(Thanks goes to Holly Johnson for the link) PRS for Music has named its most controversial songs of all time and coming in at #1 is The Prodigy's "Smack My Bitch Up," closely followed by the Sex Pistol's "God Save the Queen" at #2 and Frankie Goes To Hollywood's "Relax" at #3.
"Smack My Bitch Up," which was released in 1997, went to #8 in the UK and was immediately banned by the BBC. The song was the third single released from The Fat of the Land which debuted at #1 on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart and also went to #1 in the UK, Sweden, Australia, and Canada.
The vocals for "Smack My Bitch Up" are sampled from the Ultramagnetic MCs song "Give the Drummer Some," the original lyrics, "Switch up change my pitch up/Smack my bitch up like a pimp," sung by Keith Thornton, aka Kool Keith.
"God Save the Queen" was released during Queen Elizabeth II's Silver Jubilee in 1977 and was also banned by the BBC. The song went to #2 in the UK charts and it has long been suspected that the charts were fixed to prevent it from taking the top spot. In 2001 the BBC wrote that "God Save the Queen" had "reached number one in the UK in 1977 despite being banned..."
"Relax" was released as a single in 1983 and when Frankie Goes to Hollywood performed the song on Top of the Pops BBC Radio banned it for its sexually explicit lyrics. The ban then sent "Relax" to #1 on Jan. 24, 1984. "Relax" spent five weeks at #1 and remained on the charts for a record consecutive forty-two weeks. BBC Radio lifted its ban later in the year.
PRS for Music's Top 10 Most Controversial Songs
Smack My Bitch Up - The Prodigy
God Save The Queen - The Sex Pistols
Relax - Frankie Goes To Hollywood
Kim - Eminem
Killing In The Name - Rage Against The Machine
Ebeneezer Goode - The Shamen
Suicide Solution - Ozzy Osbourne
Get Your Gunn - Marilyn Manson
Angel of Death - Slayer
Dear God - XTC
Photo: Virgin Media
Material: Waist High
