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Link un elvis rojo en santiago January 7, 2008 Dean Reed en Santiago, 1970: las bondades y contrabondades del socialismo a la chilena. Que se prepara una biografía fílmica sobre Dean Reed deja de ser una buena noticia cuando lees que es Tom Hanks quien encarnará al cantautor y actor popularmente conocido como “el Elvis rojo”. Es feo y anticuado exhibir prejuicios, pero me temo que los tengo por montones con los actores que se han ganado un Óscar interpretando a deficientes mentales. Si no fuera por Hanks, el proyecto de biopic suena adecuado: título enganchador (Comrad rockstar), guión basado en narración de su viuda (Renate Blume), locaciones en Berlín y buena máquina promocional para ubicarlo desde ya en varias notas de prensa. El Mercurio, de hecho, incluyó ayer domingo una nota de Claudio Vergara y Sergio Vallejos con parte de los muchos puntos de conexión entre Reed y Chile durante la UP y la dictadura. La improbable relación entre el cantante y nuestro país arma una historia asombrosa y apasionante para cualquier interesado en la historia de la cultura popular chilena reciente. Departamento en Providencia, contactos con Luis Dimas y Marcelo (!), clases de español con Mandolino (!!) son los datos freak de su recorrido chileno, iniciado cuando Reed era otro de los pretty-faces importados desde Estados Unidos. Más tarde, a medida que avanzaba su radicalización, quedaron para la historia lo que entiendo fueron siete discos 45s propios (para Philipps y Odeón) y dos singles junto al grupo Los Amigos de María. Hubo, además, un LP de Phlipps de 1961 titulado Dean Reed en Chile. La información sobre todo esto es esquiva, pero cito a musicapopular.cl: La colaboración entre el músico y la banda chilena fue editada en el single “Las cosas que yo he visto / Somos los revolucionarios”, publicado bajo etiqueta EMI-Odeón, en 1970, y con créditos compartidos entre Dean Reed y Osvaldo Jéldrez. Al año siguiente, la sociedad volvió a figurar en el single “Siento que la historia llama / Ustedes”, dos títulos de Reed con dedicatoria especial (el primero a su esposa; el segundo, a Ernesto Che Guevara). No dudo que hay más datos en Se oyen los pasos, de Gonzalo Planet, pero… ¡Dios! ¿A quién le presté ese libro y no me lo ha devuelto? Su amistad con el locutor Ricardo García explica el posterior contacto progresivo de Reed con la Nueva Canción Chilena y la campaña electoral de Salvador Allende. Otro tanto de activismo hizo en Argentina, de donde los militares terminaron deportándolo. El cantautor se fue de Chile poco antes del golpe, pero no para siempre. Existe una actuación solidaria suya bien poco conocida, realizada en agosto de 1983 para los mineros de El Teniente y que cerró con el “Venceremos” puño en alto. Dos días después el cantautor fue expulsado del país por lo que el Ministerio del Interior consideró “ofensas inaceptables para el pueblo de Chile y su Gobierno, intentando con ello revivir la peor epoca que ha vivido nuestra Patria”. “GOBIERNO MANDÓ A DEAN REED CON LA MÚSICA A OTRA PARTE” tituló Las Últimas Noticias. Esa visita fue ampliamente cubierta por los diarios locales, incluyendo una excepcional y muy recomendable entrevista en El Mercurio. Hay scans de notas de la época aquí, aquí y aquí. El estupendo sitio deanreed.de ordena varios detalles más de su relación con nuestro país, al cual Reed llamaba “mi primer amor”: “He vivido en muchos países [...] pero Chile será siempre mi primer amor, probablemente porque es el primer país donde he vivido, además de mi país natal, y en donde el pueblo me ha adoptado. Conozco Chile entero de norte a sur. En cada empresa, en cada fábrica, en cada colegio creo que estuve una vez. Y yo amo este pueblo de sobremanera. Y por eso, lo que pasó con el Golpe… el Golpe facista del ‘73, fue la tragedia más grande de mi vida, porque fueron asesinados tantos amigos míos. Por esó escribí y filmé una película acerca de ello y muchas canciones también”. La película referida es El cantor, un recuerdo del Chile de la UP