Who Album Banned on New York Radio

Radio WMCA, the number one pop station in New York, has banned the new The Who Sell Out from airplay. Music Director Joe Bogart calls the album “disgusting!” and adds “I have grave doubts about anyone who would play it. I won’t even let my children see the cover.” It was Bogart who last summer saw Jimi Hendrix at a Central Park Love-In and took the performer’s record off the air for similar reasons. Hendrix’s record sales survived the blow, however.

Bogart’s action follows no specific policy set forth by the New York station concerning censorship. His actions rather contradict a statement made by Ruth Meyer, General Manager of WMCA earlier this year. At a radio programming conference held in Las Vegas Miss Meyer stated to an all male audience attending a seminar on radio management: “We don’t screw our audience; we make love to them.” Her statements suggest a more liberal policy for WMCA than Bogart’s action would imply.

Presently, no statement has been issued by Miss Meyer or station owner R. Peter Strauss, who has been known for his civil libertarian views. New York audiences will have to do without the Who for a while, at least from WMCA.

This story is from the February 10th, 1968 issue of Rolling Stone.