Music: Radio Censors

Kiss me again and cling to me,
Nothing else matters tonight. . . .
Hold me close
Tonight is mine.
And although tomorrow
Means goodbye and sorrow
Love me now, my love,
Tonight is mine.
—”Tonight is Mine”

Here we are, under a night of blessing . . .
Here we are, sharing each thrill
So tender, silently you surrender,
But is it love?
—”Say It”

Oh! dames are temporary flames to you
Dames, you don’t recall their names, do you?
But their caresses and home addresses
Linger in your memory.
—”Dames”

Day in, night out, from Manhattan, N. Y. to Manhattan Beach, Calif., these songs and many another like them blare forth from 18,000,000 U. S. radio sets. Last week a handful of potent radiomen began examining them with two questions in mind: 1) Since most radio singers preserve the illusion of being unmarried, did these lyrics contain too strong a note of physical abandon? 2) If so, what was to prevent some outside organization from attempting to clamp a boycott on radio as the Legion of Decency has tried to do on cinema?

To forestall such a possibility of outside interference, five radio bandmasters met this week in Paul Whiteman’s Manhattan apartment, formed a Committee of Five for the Betterment of Radio. Members: Paul Whiteman (Kraft’s Cheese), Rudy Vallée (Fleischmann’s Yeast), GuyLombardo (St. Joseph’s Aspirin), Abe Lyman (Phillips’ Milk of Magnesia), Richard Himber (Studebaker). Similar committees, they announced, would be formed in Chicago and San Francisco and other key cities in the U.S.

Although certain instruments are capable of producing vulgar onomatopoeic sounds, the Committee of Five stated that it would censor only song words or titles with questionable or double meanings. It intends meeting weekly, publishing lists of banned titles, claims the backing of orchestra leaders throughout the land. Lists will also be sent to music publishers with requests that lyricists change their sentiments to conform to Committee of Five standards.