No Age's Randy Randall asked to take off Obama T-shirt for 'The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson'

Early Wednesday morning, Randy Randall of local fuzz-punkers No Age sent out an e-mail to a wide group of journalists, friends and fans stating that on Oct. 2 he had been asked to take off his pro-Obama T-shirt for a taped performance for “The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson,” slated to run Oct. 27.

With only a few minutes before the scheduled taping, “the talent booker told me I couldn’t wear my Obama T-shirt,” Randall said, speaking from No Age’s practice space. “She took one look at it and called the suits in New York, who said it was against the equal time rule. I asked her, what if I didn’t take it off? She said then that they couldn't tape us.”

Randall and fellow No Ager Dean Spunt quickly hashed out the tough situation. “We’re an underground band without a lot of publicity -- there was still an opportunity to take advantage of. We'd be able to say something versus nothing.”

First, the band asked if they could write the names of John McCain, Ron Paul and Ralph Nader somewhere on the stage or on their clothes, but CBS reps said no -- there would still be other candidates who wouldn’t get included.

So, at the last minute, Randall took off his Obama shirt, turned it inside out and wrote “Free Health Care” with a Sharpie marker. He put it on underneath his open flannel and performed.

“The issue of free healthcare resonates more with me even more than Obama. I thought I could go right to the issue and diffuse the situation. And it was more specific.”

It was a pretty clever compromise, but it still didn’t sit well with Randall. “I felt like I’d been punched in the gut. The ink hadn’t even dried on my shirt and here we were playing. I asked them if we could do a second take because, on the first, I blew half the song. I felt like, what am I doing? I didn’t like the way they treated us. I didn’t like the way it happened.”

According to Randall, the CBS rep also stated that the FCC was watching CBS, that it had gotten in trouble for somebody showing genitalia on "Survivor" and, of course, Nipplegate from 2004. “They were trying to make us feel for them. She was saying, ‘Oh, we’ve been messing up,’ but this isn’t a mess-up. Issues of nudity I can understand, but this isn’t that. This is No Age wearing an Obama shirt.”

The Equal Time rule is a dense, somewhat rusty piece of legislation, a provision of the Communications Act from 1934. It basically states, according to the Museum of Broadcast Communications, that a station that sells or gives one minute to Candidate A must sell or give the same amount of time with the same audience potential to all other candidates for the particular office. But does a guest wearing a T-shirt qualify as a candidate appearance?

CBS thought so, and they released a statement Wednesday to the Los Angeles Times explaining their actions:

Prior to a taped performance on "The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson," a member of the band No Age was asked to remove a T-shirt displaying an image of Sen. Obama, which, if broadcast, could have triggered federal equal time requirements. Any of the dozen or so presidential candidates who have qualified for the ballot in at least one state could have made equal time requests of the CBS stations, affiliates or O&Os, in that state. Those candidates who are on the ballot in at least 10 states could have asked for equal time from the network.  Given that, CBS employees followed guidelines and asked the band member to remove his T-shirt.

OK, but in all frankness, it seems likely that there were other provocations for CBS’ actions. Maybe Randall’s shirt would have lighted up the switchboards at CBS with cranky callers, and that wasn’t worth the risk to this megacorporation, not for two punk rockers who typically play to 80 sweaty kids at the Smell. Or it’s also possible that CBS, in the flush of an intense election season, simply panicked and enforced the most conservative interpretation of the law. Either way, rockers should start carrying a Sharpie for scrawling quick, subversive messages.

--Margaret Wappler

Photo: Randall on the set of "The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson." Credit: No Age

Comments

[35332]

what's funny about all that is that the equal time rule was killed off in the 80's. Does not exist anymore.

[Margaret Wappler -- LA Times]

The Equal Time rule still exists. You're thinking of the Fairness Doctrine, which was killed off in the '80s.

[sham debates]

Not too much "FREEDOM" left in the good ol' USA...
- Way to kill the arts.

nader paul mckinney

[djb]

forget about the stupid rule, just be smart and vote for OBAMA!!!!!!!!!!

[queenscannibal]

A tempest in a teapot. You Obamans need to lighten up.

[Anonymous]

So why the hell is this even a story?!? the people on the show were just doing their job. this band who nobody has ever heard of should just be thankful they were even able to perform.

[NoBama]

The music if you could call it that really sucked.
Obama will fall to the Bradley syndrome.
Even acorn with all the fraud voter registration and voter fraud going on in the 12 states that that are close can't win the election for Nobama.

Mcain will keep the socialist dems in check.

[Craig Ferguson2008]

They were just doing there job... It's not like your the only band they'd do that to. They don't want to get into trouble, so you need to stop trying to blame CBS and Craig Ferguson...They did nothing wrong!