Green Waves: John Lennon: Beaming the Beatles to Poland and Hungary, Wigs in Warsaw, and Window on the World ©

  

 

Green Waves: John Lennon: Beaming the Beatles to Poland and Hungary, Wigs in Warsaw, and Window on the World 

 

The Beatles John Lennon died December 8, 1980. A little-known Cold War story about him and the Beatles occurred in 1964, when "A recent hour-long Radio Free Europe broadcast to Poland featured interviews with the Beatles. On February 6, 1964, RFE in Munich sent the following telex message to RFE in New York:“Following information received from Poland about extraordinary popularity of the famous British team "Beatles", we are preparing special program of "Green Wave" on this subject. As you may know they will appear in Carnegie Hall on February 12th. Could you please ... send us extensive reportage on performance with as many sounds as possible. We would like to have sounds from the hall, recordings of the M.C. recording of one of their songs, interviews with listeners, press reactions and in interview with the Beatles. It is possible that the Beatles will also appear at Madison Square Garden. If so, we would like to have a reportage.”

"Green Wave" (Zielona Fala) was the name of the music programs broadcast by RFE's Polish Broadcast Department. The program's name was later changed to "Black on White."

Sometime later, journalist Tom A. Cullen, Newspaper Enterprise Association (NEA), wrote in his nationally syndicated article "Radio Free Europe at 14: Window of Words on World" that appeared in various U.S. newspapers, including the Washington Post, that appeared in May and June 1964:

“The response was overwhelming. Young Poles wrote in demanding more. According to the latest reports, Beatle wigs are now the rage in Warsaw. But light entertainment such as the Beatles is only a small part of RFE's total output. The bulk of its programs are made up of straight news, political comment, cultural and religious talks.”

 

The publicity photograph's caption read: "Beatle John Lennon gets some help with Polish from RFE editors Stanislaw Julicki and Joesph Ptaczek." The interview took place in London in a special train used for the filming of the Beatles movie "A Hard Day's Night." Stanislaw Julicki was the RFE broadcast name of Henryk Rozpedowski. 

Cullen concluded his article by quoting from a letter from a "Czech girl who is 22, I live in a small town. I was not allowed to go to university...Your broadcasts are my only window on the world.

In 1988, the "John Lennon Peace Club" (Mirovy Klub John Lennon --MJKL) was formed in Prague, Czechoslovakia to, "Work for world peace generally, human rights in Czechoslovakia specifically, and to encourage independent cultural activity."

 

The influence of John Lennon and his music in then Czechoslovakia in the Cold War also is demonstrated In Kampa Park, Prague, where there was a wall with various drawing and paintings paying tribute to John Lennon after his death. Persons from all over the world would pay tribute to him when visiting Prague by signing the wall, writing poems or copies of lyrics from Beatles' songs, lighting candles, and by placing flowers against the wall. It has been repainted over the years with new images of John Lennon and appeals for peace in the world.

 

Hungary was another country to which RFE broadcast Beatles music. Code names were used in place of real names to protect those who sent letters to Radio Free Europe For example, during the 1968 Radio Free Europe Fund campaign in the United States, one radio announcement was a letter from Hungary to be read by a "girl" with this text: "I enjoy listening to the Monkees and the Stones, but the Beatles are still my favorites. Why don't you play more Beatle records? My Friends and I would like it. My code is 'He left me and he is now going out with another girl.’