Rolling Stones agreed to censorship

Veteran rockers the Rolling Stones agreed to be censored at Sunday's U.S. Super Bowl halftime show, a National Football League spokesman said on Monday.

The Super Bowl football game is America's top rated broadcast event but it has been the subject of controversy ever since 2004 when there was an outcry about indecency after Janet Jackson bared her breast during the half-time show in what was famously described as a "wardrobe malfunction." The Rolling Stones delivered their usual slick rock 'n' roll performance with Mick Jagger stalking the stage, grinding his hips and pouting like a man half his age.

But during "Start Me Up," the line "you make a dead man come" was cut short and a barnyard reference to "cocks" in the new song "Rough Justice" also disappeared.

"The Rolling Stones were aware of our plan which was to simply lower the volume on his microphone at those two appropriate moments," NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy told Reuters. "We had agreed to that plan earlier in the week. The Stones were aware of it and they were fine with it."

ABC, which broadcast the Super Bowl, said it had a 5-second delay in place but it was not used to censor anything during the broadcast. "If there were any alterations of lyrics it was done by the NFL," said Mark Mandel of ABC Sports.

The New York Times said last week the Stones had agreed to tone down their language on other occasions in the past.

Back in 1967 the band appeared on "The Ed Sullivan Show" on the same day as the first Super Bowl, which was then called the world championship game. They wanted to sing "Let's Spend the Night Together," but Sullivan insisted they change the lyrics to "Let's Spend Some Time Together."

"Jagger consented, reluctantly, but rolled his eyes while he sang," the newspaper said.

McCarthy said the half-time show retained 98 percent of the overall audience who tuned in to watch the game, in which the Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the Seattle Seahawks 21-10.

With the Super Bowl played in Detroit this year, the choice of the Stones for the half-time show upset some locals who were pushing for Motown music acts and other home-grown talent.

But the uproar was quelled after organisers announced that Motown legend Stevie Wonder would headline the pregame show, and "Queen of Soul" Aretha Franklin was tapped to perform the National Anthem.

McCarthy said the only moment producers were caught unawares was when Stevie Wonder said a few extra words than what was expected. He made a plea for peace at the end of his set, saying: "Let us come together before we're annihilated."

"Surprised, yes. Concerned? No," McCarthy said, commenting on the remark.

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/06022006/32...ensorship.html

Great. Now if we can just get them to censor all their other words, followed by their music, we'll be on the pig's back.

The Rolling Stones considered the decision to censor two of their songs during the U.S. Super Bowl halftime show on Sunday "ridiculous" and unnecessary, a representative for the band said on Tuesday.

Stones spokeswoman Fran Curtis took issue with a comment by a National Football League spokesman on Monday that the band was not only aware of the plan to lower the volume on Mick Jagger's microphone for two lines but also "fine with it."

Producers of the top rated U.S. television event of the year have been cautious about causing offence ever since Janet Jackson bared her breast during her act in 2004 in a now famous "wardrobe malfunction."

During the Rolling Stones' act on Sunday, in the song "Start Me Up," the line "you make a dead man come" was cut short and a barnyard reference to "cocks" in the new song "Rough Justice" also disappeared.

"The Rolling Stones were aware of our plan which was to simply lower the volume on his microphone at those two appropriate moments," NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy told Reuters on Monday. "We had agreed to that plan earlier in the week. The Stones were aware of it and they were fine with it."

But the Stone's representative said the members of the band were far from happy with the decision to cut the lines on the broadcast which was carried by ABC.

"The Rolling Stones thought the censorship of their songs by the NFL/ABC was absolutely ridiculous and completely unnecessary," Curtis said, adding that they were aware of the plan before the show.

Asked whether the Stones had felt strongly enough to take any action, such as pulling out of the show, she said: "The band did the songs they were supposed to do and they sang all the words."

"There were many many conversations back and forth and the band clearly was not happy about it."

ABC Sports has said any alteration of the lyrics was done by the NFL and its production company.

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/07022006/32...idiculous.html

america is the new Iran!