When Reagan Met Gorbachev: Ultimate Cold War Playlist
On November 19, 1985, Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev met for the first time at the Geneva Summit in an attempt to alleviate Cold War tensions. Spoiler alter: It didn't work. But on the upside, the 46-year-showdown between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. produced more party jams than any other war.
Seriously! Rock, metal, New Wave and punk gave us songs to fit every aspect of Cold War culture: Political chess games (Murray Head's "One Night In Bangkok"), impending doom (Queen's "Hammer to Fall"), post-apocalypse (Nena's "99 Red Balloons"), political activism (Sting's "Russians"), reactionary satire (Randy Newman's "Political Science"), Cold War propaganda (R.E.M.'s "Radio Free Europe") and fear-fueled hedonism (Prince's "1999"). In short, the Cold War sucked, but it was also the bomb. Listen below for proof.
45m
42m
57m
44m
1m
2m
10m
6m
21m
44m
6m
22m
24m
23m
23m
21m
22m
22m
22m
22m
22m
22m
23m
23m
22m
41m
14m
15m
5m
8m
2m
9m
8m
10m
11m
16m
9m
3m
8m
8m
8m
13m
10m
16m
6m
10m
10m
20m
10m
5m
7m
5m
1h 2m
14m
24m
22m
11m
1m
1h 20m
1h 24m
20m
1h 27m
2m
17m
6m
11m
11m
10m
24m
1m
23m
6m