The Great KGB Punk Conspiracy

Published: Oct. 21, 2020, 4 a.m.

b'You may be aware of a podcast that came out in the spring of 2020 that sought to get to the bottom of a certain musical mystery\\u2026it\\u2019s called \\u201cwind of change\\u201d and it explores the possibility that a metal power ballad was a contributing factor to the fall of the soviet union in the very early 90s\\u2026\\n\\nStay with me\\u2026 \\u201cWind of Change\\u201d was a global hit for The Scorpions; a metal band out of Hanover in what was then WestGermany\\u2026\\n\\nThe Scorpions sing in English\\u2026but they also recorded a Russian version under the name \\u201cVeter Peremen\\u201d\\u2026and when the song was released on January 20, 1991, it became a worldwide hit\\u2026\\n\\nEstimates are that it sold 14 million copies\\u2026it\\u2019s the best-selling single by any German artist\\u2026and because it was such a big hit in the USSR, the band presented Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev a gold record\\u2026even today, the song is a massive, massive hit among several generations of fans in Eastern Europe\\u2026\\n\\nFor years, rumours have swirled about this song\\u2026it is said that it was the product of a CIA operation design to destabilize Soviet society with its message of change and revolution\\u2026it worked so well that by the end of 1991, the Soviet Union had crumbled\\u2026\\n\\nDid the CIA commission someone to write \\u201cWind of Change,\\u201d get The Scorpions to record it, which somehow helped bring about the end of the USSR from within?...I\\u2019m not going to cover that here, so you\\u2019ll have to listen to the podcast\\u2026\\n\\nBut I can tell you that this might not have been the first time rock music was used by a foreign intelligence operation to drive a wedge into a specific society\\u2026the popular music of the west\\u2014especially the music produced by the USA\\u2014was feared by Soviet bloc authorities\\u2026but the Soviets also knew that music could also be a weapon against the west\\u2026\\n\\nHere\\u2019s another theory\\u2026could it be that punk rock was actually KGB plot against the west?...did things also operate in the opposite direction\\u2026here\\u2019s what we know\\u2014or at least think we know\\u2026\\nLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices'