The Fill In
The Long Play: The Reagan Years, Death of The American Dream,
Aired on Tuesday 27th January 2026, 6:00PM
This week on The Long Play we revisit the Reagan years — a decade when pop, rock, and protest collided with Cold War fear, economic upheaval, and loudly sold American optimism. From Jimi Hendrix’s fractured Star Spangled Banner to Frankie Goes to Hollywood’s nuclear-age dance hit Two Tribes, the episode explores how artists questioned power, patriotism, and inequality from inside the mainstream. Featuring Sting, U2, Midnight Oil, Billy Joel, and Neil Young, the show draws clear parallels between the 1980s and today, reminding us that music isn’t nostalgia — it’s history, still echoing.
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More episodes →Tracklist
- 0:00
Sandy Nelson
Let There Be Drums
- 2:00
Jimi Hendrix
Star Spangled Banner
- 3:00
Bonzo Goes to Washington
5 Minutes (CCC Club Mix)
- 4:00
Lionel Hampton
California Here I Come
- 5:00
Frankie Goes to Hollywood
Two Tribes
- 7:00
Violent Femmes
Old Mother Reagan
- 10:00
Sting (1985)
Russians
- 12:00
U2
Bullet the Blue Sky
- 15:00
Billy Joel (1982)
Allentown
- 20:00
Midnight Oil (1982)
US Forces
- 24:00
Neil Young (1989, Freedom)
Rockin’ in the Free World –
