Wednesday, April 1, 2009 Dyscotopia


So April 1st has come and gone without Conficker bringing about a new Dark Age. I can't help but be a little disappointed. I always suspected I'd be around for the End of Civilization As We Know It. It's probably for the best that I'm not, as I'm too old and out of shape to do little more than provide a nice meal for some neo-cannibals. Still, recent events, my 2 Tone post, and my buddy QuiteContrary's rediscovery of the word "dystopian" has me in a retro-apocalyptic mood.

Our parents may have grown up with the possibility of nuclear war, but we Gen X'ers believed it was a certainty. After all, we came of age under a President whose religious convictions preached that Armageddon was not just inevitable but desirable. Sabre-rattling between the United States and Russia hit a height that had not been seen since the Cuban Missile Crisis, except this time around, our leader was joking in public about launching the nukes.

Meanwhile, one of Prime Minister Thatcher's advisors was proposing permanent incarceration for the infected as a solution to the emerging AIDS crisis. Crack cocaine appeared, and violence in urban areas skyrocketed. Chernobyl went boom. Our nation was waging undeclared wars in Latin America while the Soviets invaded Afghanistan*. It seemed like all the ingredients were coming together for a heaping bowl of DOOM.

Of course, being typical teenagers suffering from typical teenage angst, we ate it up with a spoon. We did try to have fun with it, though. We went to movies like The Road Warrior and Escape From New York, played a post-apocalyptic RPG called Aftermath!, and listened to music that we felt reflected the times.

Here's a hastily slapped-together playlist of some of the songs that fueled such morbid thoughts. They're all punk and New Wave songs from the era (although I cheated a bit and included a PWEI track from '89) with relevant lyrics or a thematically-appropriate music video. I left off that REM track on purpose, but I'm sure I've completely forgotten some others. Let me know what I've missed.
Blondie - Atomic
Call, the - The Walls Came Down
Clash, the - London Calling
Duran Duran - Planet Earth
Fixx, the - Red Skies
Heaven 17 - Let Me Go
Idol, Billy - Dancing With Myself
Killing Joke - Eighties
Police, the - When the World Is Running Down
Pop Will Eat Itself - Def. Con. One
Red Riders - Lunatic Fringe
Ruts, the - Babylon's Burning
Sex Pistols - God Save the Queen
Sigue Sigue Sputnik - Love Missile F1-11
Siouxsie & the Banshees - Cities in Dust
Smiths, the - Panic
This Mortal Coil - Strength of Strings
UB40 - The Earth Dies Screaming
Click on the link below to access the Rapidshare download page and do your fascist groove thang.


*That trick never works.

1 comments:

Quite Contrary said...

Hmmm...am wondering how many of these I will remember once I hear them...yeah!