The USSR had some pretty strict rules on what media was permitted under state guidance, and a list published in 1985 showed reasons why acts were banned.

Who left from Russian cultural figures who speak ill of their native country should not be allowed back into the Russia, they ...

(SOUNDBITE OF GULSHAN FEATURING MAKHFIRAT KHAMRAKULOVA SONG, "REZABORON") SOHONIE: There was not only a call from the very top to say, you know, you have to promote Soviet artists. It was Soviet ...

Shura followed soon after. They became part of an exodus of Russian artists who were unable or unwilling to accommodate themselves to the new climate of censorship and state control. But many more ...