Way back in 1991, the
Toronto band
Barenaked Ladies was due to play in
Nathan Philips Square,
Toronto on
New Year's Eve. A big gig, excellent publicity. Unfortunately, the cluelessly unhip and
politically correct mayor at the time,
June Rowlands, cancelled the show. Why?
Because the name objectified women.
The band was very embarrassed. They had chosen the name as a goofy reference to how children talked, and because it would look silly on a marquee. Ironically the negative publicity was a huge career boost for the band, because it got people talking about them.
On September 21, 2000,
BNL finally played Nathan Philips Square, and were presented the
key to the city by
Toronto's then-current mayor,
Mel Lastman.