Corporate Paternalism: The 2001 Clear Channel Memorandum

From Wikipedia:

The 2001 Clear Channel memorandum is a controversial document distributed by Clear Channel Communications to the over 1,200 radio stations they owned, shortly after the September 11, 2001 attacks, containing a list of a large number of what the memo termed “lyrically questionable” songs.

During the time immediately after the attacks, many television and radio stations altered normal programming in response to the events, and the rumor spread that Clear Channel and its subsidiaries had established a list of “songs with questionable lyrics” that stations might not want to play after the attacks. The list was made public by the independent newsletter Hits Daily Double.

The list contains 166 songs, including “all songs” by Rage Against the Machine and songs recorded by multiple artists (for example “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” by Bob Dylan and the same song by Guns N’ Roses). 

Clear Channel denied the existence of such a list in a press release to a radio industry trade publication, Radio Ink, although they had already admitted to distributing it.

H/T: Red Ice Creations

Clear Channel’s list of “lyrically questionable” songs

Artist 3 Doors Down	Title “Duck and Run“
311	“Down“
AC/DC	“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.“
Alice in Chains	“Down in a Hole“
	“Rooster“
	“Sea of Sorrow“
	“Them Bones“
Alien Ant Farm	“Smooth Criminal“
The Animals	“We Gotta Get Out of This Place“
Louis Armstrong	“What a Wonderful World“
The Bangles	“Walk Like an Egyptian“
Barenaked Ladies	“Falling for the First Time“
Fontella Bass	“Rescue Me“
Beastie Boys	“Sabotage“
	“Sure Shot“
The Beatles	“A Day in the Life“
	“Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds“
	“Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da“
	“Ticket to Ride“
Pat Benatar	“Hit Me with Your Best Shot“
	“Love Is a Battlefield“
Black Sabbath	“Sabbath Bloody Sabbath“
	“War Pigs“
Blood, Sweat and Tears	“And When I Die”
Blue Öyster Cult	“Burnin’ for You“
Boston	“Smokin’“
David Bowie and Mick Jagger	“Dancing in the Street“
The Crazy World of Arthur Brown	“Fire“
Jackson Browne	“Doctor My Eyes“
Buddy Holly and the Crickets	“That’ll Be the Day“
Bush	“The People That We Love“[Note 2]
The Chi-Lites	“Have You Seen Her“
Petula Clark	“A Sign of the Times“
The Clash	“Rock the Casbah“
Phil Collins	“In the Air Tonight“
Sam Cooke	“Wonderful World“
Creedence Clearwater Revival	“Travelin’ Band“
The Cult	“Fire Woman“
Bobby Darin	“Mack the Knife“
The Dave Clark Five	“Bits and Pieces”
Dave Matthews Band	“Crash into Me“
Skeeter Davis	“The End of the World“
Neil Diamond	“America“
Dio	“Holy Diver“
The Doors	“The End“
The Drifters	“On Broadway“
Drowning Pool	“Bodies“
Bob Dylan	“Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door“
Everclear	“Santa Monica“
Shelley Fabares	“Johnny Angel“
Filter	“Hey Man, Nice Shot“
Foo Fighters	“Learn to Fly“
Fuel	“Bad Day“
The Gap Band	“You Dropped a Bomb on Me“
Godsmack	“Bad Religion“
Green Day	“Brain Stew“
Norman Greenbaum	“Spirit in the Sky“
Guns N’ Roses	“Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door“
