Neil Young sings IMAGINE at Hollywood show for victims

Fox News | 9-21-01 | None

[OKSooner]

This morning on Fox News, they ended a segment with a clip of Neil Young, in his old cowboy hat, singing IMAGINE. This was at last nite's show in Hollywood to presumably benefit the families of the victims of the act of war in New York.

[ppaul]

RE: Your post #105 above.

It was an internet hoax.

[niteowl77]

Thank you!

About the (lack of) flags, though... Tom Hanks now has a cottage industry that mines the agony of G.I.'s in NW Europe. If he and his pals truly honor those men, consider this: those guys knew flags. From the flag emblems on their shoulders, to the flags flying above the CP, to the flags folded into triangles and given after Taps. Why in the hell couldn't Tom Hanks at least have shown one of those, for the love of God? Scores of our military men and women died on 9/11... do they not deserve better? Damn straight!

Ed

As an aside, my wife and I flew to Ft. Benning earlier this month to see our son graduate from basic combat infantry training. By circumstance, he had trained with the same battalion that my uncle had served in from Normandy to the Rhine. I saw the flags crossed in display, and when I lightly touched the battle streamers - Cherbourg, Frenzerburg Castle, Ardennes - I have to admit that the tears ran down my face. "Words have meanings," and so do symbols.

[VMI70]

He sure can.

FReegards,

[PoisedWoman]

at one point there were a lot of black-robed people standing around and it hit me! This looks like a satanic mass or something. A witches' coven.

You're right! I watched the first 20 minutes and detested the look of that cheap set and the lack of continuity and audience....the show looked like it was edited together from clips of "stars" who came into the studio whenever they could get their coke spoons out of their noses over the last week to shine on the public. Some sounded OK, but the visuals displayed their real intent, which you absolutely caught.

Art directors, whether Ho-wood or news media types, know that the images say much more than words ever can...I'm sure you've noticed that they usually choose the worst possible photos of W to display -- especially before the election. (And chose the best of Gore.)

[FormerLurker]

Looking at planks 1-10 of the Communist Manifesto, which planks do you see there that haven't been implemented here in the "Homeland"?

[Paul Atreides]

I honestly don't know how you was able to type all that with a straight face.

[Kevin Curry]

If there WERE more people who valued peace and brotherly love amongst all Men, there would be no such thing as terrorists.

If the whole world were like Bermuda, we could all go to the beach every day.

In this world, peace is achieved by struggle and maintained by force or threat of force. It lasts only as long as the good guys are on top. We're the good guys. Some vicious idealogues from the Middle-East want to topple us. Good intentions and peace slogans don't even register on their radar.

Put on your armor and pick up your sword. Peace is under assault.

[AmericanCheeseFood]

Why wasn't there a barf alert with this post ?

WHY?!?!?!

Cheese .

[xp38]

I am no fan of Young but he has a large body of work to choose from his own writings. Off the top of my head wouldn't Keep On Rocking in the Free World have been so much better?

[aruanan]

Yeah. Like the one you posted above about Clear Channel banning that idiotic song? I wish they had.

Not a rumor--though not a ban. The idea began with a single executive coming up with a list. It was said to have been passed around via email and gathered more titles before finally being distributed. Some stations followed the suggestion, others did not. Here, ppaul, are 3 from 28 stories on Lexis-Nexis for the past week for "Clear Channel" AND "song":

1. The Times (London)

September 20, 2001, Thursday
SECTION: Features
LENGTH: 204 words
HEADLINE: Banned songs
BYLINE: Giles Coren
BODY:

I HAVE before me a quite astonishing list, drawn up by Clear Channel, the biggest radio broadcaster in America, of 150 songs which it has banned from the air in response to the grim national mood. Some of the unsuitable songs I can understand, some not. It seems perfectly reasonable, I suppose, to ban such AC/DC classics as Shot Down in Flames and Safe in New York City, along with the Gap Band's You Dropped a Bomb on Me, Elton John's Rocket Man, and I Feel the Earth Move by Carole King. And I can see why they would want to avoid Great Balls of Fire, I'm on Fire, Disco Inferno, Burning Down the House, Leaving on a Jet Plane and Pink Floyd's Run like Hell.

