http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...1969-song-features-words-yellow-Chinkees.html
Acceptable in 2015 or not ?
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Acceptable in 2015 or not ?
[yt]F3_MfDYVKlg[/YT]
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Blue Mink , Melting Pot
- Thread starter carlzeiss
- Start date
Boyzone did a cover version a few years ago. They changed the lyrics
Take a pinch of one man
Wrap him up in black skin
Add a touch of blue blood
And a little bitty bit of
Red Indian boy
Curly black and kinky
Oriental sexy
If you lump it all together
Well you've got a recipe
for a get along scene...
Take a pinch of one man
Wrap him up in black skin
Add a touch of blue blood
And a little bitty bit of
Red Indian boy
Curly black and kinky
Oriental sexy
If you lump it all together
Well you've got a recipe
for a get along scene...
Probably as acceptable as Elvis Costellos, Olivers Army,(one less white ******), or Mott the Hooples, All the way from Memphis, Some spade said " You rock and rollers, you're all the same" both played regularly on Radio 2
Guerrero
New member
It was meant to be a song of peace and love at the time.
About getting along together whatever creed or colour.
No problem.
About getting along together whatever creed or colour.
No problem.
Freddie Goodwin.
Well-known member
Exactly, an anti-racist song but, in these PC days, somebody hears what they want to hear and make a fuss. I heard them talking about this on one radio station today and soon after heard it played on another.
Was never keen on the song. Wonder what they'ed make of "Young, Gifted & Black"?
Was never keen on the song. Wonder what they'ed make of "Young, Gifted & Black"?
Nice clip of Sussex's own, Herbie Flowers there
And a reminder of what a good singer Madeline Bell was - sadly, her solo career never really took off
Super Steve Earle
Well-known member
I was at school at the time but, I'm sure Blue Mink were regarded as very brave for being an openly multi racial group. I believe they were regarded as equally brave to appear on TOTP. There seems to be so little understanding these days that previous generations had different standards. Attempting to rewrite history won't change history. Must be a nightmare if producers and DJs have to vet every piece of music to see if it fits current thinking.
- Jan 3, 2012
- 17,357
I know it was a different time and place, but Booker t and the MGs caused enormous consternation for being two white and two black men in the same group in the same place that saw the assassination of Martin Luther King in 1968.
I was thinking about this song the other day. The intentions were good, although the suggestion of turning out "coffee coloured people by the score" would not be taken seriously these days.
The song was never racist - it was all about the different ethnic groups joining in together in a world where skin colour didn't matter. And yes, obviously in time that would have produced an increasing number of people of mixed race who may well have turned out a coffee-ish sort of colour, but that would have been fine too.
Peace and love and all that.
Might have turned out a lot better than the bloody mess that multi-culturalism has turned out to be.
Peace and love and all that.
Might have turned out a lot better than the bloody mess that multi-culturalism has turned out to be.
HastingsSeagull
Well-known member
Quite the opposite message so nothing wrong
Norman Potting
Well-known member
Very true, the whole Stax Records think, bearing in mind the time and place, is a fascinating one. Has prompted me to try and find an affordable copy of "Soulsville USA - the story of Stax Records" on Amazon - read it a long time ago. Meanwhile I will rustle up a Stax playlist for todays WFH!
- Jan 3, 2012
- 17,357
Considering the issues surrounding the whole thing, then, they managed to produce some wonderful music.
There was a programme I saw a few weeks back called 'It was Alright in the 70's' and a few 'celebrity' observers were getting their knickers in a twist over a Derek Griffiths version of the song where he was pulling his eyes to look oriental whilst singing it. Reminded me of the Father Ted episode ha ha.
Can't seem to find a version of the video online though.
Can't seem to find a version of the video online though.
You've probably nailed it. It was released in an era of racial segregation in America and of course apartheid in South Africa. The 1960s hippie view was that we should all break down the barriers between us and become 'humans' as opposed to all these different tribes, cultures, races, creeds, countries, etc. John Lennon's 'Imagine' is based on similar sentiments.
Now as you say that view is seen as old-fashioned and we are encouraged to 'celebrate diversity'. Obviously I can see some merit in that, but on the other hand I'm not 100% convinced that the old 1960s view was wrong.
Buzzer
Languidly Clinical
- Oct 1, 2006
- 26,121
Which song do you think a Chinese person might find most insulting?
1. This cheesy hippy song from the 60s with a now deemed mildly offensive word that was common parlance back then and was overtly about brotherly love? or...
2. A Spice Girls song from 1997 where they refer to a far Eastern person as "Yellow Man in Timbuktu" and thus also lazily confusing the city in Mali with Kathmandu in Nepal or...
3. Fresh off the press in 2015, US rapper and Grammy-nominee, Big Sean has a new song out, Dark Sky Paradise, where he chucks out the casually racist "I'm doing extra numbers like I'm Chinese"
You know what, I'm no expert here but I'm gonna take a punt that it ain't the first one. Funny old world, isn't it?
1. This cheesy hippy song from the 60s with a now deemed mildly offensive word that was common parlance back then and was overtly about brotherly love? or...
2. A Spice Girls song from 1997 where they refer to a far Eastern person as "Yellow Man in Timbuktu" and thus also lazily confusing the city in Mali with Kathmandu in Nepal or...
3. Fresh off the press in 2015, US rapper and Grammy-nominee, Big Sean has a new song out, Dark Sky Paradise, where he chucks out the casually racist "I'm doing extra numbers like I'm Chinese"
You know what, I'm no expert here but I'm gonna take a punt that it ain't the first one. Funny old world, isn't it?
life on mars 73
New member
- Oct 19, 2010
- 264
There was another hit from that era by The Equals, "Black Skinned Blue Eyed Boys" - very similar message, i.e. when there are no more races, there won't be any more wars.
... and Greyhound's "Black and White" - another song with a similar message from the same period
- Jan 3, 2012
- 17,357
I think you might well be right.
Indeed! Great song! That's probably got itself on the banned list as well for use of the term 'black skinned' which I'm sure some would say isn't the correct way to refer to people of recent African heritage. That's the weird thing about 'celebrating diversity': there's an extremely narrow (and ever-changing) set of terms you are allowed to use to point out the differences!