filmado en 1977 en Berlín y con el propio Reed interpretando a Víctor Jara. Hay varios videos en Youtube, incluyendo éste con “El hombre es un creador”: Existen ya otros varios recuentes biográficos de Dean Reed. Libros y minidocumentales en inglés, ruso y alemán. La Universidad de Colorado entrega anualmente un Dean Reed Peace Prize. Desconozco si todo eso tendrá o no alguna influencia en el proyecto de Hanks, el cual, entiendo, ha tomado su título de un musical que se prepara en Londres. Sobra el material para una buena biografía fílmica, incluyendo la muerte misteriosa de rigor (en Berlín, su última ciudad de adopción). Un investigador encontró hace poco los archivos sobre Dean Reed que mantuvo la Stasi, y, entre ellos, una nota de suicidio y una carta de disculpa a Erich Honecker. Reed murió convencido de la legitimidad del gobierno de la RDA, compulsivo, ya sabemos, en ocultar a cómo diera lugar suicidios, deserciones y deslealtades. Incluso los de tan inusual ídolo juvenil. Más: descarga el single de Dean Reed y Los Amigos de María (vía Rock Chileno) / nota sobre Dean Reed en El Guachaca. Entry Filed under: posts. .

un elvis rojo en santiago Link Фильм Вива, Куба. Вива фестиваль. (1978) 5 ч.00:45:0735 mm Студия ЦСДФ (РЦСДФ) Режиссер:Опрышко А. Оператор:Байков В., Кузминский С., Кузнецов И., Максимов Л. Автор сценария:Бочаров Г. Диктор:Колычев Ю. Об 11-ом Международном фестивале молодежи и студентов на Кубе. Часть 1 Эмблема XI Всемирного фестиваля молодежи и студентов – кр. Гости фестиваля – ср., кр., ПНР. Пейзаж с пальмами – общ. Морской пейзаж, карнавал – ср. Гавана – общ. Латиноамериканский стадион – общ. Вечерняя Гавана – общ. Кубинская делегация – ср. Гаванский порт. В порт входит точная копия катера «Гранма» – ср., ПНР. Гости фестиваля на катере, сходят на берег, встреча гостей в Гаванском порту – ср., ПНР. В порт входит пароход «Балтика». Встречающие, гости приветствуют жителей Гаваны с парохода – разн., ПНР. Советский пароход «Шота Руставели» с делегацией СССР – ср. Делегация СССР спускается по трапу – общ., ПНР. Пионеры приветствуют гостей – ср., ПНР. Члены советской делегации среди кубинцев – общ., ср., кр., ПНР. Улица Гаваны – ср. Гости фестиваля идут на стадион – общ., ПНР. Латиноамериканский стадион – общ., ПНР. Идут представители разных стран – общ., ср., ПНР. На трибуне представители всех стран-участниц фестиваля – общ., ср., кр., ПНР. На трибуне Ф. Кастро – ср. Идут знаменосцы – общ., ср., ПНР. Зрители на стадионе – ср., ПНР. На трибуне представители всех республик СССР в национальных костюмах – общ., ср., ПНР. Проходят представители Кубы, танцует кубинка, танцуют кубинцы – общ., ПНР. В танце проходят представители Кубы – ср., ПНР. Часть 2 Стадион – общ. Говорит второй секретарь ЦК Компартии Кубы Рауль Кастро с трибуны стадиона (синхронно на испанском языке) – общ., ср. Слушающие – кр. Аплодирующие – общ., ср., ПНР. Знаменитый кубинский спортсмен, чемпион Олимпийских игр Альберто Хуанторена с факелом бежит, чтобы зажечь фестивальный огонь – общ., ср., ПНР. Аплодирующие – разн. Кинохроника: Альберто Хуаторена на соревнованиях – общ., ср., кр., ПНР. Спортсмены на стадионе – общ., ср., ПНР. На трибунах тысячи гаванских школьников составляют «Живое табло» - ср., общ., ПНР. Аплодирующие – общ., ср. Советская делегация едет к месту своего проживания в дни фестиваля – ср., кр., ПНР. Встреча советских гостей в фестивальной деревне в предместье Гаваны – общ., ср., кр., ПНР. Советскую фестивальную деревню торжественно открывает Первый секретарь ЦК ВЛКСМ Б.