Sing it, baby: 'Ding Dong! The Witch Is Dead'
Thatcher opponents push 'The Witch' up the charts
By Janet Stobart, WSJ
12:11 PM PDT, April 12, 2013
This post has been corrected.
LONDON -- The British Broadcasting Corp. faced a dilemma Friday: Would it play "Ding Dong! The Witch Is Dead" when everyone knows the song has become a biting reference to the late Margaret Thatcher?
The network's solution: turn the song into a sound bite.
Amid divisive reactions to the death of the former prime minister on Monday, anti-Thatcher protesters have campaigned to bring the song from the 1939 film "The Wizard of Oz" to the top of the charts in time for a BBC program Sunday night that counts down the current top hits. Downloads and sales of the song had put it among the top three songs on the charts by Friday evening.
After a furious debate -- with Thatcher supporters calling on the BBC to ban the song and anti-Thatcherites demanding that the broadcaster give vent to lingering anger over her social and economic policies -- the BBC decided it would air a five-second clip from the tune.
"The BBC finds this campaign distasteful but does not believe the record should be banned," the network said in a statement. "On Sunday, the Radio 1 Chart Show will contain a news item explaining why the song is in the charts, during which a short clip will be played as it has been in some of our news programs."
(More here.)
By Janet Stobart, WSJ
12:11 PM PDT, April 12, 2013
This post has been corrected.
LONDON -- The British Broadcasting Corp. faced a dilemma Friday: Would it play "Ding Dong! The Witch Is Dead" when everyone knows the song has become a biting reference to the late Margaret Thatcher?
The network's solution: turn the song into a sound bite.
Amid divisive reactions to the death of the former prime minister on Monday, anti-Thatcher protesters have campaigned to bring the song from the 1939 film "The Wizard of Oz" to the top of the charts in time for a BBC program Sunday night that counts down the current top hits. Downloads and sales of the song had put it among the top three songs on the charts by Friday evening.
After a furious debate -- with Thatcher supporters calling on the BBC to ban the song and anti-Thatcherites demanding that the broadcaster give vent to lingering anger over her social and economic policies -- the BBC decided it would air a five-second clip from the tune.
"The BBC finds this campaign distasteful but does not believe the record should be banned," the network said in a statement. "On Sunday, the Radio 1 Chart Show will contain a news item explaining why the song is in the charts, during which a short clip will be played as it has been in some of our news programs."
(More here.)
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1 Comments:
I'd suggest those on the left side of the aisle prove their tolerance of diversity by playing whatever song they'd like as loud as they want for as long as they'd like. Otherwise, the crowd that professes to value diversity will cry and whine until they get their way. Ms. Thatcher saved England and along with Mr. Reagan and Pope John Paul II, helped to bury communism from all places but universities and left of the aisle bleeding hearts.
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