But is not a ban on Mack the Knife going a bit far? How much harm can come of listening to He Ain't Heavy He's my Brother? or Nena's Ninety-Nine Red Balloons? And the ban on John Lennon's Imagine, When Will I See You Again? by The Three Degrees and Louis Armstrong's What a Wonderful World are crass. Sad times require sad music.

Freedom of expression is always one of the early casualties of war. And censorship should never be taken lightly. Clear Channel would do well to remember that the Taleban prohibit music and singing altogether.

LOAD-DATE: September 20, 2001


2. USA TODAY

September 20, 2001, Thursday, FINAL EDITION
SECTION: LIFE; Pg. 4D
LENGTH: 435 words
HEADLINE: No. 1 radio chain didn't ban songs
BYLINE: Steve Jones
BODY:
Radio stations have been more sensitive about the songs that they play in the aftermath of last week's terrorist attacks. But reports of lists of songs being banned from the airwaves have been exaggerated.

Stories about a list of nationally banned songs stemmed from a meeting of some Clear Channel Communications program directors in the immediate aftermath of the tragedies, discussing what to air in this situation. Clear Channel spokeswoman Pam Taylor says the industry giant -- which operates 1,213 radio stations that span all formats -- never issued any directive about what stations could or should play. Instead, the list was developed from suggestions about potentially offensive songs that depicted graphic violence; referenced falling, explosions, or plane crashes; or seemed too celebratory of New York. Taylor says the list was circulated among stations in the company's Western division but was not any kind of mandate. The free-ranging list -- which was widely circulated on the Internet -- included such diverse titles as Metallica's Seek and Destroy; AC/DC's Safe in New York; Bobby Darin's Mack the Knife; Peter, Paul and Mary's Leaving on a Jet Plane; Jerry Lee Lewis' Great Balls of Fire; and The Drifters' On Broadway.

"This was an effort to help people be sensitive to the unthinkable environment. It's been somehow turned into some sort of evil attempt to control pop music, and that's absurd," Taylor says.

Bob Buchmann, program director of Clear Channel station WAXQ in New York, says that many of the songs on the list, including John Lennon's Imagine, were just what listeners wanted to hear.

Tuesday morning, he says, his classic-rock station observed a moment of silence, dedicated several minutes to songs in keeping with the mood and then began easing back into the songs it would usually play.

Darryl Huckaby, program director of Radio One's Washington-area WKYS, says his urban station has been affected more by the inspirational songs it has added. The only song that raised a red flag was the 1994 hit Juicy by the Notorious B.I.G., which includes the line " . . . Time to get paid, blow up like the World Trade" -- a reference to the 1993 bombing.

Huckaby says program directors at Radio One's 65 stations talked about being cognizant of frayed feelings, but no other songs were singled out. Psalms 23, a song by gospel star and station executive Jeff Majors, was fashioned into a tribute using event sound bites.

"Program directors are using their own discretion right now," Huckaby says.

LOAD-DATE: September 20, 2001


3. September 21, 2001 Friday, FINAL EDITION
SECTION: ENTERTAINMENT, Pg.B2
LENGTH: 445 words
HEADLINE: CRISIS PROMPTS SOME STATIONS TO CUT SONGS
BYLINE: ANTHONY VIOLANTI; News Radio Critic
BODY:
The terrorist crisis is affecting all aspects of American life, including the music being played - and not played - on the radio.

Clear Channel Communications, which operates nearly 1,100 stations across the country but none in Buffalo, has put out a list of songs it suggests local stations shouldn't play.

The list ranges from such staples as Frank Sinatra's "New York, New York" to "Imagine" by John Lennon. Other titles: "Fire" by Arthur Brown; "Sunday Bloody Sunday," U2; "Sabotage," the Beastie Boys; "War" and "I'm on Fire," Bruce Springsteen; "Mack the Knife," Bobby Darin; "Stairway to Heaven," Led Zeppelin and "A Sign of the Times," Petula Clark. Locally, country station WYRK-FM 106.5 and classic rocker WBUF-FM 92.9 have pulled a handful of songs off their play lists.