Н. Пастухов (синхронно) – ср., кр. Слушающие – ср., кр. Аплодирующие – ср. На трибуне аплодирует Ф. Кастро, Пастухов и другие – ср. Зал – общ. В зале танцуют – общ. Выступления на сцене – ср., ПНР. Гости и хозяева фестиваля в клубе советской делегации – разн. Делегаты танцуют в советской деревне – общ., ср. Общение делегатов – кр., ср. Беседуют друг с другом рабочие-строители Владимир Кунаев и Гравьер Диас – общ., ср. Говорит В. Кунаев (синхронно) – ср. Говорит Г. Диас (синхронно на испанском языке) – ср. Пресс-конференция в одном из политических центров, действующих в дни фестиваля. Президиум, ПНР на зал – общ. Слушающие, президиум, оратор – ср., кр. Здание старейшего университета на Кубе – ср. Делегаты фестиваля идут в университет – ср., ПНР. Часть 3 Гавана – общ. (с верхней точки), ПНР. Выступление ансамбля на площади – общ., ср., кр., ПНР. Выступает ансамбль «Пламя»: поет девушка на испанском языке (синхронно) – ср. Пальмы на фоне неба – ср., ПНР. Проезд по городу – ср., ПНР. Гавана – общ. (с верхней точки), ПНР. К острову Пинос в Карибском море идет корабль с гостями фестиваля – общ., ср. Делегаты осматривают здание тюрьмы, камеру Ф. Кастро – ср., кр. Делегаты посещают ангольскую школу на острове Пинос. Пионеры встречают делегатов – ср. Дети беседуют с делегатами – ср., кр. Дети танцуют у корабля – общ., ср. Голуби в небе – общ. Гаванский Капитолий – ср., кр. Президиум, выступающие, слушающие – общ., ср., кр., ПНР. Стена с фотографиями – общ., ср., ПНР. Витрина с оружием – ср. Делегаты осматривают экспонаты – ПНР, кр. Солдат у пулемета – ср.; стреляет – общ. Летчик у штурвала – кр. Вертолет – ср. Самолет в небе – общ. Взрыв снарядов – кр. Танки, взрывы – общ., кр. Солдат в танке – ср. Самолет взлетает в небо – общ. Взрыв атомной бомбы – общ., ср. Восход солнца – общ. ПНР с воды на мальчика с удочкой, рыба, женщина с коляской – ср. Девочка ест сахарную вату. Женщина несет спящего ребенка – кр., ПНР. Делегаты идут на митинг солидарности с народами Африки – ср. Митинг – общ. Кинохроника: Солдаты на улице. Полицейские избивают студентов – общ., ср. Солдаты стреляют по зданиям – общ. Плачут люди – кр. На трибуну выходит Ясир Арафат – общ., ср. На трибуне Ясир Арафат – кр. Аплодируют делегаты – кр. Часть 4 «Аэростат солидарности», построенный на деньги польских студентов – общ., кр. Члены польской делегации – общ., кр., ПНР. Гавана и Мексиканский залив– общ., ср. (с воздушного шара). Яхты в море – ср. Моторная лодка тянет парашютиста, делегаты катаются на лодках – общ. «Фонтан Молодежи», открывшийся в дни фестиваля – разн. Огни на здании – ср. Член Всемирного Совета Мира, певец композитор, режиссер Дин Рид дает автографы – кр. Говорит Дин Рид (синхронно) – ср. Кинохроника: Люди с плакатами – общ. Виктор Хара – кр. Фото: Виктор Хара с женой и ребенком – ср., кр. Похороны В. Хаара – ср., кр., ПНР. Солдаты арестовывают демонстрантов – ср., кр. Женщина кричит – кр., стоп-кадр Антонио Маль дает автографы пионерам – ПНР, ср., кр. В пресс-центре фестиваля пресс-конференция по проблеме Чили – общ. В президиуме Луис Корвалан и другие – ср., общ. Слушающие – кр., ПНР. Продажа книг – ср., кр. Гости обмениваются адресами – ср., кр. На улице города – ср. Космонавты В. Ремек (ЧССР) и В. Шаталов дают автографы – ср., кр. Бывший военный летчик Юрий Козловский среди делегатов фестиваля – общ., ср., кр. Ю. Козловский дает интервью (синхронно) – ср. Делегат съезда Амангельда Исаева – кр. Говорит делегат из СССР (синхронно) – ср. Улицы Гаваны – общ. Гости и делегаты фестиваля сажают деревья в память о фестивале – разн., ПНР. Говорит делегат из ГДР (синхронно на немецком языке) – ср. Говорит делегат из Вьетнама (синхронно) – ср. Делегат из Гаваны (синхронно) – ср. Часть 5 Народ на площади Революции. Делегаты с флажками,с плакатами, аплодируют – разн. На трибуне Ф. Кастро и другие – ПНР. Выступающие, слушающие – разн. Говорит Фидель Кастро (синхронно) – ср. Салют – кр. Фейерверк – общ., ср. Карнавальные платформы, люди в карнавальных костюмах танцуют – разн., ПНР. На платформах - представители Советского Союза, танцующие, зрители, фейерверки – разн. Фильм Вива, Куба. Вива фестиваль. (1978) Genuine Stasi E-Encyclopedia of Dean Reed...