The Illuminated Donkey

New Jersey: The Secret Weapon in the Fight Against Communism. There were numerous factors which contributed to the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 — decades of mismanagement, an escalating and financially crippling arms race, an increasingly unhappy populace — but I like to think that my own New Jersey had a little something to do with it. More specifically, Bon Jovi's "New Jersey," which 13 years ago today became the first U.S. album to be released legally in the Soviet Union. (Due to currency restrictions, the Russian label paid for the albums with a truckload of firewood.) The group also helped organize and perform in the Moscow Music Peace Festival, the first of its kind in the U.S.S.R., giving Soviet youth some idea of the glories that awaited them if they overthrew the Communist regime and built some Turnpikes and Skee-Ball alleys.