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How the Beatles Rocked the Kremlin
Monday January 4 & Saturday January 9 at 10 pm ET/PT on CBC News Network
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How the Beatles Rocked the Kremlin
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Note: this film is only available for 30 days after last broadcast.
43:14 min 
In the days of Communist Russia, you could be accused of espionage for listening to the Beatles' infectious tunes on home stereo. But it didn't stop tales of John Lennon sightings from popping up and stories of impromptu Beatles concerts from spreading around the nation. It took a few years for the Beatles music to sneak through the cracks in the Iron Curtain. But when it did it had the same profound effect on youth culture as it did anywhere else, because those cracks represented a respite from Cold War culture as well as all the freedoms, fun and new ideas of the West.
The ramifications of the Beatles era are still felt in Russia today through the dozens of diehard fans who celebrate the music through ingenious modes of expression and with as much, if not more, passion than when they heard it a generation ago. The Beatles inspired some to build their own guitars or to start their own bands while they also spurred the government to go into the bootleg record business. How the Beatles Rocked the Kremlin is a fantastic insight into a little known element of the Beatles legacy.
Produced by Leslie Woodhead for the BBC.
