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July 29, 2004
David Hasselhoff: I, Not Reagan, Ended the Cold War
I bet you think I'm kidding about this, don't you?
Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall. Wait--
first I want to jump it with my Cylon Trans-Am.
Okay, seriously. What on earth could The Hasselhovian possibly have done to end the Cold War?
You won't be surprised to hear that the answer is the same as it is for a thousand other Hasselhoff-based questions. Turns out, he sang a German pop song:
Hasselhoff was already a singing star in Austria and Switzerland when, in 1989, he had the wisdom to cover a 1970s German hit, Auf Der Strasse Nach Suden.
Renaming it Looking for Freedom, with Hasselhoff singing in English, the song raced up the charts in the late summer, just as a wave of revolt began sweeping through Eastern Europe.
By the time Berliners started hacking away at the concrete wall that had divided their city for a generation, the torch-bearing anthem had been number one for several weeks in West Germany.
With its lament, "I've been lookin' for freedom; I've been lookin' so long; I've been lookin' for freedom; still the search goes on," the song embodied the frustrations of Germany's years of division.
Can someone please start playing Hooked on a Feeling in Fallujah?