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Chart shows won’t play Liar Liar when it charts

By | Published on Thursday 1 June 2017

Captain Ska

So, is Theresa May the modern day Margaret Thatcher? That’s a question people ask, isn’t it? No, she’s not. Though she is causing stress for the chart show makers of Great Britain. Just like Thatcher did. Albeit Thatcher did it after her death.

As you may remember, when Margaret Thatcher died in 2013, some cheeky lefties celebrated the passing of the often controversial ex-British prime minister by encouraging people to download ‘Ding-Dong! The Witch Is Dead’ off of ‘The Wizard Of Oz’. Enough people were persuaded to join in with that for the record to get to number two in the charts. Which meant chart show producers were left wondering whether they should play the record so close to Thatcher’s passing.

It’s not the possible bad taste of playing the May-linked track that is causing problems for radio bosses now, but the political nature of the record. We are talking about ‘Liar Liar’, the Captain Ska song re-released last week ahead of this month’s General Election complete with segments from Theresa May’s speeches and interviews.

The track could be number one on Friday, but the BBC won’t be playing it on its chart show. Though that’s because they are constrained by OfCom rules, says the Beeb. “We do not ban songs or artists, however our editorial guidelines require us to remain impartial and the UK is currently in an election period”, a spokesperson has said. “So we will not be playing the song”.

Ah well, a song about Theresa May that doesn’t show up on the BBC despite public demand – kind of apt really.



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