|
|
Article: More than loans or diplomacy, American music influences Russia.(Knight Ridder Newspapers)
- Article from:
- Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service
- Article date:
- August 7, 2000
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2000 Knight-Ridder/Tribune News Service. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
MOSCOW _ During the communist era, music from outside the Iron Curtain was taboo. Soviet citizens listened secretly to Willis Conover's jazz broadcasts over the Voice of America or nervously scoured the black market for Beatles records.
Now, as American radio executive Bert Kleinman puts it, Russia has gone from "forbidden fruit to fruit salad." American music booms from car radios and shopping malls. Britney Spears, Whitney Houston and Bon Jovi are on the national top 10, along with Joe Cocker, a raspy-voiced Brit. MTV reaches as many as 17 million Russian homes, even though 60 percent of its programming is English-language videos.
In the 10 years since ...