UK Radio Station Lands In Hot Water For Playing This '90s Club Anthem

A '90s dance anthem has been removed from a UK radio station's daytime schedules after it was found to have breached a broadcasting code. 

As 5Mag reports, a complaint was issued to local regulator Ofcom after Chicago-born producer Lil Louis' club hit, French Kiss, was played on Essex-based Caroline Community Radio at "approximately 08:20" on the morning of 17 December 2020.

The complaint - which pertained to the track including "prolonged sounds of sexual moaning lasting two minutes and 20 seconds" - found that the radio station violated Rule 1.3 of the Broadcasting code which states that "Children must... be protected by appropriate scheduling from material that is unsuitable for them…”.

In a report published last week, Ofcom concluded that though the breakfast programme which French Kiss was played on was not aimed at younger audiences, the song "was broadcast at approximately 08:20 on a weekday during the school term1 , it was a time when children were particularly likely to be listening to the radio".

The news comes just three years after fellow UK radio station, London's 883 Centreforce, was also hit with a complaint for playing French Kiss due to "sexual noises" being heard on the midday broadcast.

Released in 1989, French Kiss became a huge hit in the Australian club scene and reached #1 on the US Billboard Dance chart and in the Netherlands, as well as peaking in the top three in the UK, France, Germany and Spain.