Staff involved in The Alex Zane Breakfast Show on Xfm have received disciplinary action from station management for making and broadcasting a politically incorrect song.
It comes after one listener complained about a song which contained connotations of rape. The song itself was created by Xfm to resemble a tune recorded in 1963 which would be considered to be inappropriate now but may have been acceptable in the 60’s.
The song was “Code of Love” by Mike Sarne.
The presenter then played the following sample from “Code of Love”:
[i]
[b]"Number 1 you find someone, 2 you hold her hand, 3 you kiss her on the cheek. Number 4 you squeeze her, number 5 you tease her, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, too late to say when."[/b][/i]
The presenters then explained that they had been inspired to write and produce their own song, which like Sarne’s song would be considered to be inappropriate now but may have been acceptable in the 60’s. Before playing their song, one of the presenters said that it would only be played on the radio once but it would be available on the internet later where “the laws are different”.
The presenters’ song was then played which featured a man describing his amorous and, at times, physical advances, and a woman attempting to refuse them.
In their response to the complaint, Xfm bosses told Ofcom that the programme makers had not sought advice in advance from management about the inclusion of the song. It considered the song to have been “inappropriate for broadcast” and that its inclusion had been a “serious misjudgement”. As a result, XFM stated that its management had taken steps to remedy the situation, including disciplinary action and compliance training for the staff involved. XFM also broadcast an on-air apology the following day.
The complaint was considered resolved by Ofcom due to Xfm handling the situation internally.
