How weird a time it was

(NYTBR) - ... If, like me, you were still playing Space Invaders and admiring your Styx posters in 1979, then it may come as a surprise to find out just how weird a time it was. Three Mile Island had recently melted down. Skylab was hurtling ­toward a helpless Earth. Throngs of young men were rioting against disco. And gas lines in the sweltering heat were testing the national character, which is what ultimately prompted Carter to ascend his Maryland mountaintop and look deep into the nation’s soul. Continued