The Happenings	“See You in September“
The Jimi Hendrix Experience	“Hey Joe“
Herman’s Hermits	“Wonderful World“
The Hollies	“He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother“
Jan and Dean	“Dead Man’s Curve“
Billy Joel	“Only the Good Die Young“
Elton John	“Bennie and the Jets“
	“Daniel“
	“Rocket Man“
Johnny Maestro & The Brooklyn Bridge	“The Worst That Could Happen“
Judas Priest	“Some Heads Are Gonna Roll“
Kansas	“Dust in the Wind“
Carole King	“I Feel the Earth Move“
Korn	“Falling Away from Me“
Lenny Kravitz	“Fly Away“
Led Zeppelin	“Stairway to Heaven“
John Lennon	“Imagine“
Jerry Lee Lewis	“Great Balls of Fire“
Limp Bizkit	“Break Stuff“
Local H	“Bound for the Floor“
Los Bravos	“Black Is Black“
Lynyrd Skynyrd	“Tuesday’s Gone“
Martha and the Vandellas	“Nowhere to Run“
	“Dancing in the Street“
Paul McCartney & Wings	“Live and Let Die“
MC Hammer	“Have You Seen Her“
Barry McGuire	“Eve of Destruction“
Don McLean	“American Pie“
Megadeth	“Dread and the Fugitive Mind”
	“Sweating Bullets“
John Mellencamp	“Crumblin’ Down”
	“Paper in Fire”
Metallica	“Enter Sandman“
	“Fade to Black“
	“Harvester of Sorrow“
	“Seek & Destroy“
Mitch Ryder & the Detroit Wheels	“Devil with a Blue Dress On”
Alanis Morissette	“Ironic“
Mudvayne	“Death Blooms“
Ricky Nelson	“Travelin’ Man“
Nena	“99 Luftballons“
Nine Inch Nails	“Head Like a Hole“
Oingo Boingo	“Dead Man’s Party”
Ozzy Osbourne	“Suicide Solution“
Paper Lace	“The Night Chicago Died“
John Parr	“St. Elmo’s Fire (Man in Motion)“
Peter and Gordon	“I Go to Pieces”
	“A World Without Love“
Peter, Paul and Mary	“Blowin’ in the Wind“
	“Leaving on a Jet Plane“
Tom Petty	“Free Fallin’“
Pink Floyd	“Mother“
	“Run Like Hell“
P.O.D.	“Boom“
Elvis Presley	“(You’re the) Devil in Disguise“
The Pretenders	“My City Was Gone“
Queen	“Another One Bites the Dust“
	“Killer Queen“
Rage Against the Machine	All songs by Rage Against the Machine
Red Hot Chili Peppers	“Aeroplane“
	“Under the Bridge“
R.E.M.	“It’s the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)“
The Rolling Stones	“Ruby Tuesday“
Saliva	“Click Click Boom“
Santana	“Evil Ways“
Savage Garden	“Crash and Burn“
Simon & Garfunkel	“Bridge Over Troubled Water“
Frank Sinatra	“New York, New York“
Slipknot	“Left Behind“
	“Wait and Bleed“
The Smashing Pumpkins	“Bullet with Butterfly Wings“
Soundgarden	“Black Hole Sun“
	“Blow Up the Outside World“
	“Fell on Black Days“
Bruce Springsteen	“I’m Goin’ Down“
	“I’m on Fire“
	“War“
Edwin Starr	“War“
Steam	“Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye“
Steve Miller Band	“Jet Airliner“
Cat Stevens	“Morning Has Broken“
	“Peace Train“
Stone Temple Pilots	“Big Bang Baby“
	“Dead & Bloated”
Sugar Ray	“Fly“
The Surfaris	“Wipeout“
System of a Down	“Chop Suey!“
Talking Heads	“Burning Down the House“
James Taylor	“Fire and Rain“
Temple of the Dog	“Say Hello 2 Heaven“
Third Eye Blind	“Jumper“
The Three Degrees	“When Will I See You Again“
Tool	“Intolerance”
The Trammps	“Disco Inferno“
U2	“Sunday Bloody Sunday“
Van Halen	“Jump“
	“Dancing in the Street“
J. Frank Wilson	“Last Kiss“
The Youngbloods	“Get Together“
Zager and Evans	“In the Year 2525“
The Zombies	“She’s Not There“