There are a number of reasons why communism collapsed but I’ve felt for a long time that one of the underappreciated reasons was the the West knew how to have fun. A lot of people look back at the Carter administration as a down point in the Cold War, but I think it was the decisive period in which we turned the corner and proved the superiority of our system. The evidence:
The commies never stood a chance.
My one trip to the old USSR was in 1988, and it was a remarkable time there. I vividly remember walking through the streets of Moscow, Kiev, Odessa…and I absolutely could not get away from hearing Michael Jackson. Especially the Thriller album.
How could they not internalize that we were having a blast and they just weren’t?
He became such a freakshow towards the end that it’s kind of hard to remember what a titanically popular star he was. Bigger than the Beatles I’m guessing. The biggest ever.
Naw even through the freakshow, big time fans never forgot the talent.
Even before his death, MJ was a must play at any and all Black gathering of any kind that involved music…lol
Yeah, but I gotta say…I was lucky enough to see both Jackson (Dallas) and Prince (Austin) in the same summer, 1984, at the height of their popularity. Prince was a way better show. The man is a god. A short god, granted, but a god nonetheless. And he’s continued to do interesting stuff all these years later.
LOL. I visited West Bengal, India in 1991 and saw a poster of Michael Jackson in a kids room (relatives) with one glove attached. A sort of shrine. For decades West Bengal government was run by communist parties.
Still heard him being played there on my last visit 3 years ago.
I thought that Pope John Paul or Gorbachev probably did more than Reagan to bring the barriers down between East and West Europe. Now I’m thinking I was wildly off and missing the obvious.
I know you’re joking, but the fact that life under Communism sucks for almost everyone was probably a major factor in the failure of that system to take permanent root in the world. Yeah, life sucks for many people anyways, but you know. Baby steps.
I’m really not joking. Keep in mind that during the time all those videos were being made, interest rates were like 19% and unemployment was in double digits. We had a hostage crisis. The country was supposed to be in a malaise. But our culture was in total party mode. Decadent? Sure. But so much fun and celebration and individualism and optimism….
We beat the Russkies with Disco.
To be serious for a moment, didn’t that party mode basically explode into AIDS?
This is not to say that Michael Jackson was anything but a fantastic musician. I appreciate his music much more now than I did in the 80s or 90s.
He actually was never much of a musician. But as a songwriter, arranger, and producer (as well as iconic performer), he had no peer.
Well, it was probably a lot more the Beatles, not Disco.
dude I swear the MJ joint just came on my TV on VH1Soul.
Wait, are you secretly a producer for VH1 Soul in your free time???
Naw!!!!
Three dubious musical choices plus one good one, Abba. I think that was the only one of their many hits to go to #1 in America, which always tended to underappreciate them a bit.
DIsco did suck, except for the Trammps song about Burn That Mutha Down, and maybe one BeeGees offering.
Never did care for MJ post-Jackson Five. Yes he had talent, but his sound never appealed to me.
As John Riggins said, “Loosen up, baby.”
If’n I was any looser, I’d be arrested.
Sorry but Abba alone of those picks manages to be a keeper. Underrated as songwriters.
Always thought about the MJ of the 80s onward that his dancing was far ahead of his music. Maybe one or two decent listenable songs.
Never cared for the moron John Riggens either …
Sorry, but you forced my to go nuclear.
How could the communists possibly compete with a nation like this?
Case closed.
The evidence in the form of a mushroom cloud.
KA-BLOOM!!
Yeah, and while I agree that in the old USSR many envied the West our little pleasures, in the new Russia life is measurably worse for most people compared to the old system. One set of crooks replaced another, except that they were often the same old crooks. Lower life expectancy, Crumbling infrastructure. Higher crime rates. But, you know, “freedom”.
I finally found it!! See:
Elvis on Ed Sullivan
Careful Tarheel, you’re dating yourself!
The Soviets used to call this kind of thing decadent western hedonism, and predicted it would lead to our downfall. Boo says that instead it led to theirs. Not so sure that they aren’t both right. (Elvis hips -> Debby Harry’s lips -> no standards at all, for anything? OK , maybe I’m just turnin’ into an old codger. Git offa my lawn!)
I was in the fifth grade when I saw that Ed Sullivan show. Our TV was three years old. Elvis led to Abba led to the collapse of the Soviet Union. The collapse of the Soviet Union took away a reliable long-term enemy (folks still trying to recreate it); we have been looking for enemies ever since; that was our downfall.
To my mind that’s MJ’s high point right there. Everything he did after this had a fake and bizarre taint.
Yup. Off the Wall was Off the Hook.
Don’t forget the Motown/Stax/Atlantic golden era from a years earlier. This earworm has been in my head all day:
You like your bread lines; we like to party.
Nothing beats Bootsy. A true genius.
And another classic from the disco era, starring a proudly gay, cross-dressing, big tall black man gettin’ his groove on:
Shit, I didn’t even realize the first song BooMan posted was by Sylvester too.
I’m not playing.
Eh?
I think we won the Cold War because Marxist-Leninist thought was unable to create a proper pricing system.
I could be wrong about the above, but I am reasonably certain fucking disco had nothing to do with it.
You know what definitely didn’t work? Shooting people.
We won because we broadcast to the world the fun we were having, as well as the wealth our elites were enjoying. If it wasn’t George Clinton and Barry Gibb who felled the Evil Empire, it was Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous.
I still wondering what happen to the End of the Cold War dividend, is it in some Lock Box?
Earth Wind & Fire..
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Earth Wind and Fire
I was born in the early 70s, and this is the first hit song I can remember ever hearing played on heavy rotation. Not sure if it fits the theme of this thread, but hey, after all, “it feels so good.”
We “won” the Cold War by never letting our boots off the neck of the developing world or the Soviet Union after WWII.
Period.
Want to see what winning the Cold War by cheating gave us?
Look the fuck around.
Enjoy being part of the 99% who effectively lost the Cold War while letting your betters (Kochs, Bushs, etc, etc) own and operate the government as their very own.
USA! USA! USA!