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But Soviet young people who danced to Dschinghis Khan at discos told each other that the chorus was translated from German as: “Moscow-Moscow – We will throw bombs, We will dance on the ruins of the Kremlin!” And they sang along these lines in Russian! There were several other options, including: “Moscow-Moscow, we did not break in 1941, we break in 1980” or “Genghis Khan did not take Moscow, Hitler did not take Moscow, but we will.”
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The lyrics are completely harmless and full of cliches about Russia. Obviously, the matter is in the main hit of this West German group – Moskau. Talking Heads – the myth of the Soviet threatĭschinghis Khan – anti-communism, nationalism Rolling Stones – violence, permissiveness It seems that the listmaker had to stick this label to a dozen groups and did it in random order. If you know it, write in the comments of the video.Īs in many other cases, it is impossible to understand what neo-fascism has to do with it. Probably they meant “Time Machine.” I have never heard of such a group. This is, of course, the Scorpions – violence.
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Secondly, we see an explanation of what exactly this perversion consisted of: “Soviet aggression in Afghanistan.” It’s about a short song Get Your Filthy Hands Off My Desert, which contains the next line: “Brezhnev took Afghanistan.” First, only Pink Floyd ‘s 1983 album The Final Cut was banned. Pink Floyd – a perversion of USSR foreign policyĪnother similar list, created in Mykolayiv in 1985, contains a clarification of this charge. And it is possible that KISS was named as neo-fascists for this reason. Here I want to note that, as in the case of AC / DC, there were rumors about the hidden meaning of the group’s name – including that it stands for Kinder SS. Maybe you thought it was homosexuality again as in the previous case (the band leader Rob Halford is possibly the most famous gay in rock music), but no, it was racism. I would like to remind you that homosexuality was considered a criminal offense in the USSR. One of the Village People ‘s biggest hits, YMCA, has become a gay anthem of sorts. In the list it is written exactly like this – “Ban Heilen,” but the author meant “Van Halen.” Blessed memory of Eddie Van Halen, who died this year.Įverything is obvious: the band was created with the expectation of popularity among the gay audience, and the image of its members was appropriate. What about neo-fascism? Maybe it was the song “ Night of the long knives ” released by the Australians in 1981.īy the way, the popular myth that the name of the group means “Anti Christ / Death to Christ” or “Anti-Christ / Devil’s Child” was also popular in the USSR.īlack Sabbath – violence again, religious obscurantism It is indicated in parentheses which alien ideas and trends the team promotes ”.Īnd the first was Iron Maiden, banned for violence and religious obscurantism. We are sending an approximate list of groups. “… in order to strengthen the fight against the influence of bourgeois ideology, to raise the ideological and artistic level of amateur music ensembles … we recommend that you prohibit the playing and demonstration of gramophone records, compact cassettes, videos, books, posters and other products reflecting the activities of the following groups, whose repertoire contains ideologically and morally harmful works. This version of the list was signed in 1983 and was intended for the directors of houses of culture, discos, rural clubs in the Tula region of Russia. Now I will tell you which bands and singers were banned and how that ban was explained. The main purpose of this list was to prevent the songs of “harmful” groups from being played at discos and spoiling Soviet youth. The document was sent to local Komsomol committees and other cultural institutions. We don’t know who compiled this list, but most likely it was not the KGB. They were found in the archives by different people (not me) and published. There are several known variants of this list (with slight differences), dating from 1983-1985. Therefore, the records of most popular rock bands and pop singers were not released or sold legally in the Soviet Union, those musicians didn’t come to the country with concerts, the newspapers wrote only bad things about them. The communists were convinced that music, fashion, films and, in general, the entire mass culture and counterculture from the West were weapons of the Cold War – no less dangerous than bombs.
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This is a list of bands and singers banned in the USSR. Is your favorite band on this list of 50 musical groups deemed “harmful” and outlawed during the USSR?
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