Дин Рид в России: Link ...files turn up at film set By Caroline Copley Caroline Copley – Thu Jul 16, 12:20 pm ET BERLIN (Reuters) – Secret files of Communist East Germany's Stasi security police were sent to a film set for use as props, triggering an investigation into how such sensitive documents were obtained. The authenticity of the files were revealed when 15 former political prisoners were being filmed for a docu-play called "Staats-Sicherheit" (State Security) by public broadcaster ZDF. "It's just unbelievable that something like this could happen," CDU politician and former East German civil rights activist Vera Lengsfeld told Reuters. "This must be cleared up right away." One of the "prop" files was actually the genuine file of one of the actors. The German government's agency that looks after the Stasi archives said they had began a probe into how the files were obtained without authorization. The Birthler agency said it had also immediately ordered the Babelsberg studio to restrict access to safeguard the files. "We're investigating how these documents got into public hands," said agency spokesman Steffen Mayer. He said a prop firm delivered the documents to the studio and it was assumed the files were fakes to protect the identities of the victims. Lengsfeld, who spent time in jail in East Germany as a political prisoner, was one of the 15 political prisoners the film centers around. She said she did not think it was a coincidence real files surfaced on the film set. She believes former Stasi employees now work at the Birthler agency. "There were even real Stasi files from people who weren't in the production being casually tossed about," said Lengsfeld, who called it "scandalous" the documents were freely available. After German unification Lengsfeld discovered her husband had been a Stasi informant. She then divorced him. Among the files that surfaced on the film set were documents about one of the film's actors, Mario Roellig. Roellig was arrested by the Stasi after a failed attempt to flee East Germany in 1987. "I was just stunned when I saw them," Roellig told the Leipziger Volkszeitung newspaper. Also found were genuine Stasi files about a famous East German Rock musician and an artist, Lengsfeld said. (Editing by Matthew Jones) This info found by John and Mona Rosenburg
Puzzle of Stasi 04.26.2008 E-Encyclopedia of Dean Reed...Дин Рид в России: Giant puzzle exposes Germany's communist secrets BERLIN (AFP) — It is painstaking work, almost a labour of love, but help is close for the nine people who have spent years sticking together millions of pieces of paper to decipher the workings of East Germany's once-feared Stasi secret police. Almost two decades after the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989, the actions of the communist government still fascinates and scares Germans. Who worked with them? And why? Stasi employees started to destroy their secret files as the Berlin Wall fell. Initially they shredded them. But as the machines broke down under the strain, they were forced to tear documents by hand. The waste was to be pulped or burnt, but "citizen committees" stormed Stasi offices across East Germany, seizing millions of files, along with 15,500 bags of torn-up documents. "One of the main reasons why the citizen committees occupied Stasi offices was to prevent the destruction of these archives," said Andreas Petter, a chief archivist at the office now responsible for their preservation. Since 1995, experts working near Nuremberg in Bavaria have been sifting through the bags, extracting the torn shreds, strata by strata, and taping them back together to reconstruct the documents. "On average, a worker gets through about a bag a year," said Joachim Haeussler, another archivist. Bags contain 3,000 pages on average, ripped into 12 to 15 pieces, and some 400 bags have so far been dealt with, accounting for about 900,000 pages or three percent of the total volume. Initially up to 45 people worked on the project, but "it's clear that with just nine people now involved, it's going to take a long, long time to reconstruct the contents of all the 15,500 bags," said Petter. But help might at hand in the form of a computer system which digitally recreates hand-torn and machine-shredded documents. The German parliament last year voted to spend just over six million euros (nearly 10 million dollars) on a two-year project which, according to its director, Bertram Nickolay, an engineer