Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev's late 80's glasnost policy encouraged freedom of expression and relaxed the suppression of media. This allowed for two things: Public dissent against the soviet state and a Billy Joel pit-stop on his world tour supporting The Bridge. Joel was the first American pop star to tour Russia with a full stage show, and this recording presents his first press conference after it was announced.
0:00 - Thank you's for putting the tour together
0:55 - Going to the Soviet Union as a musician and not a politician, increasing…entire summary
Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev's late 80's glasnost policy encouraged freedom of expression and relaxed the suppression of media. This allowed for two things: Public dissent against the soviet state and a Billy Joel pit-stop on his world tour supporting The Bridge. Joel was the first American pop star to tour Russia with a full stage show, and this recording presents his first press conference after it was announced.
0:00 - Thank you's for putting the tour together
0:55 - Going to the Soviet Union as a musician and not a politician, increasing communication
02:15 - The details involved in the production of a big rock show in the Soviet Union, jamming with other bands
03:43 - Playing Cuba in '79 inspired Soviet Union tour
04:20 - Ticket distribution, scalpers, size of venues, having a diverse audience
05:55 - Do art and entertainment differ in places like Havana? Kids just want to rock 'n roll, we have more in common than we know
06:55 - Kids in Leningrad play air guitar just like kids in the States
07:50 - Familiarity with contemporary and classical Russian music
08:10 - Making money on tour, taking a film crew, ticket prices
08:55 - Significance of this tour? The music is the message, a line of communication
09:40 - Special songs for Russian audience? Learning Russian, tweaking the show for the Russian audience
11:55 - Popularity in Russia
12:12 - Possibility of a live album or TV special
12:57 - No restrictions on the live act in Russia
13:30 - Initiating and negotiating the tour
14:10 - Having a translator, "winging it" on stage
15:12 - The possibility of other artists coming to the Soviet Union, why Billy was first
16:40 - No opening act, just 2 hours of Billy Joel
17:35 - More exchange of music between the Soviet Union and the U.S.
18:20 - Playing "New York" songs in Soviet Union
19:15 - Venues, big arenas, lack of chairs
20:10 - How the rest of the band feels about the tour
20:58 - Spending personal time in Russia, "cornball tourist"
21:58 - Returning home after the tour, spreading the word somehow
22:50 - Intentionally announcing the tour on May Day
23:27 - No album distribution in Soviet Union, bootlegs, discussing future releases
24:05 - Being somewhere new, bringing the entire show, crowd control, underwear on stage, how the Soviet audiences respond to music
26:55 - Doing press during the tour, getting critiques
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