday, he whinged to figures from across the pop music industry, hoping for support for his unrealistic views.

Perennial Hindu whinger, Rajan Zed, has had a knock at Selena Gomez for donning a Bindi on her forehead during her performance of Come and Get It at Sunday's MTV Movie Awards.

Traditionally, the area between the eyebrows (where the bindi is placed) is said to be the sixth chakra, ajna, the seat of concealed wisdom . According to followers of Hinduism, this chakra is the exit point for kundalini energy. The bindi is said to retain energy and strengthen concentration. It is also said to protect against demons or bad luck. The bindi also represents the third eye. In modern times, bindis are worn by women of many religious dispositions in South Asia and Southeast Asia, and is not restricted to Hindus.

Officials at the Universal Society of Hinduism have referred to Selena's use of the religious symbol as insensitive, with spokesman Rajan Zed telling WENN:

The bindi on the forehead is an ancient tradition in Hinduism and has religious significance... It is not meant to be thrown around loosely for seductive effects or as a fashion accessory aiming at mercantile greed.

Selena should apologize and then she should get acquainted with the basics of world religions.

The conviction of a renowned Turkish pianist for denigrating Islam on Twitter sends a chilling message to social media users in the country, Amnesty International said.

Fazil Say, who has played in some of the world's leading orchestras, was given a 10-month suspended sentence for posting tweets mocking religious individuals and Islamic conceptions of heaven in April 2012.

Andrew Gardner, Amnesty International's expert on Turkey said:

The conviction of Fazil Say is a flagrant violation of his freedom of expression, made possible by one of Turkey's most draconian laws.

This case sends a chilling warning to anyone using Twitter or other social media in Turkey. Namely, that if you express an opinion the authorities don't like, you could be next.

An example re-tweet from the 9 cited in charges was:

I am not sure if you have noticed, but where there's a louse, a non-entity, a lowlife, a thief or a fool, they are all Islamists. Is this a paradox?

Update: Retrial

27th April 2013. See article from bloomberg.com

A Turkish court has canceled the conviction of Fazil Say, ordering a retrial. The court ruled that Say, who was given a suspended sentence of 10 months in prison on April 15 by a lower court, was not fully informed of his rights regarding the verdict and there were procedural errors. The decision was taken in response to an appeal by Say's lawyer Meltem Akyol.

Update: Re-sentenced to 10 months jail, hopefully suspended

21st September 2013. See  article from  commentarymagazine.com

World-renowned Turkish pianist Fazil Say, who was sentenced to 10 months in prison for blasphemy in April, was again sentenced to 10 months by an Istanbul court in a retrial. Say had received a suspended 10-month prison sentence on charges of insulting religious beliefs held by a section of the society, for re-tweeting several lines, which are attributed to poet Omar Khayyam... Say was convicted after tweeting the following lines:

You say its rivers will flow in wine. Is the Garden of Eden a drinking house?

You say you will give two houris to each Muslim. Is the Garden of Eden a whorehouse?

Update: Acquitted

7th December 2016.

An Istanbul court acquitted pianist Fazil Say on 7 September 2016 of blasphemy charges after a four-year legal battle stemming from a 2012 post he re-tweeted consisting of lines written by 11th century Persian poet Omar Khayyam.

The pianist went to trial in October 2012 after three people filed a criminal complaint against him. Blasphemy charges carry a potential 18-month prison sentence, but Say was later handed a suspended ten-month sentence in 2013 since he had no previous criminal record and was ordered to be monitored.

In late 2015 Turkey's Supreme Court of Appeals overturned the sentence saying his social media posts should be regarded as freedom of expression and thought. The recent court decision upheld the appellate court's decision, thus ending the pianist's lengthy legal ordeal.

The BBC has defended its decision to censor Radio 1's Official Chart Show. The song championed by opponents of Margaret Thatcher, Ding Dong! The Witch is Dead , will be banned from the customary full broadcast for a song rising in the singles charts.

Instead the BBC will give the song a passing mention in a news item supported by a mere 5s clip.

BBC Radio 1 controller and censor Ben Cooper claimed the move over the Wizard of Oz film track had been a difficult compromise. Whenever people spout political bollox about 'balancing rights with...' one knows that they are taking something away. Cooper is no exception, he spewed that he had to balance 'respect' for someone who had just died with issues around freedom of speech.

Sales of the song, from the 1939 musical starring Judy Garland, have soared since former Prime Minister Lady Thatcher's death on Monday, supported by Thatcher's opponents. The single is set to take the number three spot in Sunday's countdown, according to the Official Charts Company.

Capital FM, which has its own chart show, said the station was currently reviewing the situation .

The Conservative chairman of the Commons culture, media and sport select committee, John Whittingdale, claimed the BBC's decision was a sensible compromise.