at the Fraunhofer Institute in Berlin, will allow the reconstruction effort to be completed in five to six years. The digital system simultaneously scans both sides of the torn documents before comparing shapes, colour, and pattern of script to work out how they fit together. Four hundred bags have been sent to the Fraunhofer Institute for the project, and "testing of original material started just a few weeks ago," said Nickolay. "We have learnt a lot from the people who do that by hand," he added. "About 90 percent of the content of each bag comes from the same material" so the machine, like the people sifting by hand, tackle the shreds layer by layer, much as would an archeologist. "We find bits that quickly fit together and what is left stays in the system to be compared with new pieces," said Nickolay. "It's the biggest puzzle in the world," he added with pride. In addition to speed, the computerised system should also allow for reconstruction of documents torn into very small pieces. "One in five bags cannot be processed manually because the bits are too small," according to the engineer who said some pages were torn into 50 to 60 pieces, "suggesting they contained really explosive material". Recreating the documents "is important to bring back to life what the powers-that-be of the time thought should best be done away with," said Petter. Reconstructed material has already allowed some Stasi informers to be uncovered, said Petter pointing to one Heinrich Fink, a theologian who spied on both the Church and his students when he taught at Berlin's Humboldt University. After the fall of the communist regime, Fink was appointed to head the university and was elected to parliament. His past caught up with him in 1995 when his file was finally pieced together. Many documents still waiting to be reassembled likely deal with spying by the Stasi in the final years of the regime, not only against the political opposition at home, but against targets abroad, according to Petter. Some other Stasi files were secretly whisked away by the CIA after the fall of the communist regime. They were only returned to Germany in 2003.
Label: AMIGA Format: Vinyl, 7", Single, Stereo Country: German Democratic Republic (GDR) Released: 1973 Genre: Folk, World, & Country, Pop Style: Folk, Schlager 1973 Together / I'm Not Ashamed HEAR IT ROCKER Dean Reed with Joe Maphis Capitol DJ E-Encyclopedia of Dean Reed...Дин Рид в России: Speed: 45 RPM Record Size: 7" Duration: Single Genre: Rock HEAR IT ROCKER Dean Reed with Joe Maphis and Orchestra Capitol 4198 DJ A Pair of Scissors and I Kissed a Queen VG- but plays out decent                                                                                                    ..Who Wanted To Come In From The Cold. E-Encyclopedia of Dean Reed...Дин Рид в России: 2/12/08 Dean Reed, The Rock Star Who Wanted To Come In From The Cold Dean Reed, The Rock Star Who Wanted To Come In From The Cold. In 1986, the same year that Dean Reed mysteriously died, I went through Check-Point Charlie into East Berlin. American army Military Police, no problem; East German guards looked carefully at my passport and finally nodded. East Berlin was a grim place, and if you weren't paranoid it made you so. I imagined informers tailing me everywhere. This is about a young man who went through Check-Point Charlie, defected, and never returned. He found his fortune there--celebrity and wealth--mainly because he was a propaganda tool, but then he was erased from Soviet history after he was deemed no longer useful. I recall watching 60 Minutes a long time ago, and learned about Dean Reed, born in Colorado, defected to the USSR, and made a rock star by the Soviets. With an Amerikanski they had a great story and good talent, as well as a young man with looks. They molded him into what they needed, something to counter the West and sent him to one of their satellite states, East Germany. Reed died mysteriously and suddenly. In 1986, a few years before the Wall came down, his body was found floating in a lake. Here