Reply #14: Stations all over the country banned that tune as too controversial

[mcscajun]

Making light of mental illness was not seen as fit subject for popular music, not even as a novelty song. Both NYC Top 40 stations at the time (WMCA and WABC) removed the song from airplay after numerous and quite vocal complaints from the mental health community. The protests and the banning were pretty much nationwide.

In the NYC market, I never heard any of the demoralizing, rowdiness, questioning authority arguments, just that it was tasteless and inappropriate, and hurtful to those suffering from mental illness.