"The Bitch Is Back" - Elton John

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   Oh yeah, the Rod Stewart song. That's 4 1970s songs with the B word. I heard all of them a lot during their heyday (still do for EJ and H&O) and most were left intact. I do recall that 1 or 2 stations in Boston replaced the line "it's a bitch girl" in the H&O song to "You're a rich girl". And I think maybe "Bad Blood" had the substitute I suggested above. 

As for Hykker's comment, I can't imagine a bitchless version of "Bitch". Unless Meredith sang a replacement words (which sometimes happens if an artist wants more radio airplay), I just can't imagine what kind of edit would be done. It would also make the original point of the song pretty meaningless. Since you have it, can you tell us what was done to make a non-swear version?

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EdisonLite Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Music Fan Joined: 18 October 2004 Location: United States Status: Online Points: 128	Post Options Post Reply Quote EdisonLite Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 27 May 2025 at 5:57pm
	Oh yeah, the Rod Stewart song. That's 4 1970s songs with the B word. I heard all of them a lot during their heyday (still do for EJ and H&O) and most were left intact. I do recall that 1 or 2 stations in Boston replaced the line "it's a bitch girl" in the H&O song to "You're a rich girl". And I think maybe "Bad Blood" had the substitute I suggested above. As for Hykker's comment, I can't imagine a bitchless version of "Bitch". Unless Meredith sang a replacement words (which sometimes happens if an artist wants more radio airplay), I just can't imagine what kind of edit would be done. It would also make the original point of the song pretty meaningless. Since you have it, can you tell us what was done to make a non-swear version?

VWestlife Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Music Fan Joined: 02 April 2020 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 2	Post Options Post Reply Quote VWestlife Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 30 May 2025 at 3:05pm
	As for the Meredith Brooks song, Adult Contemporary stations played it with unedited lyrics, but never mentioned its title on the air. (Although these days it would be displayed on your car radio via RDS.)

EdisonLite Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Music Fan Joined: 18 October 2004 Location: United States Status: Online Points: 128	Post Options Post Reply Quote EdisonLite Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 30 May 2025 at 3:53pm
	What's ironic is that by today's standards, the B word is rather mild. I'm thinking of songs like "WAP" by Cardi B - although I'm guessing that was probably edited or bleeped for radio.

Paul Haney Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Music Fan Joined: 01 April 2005 Status: Offline Points: 40	Post Options Post Reply Quote Paul Haney Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 31 May 2025 at 4:25am
	Yes, "WAP" was indeed heavily edited for airplay. One of my favorite radio edits is "What It's Like" by Everlast from 1999. IIRC, the promo came with several different versions, depending on the station's tolerance of the swearing, guns and drugs references. While I prefer the unedited version, I can at least tolerate the edits.