For decades, the policymakers of the Soviet Union strove to protect the Soviet populace from the supposedly demoralizing influence of the U.S.-centered mass culture of the capitalist world. As a counterbalance to Hollywood movies and Western rock music, an alternative cultural space was created.

Along with the multi-ethnic culture of the Soviet Union, it consisted of translated literary texts, films and popular music from ideologically friendly or neutral countries.

This world had its own pop-stars: Polish singer Maryla Rodowicz, Czech singer Karell Gott, and Serbian actor Gojko Mitić, the immutable “good American Indian” in ‘Red Westerns’, were just a few examples.