[GtrsRGr8]

I hang out elsewhere, and was just passing through. I noticed that someone had posted that this thread needed some action . . . .

Audible had the audio of Burning Down the Haus: Punk Rock, Revolution, and the Fall of the Berlin Wall on sale over the last few days. I almost pulled the trigger on this one, but my budget is busted and, besides, I need to be listening to things related to my day job . . . .

Anyway, the popular notion is that it was Ronald Reagan's challenge, with the Berlin Wall standing behind him, that set things in motion for the Wall to come down. On that occasion, Reagan famously challenged Mikhail Gorbachev, the president of the Soviet Union, "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this Wall." Anyway, the author of this book, Tim Mohr, makes what seems to be a compelling case that there was something else that was a big contributor to the Wall coming down, one that is not often acknowledged--punk rockers!:
It began with a handful of East Berlin teens who heard the Sex Pistols on a British military radio broadcast to troops in West Berlin, and it ended with the collapse of the East German dictatorship. Punk rock was a life-changing discovery. The buzz-saw guitars, the messed-up clothing and hair, the rejection of society and the DIY approach to building a new one: in their gray surroundings, where everyone’s future was preordained by some communist apparatchik, punk represented a revolutionary philosophy—quite literally, as it turned out.

But as these young kids tried to form bands and became more visible, security forces—including the dreaded secret police, the Stasi—targeted them. They were spied on by friends and even members of their own families; they were expelled from schools and fired from jobs; they were beaten by police and imprisoned. Instead of conforming, the punks fought back, playing an indispensable role in the underground movements that helped bring down the Berlin Wall.

This secret history of East German punk rock is not just about the music; it is a story of extraordinary bravery in the face of one of the most oppressive regimes in history. Rollicking, cinematic, deeply researched, highly readable, and thrillingly topical, Burning Down the Haus brings to life the young men and women who successfully fought authoritarianism three chords at a time—and is a fiery testament to the irrepressible spirit of revolution.

Sounds intensely interesting to me. I'll have to listen to, or read it, one of these day.