Stones cry fowl over Super censors

Censorship of their songs during the Super Bowl halftime show was “absolutely ridiculous and completely unnecessary,” the Rolling Stones say.

The NFL silenced Mick Jagger‘s microphone during sexually suggestive passages of two of the three songs the band performed Sunday.

The lyrics for “Rough Justice” included a synonym for rooster that was removed. A sexual reference was silenced toward the end of “Start Me Up.”

The league, still nervous over the Janet Jackson wardrobe malfunction two years ago, had said it wanted to ensure family entertainment at the game.

“The band was aware of our plan to simply lower Mick’s mike at the appropriate moments,” an NFL spokesman said.

The incident was reminiscent of the band’s performance on “The Ed Sullivan Show” in 1967, when the host demanded the Stones change the lyrics to “Let’s Spend the Night Together.”

As ordered, Jagger sang “let’s spend some time together” – rolling his eyes for effect.