When music becomes controversial - the songs Clear Channel tried to ban after 9/11

Things that seem completely innocent one moment can become controversial in the next, due to a change in circumstances.

9/11 was one of those "changes in circumstances" that altered our reactions to particular songs.

As a contemporary article from the New York Times notes, Clear Channel (now iHeartMedia) sent a list of recommendations to its radio stations regarding music playlists.

Back on September 10, no one would have given a second thought to playing the Gap Band song "You Dropped A Bomb On Me." After 9/11, that wasn't such a good idea.

The Neil Diamond song "America" also made the list. Why? Perhaps because the words "They're coming to America" frightened people at the time.

So why was I reading an old New York Times article? Because on January 20, 2017, radio station KFI - an iHeartMedia station - aired a brief story about "El Chapo" being extradited from Mexico to the United States.

A brief snippet of the Neil Diamond song "America" introduced the story.