Clear Channel Memo Songs: What a Wonderful World

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Tomorrow I’ll start the top ten favorite songs of mine that were on the Clear Channel Memorandum list of songs thought inappropriate after 9/11. Some of those actually make sense. As with a lot of other songs on this list, however, there are some that don’t. But you know what? I kind of understand this one! What a Wonderful World - Louis Armstrong As I’ve mentioned before, the people at I Heart Stupidity/Clear Channel but Not Clear Brains didn’t think “happy” or positive songs were appropriate. Yeah, whatever. However, if you’ve ever seen the movie Good Morning, Vietnam you know the juxtaposition of this song (which came out in 1967, significant because the film was set in 1965 ) playing amid scenes of the escalating violence in South Vietnam was quite powerful. And it’s that section of the film that might have been on the minds of the execs at Clear Channel when they gave a thumbs-down to this song. As for the song’s recording, it was a little on the tumultuous side as well. Picky Wedia says that ABC Records president Larry Newton had to be bodily removed from the late-night recording session because he wanted another “Hello, Dolly,” not the slow-tempo ballad Satchmo was attempting to record. Newton vowed that ABC wouldn’t promote it, hoping to kill it. Oh, no, it’s still here and one of the classics of Armstrong’s career, and of popular music. What a Wonderful World Written by Bob Thiele and George David Weiss Recorded by Louis Armstrong From What a Wonderful World, 1967 The bright blessed day, the dark sacred night: