ABC Radio has banned presenters from playing a former Australian number one song, after a listener complained about its offensive content. The government-funded broadcaster issued an apology after playing the song in September.
As The Herald Sun reports, British comedian Charlie Drake sent ‘My Boomerang Won’t Come Back’ to the top of the Australian charts in 1962. The novelty hit tells the story of an Indigenous boy who’s disowned by his family because he can’t use a boomerang.
But lyrics featured in the song, such as, “My boomerang won’t come back… I practised till I was black in the face… I’m a big disgrace to the Aborigine race”, were deemed racist and offensive by a Tasmanian listener.
News Corp reports the ABC issued an apology after its Hobart-based Weekends radio program played the song by request from a listener in September. They said the track was played because staff weren’t familiar with its content.
The broadcaster said they’ve removed the track completely from their system and taken steps to ensure “this would not happen again”. The Audience and Consumer Affairs Department said, “This error was due to staff not being familiar with the track’s lyrics.”
“The broadcast of the song ‘My Boomerang Won’t Come Back’ was not in keeping with the ABC’s editorial standards for harm and offence; there was no editorial justification for playing it,” the statement continued.
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The track was produced by legendary producer Sir George Martin before he found fame working with The Beatles. Despite concerns over the lyrics even at the time, the song still managed to top the Australian charts in November 1962.
However, over in the UK, the British Broadcasting Corporation refused to play the song until a new version was recorded which changed the lyric “black in the face” to “blue in the face”. The tune eventually reached number 14 on the UK charts.
