Stop The Music!
After 9/11 stunned the world, Clear Channel tried to ban certain songs from being played on their 1,000+ radio stations.
Howdy Horn Honkers.
Every September as cooler weather comes and summer yields its power to autumn, inevitably we are thrown into memory sorrow when the anniversary of 9/11 comes around.
Hard to believe it’s been 22 years since a traumatized nation watched terrorism on our TV screens and the City That Never Sleeps fell into a grim stupor of survival.
I have friends now, adults, who were not yet born on that blue-sky day, not here to experience that time the American spirit was on life support. They will never know our pre-9/11 America.
Weirdly enough, one thing l remember after the attacks, as communities mourned their own and domestic grief turned into deep suspicious anger, was that Clear Channel Communications (now iHeartMedia), the largest owner of radio stations in the U.S., wanted certain songs removed from airplay.
There were no music-on-demand streaming services in 2001. Radio was still a powerful player.
The company circulated an internal memo with a list of about 165 songs that program directors felt were "lyrically questionable" and asked those not to be played on Clear Channel stations.
So if it wasn’t an outright ban, it was definitely a suggestion from the boss. Like in the mafia.
One strong recommendation was to not play any song in Rage Against the Machine's entire catalogue but they also nixed Bob Dylan’s “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door” and the cover Guns ‘n’ Roses did of that famous tune.
Other songs Clear Channel felt should not be heard:
The Trammps “Disco Inferno”
Buddy Holly & The Crickets “That’ll Be The Day”
Alanis Morrisette “Ironic”
AC/DC “Hell’s Bells”
Edwin Starr “War”
Carole King “I Feel The Earth Move”
The Bangles “Walk Like An Egyptian”
The Beatles “Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds,” “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da” and “A Day In the Life”
Billy Joel “Only The Good Die Young” (I loved that song as a teenager)
Bobby Darin “Mack The Knife”
Cat Stevens “Peace Train”
Bruce Springsteen “Goin’ Down”
Creedence Clearwater Revival “Travelin’ Band”
The Clash “Rock The Casbah”
Dave Matthews Band “Crash Into Me” (it’s about sex, not buildings, but whatever)
Don McLean “American Pie”
Elton John “Daniel” and “Rocket Man”
Elvis Presley “(You’re The) Devil in Disguise”
The Hollies “He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother”
Jimi Hendrix “Hey Joe”
Led Zeppelin “Stairway To Heaven”
Filter “Nice Shot” (a personal fave I used to blast in my car at full volume)
James Taylor “Fire and Rain”
Louis Armstrong “What A Wonderful World”
Lynyrd Skynyrd “Tuesday’s Gone” (another fave I often turn up to 11)
Neil Diamond “America”
Pink Floyd “Mother” (that one gave me pause, “Mother should I trust the government?”)
Queen “Killer Queen”
John Lennon “Imagine”
They also requested that certain songs by Slipknot, Smashing Pumpkins, and the Steve Miller Band not be played, along with Van Halen’s “Jump” and Petula Clark’s “Sign of the Times.”
The long list confused and irritated me. I abhor censorship, but beyond that, how many times does a favourite song give a measure of escape, peace, and comfort during difficult times?
We watched planes full of passengers deliberately flown into buildings full of people. We saw first responders bravely and without hesitation work the last shift of their lives. How was Led Zeppelin going to hurt us?
How was anything going to hurt us after that?
Were the suits overreacting to tragic events, or endeavoring to show respect?
Was it a political move to tamp down a charged social climate, or a corporate attempt at trauma care?
Or was it just stupid?
What do you think?
I think it was a phenomenally stupid, arrogant political move, thinking that they could change the culture by changing the sound of its anthems. It was akin to a flea on the back of a great Dane deciding that it was in control and could change the direction or behavior of the dog in a meaningful way. Notice how the songs chosen are all the kind of songs that have endured as favorites for decades past their tenure on top ten or top 40 lists? It's because they're good music and hold meaning for listeners. Full stop. The meaning they hold is personal and individual, not a rallying cry for a moment or a movement.
Another vote for heavy-handed stupidity with a side of attempted political control.
One could write a whole series of books on all the awful stuff 9/11 exposed in the American psyche, but most of it is more consequential and yet less immediately relatable than this.