2001 Clear Channel memorandum

On September 13, 2001, two days after the 9/11 attacks, the top brass at Clear Channel sent an email to over 1,000 US radio stations "an updated and expanded list of songs with 'questionable lyrics' that they should avoid playing."It's the End of the World as Clear Channel Knows It. Slate, 17 September 2001.Thurston Hatcher, Radio stations retool playlists after attacks. CNN, 20 September 2001. Clear Channel denied the claim,Clear Channel says national "banned playlist" does not exist. Clear Channel Communications press release, archived from the original at content.clearchannel.com, 18 September 2001. but it received considerable media coverage at the time.Jeremy Dutton and William Puchert, Music industry responds to terrorism. Archived from the original at zephyr.unr.edu (University of Nevada, Reno), 10 October 2001. Though many reports claimed that the list was meant to prohibit radio stations from playing songs listed on it, the list was circulated as guidance. Many stations, including some in the New York area, ignored the list.David Mikkelson, Clear Channel Banned Songs. Snopes, 15 April 2008.
Some of the songs making this list deal with fire or planes. In a perverse attempt to sterilize media in light of the terrorist attack, the memo recommends dropping songs like by James Taylor, by Boston, by Blue Öyster Cult, by Van Halen, and by Elton John from rotation, in case a listener might be triggered by the mere mention of a word.
The question was not that there would be kinds of music that would be inappropriate in the aftermath of the attacks, but the specific songs Clear Channel ultimately chose. It seemed more like an 1960s-style social conservative attack on popular rock music than an understandable suggestions list.
Many found the list baffling, and considered it a misguided attempt to ensure the nation's mental health. As such, it was roundly criticized as censorship and an ominous side effect of President George W. Bush's War on Terror.Neil Strauss, The Pop Life; After the Horror, Radio Stations Pull Some Songs. The New York Times, 19 September 2001.
==The list==
Artist 	Song 	Notes
 	Duck and Run 	
 	Down 	
 	Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap 	
 	Hells Bells 	
 	Highway to Hell 	
 	Safe in New York City 	
 	Shoot to Thrill 	
 	Shot Down in Flames 	
 	T.N.T. 	
 	The Boy from New York City 	
 	When You're Falling 	
 	Down in a Hole 	
 	Rooster 	
 	Sea of Sorrow 	
 	Them Bones 	
 	Smooth Criminal 	's original version interestingly not on the memorandum.
 	We Gotta Get Out of This Place 	
 	 	This wonderful song's inclusion on the list exposed the callousness and hypocrisy of media executives in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks.
 	Walk Like an Egyptian 	Only one of the perpetrators was Egyptian, ringleader
 	Falling for the First Time 	
 	Rescue Me 	
 	Sabotage 	
 	Sure Shot 	
The Beatles 	 	A reflection on life, death, and war, inspired by LSD. Perhaps the reference to war, i.e., "The English Army had just won the war" triggered inclusion on the list? Who knows.
The Beatles 	 	Maybe they thought a mention of the sky would trigger someone?
The Beatles 	 	Life goes on, and Clear Channel thought it would be too much for anyone to realize this.
The Beatles 	 	
 	Hit Me with Your Best Shot 	
 	Love Is a Battlefield 	
 	Sabbath Bloody Sabbath 	
 	War Pigs 	
 	And When I Die 	
 	Burnin' for You 	
 	Smokin' 	
 	Black Is Black 	
 	Doctor My Eyes 	
 	That'll Be the Day 	
 	Speed Kills 	
 	Have You Seen Her 	
 	A Sign of the Times 	
The Clash 	Rock the Casbah 	
 	In the Air Tonight 	
 	Wonderful World 	
 	Fire 	
 	Travelin' Band 	
 	Fire Woman 	
 	Mack the Knife 	
 	Bits and Pieces 	
 	The End of the World 	
 	America 	
 	Holy Diver 	
 	The End 	
 	On Broadway 	
 	Bodies 	
 	Knockin' on Heaven's Door 	
 	Santa Monica 	
 	Johnny Angel 	
 	Hey Man, Nice Shot 	Maybe too close to home, as the song is about the suicide of
 	Learn to Fly 	
 	Bad Day 	It's not the one Andy Bernard sang when he was firing Pete in "The Office".
 	You Dropped a Bomb on Me 	
 	Bad Religion 	
 	Brain Stew 	But not "", weirdly enough.
