Janet Jackson Super Bowl Flash Fine Tossed

More than four years after a wardrobe malfunction allowed a Super Bowl audience of 90 million people to see Janet Jackson's breast, the $550,000 indecency fine levied against CBS for the incident has been thrown out, a court ruled today. The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the FCC "acted arbitrarily and capriciously" when issuing the fine on CBS for what was an accidental, split-second flash of nudity. The "malfunction" was almost perfectly synchronized with Justin Timberlake singing the line "Gonna have you naked by the end of this song" ("this song" being "Rock Your Body") performed during the Super Bowl intermission. The incident led to an almost-censorship of live events, with tape delays becoming the norm to avoid future unscripted situations.

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Song Stories

“1999”

Prince | 1982

“I don’t consider myself a great poet,” Prince told Rolling Stone. “I just know I’m here to say what’s on my mind.” In the case of the apocalyptic party anthem “1999,” he was worried about then-president Ronald Reagan’s foreign policies. The song’s melody is based on a riff borrowed from the Mamas and Papas’ “Monday, Monday,” and Prince originally envisioned the first verse with three-part harmony but later split the vocals between himself and members of the Revolution. Because Warner Bros., with whom Prince was locked in a contractual battle, owned the original’s masters, Prince rerecorded the song and appropriately released that version in 1999.

More Song Stories entries »

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