Living in the USSR, we were redeemed from the neccesity of making a choice. As the western music lovers had Barbra Streisand and Tina Turner in the seventies, we had Alla Pugachova. Somewhere the times, they were a-changing, Diana Ross and Gloria Gaynor conquered the charts around the world, and we still admired Alla Pugachova. Annie Lennox and Madonna came, but we kept loving Alla Pugachova. Then the Soviet Union collapsed, and an era of challenges began, first Maria Carey and Alanis Morissette arrived, then Shakira and Amy Winehouse, and so it was a particularly soothing and safe feeling to have Alla Pugachova....
Thinking of this yesterday, I was whistling one of Alla's countless hits while walking around my Berlin neighborhood. As I hate walking without a reason, I decided to go to that second-hand store selling different kinds of old garbage around the corner. I headed there because they usually have a pile of cheap records, and you'll never believe me when I tell you what I've found there (but I've got a proof, see the picture below) - yes, it's a single of Alla Pugachova, made in GDR!. I didn't hesitate a second to pay 50 cent for it. Now Alla's on my record player while I'm writing this. It's so weird, because she sings in German. And her German is quite good, actually. She could have redeemed the Germans from Nina Hagen, Nena and Lena.... probably something went wrong.