 	Spirit in the Sky 	
 	Knockin' on Heaven's Door 	
 	See You in September 	
 	Hey Joe 	"Hey Joe, where you goin' with that gun in your hand?"
 	Wonderful World 	
 	He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother 	
 	Dead Man's Curve 	
 	Only the Good Die Young 	
 	Bennie and the Jets 	
 	Daniel 	"Daniel is traveling tonight on a plane…"
 	Rocket Man 	
 	Some Heads Are Gonna Roll 	
 	Dust in the Wind 	
 	I Feel the Earth Move 	
 	Falling Away from Me 	
 	Fly Away 	
 	Stairway to Heaven 	
John Lennon 	Imagine 	
 	Great Balls of Fire 	
 	Break Stuff 	
 	Bound for the Floor 	
 	Tuesday's Gone 	
 	The Worst That Could Happen 	
 	Dancing in the Street 	
 	Nowhere to Run 	
 	Crash into Me 	
 	Live and Let Die 	
 	Eve of Destruction 	
 	American Pie 	Due to its references of "the day the music died", where Buddy Holly, Ritchie Vallens, and The Big Bopper died in a plane crash.
 	Dread and the Fugitive Mind 	
 	Sweating Bullets 	
 	Crumblin' Down 	
 	Paper in Fire 	
 	Enter Sandman 	
 	Fade to Black 	
 	Harvester of Sorrow 	
 	Seek & Destroy 	
 	Jet Airliner 	
 	Ironic 	
 	Death Blooms 	
 	Travelin' Man 	
 	99 Luftballons/99 Red Balloons 	Noted peace anthem about an accidental nuclear war
 	Head Like a Hole 	"God money's not one to choose. Head like a hole, black as your soul, I'd rather die than give you control!"
 	Dead Man's Party 	
 	Suicide Solution 	
 	The Night Chicago Died 	
 	St. Elmo's Fire (Man in Motion) 	"I can feel radio censorship burning in me"
 	I Go to Pieces 	
 	A World Without Love 	
 	Blowin' in the Wind 	
 	Leaving on a Jet Plane 	Written by John Denver who coincidentally died in a light aircraft accident in 1997
 	Free Fallin' 	
 	Mother 	"Mother, do you think they'll drop the bomb?"
 	Run Like Hell 	
 	Boom 	
Elvis Presley 	(You're the) Devil in Disguise 	
 	My City Was Gone 	
 	Another One Bites the Dust 	
 	Killer Queen 	
Rage Against the Machine	All songs 	"Lights out, Guerrilla Radio! Turn that sh*t off!"
 	Aeroplane 	
 	Under the Bridge 	
 	It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)	
 	Ruby Tuesday 	"Goodbye, Ruby Tuesday"
 	Devil with a Blue Dress On 	
 	Click Click Boom 	
 	Evil Ways 	
 	Crash and Burn 	
 	Bridge over Troubled Water 	An odd choice: traditionally considered a very fitting song for sad times, and a perennial at funeralsSongs Played at Funerals, Snopes, 15 May 2006
 	New York, New York 	aka "Theme from New York, New York"; widely seen as a celebration of the city, and Liza Minnelli actually performed it at the first pro sports game in the New York metro after 9/11
 	Left Behind 	
 	Wait and Bleed 	
 	Bullet with Butterfly Wings 	
 	Black Hole Sun 	
 	Blow Up the Outside World 	
 	Fell on Black Days 	
 	I'm Goin' Down 	
 	I'm on Fire 	
 	War 	
 	War 	
 	Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye 	
 	Morning Has Broken 	
 	Peace Train 	It's unclear why 2 Stevens songs were on the list, aside from the fact that he's a Muslim and Clear Channel didn't want them on radio
 	Big Bang Baby 	
 	Dead and Bloated 	
 	Fly 	
 	Wipe Out 	
 	Chop Suey! 	
 	Burning Down the House 	
 	 	
 	Say Hello 2 Heaven 	
 	Jumper 	
 	When Will I See You Again 	
 	Intolerance 	
 	Disco Inferno 	
 	Sunday Bloody Sunday 	The attack was on a Tuesday, although the song is peripherally about terrorism and primarily about the killing of innocent civilians by the British army
 	Jump 	
 	Dancing in the Street 	
 	Last Kiss 	
 	Get Together 	
 	 	"In the year 2525, if man is still alive"
 	She's Not There 	Lyrically about an untrustworthy woman, not obviously connected with 9/11
==References==
Category:Censorship
Category:Media
Category:Moral panics
Category:Music
Category:Radio