In 1952, the song “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus” shot to No. 1 on the Billboard charts. The adorable jingly-jolly holiday carol was recorded with lyrics sung by 13-year-old Jimmy Boyd. It sold two million copies during that holiday season. But not everyone was impressed.
The Catholic Church condemned the song for linking intimacy with Christmas. Several radio stations banned it. The line, “She didn’t see me creep/Down the stairs to have a peep,” was also considered indecent. (Wait. That’s not daddy dressed as Santa Claus?!)
"Wake Up Little Susie" by The Everly Brothers
“Wake Up Little Susie” was a No. 1 chart-topper in 1957, but that didn’t stop a Boston radio station from banning it. The censors claimed the song implies the teenage couple had an intimate relationship. The content, in general, staying out late with a boyfriend, was too sensitive for the Fifties. It’s almost impossible to fathom that reaction in our era.
The song was a huge hit. While campaigning for the presidency, George W. Bush told Oprah that Buddy Holly’s version of “Wake Up Little Susie” was his favorite song. The songwriters who wrote most of The Everly Brothers songs were Felice and Boudleaux Bryant, a husband and wife team who also wrote ditties for Elvis, Bob Dylan, and Buddy Holly.
"Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow" by The Shirelles
This song, written by Gerry Goffin and Carole King, was originally recorded by The Shirelles, an all-girl foursome. Rumor had it that it is about a girl ready to be intimate with a boy for the first time due to the lyrics, “So tell me now, and I won’t ask again, will you still love me tomorrow?” (How, exactly, is beyond our imagination). But several U.S. radio stations spotted the line and banned the song.
In 1960, the mere hint of suggestion was enough to trigger the alarms. The bans were not enough, however, to stop the song from the first black all-girl band from topping the U.S. charts and hitting No. 4 in the U.K.
"Louie Louie" by The Kingsmen
This song was truly banned for no reason. It all started with a teenage girl’s father who penned a concerned letter to Attorney General Robert Kennedy, blaming the “extreme state of moral degradation” of the nation on the “Louie Louie” ditty. An F.B.I. investigation duly commenced. Of concern, according to the F.B.I. report, were lyrics that seemed to say, “At night at ten / I lay her again / F*** you girl, oh / All the way.”
To wit, the only obscenity of the song, it turned out, occurred at about 50 seconds when the drummer drops a drumstick and yells, “F***.” Ironically, the F.B.I. didn’t catch it. Song fact: Richard Berry wrote and recorded the calypso-inspired song with his band in 1957. The Kingsmen covered it based on a cover version by the Wailers that they heard playing on local jukeboxes.
"If U Seek Amy" by Britney Spears
The way Britney Spears sings it, “If U Seek Amy” seeks an obscenity ban by wordplay. With an emphasis on “IF U See K,” a pun makes a double entendre of the refrain. Take a listen to judge for yourselves.
In case it appears inadvertent, a quick look at her music video clarifies her intentions. A wild party is winding down to a conservative domestic scene, like a risqué version of “Mrs. Robinson.”