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I recall once (and only once) hearing a version of Rat Trap on UK radio with an altered line. I think it is mentioned in "Is That It?" i.e. Mary Whitehouse complaining about pus-oozing sores being inappropriate or some such nonsense.
It was the line immediately following the line:
"Hope bites the dust behind all the closed doors"
I *think* it went something like
"And blood and sweat pours down the drain and the sewer"
I expected it to turn up following a quick Google but no luck. Any ideas?
Sorry can't help with this query. Its a bit weird that Mary Whitehouse was listening to the Boomtown Rats but she probably had one of her minions listening out for ways of being offended.
Maybe there are copies of Rat Trap especially recorded for radio without the "offending " bits lying around in various radio stations vaults. Sometimes you'd wonder what happened to all the old vinyl and all those forgotten songs.
There's a good website calledEveryhitwhich has all the old charts going back to the sixties. You can find charts for any time in that period and sometimes I look just for nostalgia's sake and suddenly remember songs I hadn't heard for years and years.
Maybe also some record collector has one of the singles with the radio edit- perhaps its worth something. Hope somebody else can be of more assistance.
Can't be certain but I thought every 7" release of Rat Trap had the "non-offensive" lyrics. Mine certainly has...
I've always heard it as 'blood and tears pour down the drains and the sewers' but never seen it written.
Hard to believe nowadays that 'pus and grime ooze' was deemed unsuitable....
XTC in 1981 got in trouble with the feminist movement for the song Sgt Rockwhich the deemed to be demeaning to women. The words were seen by some to indicate that women must be brought into line and loads of other military metaphors anyone familiar with the song will be aware of. The song wasn't banned nor the lyrics changed but it did get the ire of the Millie Tant types according to Andy Partridge. Brilliant song by the second best band ever.
Can anyone confirm that 7" versions all had the radio edit lyrics or have I actually got something of a rarity without ever realising it?
Nearly certain that in Ireland at least the lyrics always used the lines- "And pus and grime ooze/ from its scab crusted soars".
In South of Ireland the records were issued on a label called Mulligan with a weird Leprachaun [imp] picture on the label so maybe there was a whole censorship type thing going on that I didn't hear about.
This gets me thinking about a before the watershed and after the watershed version but I think that is unlikely. Say one version before 9pm and another for post 9pm. Now I'm starting to think of Jimbob and Fruitbat!