However, the Conservative MP for Reading East, Rob Wilson, said the track should be played in its entirety. He said:

I think that Margaret Thatcher would be horrified having helped free millions of people in eastern Europe and been the symbol of freedom around the world that she could in any way have censorship in her own country.

The BBC has had a very difficult decision and it's come up with a very British old-fashioned fudge.

Journalist and DJ Paul Gambaccini said that the programme was not a programme of choice .

The Top 40 is the news of music, he went on. It's not something to editorialise about - it's just fact. You can't change reality.

Comment: And a little good sense from Mediawatch-UK

Dan comments in an article from mediasnoops2.wordpress.com

The BBC's earlier report on the fuss surrounding whether or not Radio 1 should play Ding Dong The Witch Is Dead on their chart rundown show featured a rather surprising quote from Our Viv...

Vivienne Pattison says:

I feel utterly sorry for all the chart shows. It's put them in a really invidious position.

But chart shows exist to play the most bought or downloaded songs, and to change that is to interfere with a democratic process.

John Beyer would have probably demanded the BBC ban it completely. Viv's comments are surprisingly measured.

That's not to say she is saying the BBC should play it but she has more time for democracy than Beyer ever had.

Comment: Thatcher Ding Dong! chart campaign is puerile

...but the best protest available. The possibility of Ding Dong! The Witch Is Dead charting high on Sunday reflects the messy, visceral side of human nature.

See article from guardian.co.uk

Comment: And as for the Daily Mail...Well...

See article from dailymail.co.uk

What a sorry, unedifying mess the BBC has got itself into over the hateful campaign by sick Left-wing zealots trying to bounce the song Ding Dong! The Witch Is Dead to the top of the music charts.

First the Corporation -- with its countless overpaid commissars of political correctness -- let it be known that, on Sunday's pop chart show, the song would be played in full.

Then, faced with a barrage of complaints from MPs on all sides on the disgrace of giving airtime to a song viciously celebrating the death of a great Prime Minister before she was even buried, a re-think was ordered.

Update: No 2

15th April 2013. See  article from  bbc.co.uk

Ding Dong! The Witch Is Dead duly entered the singles chart at number two, and the BBC duly banned the song from the show.

The Wizard of Oz song had sold 52,605 copies,  5,700 copies behind Duke Dumont and A*M*E with Need U (100%) which remained at the top for a second week.

Rival campaign song I'm In Love With Margaret Thatcher entered at 35. The 1979 song by punk band Notsensibles sold 8,768 copies after a late push from Lady Thatcher fans. The Notsensibles track was played in full on the programme.

But Ding Dong! The Witch Is Dead was replaced by a Newsbeat reporter explaining why the song was in the chart. Two short clips of the song were played as Sinead Garvan gave details of the online campaign and explained why opponents had been critical of Lady Thatcher. The news report - which ran for almost 40 seconds longer than the song itself - also included two views from members of the public on the controversy, with one saying it was quite funny , while the other said it was disgraceful .

Spanish music group Mei Ming has sparked unspecified outrage with an explicit sex scene in a music video T

The music video for the song Take Me As I Am shows two of the musicians engaged in sex. The video shows the musicians stripping off their clothes, painting their bodies with the group's name and then two of the trio open a condom and have sex.

Band member Juan Ramos, who directs the collaborative project featuring various musicians, told Publico the footage intended to highlight the difficulties faced by artists during a recession. He said the sex scene was a symbol and criticism of what an artist nowadays needs to do to become known. He revealed the artists only decided to perform actual sex on the condition the reason for why they were doing so was visible and explicit.

Mei Ming's website states the collaborative group was formed in 2008, and performs mainly at venues in Valencia.

US moralists of the Parents TV Council have issues a call to action against the lyrics of song being played on US radio stations:

Radio stations across the country are playing a song called U.O.E.N.O. that talks about drugging a woman and taking her home to rape her. Millions of teenage boys and young men are hearing---and absorbing---this message condoning date rape.

Take action below to call on the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to investigate every radio station that chooses to promote date rape by airing this song.

Put molly all in her champagne
She ain't even know it I took her home and I enjoyed that
She ain't even know it.

The song is released from a selection of Rocko's Gift of Gab 2 mixtape , featuring Future and Rick Ross. Ross is claiming the controversy to be a misinterpretation of the lyric.

One radio station, WUVS-103.7 in Muskegon, Michigan, has pulled all Rick Ross songs.

Update: Rick Ross Given a Kicking by Reebok

12th April 2013. See  article from  reuters.com

Sports shoe retailer Reebok has terminated its relationship with rapper Rick Ross, whose song lyrics have kicked off a little 'outrage'. Ross had been promoting Reebok shoes in print and TV adverts. The company said in a statement:

While we do not believe that Rick Ross condones sexual assault, we are very disappointed he has yet to display an understanding of the seriousness of this issue or an appropriate level of remorse.

At this time, it is in everyone's best interest for Reebok to end its partnership with Mr. Ross.