List of songs banned by the BBC at one time or another

"A-huggin' and A-chalkin'" – Johnny Mercer (1946)[20]
"All the Young Dudes" – Mott the Hoople (1972)[21]
"Angels in the Sky" – The Crew-Cuts (1955)[22]
"Answer Me" – Frankie Laine (1953)[1]
B[edit]
"Baby, Let Me Follow You Down" – Bob Dylan (1962)[2]
"The Battle of New Orleans" – Johnny Horton (1959)[22]
"Baubles, Bangles and Beads" – Kirby Stone Four (1958)[22]
"Be Prepared" – Tom Lehrer (1953)[22]
"Beep Beep" – The Playmates (1958)[22]
"Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered" – Ella Fitzgerald (1958)[20]
"Big Eight" - Judge Dread (1973)[23]
"Big Seven" - Judge Dread (1972)[23]
"Big Six" - Judge Dread (1972)[23]
"Big Ten" - Judge Dread (1975)[23]
"The Blue Danube" – Spike Jones and His City Slickers (1945)[20]
"Burn My Candle" – Shirley Bassey (1956)[20]
C[edit]
"(Celebrate) The Day After You" – The Blow Monkeys and Curtis Mayfield (1987)[24]
"Charlie Brown" – The Coasters (1959)[13]
"The Christening" – Arthur Askey (1943)[20]
"Come Again" – Au Pairs (1981)[25]
"Come Together" – The Beatles (1970)[26]
"The Cover of Rolling Stone" – Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show (1973)[27]
"Cradle Song (Brahms' Lullaby)" – Frank Sinatra (1944)[20]
"Croce di Oro (Cross of Gold)" – Joan Regan (1955)[20]
"Crying in the Chapel" – Lee Lawrence (1953)[20]
"Cuddle Me" – Ted Heath featuring Dennis Lotis (1954)[20]
D[edit]
"Danny Boy" – Conway Twitty (1959)[22]
"A Day in the Life" – The Beatles (1967)[15]
"The Deck of Cards" – T. Texas Tyler (1948)[20]
"Deep in the Heart of Texas" – Bing Crosby and Woody Herman (1942)[20]
"The Devil Is a Woman" – Herb Jeffries (1957)[20]
"Diggin' My Potatoes" – Lonnie Donegan (1954)[12]
"Dinner with Drac" – John Zacherle (1958)[22]
"Don't Let's Be Beastly to the Germans" – Noël Coward (1943)[12]
"Disarm" - Smashing Pumpkins[28]
E[edit]
"Ebeneezer Goode" – The Shamen (1992)[29]
"Ebony Eyes" – The Everly Brothers (1961)[30]
"Eve of Destruction" – Barry McGuire (1965)[1]
F[edit]
"The Foggy, Foggy, Dew" – Peter Pears (1950)[20]
"French Kiss" – Lil Louis (1989)[24]
G[edit]
"The Garden of Eden" – Frankie Vaughan (1957)[20]
"Gimme a Pigfoot (And a Bottle of Beer)" – Bessie Smith (1933)[22]
"Give Ireland Back to the Irish" – Wings (1972)[31]
"Glad to Be Gay" – Tom Robinson Band (1978)[32]
"Gloomy Sunday" – Billie Holiday (1941)[1]
"God Bless the Child" – Billie Holiday (1942)[20]
"God Save the Queen" – Sex Pistols (1977)[10]
"Green Jeans" – The Flee-Rekkers (1960)[2]
"Greensleeves" – The Beverley Sisters (1956)[20]
"Guess Things Happen That Way" – Johnny Cash (1958)[22]
H[edit]
"Hank Janson Blues" – Anne Shelton (1953)[20]
"Have a Whiff on Me" – Mungo Jerry (1971)[33]
"Hard Headed Woman" – Elvis Presley (1958)[22]
"He" – Al Hibbler (1955)[22]
"The Heel" – Eartha Kitt (1955)[20]
"Hi, Hi, Hi" – Wings (1972)[31]
"High Class Baby" – Cliff Richard and the Drifters (1958)[22]
"Hold My Hand" – Don Cornell (1954)[34]
"Honey Hush" – The Rock and Roll Trio (1956)[22]
"Honey Love" – Dennis Lotis (1954)[20]
"Honeycomb" – Jimmie Rodgers (1957)[20]
"(How Little It Matters) How Little We Know" – Frank Sinatra (1956)[20]
"The House of the Rising Sun" – Josh White (1950)[20]
I[edit]
"I Am the Walrus" – The Beatles (1967)[3]
"I Can't Control Myself" – The Troggs (1966)[35]
"I Hear the Angels Singing" – Frankie Laine (1954)[20]
"I Leaned on a Man" – Connie Francis (1957)[22]