"We want to be responsible broadcasters and we want to be sensitive to people's feelings," said Jeff Silver, general manager of WYRK and WBUF. "This isn't about censorship, it's about responsibility."

WYRK has pulled "Burn," by Jo Dee Messina; "It's a Great Day to be Alive," Travis Tritt and "Ashes By Now," Lee Ann Womack. WBUF won't play Steve Miller's "Jet Airliner" and Queen's "Another One Bites the Dust."

WBUF, WYRK and WBLK-FM 93.7 are all owned by CBS radio in New York. Silver said all the FM stations have used live and breaking news feeds from CBS stations in New York City and around the nation.

"People want and need information and even though we're music stations, we're going to give it to them."

Dave Universal, program director at contemporary hits WKSE-FM 98.5, said the station wouldn't play "some sensitive stuff" in the early days of the crisis but is now back to normal. "It hasn't been a big issue for us, because we don't play the hard rock or grunge style of music."

Local stations are also adding songs. "We had a tremendous response to Kate Smith's "God Bless America,' and Gordon Sinclair's (reading of a musical essay) "The Americans,' " said Jerry Reo, morning host at WECK-AM 1230. "People asked for the lyrics to Sinclair's song."

WYRK is waving the country music flag with such numbers as Lee Greenwood's "God Bless the USA" and Aaron Tippin's "Star and Stripes" and Eric Horner's "We Will Stand."

Many versions of the "Star Spangled Banner," including one by Jimi Hendrix, have been played locally.

Music even turned up on a talk show. During his talk show, Clip Smith of WBEN-AM 930 played local singer Tom Stahl's song, "Are There Angels," and got 37 calls of support.

"I'm so grateful that WBEN played the song," said Stahl, who will issue a CD single of the song for charity.

e-mail: aviolanti@buffnews.com
LOAD-DATE: September 22, 2001

[Twodees]

"I hope Neil Young will remember... a Southern man don't need him around, anyhow.."

from "Sweet Home Alabama", Lynyrd Skynyrd.

[Long Cut]

Bump-and-a-Half. The Peace Pansies (hereafter referred to as PP's) have been peddling this nonsense for far too long. Reality Check: the human race is simply not set up to "live as one". It cannot happen due to our very natures. What further proof do they need? All we can do is take appropriate steps at defence AND offense and then do what needs to be done.

[Twodees]

That was the closing them for the movie, "The Jack Bull", wasn't it?

[Long Cut]

I happen to have a collection of swords. Strangely, in the last week they've all taken a trip to the hones and oil.

[rocker68]

"The Peace Pansies (hereafter referred to as PP's) have been peddling this nonsense for far too long. Reality Check: the human race is simply not set up to "live as one". It cannot happen due to our very natures. What further proof do they need? All we can do is take appropriate steps at defence AND offense and then do what needs to be done"

Not one person on this thread has said that nothing should be done. Nobody has said that the US shouldn't retaliate. I am all for retaliation, and hard retaliation.

I suggest you read the posts in this thread to understand what is being discussed. Just because I and others are defending Neil Young playing the song "imagine" last night, doesn't mean we are "peace pansies". Get a grip!

[BritBulldog]

It's a ludicriously (sorry about the spelling) overated song anyway.

[doug from upland]

The song has definitely needed a re-write for a long, long time, probably within minutes of its release.

NEW AND IMPROVED "IMAGINE"

[rocker68]

"Like the one you posted above about Clear Channel banning that idiotic song? I wish they had"

That wouldn't surprise me. You are probably all for censoring songs and particular lyrics. What would you want to ban next? Guns?

[.30Carbine]

"Words have meanings," and so do symbols.

Amen. God bless and keep your son.

[be-baw]

By religion he meant the organized variety that we see in Wackostan, not true spiritualness.

Here's what Lennon said about the song:

"It is the concept of positive prayer. If you want to get a car, get the car keys. Get it? 'Imagine' is saying that. If you can imagine a world at peace, with no denominations of religion--not without religion but without the my-God-is-bigger-than-your-God thing--then it can be true."

I think it's a great song. And, I liked Neil Young's cover of it--crazy-lookin' ol' Neil still has a voice that harmonizes with itself.