BBC: Thatcher protest 'distasteful' but we'll play short clip of Ding Dong song

[alp227]

Source: The Guardian

The BBC will not play Ding Dong! the Witch is Dead, the song being pushed up the charts by anti-Thatcher protesters, in full in Sunday's Radio 1 chart show following the intervention of new director general Tony Hall.

In a fudge unlikely to satisfy either the late Margaret Thatcher's supporters or those attempting to get the Wizard of Oz song to number one in protest at the former Conservative prime minister's policies, the BBC has decided instead to play a "short clip" of the track in a news item in Sunday's Radio 1 chart show explaining why it has suddenly leapt into the top 10.

The BBC has taken the unprecendented step of deciding to insert a news story into the show explaining to younger viewers why a track from a 30s film has made the charts.

Ding Dong! the Witch is Dead is currently expected to come in at number three in Sunday's official chart for the week.

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2013/apr/12/bbc-thatcher-protest-ding-dong-song

[frylock]

1. weak sauce..

hope they keep it up at the top for many weeks.

[Downwinder]

2. How are Munchkin costume rentals doing?

Anybody find her shoes?

[nomorenomore08]

3. You don't have to be "glad she's dead" to want to remind people how she fucked up Britain,

and the world. Hence why I support "Ding Dong!" reaching the top of the charts.

[JDPriestly]

4. Is the BBC trying to prove how corrupt is?

Why would it want to admit that it tampers with the numbers that make the chart worthwhile just to satisfy a political segment that likes Margaret Thatcher?

If the Thatcher folks don't like Ding Dong, why don't they compete and push a different song to the top?

This is corruption at its most obvious.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

5. The BBC forgets the term "Prime Monster" was used to describe her.

[muriel_volestrangler]

12. You have completely misread the story

What they have decided is that they will report wherever it ends up in the charts; rather than playing the whole thing at that point, which is what they'd normally do with one of the top-performing singles, they'll run a short news story, with a brief clip.

It may not be what they normally do, but there's nothing whatsoever about "tampering with the numbers", or "corruption".

[JDPriestly]

14. If they normally play the number 1 song, they should play "Ding Dong."

Why not?

Personally, I think Maggie Thatcher would have loved it. She loved a good verbal fist-fight and being in the limelight.

It's quite an appropriate tribute if you ask me. You certainly couldn't play Little Miss Muffet for her. It wouldn't have pleased her at all.

[muriel_volestrangler]

16. The point is they're not "fixing the numbers" or anything

It's a 3 hour show, counting down the Top 40. They play far more than just the number 1 - it's a long time since I listened, but all new entries and significantly climbing songs would be played, as well as the number 1. So they are going to report, without the 'corruption' you mention in #4, where it's come; and they would normally play the whole of any new entry like this. That they're not playing the whole thing (only 51 seconds anyway) may be 'cowardly', but it's not 'corrupt'.

[LeftishBrit]

20. Agreed!

[LeftishBrit]

18. Having failed to get the song withdrawn altogether the Thatcher folks are now indeed trying to push

their own song: 'I'm In Love with Margaret Thatcher' by the Notsensibles. The song was probably originally intended as tongue in cheek, but if that's what they want to do, fine; much more appropriate than seeking a ban.

[JI7]

6. on a few non political forums i notice the Brits are posting this and some other things

that are critical of her.

and it's usually some American who is so offended by it.

[steve2470]

7. k&r nt

[jerseyjack]

8. I still hope this evolves into an annual Dead Witch Day celebration.

If it does, I will attend next year's celebration.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

9. Many withes are decent people however 'Medusa the Gorgon' was horrid

She was pinup girl for privatization. Britain alsmost lost it's NHS under this monster.

[hrmjustin]

10. I understand that it makes them feel uncomfortable but if the song is going to the top

then that means there is a very large part of the UK that dislikes her. Play the song and move on.

[dipsydoodle]

11. Large part ? If you're using that as a measure

it works out to c. 40k / 60 million which is 0.001%

For comparison the last time this done here in the UK it was to get Rage Against The Machine' s 'Killing In The Name Of' as #1 Xmas 2009 , just to keep the X Factor winner from doing that , Rage's track sold 500,000 downloads in one week alone.

[Lars39]

13. Not born, but still living life made more difficult

because of her policies, and probably seeing adults spit every time her name was mentioned probably had an affect on kids.

[Sunlei]

15. guess most people were scared to speak out before she was still aware of anything or dead.

she had dementia? for 15 years. wonder if her "political soul mate" (quote by mrs reagen) drank from the same dementia source.

[daleo]

17. It's curious that right wingers seem somewhat more prone to dementia

This is just a small number of cases, but it makes you wonder. There are certain commonalities among conservatives, in terms of mental processes, that differ from non-conservatives. For example, conservatives tend to be more fear oriented. There could be brain structures that are vulnerable to dementia, and also correlate with political tendencies. I wonder if this has ever been studied?

[LeftishBrit]

19. I don't think so.

Sadly, anyone can get dementia, especially if they reach the sort of age that Thatcher and Reagan did. The Labour Prime Minister Harold Wilson eventually developed Alzheimers, for example.

Thatcher and Reagan didn't have the same disease: Reagan had Alzheimers, while Thatcher had multi-infarct dementia from having several small strokes.

[daleo]

21. I know anyone can get dementia, liberal or conservative

Still, that doesn't mean there may not be statistical tendencies for one group to be more at risk than another. It may also vary with the type of dementia.

Dementia often interferes with the brains executive control, resulting in atypical anti-social behavior in some individuals. Maybe that just seems more aligned with conservatism.