Songs that Clear Channel did not want radio stations to play after 9/11

[ThoughtCriminal]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2001_Clear_Channel_memorandum

Here are two of the "lyrically questionable" songs:

[blkmusclmachine]

1. Bush knew.

[alp227]

2. Snopes provides context:

http://www.snopes.com/rumors/radio.asp

[Stonepounder]

5. Thanks for the link.

While I am certainly no fan of Clear Channel, I think, after reading Snopes, that we really do have 'nothing to see here, folks'. Remember, that the late shows - Leno, Letterman, etc. also went 'dark' for a week after 9/11. I can certainly see how some people would react to hearing 'come on people, smile on your brother, everybody get together, let us love one another right now' right after 9/11.

[ThoughtCriminal]

8. Look where pandering to hate got us

That some people might be offended by "smile on your brother, everybody get together, let us love one another" is how we ended up getting dragged into a tragic war that had nothing to do with 9/11.

[Stonepounder]

10. While 'turn the other cheek' might be the ideal,

I'm not sure that 9/12 would have been the time to preach it. If you didn't like my example, I apologize. However, by the same token, think how people would have felt if Leno, or Letterman, or Fergeson, or any of the other late night shows had gone on 'as usual'. The point was that Clear Channel was simply saying 'think about the songs you want to play after a national trauma'. The didn't put out a list forbidding any station from playing whatever they wanted to, they just sort of brainstormed and put out a list and said 'these are some of the songs that we came up with that might be a little touchy'. What's the big deal?

[ThoughtCriminal]

7. I read the Snopes article before posting

And worded my post carefully - not using the word "Banned". But frankly, the article is a a bit of a whitewash.

Snopes does confirm that the memo did exist and did include over 150 tunes including the two I posted above. And although it was not a mandatory ban, it is important to remember that this was the era of Ari Fleishers "Americans need to watch what they say". And anybody who thinks that these were just "Suggestions" should talk to Bill Maher.


Clearly, during a period of national mourning, there can be musical selections, jokes and programs that could be considered inappropriate. But the reason I posted this, was not for a discussion over whether the memo was censorship, but to make a point about what Clear Channel considered "Lyrically questionable". Listen to the lyrics and try to wrap your mind around what they were thinking.

My take is that Clear Channel markets hate and divisiveness. Ideas, music, and dialog that discourages hate and promotes unity is a threat to their product.

[Fearless]

3. The powers that be can deal with people fighting each other

They profit from it. They don't profit from people coming together and standing up for what is right and fair.

[yellowwoodII]

4. Dixie Chicks

We remember when the Dixie Chicks were banned everywhere because Natalie Maines dared to make an unflattering remark about George Bush.
I still love this song:

[kmlisle]

6. John McCutchen wrote The List in 2001 on just this topic

Here is a link to the lyrics https://www.folkmusic.com/lyrics/list-2001

Can't find a video of him performing it. But I have the album it is on "Hail to the Chief"

[Crowman1979]

9. And then there is the more obvious "Disco Inferno".

With lyrics like:

Two mass fires, one-hundred stories high.

It was so entertaining, when the boogie start to explode.