THE PILL LORETTA LYNN

When: 1975 What: Song Where: USA

Although it was released 15 years after the introduction of the birth control pill, Loretta Lynn’s deftly comic song about a married woman who is delighted to have control of her life after years of pregnancies with her husband still managed to raise a lot of controversy. The country singer found her track banned by 60 radio stations in the US because of its themes.

It may come as no surprise that this reaction by country radio, along with the religious outcry, actually had the opposite effect that those attacking the song wanted. It reportedly sold 15,000 copies a week, making it one of Lynn’s most successful tracks in a long and celebrated career. The Pill reached 70 in the Billboard Hot 100, which is the highest position that any of her solo records ever reached. It wouldn’t be her last banned song either – throughout her career 14 of her tracks drew the ire of radio stations.