Steve Karas
THE REACTIONS KEEP COMING
For the complete list of songs click here.
Among the titles on the list are such choices as AC/DC’s "Shot Down in Flames" and "TNT," Oingo Boingo’s "Dead Man’s Party," Queen’s "Another One Bites the Dust," Kansas’ "Dust in the Wind," U2’s "Sunday Bloody Sunday," Elton John’s "Daniel" and "Rocket Man," Jerry Lee Lewis’ "Great Balls of Fire," the Rolling Stones’ "Ruby Tuesday," the Gap Band’s "You Dropped a Bomb on Me," the Beatles’ "A Day in the Life," the Bangles’ "Walk Like an Egyptian" and many others.
In addition, all songs by political rap-rockers Rage Against the Machine have been targeted as questionable.
Among current songs, "Boom," by Christian rock band P.O.D. has been deemed questionable, while the group’s "Alive," the following track on the same album, has taken on a life of its own as a rallying cry.
Other current titles include Saliva’s "Click Click Boom," Mudvayne’s "Death Blooms," Fuel’s "Bad Day," Alien Ant Farm’s "Smooth Criminal," System of a Down’s "Chop Suey," Bush’s "Speed Kills" and Drowning Pool’s "Bodies."
For its part, Wind-up Records, Drowning Pool’s label, is hoping that people, including radio programmers, don’t lose sight of the fact that lyrical images can have meanings other than what they might appear to have in the wake of this week’s devastation. Says Wind-up VP Publicity Steve Karas: "From the very beginning, ‘Bodies’ was never about anything more than the kids moshing. It’s a cry for them to join together—it never had any meaning of violence in any way. Wind-up is a New York-based company, and everybody has friends that have somehow been affected by the tragedy. We can obviously understand people’s concerns, and we’re very sympathetic, but the meaning of the song still is as it was in the beginning, which is really a cry for togetherness."
Meanwhile, those in the music business both here and abroad continue to react to Tuesday’s tragedy with event cancellations and relief efforts. A handful of examples of what people are doing:
• Demonstrating the far-reaching effects of the WTC/Pentagon attacks, Britain’s Farm Aid benefit concert has been called off, Reuters reports. In London, where yesterday the Queen’s palace guard band played the U.S. national anthem in tribute to those affected by the disaster, Farm Aid organizers announced the cancellation of the show, which had been scheduled for Oct. 27 and was expected to draw as many as 50,000 to hear Coldplay, Toploader and Ash. "Due to the horrendous events in America, we have had to cancel our Farm Aid concert in Cardiff," a statement read. "Everyone’s thoughts will be, for a long time, directed towards the terrible loss of life and the consequences that it will bring to many thousands of people."
• Responding to the outpouring of patriotic gestures since the tragedy, Arista Chairman/CEO Antonio "L.A." Reid says Arista will re-release Whitney Houston’s rendition of the national anthem, recorded during the Gulf War, with proceeds to be donated to the relief effort.
• Radio stations continue to respond. In Atlanta, at least seven stations joined together to collect money for the Red Cross, broadcasting live remotes and encouraging listeners to give at various malls and other donation locations. In Los Angeles, country station KZLA gave away American flags to listeners stopping by the station to donate money to the relief effort, while across town, Power 106’s Big Boy asked each of the station’s 1.6 million listeners to donate just $1 each toward a goal of raising $1.6 million for victims of the attacks. In Chicago, over 30 programmers met yesterday and agreed to cease broadcasting for one minute today in support of the city’s "Moment of Remembrance" from 11:59 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. CDT. After the silence, all participating stations played Ray Charles’ "America the Beautiful."
• Reaction from musicians included Rage Against the Machine’s Tom Morello, who posted the following politically charged statement on RATM.com: "Our deepest sympathy and condolences go out to all the people and their families affected by the attacks on Tuesday. The loss of innocent life is just terrible, and our thoughts go out to all of you who personally may have had friends or family killed or injured in the tragedy. The pain felt across the country demonstrates the lesson of Tuesday's events: that the taking of innocent life is devastating to a society and terribly wrong. On Tuesday, the victims were American. But the horrible scenes that we've witnessed on TV this week are regular occurrences in other places around the globe. And too often, violence like this has been meted out by our own country and its client states. We should stand together against this type of violence in all its forms, whenever it happens, whether its done in the name of religious fanaticism, or in the names of our own domestic elite. Our best wishes go out to all of you. Take care of yourselves, and each other. Peace, Tom Morello."
• Britney Spears declined to carry on with a press conference from Australia announcing the launch of her new album out of respect for the victims of the attacks.
• Heavy-music franchise Pantera, meanwhile, pulled out of the "Tattoo the Planet" European tour, citing safety concerns. Co-headliners Slayer, however, have announced they intend to go on with the tour.
• In Los Angeles, Epic’s Macy Gray and Wherehouse Music canceled an in-store appearance by Gray in support of her new album. Ads promoting the appearance, which had been scheduled for Sept. 21, have been pulled.
