Country music video BANNED for being TOO SEXY

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Tuesday, May 7, 2024

Charles Parker Interview

J.G. Bennet, 10/2/2018. Country crossover guitarist, Charles Parker is gaining momentum following the release of his new single, Party Girls. The song and video is being pulled from radio stations and others are refusing to play it all together. Currently fighting for his first amendment rights, Mr. Parker spoke with Slickster Magazine about the manufactured controversy surrounding his music and a whole lot more.

Slickster – Charles, what can you tell me about the video for “Party Girls” being banned.

Charles Parker – First, I need to you, it’s out on Country Radio right now and it’s #75 on the charts. A few months ago it was playing on a station in Missouri. All of sudden we got a message from the program director who said, “I think I’m gonna’ have to drop this song. I’m getting complaints.” I’m picturing ladies outside (the station) with picket signs. Then I came up with the idea that I’m the Country Marilyn Manson, getting banned everywhere.

So, we do the video and we took it over to CMT (Country Music Television). They come back tell us, “No, we’re not going to play this video. It’s too sexist and there are too many short shorts.” I go back to them and ask them, “Have you seen some of the shows you air?” They have a show called “Bachorlette Weekend” that they air every weekend, which is TOTALLY worse than the Party Girls video.

Now, all of sudden, today, I have the video advertising on Facebook. But today I got a message saying, “Your ad has been cancelled for going against Facebook advertising policy.” It further explains that there was too much skin and too much nudity. First of all, there is no nudity in the video at all. If you watch the video it’s totally PG-13. There is nothing wrong it, and there are way worse things on Facebook than Party Girls. I wrote back to them and filed a complaint for taking away my freedom of speech. So, yeah, it’s getting banned. People are refusing to play it because… I don’t know! Too many short shorts!

Slickster – Who do you think is personally responsible for the censorship of your music and video? Who is making that call?

CP – It’s whoever is on the board of the video channel, or maybe it’s the public. My Facebook music promotion has been running for a month without issue. Then, all of sudden, today they decide to take it down? Someone had to approve it originally, so did it get to a different approval system today, or did someone complain about it, because they had nothing better to do? If they don’t like it, don’t watch it. They shouldn’t be able to discriminate against it, but that seems to be the case here. I’ve written them and waiting to hear back.

Slickster – How did the video for Party Girls come together?

CP – I had an idea of a “party theme”. Let’s get some girls, gather up people and take this party from place to place. We shot it at a dock bar here in Maryland. It shows the girls meeting up and getting ready for a night out at the bar. There was some shots on a boat and some shots done at the bar, and some were done in the studio. There were also some shots from the house, as they are getting ready to go out. So, it was just a fun video; A day in the life of a party girl basically. We did some girls pranks too.

Slickster – How did you go about writing your songs and putting all the pieces together?

CP – With most songs, I’ll sit down with an acoustic guitar and strum some chords, get an idea in my head and put it all together. That song (Party Girls) was the second song I released to Country Radio. The first song I released was just a normal, regular song. It went to #81 on the charts, and it wasn’t very… It didn’t really do what I thought it would, just being a “normal” song. I hear things that are out on country radio now and it’s more of that “Bro-Country” kind of thing. I thought to myself, “I’m gonna’ write a song that kind of fits what’s out there. It seems to be what radio is looking for, so let me just give them what they are looking for.”

So, I came up with Party Girls. It has a danceable beat, and a techno feel. It has the country guitars and a chant , “Party Girls!, Party Girls!, Party Girls!” You know, I played it the other day at an outdoor festival at the beach in Maryland. There was a thousand people who had never heard the song before. At the end of the song I said, “What’s the name of the song?” They said, “PARTY GIRLS!” So, its just one of those things that is very simple and it has a catchy chorus that sticks with you.

When I put that together, I came up with the chorus and added some verses around it to kind of put it in perspective of… Everybody goes to work 9 to 5, they’re looking forward to the weekend, they want to fo out and have a good time, and let’s take this party around the world. There’s actually a line in the song that says that. And that was the idea; Let’s take these party girls, in a Pied Piper kind of way, and take them from town to town, state to state, and have a good time. Forget about work. Forget about politics. Live for today. Live for the fun.

Slickster – You mentioned Bro-country in your previous response. What does that mean to you?

CP – You know, I don’t know what that is. (Laughs) There are some acts that are coming out that have been given the name Bro-Country for whatever reason. Country music is not that same as it used to be ten years ago, twenty years ago. It’s totally crossed over into all these different formats. There is rock influence, hip hop influence, and R&B… it’s not the same. Its not Johny Cash or Merle Haggard. It’s not even Garth Brooks or Alan Jackson, it’s more pop and rock. I guess it’s a good thing for me, since I came from a rock background, and the songs that I write fit into that vein, so I was able to crossover into that market. I can’t complain about that!

Slickster – There is some pretty fancy guitar work going on in the solo. What advice would you give to a young guitarist (and other musicians) for honing their songwriting and instrument technique chops?

CP – Just practice, practice, practice! A lot of people come to me and tell me they want to learn to play guitar, but they don’t want to put any time into it. You need to play, all the time, especially in the beginning. You need to live with that guitar.

To tell you about the guitar solo, I wish that was me! That was one of the best guitar players in the world playing that solo.

Slickster – Who was it?

CP – It was Brent Mason. He’s a studio musician from Nashville, played the guitar solo. He’s played on every country song you’ve heard on the radio. He’s on all the Alan Jackson records. If you look up his discography, its sick. I was just luckily to have him play my record.

Slickster – Did you learn by ear or by tabs? Do you have any formal music education, like piano or choir, etc…

CP – I started out as kid learning some chords out of book, and strumming chords. Back in the day they had guitar magazines that were popular. That was just how we learned songs. Now you have the internet with all of the tabs, but most of the time you go these websites and the tabs are wrong! The chords are wrong, the tabs are wrong, and I know a lot of people who go out and play songs wrong. They say, “I learned it off the internet”. I wouldn’t put a lot of stock into what you find on the internet.

Slickster – Has there been anything written about you online or in print that is absolutely untrue, or there any falsehoods on Charles Parker that you’d like to set the record straight on?

CP – I haven’t seen anything. A lot of times they confuse me with the jazz saxophonist, Charlie Parker, but that’s not me. I’m a whole lot younger than he is (was).

Slickster – You jumped the gun on one of my next questions. I was eventually going to ask you about that connection to Charlie Parker. Did you ever go by the name “Charlie”, and have to change your name to “Charles” to avoid confusion?

CP – No, I’ve always gone by Charles. Actually when the song went out on Youtube, there were people commenting, “This isn’t him. This isn’t Charlie Parker, the jazz guy”. Well, of course not! This has nothing to do with jazz.

Slickster – Have you ever listened to Charlie Parker, aka Bird, the alto saxophonist?

CP – No, not really.

Slickster – Charles, thanks for taking the time to share with us about the controversy surrounding your new country music video. Is there anything else you’d like to share? Anything goes!

CP – I hope people check out my music and give it a chance. If it’s not for you, or it’s different than what you listen to, it’s not a bad thing. It could be the next thing. You can download it www.CharlesParkermusic.com We’re working on launching huge giveaway. It’s going to be a vacation package to Jamaica! Win a vacation with the Party Girls. Check my facebook page for more details. Download the song on iTunes to qualify to enter.