@Mark, thanks. I quite like the Sparks ‘Please Don’t..’ and it’s hard to see how a clean version would work. Similarly, no F words but the Uk version of Drugs in Amsterdam (that avoids the word drug, that’s central to the song) sounds dreadful, compared with the original. Others though (Lilly Allen) have clean variants - at least Smile does.
the track in the link where the clean (Radio 1) version sounds fine to me.
I think you’re suggesting radio should allow explicit versions. if so I disagree, but perhaps there’s a case to license stations that do, post watershed. Likely to fall foul though of ‘Mrs Miggins’ child hearing it (or claiming to have) in other time zone/on catch up. Allowing ‘dodgy’ versions of tracks to go out in UK is, as you suggest, a recipe for a slap from Ofcom. There always seems to be someone sat ready to write in. I’ve heard Radio 1 do it, despite all the production folks they have.
The good thing with current music is that mostly it can be made broadcastable. Older music can get itself unplayable as standards change. A topic in itself eg Melting Pot, Jilted John.