Only rock 'n' roll? radio killed the Soviet star.THE FALL OF communism has been attributed to many factors, from the system's economic failings to the hard line taken by Ronald Reagan. Hungarian ambassador Andras Simonyi, who in November spoke at Cleveland's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is a museum in Cleveland, Ohio, United States, dedicated to recording the history of some of the best-known and most influential artists, producers, and other people who have in some major way influenced the music industry, particularly in , believes at least some credit is due to the influence of bloc-rocking beats. Simonyi first encountered rock 'n' roll rock 'n' roll: see rock music. in Denmark in the 1960s, a time when Hungary was in the middle of nearly haft a century of Communist rule. "Rock music represented freedom to me," Simonyi says, "freedom I first experienced in Denmark and missed very much after returning to Hungary." One of few young people on his block who spoke English, he embraced the message of rock culture. "Given that rock already carried a revolutionary message in the free West," he says, "you can imagine what effect that music had in the un-free East." The message of rock was heard even by those who didn't understand English. "Nonspeakers instinctively in·stinc·tive adj. 1. Of, relating to, or prompted by instinct. 2. Arising from impulse; spontaneous and unthinking: an instinctive mistrust of bureaucrats. felt that rock music was about freedom--the freedom to form your own band, the freedom to create your own music, the freedom to choose and listen to songs you like best," Simonyi says. He believes it was only natural for those ideas to "spill over Verb 1. spill over - overflow with a certain feeling; "The children bubbled over with joy"; "My boss was bubbling over with anger" bubble over, overflow seethe, boil - be in an agitated emotional state; "The customer was seething with anger" 2. into politics, reinforcing the freedom of speech, freedom of expression, and the free dissemination dissemination Medtalk The spread of a pernicious process–eg, CA, acute infection Oncology Metastasis, see there of ideas," all of which, he says, "scared the hell out of the Communist establishmeat." Hungarian communism collapsed in 1989, and Simonyi, now 51, still believes rock can set you free. "Today, there is criticism that rock is imperialistic im·pe·ri·al·ism n. 1. The policy of extending a nation's authority by territorial acquisition or by the establishment of economic and political hegemony over other nations. 2. ," he says. "Nonsense. Only dictators are afraid of rock." |
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