"I Love A Man In Uniform" - Gang of Four (1982)[36]
"I Want to Be Evil" – Eartha Kitt (1953)[22]
"I Want You to Be My Baby" – Annie Ross (1956)[5]
"I Want Your Sex" – George Michael (1987)[24]
"I Went to Your Wedding" – Spike Jones and His City Slickers (1953)[20]
"I'll Be Home for Christmas" – Bing Crosby (1943)[2]
"I'm Always Chasing Rainbows" – Ken Dodd (1963)[1]
"I'm Always Chasing Rainbows" – Perry Como (1949)[1]
"I'm Nobody's Baby" – Frankie Howerd (1948)[20]
"In the Beginning" – Frankie Laine (1955)[22]
"In the Hall of the Mountain King" – Nero and the Gladiators (1961)[37]
"Invisible Sun" – The Police (1981)[38]
"It Is No Secret" – Jo Stafford (1954)[20]
"It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels" – Kitty Wells (1962)[20]
"It Would Be So Nice" – Pink Floyd (1968)[39]
"I've Come of Age" – Billy Storm (1959)[22]
J[edit]
"Jack The Ripper" - Screaming Lord Sutch (1963)[36]
"Jackie" – Scott Walker (1967)[40]
"Je t'aime... moi non plus" – Jane Birkin and Serge Gainsbourg (1969)[41]
"John and Marsha" – Stan Freberg (1950)[20]
"Johnny Remember Me" – John Leyton (1961)[42]
"Jungle Fever" - The Chakachas (1971)[43]
K[edit]
"Keep Me in Mind" – Lita Roza and Al Timothy (1955)[20]
"Killing an Arab" – The Cure (1979) (banned during Gulf War)[3]
"Kodachrome" – Paul Simon (1973)[44]
L[edit]
"La Petite Tonkenoise" – Josephine Baker (1930)[20]
"Lazy Mary" – Lou Monte (1958)[22]
"Leader of the Pack" – The Shangri-Las (1964)[45]
"Let the People Go" – McGuinness Flint (1972)[38]
"Let's Spend the Night Together" – The Rolling Stones (1967)[3]
"Light a Candle in the Chapel" – Frank Sinatra (1942)[20]
"Lili Marleen" – Lale Andersen (1939)[22]
"Little Star" – The Elegants (1958)[22]
"Lola" – The Kinks (1970)[3]
"Love for Sale" – Cole Porter (1930)[34]
"Love for Sale" – Ella Fitzgerald (1956)[20]
"Love Is" – Alma Cogan (1958)[22]
"Love Is Strange" – Mickey & Sylvia (1956)[20]
"Love to Love You Baby" – Donna Summer (1975)[17]
"Lovin' Machine" – Wynonie Harris (1951)[22]
"Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" – The Beatles (1967)[12]
M[edit]
"Mack the Knife" – Bobby Darin (1959)[13]
"Made You" – Adam Faith (1960)[46]
"Maggie May" – The Vipers Skiffle Group (1957)[20]
"The Man with the Golden Arm" – Eddie Calvert (1956)[5]
"Maybellene" – Chuck Berry (1955)[47]
"Mighty Mighty Man" – Bobby Darin (1958)[22]
"Minnie the Moocher" – Cab Calloway (1931)[20]
"Miss You" – Bing Crosby (1942)[22]
"The Mocking Bird" – The Four Lads (1958)[22]
"Monster Mash" – Bobby "Boris" Pickett and the Crypt-Kickers (1962)[48]
"Moonlight Love" – Perry Como (1956)[22]
"My Christmas Prayer" – Billy Fury (1959)[1]
"My Friend" – Eddie Fisher (1954)[20]
"My Friend Jack" – The Smoke (1967)[1]
"My Generation" - The Who (1965)[49]
"My Little Ukulele" – Joe Brown and The Bruvvers (1963)[50]
N[edit]
"Night of the Vampire" – The Moontrekkers (1961)[12]
"Ninety-Nine Years (Dead or Alive)" – Guy Mitchell (1956)[22]
"Nobody Loves Like an Irishman" – Lonnie Donegan (1958)[22]
O[edit]
"The Old Dope Peddler" – Tom Lehrer (1953)[20]
"Old Man Atom" – The Sons of the Pioneers (1950)[22]
"One Has My Name (The Other Has My Heart)" – Jimmy Wakely (1948)[22]
P[edit]
"Paper Doll" – The Mills Brothers (1943)[1]
"Peaches" – The Stranglers (1977)[51]
"Peaceful Street" – Ernest Butcher (1936)[22]
"Please No Squeeza da Banana" – Louis Prima (1945)[22]
R[edit]
"Radio Times" – The BBC Dance Orchestra (1935)[20]
