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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Entertainment
Interviews by Henry Yates

‘We were being watched by the KGB’: how Scorpions made Wind of Change

Scorpions in 1990.
‘It became the soundtrack to the most peaceful revolution on Earth’ … Scorpions in 1990. Photograph: Dpa Picture Alliance/Alamy

Klaus Meine, vocals/songwriter

Being a West German band made playing the Soviet Union in the late 1980s particularly special. We’d grown up in a divided country and had tried many times to play in East Germany, but they would never let us in. When we did our first gig in what was then Leningrad, the atmosphere was a bit grey, not very colourful or rock’n’roll – but hearts started opening up over the course of the 10 gigs we did in the city. It ended up a bit like Beatlemania, with fans circling our cars after every show.

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