On this day in 2001, US radio stations are asked to retire a large amount of songs in response to the then-recent 9/11 attacks.
On September 11, 2001, the United Stated experienced one of the largest terrorist attacks in modern history when a series of hijackings resulted in aircraft hitting the World Trade Center in New York City, and The Pentagon in Virginia.
The attacks saw immediate responses from organisations all around the world, including Clear Channel Communications (now known as iHeartMedia), the largest owners of radio stations in the USA.
Just a handful of days after the attacks, Clear Channel Communications drafted a list of songs that they deem to feature “questionable” lyrics, which may be inappropriate to play in the wake of the 9/11 attacks.
The list of songs is circulated around the country, and lists a total of 165 songs by a number of artists, including the likes of Red Hot Chili Peppers, Soundgarden, Stone Temple Pilots, and Elton John. Notably, seven AC/DC tracks are listed (including ‘Safe in New York City’), while every song by Rage Against The Machine is covered with a single mention.
While many of these songs have since returned to radio stations all around the US, their very existence and placing on this notable list were the subject of much media attention for a number of years.
Check out AC/DC’s ‘Safe In New York City’:
Check out the full list of tracks:
3 Doors Down, “Duck and Run”
311, “Down”
AC/DC, “Dirty Deeds”
AC/DC, “Hell’s Bells”
AC/DC, “Highway to Hell”
AC/DC, “Safe in New York City”
AC/DC, “Shoot to Thrill”
AC/DC, “Shot Down in Flames”
AC/DC, “TNT”
Ad Libs, “The Boy from New York City”
Alanis Morissette, “Ironic”
Alice in Chains, “Down in a Hole”
Alice in Chains, “Rooster”
Alice in Chains, “Sea of Sorrow”
Alice in Chains, “Them Bone”
Alien Ant Farm, “Smooth Criminal”
Animals, “We Gotta Get Out of This Place”
Arthur Brown, “Fire”
Bangles, “Walk Like an Egyptian”
Barenaked Ladies, “Falling for the First Time”
Barry McGuire, “Eve of Destruction”
Beastie Boys, “Sabotage”
Beastie Boys, “Sure Shot”
Billy Joel, “Only the Good Die Young”
Black Sabbath, “Sabbath Bloody Sabbath”
Black Sabbath, “Suicide Solution”
Black Sabbath, “War Pigs”
Blood Sweat and Tears, “And When I Die”
Blue Oyster Cult, “Burnin’ For You”
Bob Dylan/Guns N Roses, “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door”
Bobby Darin, “Mack the Knife”
Boston, “Smokin”
Brooklyn Bridge, “Worst That Could Happen”
Bruce Springsteen, “Goin’ Down”
Bruce Springsteen, “I’m On Fire”
Buddy Holly and the Crickets, “That’ll Be the Day”
Bush, “Speed Kills”
Carole King, “I Feel the Earth Move”
Cat Stevens, “Morning Has Broken”
Cat Stevens, “Peace Train”
Chi-Lites, “Have You Seen Her”
Creedence Clearwater Revival, “Travelin’ Band”
Dave Clark Five, “Bits and Pieces”
Dave Matthews Band, “Crash Into Me”
Dio, “Holy Diver”
Don McLean, “American Pie”
Drifters, “On Broadway”
Drowning Pool, “Bodies”
Edwin Starr/Bruce Springstein, “War”
Elton John, “Benny & The Jets”
Elton John, “Daniel”
Elton John, “Rocket Man”
Elvis, “(You’re the) Devil in Disguise”
Everclear, “Santa Monica”
Filter, “Hey Man, Nice Shot”
Fontella Bass, “Rescue Me”
Foo Fighters, “Learn to Fly”
Frank Sinatra, “New York, New York”
Fuel, “Bad Day”
Godsmack, “Bad Religion”
Green Day, “Brain Stew”
Happenings, “See You in Septemeber”