"The Reefer Song (If You're a Viper)" – Fats Waller (1943)[22]
"Relax" – Frankie Goes to Hollywood (1984)[10]
"Rock You Sinners" – Art Baxter and His Rock 'n' Roll Sinners (1958)[20]
"A Rose and a Baby Ruth" – George Hamilton IV (1956)[20]
"Rum and Coca-Cola" – The Andrews Sisters (1945)[20]
"A Russian Love Song" – The Goons (1957)[22]
S[edit]
"The Sabre Dance" – Woody Herman (1948)[20]
"Sad Affair" – Marxman (1993)[38]
"Saturday Nite at the Duckpond" – The Cougars (1963)[2]
"Say a Prayer for the Boys Over There" – Deanna Durbin (1943)[20]
"Send Me to the 'Lectric Chair" – George Melly (1953)[20]
"Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll" - Ian Dury (1977)[52][53]
"The Shag (Is Totally Cool)" – Billy Graves (1958)[22]
"Shall We Take a Trip" – Northside (1990)[54]
"She Had to Go and Lose It at the Astor" – Johnny Messner (1939)[20]
"She Was Only a Postmaster's Daughter" – Durium Dance Band (1933)[22]
"The Silver Madonna" – Kirk Stevens (1957)[20]
"Sincerely" – Liberace (1955)[20]
"Six Months in a Leaky Boat" – Split Enz (1982) (banned during Falklands War)[55]
"Sixty Minute Man" – The Dominoes (1951)[20]
"The Sky" – Petula Clark (1957)[20]
"Song of India" – Tommy Dorsey (1938)[20]
"So What?" – Anti-Nowhere League (1981)[12]
"Soldier" – Harvey Andrews (1972)[39]
"Somebody Up There Likes Me" – Perry Como (1956)[22]
"A Souvenir of London" – Procol Harum (1973)[56]
"Spasticus Autisticus" – Ian Dury and the Blockheads (1981)[57]
"Statue of Liberty" – XTC (1978)[58]
"St. Therese of the Roses" – Malcolm Vaughan (1956)[59]
"The Story of a Starry Night" – Glenn Miller (1943)[20]
"The Story of Three Loves" – Ray Martin (1954)[20]
"Stranger in Paradise" – The Four Aces (1953)[1]
"Such a Night" – Johnnie Ray (1954)[1]
"Summer Smash" – Denim (1997)[1]
T[edit]
"Teen Angel" – Mark Dinning (1959)[45]
"Teenage Prayer" – Gale Storm (1955)[5]
"Tell Laura I Love Her" – Ray Peterson (1960)[45]
"Tell Laura I Love Her" – Ricky Valance (1960)[60]
"Terry" – Twinkle (1964)[45]
"The Test of Time" – Robert Earl (1959)[22]
"A Theme from the Threepenny Orchestra (Mack the Knife)" – Louis Armstrong (1956)[20]
"Three Stars" – Ruby Wright (1959)[22]
"'Til the Following Night" – Screaming Lord Sutch (1961)[61]
"Till the End of Time" – Perry Como (1945)[20]
"Ting Tong Tang" – Ken Platt (1958)[22]
"To Keep My Love Alive" – Ella Fitzgerald (1956)[22]
"Toll the Bell Easy" – Les Hobeaux (1957)[20]
"The Tommy Rot Story" – Morris & Mitch (1957)[22]
"Too Drunk to ****" – Dead Kennedys (1981)[62]
"Tribute to Buddy Holly" – Mike Berry and The Outlaws (1961)[63]
U[edit]
"The Unbeliever" – Guy Mitchell (1957)[20]
"Urban Guerrilla" – Hawkwind (1973)[64]
V[edit]
"The Voice in My Heart" – Eydie Gormé (1958)[22]
W[edit]
"Walk Hand in Hand" – Tony Martin (1956)[20]
"We Call It Acieeed" – D-Mob (1988)[65]
"We Can't Let You Broadcast That" – Norman Long (1932)[1]
"(We Don't Need This) Fascist Groove Thang" – Heaven 17 (1981)[66]
"We Have to Be So Careful" – The Beverley Sisters (1953)[20]
"We Will All Go Together When We Go" – Tom Lehrer (1959)[22]
"Wet Dream" – Max Romeo (1969)[67]
"When I'm Cleaning Windows" – George Formby (1936)[68]
"Whoa Buck" – Lonnie Donegan (1959)[22]
"With My Little Stick of Blackpool Rock" – George Formby (1937)[20]
"With My Little Ukulele in My Hand" – George Formby (1933)[20]
"Woman Love" – Gene Vincent (1956)[20]
"A Worried Man" – The Kingston Trio (1959)[22]
Y[edit]
"You'll Get Yours" – Frank Sinatra (1956)[22]