- Playing
- Harry Nilsson and the Case for Profanity
- From
- Jackson Braider
HOST INTRO:
On June 11, Congress voted 379 to 35 for the Broadcast Decency Enforcement Act. Now signed into law, the bill will increase ten-fold the fines that can be levied against broadcasters who air quote patently offensive content unquote between the hours of 6am and 10pm.
Movement for the bill had been stimulated by Janet Jackson's notorious wardrobe problem during the halftime show of the 2004 Super Bowl. To be sure, she wasn't alone: over the years, Howard Stern has contributed mightily to the national discussion about indecency, obscenity, and profanity.
But as independent producer Jackson Braider tells us, America has been struggling with indecency for decades ? struggling to define what is "patently offensive," struggling with how to match the punishment to the crime. Witness the case of two record store owners in 1972, when pop legend Harry Nilsson recorded the song ?You're Breaking My Heart? for his LP, Son of Schmilsson.
More from Jackson Braider
The 2009 Boston Handbell Festival
(00:05:40)
From: Jackson Braider
On May 19, 100 handbell ringers will descend on Old South Church in Boston. Independent producer Jackson Braider offers the skinny on what listeners might expect to hear.
Stravinsky @ 1-2-5: Three Glances at the Composer's Mirror
(01:00:25)
From: Jackson Braider
Three essays about different aspects of Stravinsky's life and work
#6: Igor Stravinsky: The End of the End
(00:17:29)
From: Jackson Braider
Igor Stravinsky's Requiem Canticles, from the beginning to the end
#5: Igor Stravinsky and the Art of the Miniature
(00:16:24)
From: Jackson Braider
Beloved for his full-length ballets, Stravinsky also created a surprising array of very short pieces for orchestra
#4: Toute Suite: Stravinsky, from the Ballet Theater to the Concert Hall
(00:13:53)
From: Jackson Braider
How -- and why -- Stravinsky revised theatrical pieces for the concert hall
#3: Hang Time with Igor at Post 43
(00:16:18)
From: Jackson Braider
The unusual setting where Igor Stravinsky conducted many of his recordings -- Hollywood Post 43 of the American Legion
#2: The Rite of Spring, or when Lenny met Igor
(00:13:16)
From: Jackson Braider
Few musical works have inspired so many stories as Stravinsky's 1913 hit, The Rite of Spring. These are just three or four of them.
#1: The Birth, Reversion, and Rebirth of "The Soldier's Tale"
(00:29:00)
From: Jackson Braider
The 46-year history behind a new release of Stravinsky's "The Soldier's Tale"
You Are Here: 1000 years of mapmaking history in one brief segment
(00:08:50)
From: Jackson Braider
A short introduction to the wonderful world of maps
Tales of an Irish M.D.
(00:59:03)
From: Jackson Braider
A collection of diverse tales told in 1962 by a Dublin heart doctor.
Related Pieces
Piece Description
HOST INTRO: On June 11, Congress voted 379 to 35 for the Broadcast Decency Enforcement Act. Now signed into law, the bill will increase ten-fold the fines that can be levied against broadcasters who air quote patently offensive content unquote between the hours of 6am and 10pm. Movement for the bill had been stimulated by Janet Jackson's notorious wardrobe problem during the halftime show of the 2004 Super Bowl. To be sure, she wasn't alone: over the years, Howard Stern has contributed mightily to the national discussion about indecency, obscenity, and profanity. But as independent producer Jackson Braider tells us, America has been struggling with indecency for decades ? struggling to define what is "patently offensive," struggling with how to match the punishment to the crime. Witness the case of two record store owners in 1972, when pop legend Harry Nilsson recorded the song ?You're Breaking My Heart? for his LP, Son of Schmilsson.
Broadcast History
Never aired
Transcript
Harry Nilsson and the Case for Indecency, Obscenity, and Profanity
Intro: On June 11, Congress voted 379 to 35 for something called the Broadcast Decency Enforcement Act. Once signed into law, the bill will increase ten-fold the fines that can be levied against broadcasters who air quote patently offensive content unquote between the hours of 6am and 10pm.
Movement for the bill had been, as it were, stimulated by Janet Jackson's notorious wardrobe malfunction during the halftime show of the 2004 Super Bowl. But she wasn't alone: Howard Stern had for a long time contributed to the discussion about indecency, obscenity, and profanity.
But as independent producer Jackson Braider tells us, the struggle over what's indecent in America has been going on for decades ? well, at least as far back as 1972, when pop legend Harry Nilsson recorded the song ?You're Breaking My Heart? fo...
Read the full transcript
Timing and Cues
after c3:45, background music can be used for "outro" copy provided with the script.
Musical Works
"You're Breaking My Heart" Harry Nilsson, Son of Schmilsson, RCA Legacy, 1972, 3:08
Additional Files
- (schmilsson.tif)
- script (obscenity.doc)
Related Website
Of 2 purchasers of this piece...
- 2 also bought:
My Lobotomy (00:28:33) - 2 also bought:
HV- Crossing Borders (00:54:00) - 1 also bought:
The Vietnam Tapes of Michael A. Baronowski (00:19:17) - 1 also bought:
Anatomy of a Wrongful Conviction (00:24:55) - 1 also bought:
How to Sing the Star-Spangled Banner (00:01:32)
Josh Gleason
Posted on June 15, 2006 at 08:31 AM | Permalink
Review of Harry Nilsson and the Case for Profanity
A sort of interesting idea for a piece about censorship (at least an instance that I wasn't familiar with) except that I feel like I didn't learn much about the actual case and the grounds on which it was decided, or any reprecussions that it might have had. And if the piece is fundamentally about a couple guys going to jail for playing a Nilsson song why do we only hear some archival tape of Nilsson but no tape from the guys who actually went to jail from playing the record? It seems to me like telling the story from their perspective would have made it much stronger.