For the overwhelming majority of the inhabitants of the Soviet Union, all Western pop music was classified as "I don't know, I haven't heard." Everything was changed by the visit to Moscow of the German group Boney M.
On New Year's Eve, January 1, 1977, in the program "Melodies and Rhythms of Foreign Stage", Soviet viewers first saw the German group Boney M. From that moment, their songs sounded in the Land of Soviets, as they would say today, "from every iron." The group instantly became super popular in the USSR.
Vinyl happiness
Probably, some of the Kremlin celestials liked Boney M. How else to explain the fact that already in the next year, 1978, the Soviet company Melodiya bought the rights to publish the Boney M record in the Soviet Union from the German label Hansa. True, this was done not "as best", but "as always." By that time, the group had already released two albums. The unknown music editor of "Melodiya" collected one of them, throwing out such hits as Daddy Cool, Ma Baker, Belfast. What he was guided by in this, one can only guess.
With a circulation of 100 thousand copies, the disc instantly became a shortage. Huge queues lined up behind it, it was sold "with a load" (if you want a Boney M record, be so kind as to buy Lyudmila Zykina's record with it). Those who did not manage to buy the coveted disc in the store for 2 rubles 15 kopecks, right there, around the corner, muddy personalities offered it already at the “market” cost, which reached as much as 25 rubles. Later "Melody" several times reprinted the circulation of its disc Boney M, which was hardly implied by the contract with the Hansa company. But … in the Soviet Union it was in the order of things. Paying the bourgeoisie for copyright once again was somehow not accepted then.
Miraculously
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Towards the end of 1978, incredible rumors began to spread in Moscow. Knowledgeable people whispered that Boney M was about to come to the USSR, and not just anyhow, but at the personal invitation of "dear Leonid Ilyich"!
Whoever actually came up with this bright idea, history is silent about that, but … the circumstances of the group's visit lead to suspicion that it certainly could not have done without the help of some of the inhabitants of the Kremlin. The musicians, management and staff of the group flew from London on a special Aeroflot flight, and several tons of equipment were brought to Moscow on a transport plane of the USSR Air Force. And the official invitation came from the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs. Again, fees. All four musicians were promised £ 400 for each of the 10 concerts. For a popular Western group, money, of course, is ridiculous, but it was currency, not rubles. And for the State Concert of the USSR with its meager rates (Joseph Kobzon, for example, in the same years received 19 rubles per concert), this was a very solid amount. Without a special order from the government, they simply could not allocate it. On the other hand, the 1980 Olympics was approaching, and the Soviet Union needed to improve its international image. And here - a concert of one of the most popular in Europe (in the USA Boney M did not reach any special heights, there were enough of their own black performers) of pop groups, and almost on Red Square itself … a very successful "informational", as they would say today.
It should be noted that for the creator and producer of Boney M, German Frank Farian, the planned visit to the USSR, probably, was also not an ordinary event. During World War II, his father served in the ranks of the Wehrmacht and died in Russia, near Smolensk. It hardly meant anything to a producer who was born in 1941 and never saw his father. In the fall of 1978, Farian held successful negotiations in Moscow, after which an official of the State Concert went to Germany to familiarize himself with the group's repertoire.
Jamaica attacks
And the miracle happened! On December 7, 1978, an Aeroflot plane carrying a Boney M group, attendants and a couple of hundred Western journalists on board landed at Sheremetyevo airport. It was by no means hot in Moscow - about 10 degrees below zero.
The musicians were greeted by the film crew of the Central Television of the USSR and the host of the program "Song of the Year" Tatyana Korshilova. A short interview, and a black "Seagull" with government numbers, accompanied by police cars with flashing lights, takes the artists to the "Russia" hotel. Each performer was provided with a 3-room suite.
In the concert hall (2700 seats) of this, the best at that time, hotel in Moscow, they had to work out 10 concerts. The tour began on December 9th. The officials of the State Concert did without posters, knowing full well that there would be no "extra tickets". At the entrance to the concert hall, a poster was hung with a laconic announcement: "The ensemble of the Caribbean islands is performing." The name of the group - Vopeu M - was not mentioned at all.
Tickets were not allowed on the free sale, they were distributed (not free, tickets cost from four to six rubles) to trade union committees and other public organizations, including those that served veterans and pensioners. However, it would hardly be possible to meet these respected people at the concert. After all, they had children and grandchildren, and the ticket could also be sold for completely different money. The speculators cost 150 and all 300 rubles. And people paid!
Artists - Liz Mitchell, Maisie Williams, Marcia Barrett and dancer (yes, it’s a dancer, not a singer) Bobby Farrell wondered why people in the audience don’t dance? The fact that in the USSR something like that was simply beyond the concept of good and evil, they could not even imagine.
According to Irina Rodnina, “… if not party workers, then their attendants were sitting in the hall. Those to whom they carry tickets. Dentists, directors of grocery stores, grocery stores, car services and others. That is, fat aunts in diamonds and such baggy men in suits."
And these people, by the will of social selection, all as one "respected", experienced a real culture shock. There was no sex in the USSR, according to all the guidelines of the party ideology! And what was happening on the stage swept away the audience unprepared for such an attack with frank animal eroticism! Actress Tatyana Drubich, who was present at the concert, recalls: “Next to me sat such a busty woman in a fluffy angora sweater, the whole concert worried her, she sighed and repeated:“Oh, Lord, oh Lord!”
Moscow is hospitable
After the concert, the musicians were expected to have a hearty dinner with vodka and cognac at the hotel. Oddly enough, food was not included in the room rate, and the artists paid themselves in the buffet. The hotel staff also had to go through many shocking moments. They especially remembered fresh orange juice, which should have been served for breakfast. In the snow-covered Moscow of 1978, to find a centner of the most scarce oranges in order to then mercilessly "spoil" them by squeezing - this literally went beyond the mind of the workers of the Soviet catering.
In their few free hours, the musicians managed to walk around Moscow, amazing Muscovites with their luxurious fur coats, visited the Mausoleum, Lenin Hills (where the musicians had a snowball fight), walked through souvenir shops and held a photo session on Red Square. Of course, under the supervision of the KGB officers. They even filmed several scenes for a future video for the song Rasputin, excluded from the list of performances in Moscow.
After a visit to Moscow, Vopeu M's songs held the top positions in European music charts for a long time, and their records were sold like hot cakes. And even the most prestigious Time magazine published an article Soviet Union: Rasputin Is In, which took up a full spread. However, it was that rare case when everyone got what they wanted. For Frank Farian, it was an indisputable commercial success, and for the Soviet people, the visit of Vopeu M became a truly legendary event.
Alexey LYKOV