819 Barry McGuire (1935- ) “Eve of Destruction” 1965

“Unlike other popular songs ‘Eve of Destruction’ was a political dissent song stressing the point that man was on the brink of nuclear annihilation. The significance of the piece was that it was the first protest song dealing with specific issues to reach this height of popularity…In September of 1965, when ‘Eve of Destruction’ was at the top of the national charts, a questionnaire was administered to a stratified sample of sociology students at San Francisco State College ranging from incoming freshmen to graduate students. This choice of sample was predicated upon two considerations: (1) sociology students are generally regarded as more ‘liberal’ in their political views; and (2) the capricious nature of the Top Forty and a local campaign to ban ‘Eve’ from the airwaves prompted the use of the most readily accessible sample” (R. Serge Denisoff and Mark H. Levine, The Public Opinion Quarterly, Spring 1971). 

Barry McGuire “Eve of Destruction”