"Goodbye T.M.I.," by Gary and the Outriders

Although "TMI" simply means "too much information" to most of us, residents of central Pennsylvania also use it to refer to the Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station, a nuclear power plant situated on an island in the Susquehanna River that's three miles downriver from the borough of Middletown and twelve miles from the city of Harrisburg, the state capital.

Thirty-five years ago--on March 28, 1979--one of TMI's two nuclear reactors experienced a partial nuclear meltdown, which the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission still calls the "most serious accident in U.S. commercial nuclear power plant operating history." The partial meltdown resulted in a release of radioactive materials, and pregnant women and young children living within a 20-mile radius of the plant were advised to evacuate the area. It took several days until plant operators were certain that the situation was under control.

Gary and the Outriders, a local music group, recorded an original song, "Goodbye T.M.I. (The Ballad of Three Mile Island)," and released it as a 45 rpm record. Its catchy melody contrasts with its dire refrain: "Goodbye, goodbye to your life, T.M.I." To hear the song, check it out on YouTube: Gary & The Outriders - Goodbye T.M.I. (1979).

For another musical reaction to the TMI accident, see the cover of the record album, Potter County Was Made by the Hand of God But the Devil Made Three Mile Island, on Flickr.