Entries by Alexander Mikhaylov

Falling down the memory hole: Reflections on the 1980s Soviet counterculture, Part 3

The ‘system’ members always proclaimed that the drugs were necessary for artistic creativity. Using drugs was also a form of political protest and an activity that distinguished the self-ordained elite from the vodka-soaked proletarian crowd. The most common drug — cannabis — was easily obtainable through friends and acquaintances, but it was also freely shared […]

Falling down the memory hole: Reflections on the 1980s Soviet counterculture, Part 2

My personal involvement with ‘the system’ had seemingly innocent origins. All through my adolescent years, I had been dreaming of becoming a rock musician. Of course, harboring such dreams, especially by one born in the Soviet Union, smacked of a childish naiveté. For one thing, the Soviet authorities viewed rock music as a political and […]