Yes, it's the centennial of our 40th President's birth, and like it or not, he's not gong away any time soon. Born in 1965, I came of age politically during the Reagan years. It's cold comfort, really, but I have the Gipper to thank (or blame), not just for my youthful radicalization, but for a lot of records in my library.
It's interesting: While the world would surely be a better place today without the (still) crippling legacy of Reagan's politics and policies, I think my record collection and relationship to music would be poorer without Ronnie Ray Gun. Can we really imagine the power of such artists as Public Enemy or Billy Bragg, Gil-Scott Heron or Bruce Cockburn, without the Reagan Revolution?
To be sure, something else would have taken his place, and there's no way to know the direction popular music would have taken without those 8 long years. And yet, songs like "Jokerman" and "Help Save the Youth of America," just for starters, still stun me today.
So thanks, Ronnie: Without you, I probably wouldn't have become a music critic and may not have become a DJ at 88.1 KDHX, an independent, community radio station in St. Louis.
Just to stir debate, and because I love lists, I put together a countdown of 25 great songs about or inspired by the Reagan years on the KDHX website. I start with "Minutes to Midnight" by Midnight Oil and end with, of course, "B Movie" by Gil-Scott Heron. You can see the whole list here:
The 25 greatest songs about Ronald Reagan
Please dispute and challenge and remind me of all the songs I missed.
Thanks for reading. I'm a long-time Daily Kos lurker and this is my first diary. I hope to post more, as it's a great community.
Roy