Rock Arrives

Muscovites had never heard or seen anything quite like it. For ten days, Boney M, a four-member Jamaican reggae-disco group whose recorded tunes consistently top the pop charts of Europe, wriggled and pranced through a sellout engagement at the huge 2,700-seat concert hall at Moscow's Rossiya Hotel, while mounted police held back thousands of other fans and onlookers outside.

Getting tickets for one of the group's eight concerts became an overnight status symbol for the Moscow establishment. As a result, most of the seats went to the privileged-members of the Communist Party, government officials and the cultural elite. Only 10% of the tickets were sold to the general public, and scalpers charged up to 200 rubles ($300) for a five-ruble ($7.50) ticket. One enterprising fan introduced himself at the box office as an aide to U.S. Ambassador Malcolm Toon and disappeared with four tickets reserved for the American embassy.

Reactions to Boney M's flashy feathered costumes and funky music ranged from disgust among the elderly to hand-clapping enthusiasm among the younger set. But one song Muscovites did not get to hear was the group's latest hit, Rasputin. Its lyrics run: "Ra Ra Raspu-teen, lover of the Russian Queen/ Here was a cat that was really gone/ Ra Ra Raspu-teen, Russia's greatest love machine." Soviet officials had cautioned Boney M's producer well in advance of the engagement that the tune might not be appropriate for Moscow audiences.

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