BLACK SABBATH Among Most 'Ideologically Harmful' Bands On Secret Soviet Rock List

May 28, 2006

According to a report published in the U.K.'s The Guardian, BLACK SABBATH were named as one of 38 "ideologically harmful" foreign groups in a list sent out in January 1985 by the secretary of the Communist party's youth wing in Ukraine to its local committees. The information, he wrote, was provided "for the purpose of intensifying control over the activities of discotheques." Other dangerous agents were, among others, VILLAGE PEOPLE and TINA TURNER.

Though the list described itself as "approximate," specific charges were levelled against each group. With the notable exception of PINK FLOYD, few were accused of circulating anti-Soviet propaganda. Instead, DONNA SUMMER and TINA TURNER promoted "eroticism" and sex; CANNED HEAT homosexuality. THE VILLAGE PEOPLE were only charged with "violence," a label also imposed on the B-52S, BLACK SABBATH and the CLASH. BLACK SABBATH was additionally dangerous for its "religious obscurantism."

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