10 Rock Music Songs That Got Banned From Certain Countries
1. A Whole Bunch Of Stuff Post-9/11 (United States)
Naturally, a lot of big decision were made in the wake of the September 11th 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, but the most interesting one regarding music was the Clear Channel memorandum.
Clear Channel Communications, who owned more radio stations in the United States than anybody else, issued a list of songs that were not to be played whilst America recovered from this most shocking of incidents.
The songs listed mostly revolved around themes of flying, destruction, death, and plenty of other things people would not have wanted to hear at the time.
Rock songs on the list included Alien Ant Farm's cover of Smooth Criminal, Don McLean's American Pie, and Van Halen's Jump, as well as several AC/DC records (Highway to Hell, Shoot to Thrill, Shot Down in Flames etc.) and anything by Rage Against the Machine.
Though some of these decisions might seem a bit drastic by today's standards, it's important to remember just how chaotic things were in the wake of 9/11. The Clear Channel memorandum serves as a fascinating insight into a time where nobody really knew what was going on or what would happen next.