are snippets of an account from an old National Public Radio piece. The NPR narrator described how he looked in East Berlin for a Dean Reed music record. For somebody once so immensely popular, he had great difficulty finding one. The narrator concluded that the Party had tried to expunge Reed’s name from history. He finally finds a music record at a store on Alexander Platz and buys it from a hostile clerk. Then he and another guy drive to Reed’s former residence. Finally they drive to visit his grave. Reed had a good life in East Germany while it lasted. He was not a hostage behind the wall but could visit West Berlin. (Why didn't he escape before it was too late?) Whenever he re-entered East Berlin through Checkpoint Charlie he apparently always said "hi" to the guards, and Hans, or Heinz, or Hermann, whoever was on guard duty, would go home and say, "Dean Reed passed by today." He was so famous that for years you could just write DEAN REED, EAST BERLIN on a postcard and it would get to him. The NPR guy tells us of his experience in the record shop looking for an LP by the rock star. " 'I want a Dean Reed record, please,' I said to the clerk at the Melodia record shop on the Leipzigerstrasse, where 'Winter Wonderland' was playing." "The woman with thick glasses turned away impatiently, nodding brusquely towards the door, and so I began to speculate that, even dead, Dean Reed was a non-person, a subject not for discussion in this country where you could not discuss much, not out loud anyway." "In the record store on the Alexander Platz, flipping albums methodically, front to back, in bin after bin, long after I had given up, Leslie scanned each cover and found nothing. Not for the first time that day I had the eerie sense that Dean Reed had never existed in this strange country, where the rules were made to fence people in, to make them conform, to keep them quiet. How could the exuberant cowboy I'd seen on TV have been part of it?" "Suddenly, Leslie whispered at me, 'Over here'." "The album was titled Country Songs and Dean Reed's picture was on the cover. He wore a cowboy hat and he was smiling and he looked wonderful, full of life." "Outside, we located the rental car and climbed in and decided to risk the trip to Schmockwitz, where Dean Reed had lived." "We would miss closing time at Checkpoint Charlie; we were way out of bounds, beyond the limits of our visa." They finally locate the house Reed had lived in. The NPR man describes it. "6A Schmockwitzer Damm was a low-lying, white stucco house with an orange tiled roof, a garage, a lawn. A large carved wooden R was perched on a post in the yard as if it were a ranch: the Double-R ranch; the Dean Reed Dude Ranch of Schmockwitz." How did Reed meet his tragic end? The evidence points to murder. A British journalist, Russell Miller, by chance had arranged to interview Dean Reed for a magazine the weekend the rock star died. "He had called on the house at Schmockwitz. The interview was scheduled for the next day, but Mrs. Reed told him that Dean was ill and could not see him. In the middle of the conversation, a man came on the line—it seemed to Miller that he had snatched the phone away from Mrs. Reed." He told Miller that Dean was in the hospital and that he should go home and would be contacted at a name and a telephone number in Potsdam--the name was a Mr. Weiczaukowski, the man told Miller. "Puzzled, Russell Miller went back to London and, on the following Tuesday, when he heard the news that Dean Reed was dead, he called Potsdam. There was no Mr. Weiczaukowski at the number he had been given." The journalist raised questions about the rock star's disappearance. Had Reed grown tired of his Soviet “Utopia” and expressed a desire to go home? Had the STASI desired to liquidate him to head off potential embarrassment? Russell Miller had little doubt what happened. Western newpapers trumpeted Reed's disappearance. Here is one headline: DEATH IN BERLIN FOR DEFECTOR WHO CHANGED HIS TUNE. MYSTERY OF POP STAR IN LAKE: IT WAS MURDER SAYS MANAGER. DEAN