Dire Straits’ Money for Nothing banned on Canadian radio | Music | guardian.co.uk

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Canada‘s radio watchdog is defending a controversial decision to ban the uncut version of Dire Strait‘s 1985 hit Money for Nothing. Despite many complaints – including criticism from a member of the band – officials are not backing down, insisting the song’s offensive lyrics make it unsuitable for broadcast.Although it has become a rock’n'roll anthem, Money for Nothing contains three instances of the anti-gay slur “faggot”. Last week, the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council CBSC reviewed the song after receiving a complaint from a listener in Newfoundland. Its lyrics were found to be “unacceptable”, contravening the human rights clauses of the Canadian Association of Broadcasters‘ code of ethics. It has been banned from radio stations nationwide. Dire Straits’ keyboardist, Guy Fletcher, was quick to criticise the ruling. “I reckon Canada could ban about 75% of ALL records ever made,” he wrote on his website. “WHAT a waste of paper.” Although “a part of me understands the decision”, he wrote, “you can and should be allowed to write a song or poem and use language that is or has been in use by real people in everyday life … MFN does not ‘celebrate’ a slur. In it, Mark [Knopfler] uses real everyday US street language to describe how a numbskull worker in a hardware department … feels about a video being shown. The fact that the [CBSC] can make a ruling such as this, completely missing the context in which it’s used says rather a lot about the society in which we live.”

via Dire Straits’ Money for Nothing banned on Canadian radio | Music | guardian.co.uk.

Strange Random Money For Nothing Quote (if you’re in Canada, please don’t read this. Thank You):

Now look at them yo-yo’s, that’s the way you do it

You play the guitar on the MTV

That ain’t workin’,  that’s the way you do it

Money for nothin’ and your chicks for free

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• Canadian Radio Stations Proudly Ignore ‘Money For Nothing’ Ban By Putting ‘Little Faggot’ Lyrics On Repeat (queerty.com)
• Dire Straits responds to Canadian song ban (arts.nationalpost.com)
• Complaint about anti-gay slur prompted ban on Dire Straits song (theglobeandmail.com)