Oy! Again with the Russians. Here's an interesting look by historian Mikhail Safanov of how the Beatles brought down the Soviet Union.
Guardian Unlimited: Confessions of a Soviet moptop
During a chess match between Anatoly Karpov and Gary Kasparov in the 1980s, the two grandmasters were each asked to name their favourite composer. The orthodox communist Karpov replied: 'Alexander Pakhmutov, Laureate of the Lenin Komsomol award'. The freethinking Kasparov answered: 'John Lennon.'