My name is Peter Moschis and I live in Adelaide, Australia.

Adelaide is the furthermost place the Beatles ever travelled to, significantly though the reception they received here in '64 rivalled anywhere in the world. 350,000 people, (over half of Adelaide 's then population) crammed the streets from the airport to city hotel where the Fabs were staying. The Queen, the Pope, even Bono, have received nothing of the adulation and the crowds that the Beatles experienced.

Needless to say, the city of churches, little old quaint Adelaide was changed forever. In the years that followed, Adelaide became the cultural (and Rock and Roll) hub of Australia. Progressive politicians were drawn here and during the 70's Adelaide was at the forefront of social change and reformist legislation.

Of all the words written of the significance and impact, both musically and socially, of the Beatles, none I believe, is more profound, and amazing, than those words spoken by one of the most important individuals who ever lived, Mikhail Gorbachev.

Mikhail Gorbachev was the last General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and the last head of state of the USSR, serving from 1985 until its collapse in 1991.

He said, "more than any ideology, more than any religion, more than Vietnam or any war or nuclear bomb, the single most important reason for the diffusion of the Cold War was...the Beatles."

Mr. Gorbachev went on to say the Beatle's influence on himself and others in Russia at the time can never be overestimated. The cultural, social and musical revolution they inspired manifested itself years down the track and when the old guard was fading, Gorbachev and others of his ilk were ready to transform their country and probably save the planet.

Who would have thought at the time, during the height of the Cold War and the 'Mutually Assured Destruction' that most of us thought was inevitable, four young guys from Liverpool could save the world with a song? Probably nobody except for John Lennon. He was right all along wasn't he? You really could change people and the world with music.

I have read, seen and heard stacks about the Fabs over the years, but the comments from the former Russian President and Nobel Prize laureate are truly amazing, if you hadn't lived through that magical period or felt the waves of their impact and influence in the years thereafter, you just wouldn't believe it.

These comments came from an ABC special focusing on the Beatles influence in Russia. Putin and other former KGB members also made similar statements. One former member said that they held regular clandestine and secretive meetings where Beatles records were smuggled in and played... "those in the West will never understand how much they meant to us...they gave us hope"

God bless the Beatles.

Peter Moschis
Adelaide, Australia

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Published November 27, 2008

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