Hollies, “He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother”
J. Frank Wilson, “Last Kiss”
Jackson Brown, “Doctor My Eyes”
James Taylor, “Fire and Rain”
Jan and Dean, “Dead Man’s Curve”
Jerry Lee Lewis, “Great Balls of Fire”
Jimmy Hendrix, “Hey Joe”
John Lennon, “Imagine”
John Mellencamp, “Crumbling Down”
John Mellencamp, “I’m On Fire”
John Parr, “St. Elmo’s Fire”
Judas Priest, “Some Heads Are Gonna Roll”
Kansas, “Dust in the Wind”
Korn, “Falling Away From Me”
Led Zeppelin, “Stairway to Heaven”
Lenny Kravitz, “Fly Away”
Limp Bizkit, “Break Stuff”
Local H, “Bound for the Floor”
Los Bravos, “Black is Black”
Louis Armstrong, “What A Wonderful World”
Lynyrd Skynyrd, “Tuesday’s Gone”
Martha & the Vandellas, “Nowhere to Run”
Martha and the Vandellas/Van Halen, “Dancing in the Streets”
Megadeth, “Dread and the Fugitive”
Megadeth, “Sweating Bullets”
Metallica, “Enter Sandman”
Metallica, “Fade to Black”
Metallica, “Harvester or Sorrow”
Metallica, “Seek and Destroy”
Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels, “Devil with the Blue Dress”
Mudvayne, “Death Blooms”
Neil Diamond, “America”
Nina, “99 Luft Balloons/99 Red Balloons”
Nine Inch Nails, “Head Like a Hole”
Norman Greenbaum, “Spirit in the Sky”
Oingo Boingo, “Dead Man’s Party”
P.O.D., “Boom”
Paper Lace, “The Night Chicago Died”
Pat Benatar, “Hit Me with Your Best Shot”
Pat Benatar, “Love is a Battlefield”
Paul McCartney and Wings, “Live and Let Die”
Peter and Gordon, “A World Without Love”
Peter and Gordon, “I Go To Pieces”
Peter Gabriel, “When You’re Falling”
Peter Paul and Mary, “Blowin’ in the Wind”
Peter Paul and Mary, “Leavin’ on a Jet Plane”
Petula Clark, “A Sign of the Times”
Phil Collins, “In the Air Tonight”
Pink Floyd, “Mother”
Pink Floyd, “Run Like Hell”
Pretenders, “My City Was Gone”
Queen, “Another One Bites the Dust”
Queen, “Killer Queen”
Red Hot Chili Peppers, “Aeroplane”
Red Hot Chili Peppers, “Under the Bridge”
REM, “It’s the End of the World as We Know It”
Rickey Nelson, “Travelin’ Man”
Rolling Stones, “Ruby Tuesday”
Saliva, “Click Click Boom”
San Cooke Herman Hermits,, “Wonder World”
Santana, “Evil Ways”
Savage Garden, “Crash and Burn”
Shelly Fabares, “Johnny Angel”
Simon And Garfunkel, “Bridge Over Troubled Water”
Skeeter Davis, “End of the World”
Slipknot, “Left Behind, Wait and Bleed”
Smashing Pumpkins, “Bullet With Butterfly Wings”
Soundgarden, “Blow Up the Outside World”
Soundgarden, “Fell on Black Days,” Black Hole Sun”
Steam, “Na Na Na Na Hey Hey”
Steve Miller, “Jet Airliner”
Stone Temple Pilots, “Big Bang Baby,” Dead and Bloated”
Sugar Ray, “Fly”
Surfaris, “Wipeout”
System of a Down, “Chop Suey!”
Talking Heads, “Burning Down the House”
Temple of the Dog, “Say Hello to Heaven”
The Beatles, “A Day in the Life”
The Beatles, “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds”
The Beatles, “Obla Di, Obla Da”
The Beatles, “Ticket To Ride”
The Clash, “Rock the Casbah”
The Cult, “Fire Woman”
The Doors, “The End”
The Gap Band, “You Dropped a Bomb On Me”
Third Eye Blind, “Jumper”
Three Degrees, “When Will I See You Again”
Tom Petty, “Free Fallin’”
Tool, “Intolerance”
Tramps, “Disco Inferno”
U2, “Sunday Bloody Sunday”
Van Halen, “Jump”
Yager and Evans, “In the Year 2525”
Youngbloods, “Get Together”
Zombies, “She’s Not There”
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