Blacklisted in the USSR

Back in the day, when Soviet trawlers regularly docked in St. John's, Russian fishermen would sell their old LPs at Fred's Records on Duckworth Street so they could get some money to buy essentials (cigarettes, condoms and rusty old Ladas). While browsing the used vinyl, I remember coming across albums by Bon Jovi and Queen on the "Melodiya" label, but there's a reason I never saw any Russian albums by Pink Floyd or AC/DC:

It is one of the strangest line-ups of rock and pop stars ever, a place where the Sex Pistols, Madness and AC/DC rub shoulders with Village People, Donna Summer and Julio Iglesias.

But what these, and 32 other acts, have in common is even more surprising: they were all on a secret blacklist issued by the communist authorities in the former Soviet Union.

[...]

The blacklist, titled 'The approximate list of foreign musical groups and artists, whose repertoires contain ideologically harmful compositions', was drawn up by Komsomol, the Communist Party's Youth Wing. It was written in the obscure and verbose language of Soviet bureaucracy and riddled with classic Cold War paranoia.

Despite their left-wing street-cred in the West, the Clash were banned for "punk and violence", as were, among others, the B-52s, the Stranglers and Blondie.

Heavy metal acts such as Black Sabbath, Nazareth, Iron Maiden and Judas Priest were blacklisted for supposed offences including religious obscurantism, violence, racism and anti-communism.

Talking Heads joined the list for "myth of the Soviet military threat" and Pink Floyd were blacklisted for "distortion of Soviet foreign policy".

But more mainstream acts also fell foul of the communist authorities. The Village People were deemed 'violent', Tina Turner was banned for "sex", Summer for "eroticism" and several artists, including Iglesias and 10cc, for "neo-fascism". (via Colby Cosh)

Damian P.

Posted by damian at June 27, 2006 07:49 AM