Russian fans of the Beatles records evaded censors by pressing records on x-rays, said Sir Ringo Starr, second left
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Moscow girls made the Beatles sing and shout but if their fans back in the USSR wanted to hear them they had to go to hospital. Speaking to promote his new EP, Crooked Boy, Sir Ringo Starr recalled how Russian Beatlemaniacs got their hands on banned records. “One of their leaders didn’t like our music but people were pressing them on x-rays,” Starr said. These improvised discs, with a centre hole burnt in with a cigarette, were awful quality but cheap and easily shared. “Somebody gave me one and if you hold it up to the light you can see the break in the leg,” Starr said. A Beatles samizdat x-ray tracklist would perhaps go from I’m Down to Doctor Robert, Getting Better
