Original Pressings That Could Land You in a Soviet Jail

In the Soviet Union during the 1950s and 60s, enthusiasts starved for rebellious rock ‘n’ roll music would illegally create records out of used X-ray films.

Take out your
earpods
For just a moment—honestly—I want to share an insane tale with you. (Or perhaps tap you as a reminder—to stay alert to what’s around you.)

Music nowadays is undoubtedly a product.
Almost as easily accessible as running water from a faucet—click a couple of buttons, and virtually anything you can imagine listening to becomes instantly available to you.

Picture a different era and setting, such as the Soviet Union during the 1950s and 60s, where music faced severe restrictions. (Alright, let me clarify: only music sanctioned by the government was permitted, yet not even families found those tunes appealing; everything truly worthwhile was banned.)

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Western radio broadcasts were disrupted, rock music was prohibited, and records were seized at the borders.) The authorities attempted to block out all that perceived Western decadence beyond the Iron Curtain.

However, containing the influence of rock ‘n’ roll proved difficult, and the barrier eventually started leaking profusely. This was particularly evident in Leningrad (now known as Saint Petersburg), a Soviet harbor city saturated with Western luxuries seeping in. Vessels would dock carrying contraband albums (alongside highly prized items like Levi’s jeans and almost every other desirable import from the West) hidden within sailors’ duffel bags and official diplomatic sacks.

At some point, someone might sneak in the newest Elvis or Beatles 45 record, and if you had enough rubles and didn’t mind taking the chance of being caught, that vinyl could be yours.

However, there were far too many style enthusiasts known as “stilyagi” and insufficient illegal records to satisfy the demand. As usual, young people became resourceful. The Soviet hipsters discovered that producing a vinyl record was not particularly challenging with the basic equipment available (which wasn’t strictly regulated), provided they didn’t mind poor audio fidelity.

These people were so hungry for decent tunes that they would accept almost anything, provided it wasn’t government-sanctioned military band performances or saccharine melodies glorifying virtuous wheat growers from the eastern plains.

The issue lay with the medium itself. Since suitable vinyl for record manufacturing was scarce in the USSR, an alternative cheap and accessible material needed to be sourced for cutting the records. It turned out that discarded X-ray film proved to be usable for this purpose.

Although somewhat flimsy, these materials allowed you to carve grooves into them, punch a small hole in the center like a cigarette burn, trim them into circles, and place them on your turntable. What made them even more appealing was their cost – virtually free or close to it. Hospitals discarded them regularly, making it possible for you to find them simply by rummaging through dumpsters.

During those times under Soviet rule, samizdat referred to the underground production and dissemination of literature that was censored, prohibited, or unauthorized. Extending this practice to music was not much more challenging.

So Roentgenizdat (a combination of “Roentgen” and “Glasnost”)
roentgen
or X-ray images, and
izdatel’stvo
meaning ‘publisher,’ was born. Dubbed ‘bones music,’ it was quickly prohibited, and by 1958, you could face imprisonment if officials found you in possession of it.

A fantastic 2016 documentary penned and hosted by Stephen Coates introduced audiences from the Western world to this overlooked chapter of history.
Roentgenizdat – The Bizarre Tale of Soviet Music on the Bone
. Check it out.

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