Today’s the 14th anniversary of 9/11, of course, so we present this list of songs that Clear Channel sent to its more than 1,100 stations following the attack as a guideline of songs not to play for a while.

The list hasn’t exactly been a secret—the list has its own Wikipedia page. Back in 2008, Snopes.com concluded that Clear Channel had not banned any songs and even took a bit of umbrage that people might be annoyed at the radio network for doing this. And as the New York Times stated, “compliance with the list varied from station to station.”

Similar to Snopes, I’m kinda glad they did this, speaking as a 2001 Manhattan resident. I see it less as censorship and more like a directive of tact and taste in case some of their local programmers weren’t using their thinking caps that month. I’m not crazy about blocking any expression, but at the same time I wouldn’t have been thrilled to hear “Jet Airliner” by the Steve Miller Band come on the radio on September 14th.

I wonder if any sneaky DJs were able to slip in Jonathan Richman’s “Lonely Financial Zone”???

Here’s the list, in alphabetical order:
 

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”
All Rage Against The Machine songs
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”
 
The rest of the list after the jump…
 

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