Don't Play That Song

It’s the summer of 1970, and The Kinks are about to shake up the airwaves with a song about a chance encounter in a club, a little ambiguity, and a whole lot of swagger. But it wasn’t the gender-bending lyrics that got “Lola” yanked from the BBC’s playlists. It was a soft drink.

This week, we’re diving into the story behind “Lola”, how a love song with a wink of subversion almost got sunk by a brand name. We’ll talk about Ray Davies’ transatlantic sprint to rewrite a single lyric, the ripple effect of the ban, and why “Lola” still resonates more than 50 years later.

Grab a drink, a cherry cola perhaps, and let’s get into it.

When country legend Loretta Lynn released “The Pill” in 1975, she wasn’t just singing about birth control, she was kicking down the doors of country radio with a truth most stations didn’t want to hear. A woman taking charge of her own body? That was too much for the Nashville old guard. Banned by dozens of stations across the country, the song still became a cultural lightning rod and a chart hit.

In this episode, we dig into the story behind “The Pill,” from Loretta Lynn’s own experience raising six kids by age 34 to the explosive reaction the song sparked in conservative circles. It’s a three-minute anthem that challenged the status quo, reshaped country music, and proved you didn’t need permission to tell your truth.

Before it became a classic rock staple...before it showed up in commercials and movie soundtracks…“My Generation” by The Who was a full-blown act of rebellion.

In this episode of Don’t Play That Song, we dive into the story behind one of the most explosive singles of the 1960s, and why some radio stations refused to play it. With its defiant attitude, feedback-drenched sound, and that now-iconic stutter, the song didn’t just raise eyebrows. It raised questions.

What happens when a garage rock anthem is accused of being obscene without anyone actually knowing the lyrics? In the premiere episode of Don’t Play That Song, we dig into the wild true story of “Louie Louie” by The Kingsmen. From its sloppy brilliance and slurred vocals to the full-blown FBI investigation, this episode unpacks how a three-chord party song from 1963 became one of the most banned, misunderstood, and investigated songs in American radio history.