Bruce Springsteen? The band also recognised the power of the Russian bear in ways that were anything but abstract. It’s now part of the song’s story, whether it’s true or not. Keefe is a staff writer at the New Yorker best known for Say Nothing, his searing portrait of Troubles-era Northern Ireland, which won the National Book Critics Circle’s 2019 award for nonfiction. “But of course not knowing that the wall would come down in November, not knowing that this song could be an anthem for so many people east and west, for reunification, for the end of communism, whatever. Doc McGhee states he never actually met Nikki Sixx’s mom. Kalish took his own eight-figure haul to Panama, the money-laundering capital of the world, and lent his private plane to its leader, Manuel Noriega, so the dictator could fly to Washington DC and meet with William J. Casey, the Director of Central Intelligence. We rely on advertising to help fund our award-winning journalism. That’s ridiculous.”. What it does make me appreciate is what we have in the West. He was in a reality series for VH1 called Supergroup along with Scott Ian, Ted Nugent, Evan Seinfeld, Sebastian Bach and Jason Bonham. In pursuit of his story, he then proceeds to run headlong into countless brick walls. Log in to update your newsletter preferences. Released less than a year before the implosion of the Soviet Union, in 1991, Wind Of Change captured hearts and minds by predicting the end of the Cold War in hopeful strokes that made Give Peace A Chance sound like Friggin In The Riggin. The Livestream review: the boldest virtual gig since Covid. By the middle of that decade, Kiss had become a paradigm of American adolescence. Through the open door of the tiny room in which Stanley and I are sitting, I can see into the inner-sanctum of the dressing-room proper. Keefe considers at one point that he may be the one unwittingly helping spread CIA propaganda. As they did so, unseen forces ransacked their hotel rooms. The story begins with one Harold ‘Doc’ McGhee, a key conspirator in the largest drug deal in the history of the United States. He currently works as a Chairman at McGhee entertainment. As he flits from American media imperialism to the meat-and-potatoes of bedroom conquests - he now claims to have slept with close to 4,000 women - one quickly realises that he's a smarter cookie than can be expected from the simple double entendres of "Calling Dr Love". He posted a song, 'My Story', onto the websites and gained more than 16 million hits. Slate relies on advertising to support our journalism. continue to respect all commenters and create constructive debates. “Then, there was a so-called doctor on board, who was plying the bands… with whatever ‘medicine’ they needed. You can’t get toilet paper here. On December 14 1991, the Russian premier invited Klaus Meine to sing the song at the Moskovskiy Kreml in Red Square. After the state had turned down entreaties from The Doobie Brothers and America, in 1977, in 1977 the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band were granted permission to become the first US act to perform on Russian soil. Stomping off on stack-heels, Mötley Crüe were spirited home to Los Angeles on an Air France jumbo. Please review our, You need to be a subscriber to join the conversation. More pressing still was the very real possibility that his Day-Glo 747 would be denied permission to land on the tarmac at Sheremetyevo International Airport. He made so much jingle that he burned out the motors on three cash-counting machines. He's now drawing my attention to an advertisement for Kiss action-figure toys on the magazine's back cover. Start your Independent Premium subscription today. You can find our Community Guidelines in full here. I met Pekka - a young Finn who works at Heathrow airport - on the flight over. Meanwhile, in 1990, it really looked as though it was the end of the road for Bon Jovi; the British tabloid press might prove the final straw. West Berlin was an island in the middle of the DDR.”, Despite the efforts of Doc McGhee, not everyone was impressed by the Moscow Music Peace Concert. I just liked it.”. In 1991, the band issued a Russian-language version of Wind Of Change that reportedly brought Mikhail Gorbachev to tears. The organization that put on the festival was set up as part of the community service for Doc McGhee, the manager of most of the bands, including Scorpions, as well as a career drug smuggler who had recently been indicted in one of the biggest pot smuggling cases in American history. (All eight episodes are currently available on Spotify and are being released weekly on other platforms.) Most liked, -1) ? And you'll never see this message again. For my rubles, the sight of front man James Hetfield grinding his way through the monstrous Harvester Of Sorrow is the defining sight of Western rock on communist soil. language is not acceptable, Do not impersonate other users or reveal private information about third parties, We reserve the right to delete inappropriate posts and ban offending users without notification, -1) ? We urge you to turn off your ad blocker for The Telegraph website so that you can continue to access our quality content in the future. The latter two groups experienced their rise to stardom under his management. A month after his group’s appearance in Moscow, Klaus Meine sat in his home studio in Hanover and wrote Wind Of Change on a small Yamaha keyboard. From Argo to Zero Dark Thirty, the agency has been adept at pushing flattering portrayals of itself into pop culture. You’ve run out of free articles. At the venue itself, legions of fans arrive with their faces painted like their idols. That would be disrespectful to our bosses, the fans. Most liked. Aretha Franklin? It was a great story, but it never happened. try again, the name must be unique, Please “We were looking at a daylong plane ride with nothing to do,” wrote Tommy Lee, the drummer with Mötley Crüe, in the book The Dirt. Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? “It was really scary, being so close. So precarious were the arrangements for the Moscow Music Peace Festival that, even as he entered Russian airspace, Doc McGhee was unsure as to whether the concerts would take place. The thing is, it might as well have been. Find your bookmarks in your Independent Premium section, under my profile, There are no comments yet - be the first to add your thoughts, There are no Independent Premium comments yet - be the first to add your thoughts, Email already exists. All rights reserved. But it’s a high-end product, like a Pule or a White Stilton Gold. He took a few true things and mixed them together into a much better story. KISS manager Doc McGhee reports all of the band’s ex-members have been contacted about final show. In a towering irony, he enlisted the services of Ozzy Osbourne and Mötley Crüe, who between them were among the most drug-dependent performers in the history of popular music. As a series, Wind Of Change offers spectacular scenery on a journey towards a doubtful destination. After chugging a bottle of vodka, the drummer slugged his manager in the jaw and told him that his services were no longer required. Burnished by his slippery exit from court – even the truck driver of the Louisiana operation breakfasted on porridge for three years – in 1989 the manager announced his decision to stage the Moscow Music Peace Festival. A better band who make better, and more provocative, art, the Berliners sing in their native tongue about their country’s complicated relationship with its recent past while advertising concerts in American stadiums by promising supporters that “we’re going to build a wall (of fire) and you’re going to pay for it”. I'm grateful when he eases up on the verbal bombast and begins showering me with gifts instead. We want to kick God in the butt". It was clear that this was going to be a monumental festival of hypocrisy.”. will be published daily in dedicated articles. 'active' : ''"> I want them to concede that they had a good old belly laugh when they wrote those lyrics back in the 1970s. Enter your email to follow new comments on this article. Keefe is a scrupulous reporter and is careful to make clear what he can and can’t verify, but the idea that the CIA wrote the song is so alluring that many will repeat it, and others will remember it as fact. Newest first, -1) ? try again, the name must be unique, Show{{#moreThan3_total}} {{value_total}} {{/moreThan3_total}} comments, You may not agree with our views, or other users’, but please respond to them respectfully, Swearing, personal abuse, racism, sexism, homophobia and other discriminatory or inciteful ", Simmons says he thanks God for the girls whose Wonderbras are lifted and pointed in his general direction, but adds that the stage is a shrine and all are welcome at the electric church. 'active' : ''"> The Wind Of Change podcast is available in full on Spotify. View Doc McGhee’s profile on LinkedIn, the world's largest professional community. This puzzling but minor incident is the kind of detail with which the Orwell Prize-winning journalist Patrick Radden Keefe runs riot on his Podcast series Wind Of Change. Newest first, -1) ? In June 1994, Klaus Meine received a knock on the door of his Memphis hotel room from a CIA agent. The line-up was completed by Gorky Park, a homegrown hard rock act from the Federal City whose very existence reflected the rapidly changing nature of Russian politics. If you value our work, please disable your ad blocker. By many accounts, it was the Scorpions that heisted the Moscow Music Peace Festival into a bag marked ‘swag’ and spirited it away into the Moscow night. Aboard a private Boeing 747 festooned with a psychedelic paintjob by the artist Peter Max, the travelling musicians carried on like characters in the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers. Sean McGee is a rap artist who comes from Sandusky, Ohio in the United States. Correction, May 18, 2020: This piece originally misspelled Peter Pomerantsev’s last name. He shakes his head quite slowly and deliberately. I get a copy of the Kiss magazine, Kiss sweets, and a Kiss baseball cap. Their shamelessly grandiose stage shows, and glam-rock influenced anthems struck a universal chord. As well as this, in songs such as The Zoo and Still Loving You they had to their credit some of the better hard rock of the pre-Glasnost era. In fact, he is still alive. It's only ridiculous if you don't believe - the same is true of each and every religion.". The reason why most of the intelligence community sources interviewed in the show aren’t willing to totally dismiss the “Wind of Change” theory is that it seems like the kind of thing the CIA would do. Oldest first, -1) ? Please ("What did you do - blow him?" You can also choose to be emailed when someone replies During the interview, Brock told me about visiting Czechoslovakia with the Mothers in 1978 and the euphoric reaction they received from fans hungry for the subversive energy of rock music. It was at this event that Scorpions frontman Klaus Meine was inspired to write “Wind of Change”—at least, according to the official story.

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