American Mood After Dollar Depreciation and Oil Shock 1974

Modified from Wikipedia:

The Americans (A Canadian's Opinion)
On June 5, 1973, following news that the American Red Cross had run out of money as a result of aid efforts for recent natural disasters, Gordon Sinclair recorded what would become his most famous radio editorial, "The Americans." While paying tribute to American success, ingenuity, and generosity to people in need abroad, Sinclair decried that when America faced crisis itself, it often seemed to face that crisis alone.

At the time, Sinclair considered the piece to be nothing more than one of his usual items. But when U.S. News & World Report published a full transcript, the magazine was flooded with requests for copies. Radio station WWDC-AM in Washington, D.C. started playing a recording of Sinclair's commentary with Bridge Over Troubled Water playing in the background. Sinclair told the Star in November 1973 that he had received 8,000 letters about his commentary.

With the strong response generated by the editorial, a recording of Sinclair's commentary was sold as a single with all profits going to the American Red Cross. "The Americans (A Canadian's Opinion)" went to #24 on the Billboard Hot 100, making the 73-year-old Sinclair the oldest living person ever to have a Billboard U.S. Top 40 hit.

A transcript of the commentary was also recorded by Byron MacGregor, news director of Windsor, Ontario radio station CKLW (AM), and it became an even bigger hit in the U.S., climbing to #4 on the Billboard Hot 100. The more popular MacGregor record is shown here but this is the Sinclair recording. Sinclair was said to be annoyed by MacGregor's recording, which was released as a single before Sinclair's authorized version.[19] At the time, CKLW was owned by Toronto media baron John Bassett. In Canada, Sinclair's version peaked at #30, topping McGregor's, which missed the top 40, stalling at #42.

In May 1974, Sinclair told The Globe and Mail that he was "sick of hearing" the recording and embarrassed by some of the inaccuracies it contained,[20] but that he would still write the same editorial over again.

In 1981, when Ronald Reagan made his first state visit to Canada, he praised Sinclair as a figure who had given the United States a wonderful and inspiring tribute in one of its darkest hours.

The Americans was widely revived on the Internet, radio and newspapers in 2001, following the September 11, 2001, attacks, and again in 2005 in the devastating aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Some revivals of the message incorrectly state that it was newly written as a direct response to recent crises; in this question of its authorship alone, the address has become a part of urban legend.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• dollar
• oil-shock
• OPEC
• stagflation
• terms-of-trade
• depreciation