Station Bans 'Bland Aid' Song as Listeners Complain

By Antony Stone, PA

 http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=3766163

A radio station banned the new version of Do They Know It’s Christmas today after being inundated by listeners claiming it was “rubbish”.

Minutes after the updated Band Aid classic was broadcast for the first time the station switchboard was jammed with listeners calling for it to be axed.

Bosses at Pembrokeshire Radio, based in Narbeth, quickly bowed to listener-power and pulled the plug on the new festive single.

They pledged to continue backing the single’s charitable aim and are advising listeners to buy it anyway – even if it is never played.

The new version mirrors the 20-year-old original with a line-up of current top recording stars including Rachel Stevens, Jamelia and Daniel Bedingfield.

While the original was a 3.5 million single-selling-phenomenon, the new version is raising passions for all the wrong reasons.

“We played it for the first time at 8am today and were amazed at the response from our listeners,” said Keri Jones, station DJ and managing director.

“People were saying it is awful rubbish. They were quite passionate about it – it was quite overwhelming.

“All the lights on the switchboard lit up and we had about 50 calls within minutes of it being played.

“In the end it got so busy it was pointless answering, everyone was saying the same thing anyway. It’s rubbish, more Bland Aid than Band Aid.

He added: “We are telling listeners to go out and buy it anyway because it is all in a good cause.

“It may well end up as being this year’s Christmas number one, although it’s more likely to be used as a coaster rather than be listened to.

“We banned it because we believe in going with what out listeners say. In the meantime we will continue playing the original.”