Beatles helped bring down communism in Russia'
The Beatles helped bring about the downfall of Soviet Communism, according to a documentary to be screened in the United States.
The two-hour film, entitled The Beatles Revolution, explores the phenomenon of the Fab Four, featuring interviews with President Bill Clinton, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards and Salman Rushdie.
Milos Forman, director of Academy Award winning One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest said: "It sounds ridiculous but I'm convinced The Beatles are partly responsible for the fall of Communism."
His claim is backed up by Dr Yury Pelyoshonok, a Canadian based Doctor of Soviet Studies, who grew up in the former USSR in the 1960s.
"The Beatles had this tremendous impact on Soviet kids. The Soviet authorities thought of The Beatles as a secret Cold War weapon," he said.
"The kids lost their interest in all Soviet unshakable dogmas and ideals, and stopped thinking of an English speaking person as the enemy.
"That's when the Communists lost two generations of young people ideologically, totally lost. That was an incredible impact."
Rolling Stone Keith Richards suggests that the music of the 1960s played a big part in bringing about the end of Communism.
"After those billions of dollars, what brought it down? Blue jeans and rock 'n' roll."
At this stage there are no plans to screen the ABC documentary in the UK.
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