REED, THE SINGER WHO WENT EAST AND THEN WANTED TO COME IN FROM THE COLD. The NPR man tried to understand what it must have been like for Reed during his final days. He and his driver got back in the car and searched for Reed's grave site. "Leslie drove a few hundred yards and stopped and got out of the car. I followed him to the little cemetery by the side of the road. A few wet flowers lay on a headstone. It seemed incredibly sad somehow that the dazzling American I'd seen on TV should end up in this lonely place. I bent down. On the headstone, in German, was inscribed simply: Dean Reed. Born Colorado, 1938. Died Berlin, 1986." Leaving the grave site, they made it back through Check Point Charlie. The two men talked about Reed, wondered about him. The narrator has some concluding thoughts. "Over that year, during my first encounters with the world where Dean Reed lived, I finally saw why. He had been a star. He was an American guy singing the music that everyone yearned for, the music that made you feel alive if you were young. It was the best, most joyful expression of the sedition which was the only way to keep from shriveling up in an oppressive society." "The Berlin Wall had gone up in August, 1961, which was just about the time Dean Reed had left America. He never lived there again, and he died in this lake in East Berlin. Who killed him? Who was he? A true believer? A spy? Just a guy, an American with a guitar and great looks and a lot of ambition?" Here is the NPR piece on Reed. Labels: Dean Reed, Defector, Rock Star Come in From Cold Link I did comment there. You can know about our beloved person more at E-Encyclopedia of Dean Reed! I must say that Dean was killed. A story about his soucide is a dirty lie. Brewed on 01.09.2008 10:12:56 Ioly Coffe...etc. E-Encyclopedia of Dean Reed...Дин Рид в России:     Mr.Reed, Who are you? E-Encyclopedia of Dean Reed...Дин Рид в России: Download the documentary Comment of Producer of www.DeanReed.ru you will see at a up window Phil Storms E-Encyclopedia of Dean Reed...Дин Рид в России: Link Friday, February 26, 2010 MUSINGS ON A RAINY AFTERNOON Famous People I’ve Met. Perhaps the most famous person I have met is Dan Quayle, former vice president under George Bush. At least he is probably the one that most of you would recognize. There was another that I would suspect that 99% of you have never heard of. I met him when I was a freshman at Wheat Ridge High School. It seemed that we had a lot in common. He was a skinny, pimply-faced kid with a flat top and I was a homely kid with coke-bottle thick glasses and unruly hair. We were both on the freshman basketball team and neither of us got to do much more than suit up. The most common thread was that we both loved music. Both of us had cheap guitars but we could play relatively well. We were also horrible singers. The major difference was that I knew it and seldom did I allow anyone to hear my attempts. In contrast, he played and sang at assemblies and other school functions and, as his voice shifted back and forth between an uncomfortable tenor and a screechy soprano, the audience did their best to keep their fingers out of their ears. I guess what he lacked in musical talent, he made up with guts. Fast-Forward Three Years. I gradually came to the conclusion that, although I loved music, I could never make a decent living as a performer. I graduated from college with a degree in Chemistry. He dropped out of college and started hitchhiking to Hollywood in search of a musical career. On the way, Don and Phil Everly (The Everly Brothers) drove past him and, because he was carrying a guitar, decided to give him a ride. He rode all the way with them and, when he got there they introduced him to their agent. You can imagine my surprise when I woke up one morning in the late 50’s there he was on the radio singing his new hit, “Our Summer Romance.” Gone was the screechy soprano and the tenor was amazingly smooth. I don’t know what happened to him out there but it appeared that someone had managed to teach him to sing. I heard he was on “American Bandstand” and several local disk jockeys predicted he would become a huge success. Despite all those predictions of success, it appeared that he just dropped out of sight. We both in our early 20’s and I was not to hear of him again until we were almost 50. Fast Forward 25 Years. I had married my third wife and was struggling to get my financial service business started when I heard he was back in Denver to promote a film: Portrait of An American Rebel. He had been interviewed on a local radio station and almost provoked the host into a fist fight. It was at that time I learned that he had spent the past 25 years in South America, East Germany, and the Soviet Union. He was a superstar by almost any definition, having played to huge sold out crowds where ever he went, selling out huge auditoriums and soccer stadiums. He had also starred in several westerns in Italy. (Remember Spaghetti Westerns)? He also had recently married his third wife. While he was in Denver, one of our high school classmates arranged for us to spend an evening with him. We all got together while he played his guitar and sang several songs. As you might expect, he exuded charisma. The dorky kid was replaced by a handsome, self confident man but there was an air of sadness about him that was evident in some of our more private conversations. One thing he said has stood out in my mind to this very day. “It is so hard for me to think about growing old in a country that is not my own.” Although he never quite brought himself to say it, it was obvious to me that he wanted to return. But it wasn’t that easy. Although he had been extremely popular in communist countries, that popularity did not carry the financial rewards that it does in this country. He didn’t have the wealth to survive without earning income and he probably didn’t have the talent to compete as an entertainer in the US. He also had a reputation as an Anti-American Marxist. That was the last time I saw him. His name was Dean Reed. Fast Forward Six Months. They found his body in a lake not far from his East Berlin home. An autopsy showed he had an undigested sleeping pill in his stomach. His death was ruled an accident but many East Germans theorized that it was suicide or the CIA. Americans thought it was probably the KGB. It remains a mystery. One way or another he died just past the peak of his popularity. As the popularity of Marxism declined in the Eastern Bloc countries, so did Dean’s popularity. To many Americans he was a traitor but to me he was just a dumb kid who would do anything for a musical career. Fast Forward 24 years. The life and death of Dean Reed can teach us something. 1. You can accomplish a lot more than most people think you can. None of us who knew Dean in high school thought he had a chance of becoming an international superstar but we were obviously unaware of his tremendous drive that outweighed his lack of talent. 2. There are those along the way who can help you. Someone taught Dean to control his screechy voice, introduced him to the right people and gave him the opportunity he needed. 3. Be careful of those you bargain with to attain success. A famous American blues man, Robert Johnson was said to have sold his soul to the devil in exchange for the ability to play the blues. He became quite popular and recorded songs that are still played 70 years after he died from poisoning at age 26. It has been written that he crawled on all fours and barked like a dog before he died. Dean Reed made a deal with those who were enemies of his country. At the end he was not popular behind the iron curtain, nor welcome in the country he left. You Have To See What I've been Writing About. This post would not be complete with out a link to his performance. If nothing else it might bring back memories. Most of his popular songs are recorded in German, Russian or Spanish. The following is in English. My lack of computer savvy keeps me from making a link but you can copy this one and paste it in your browser to see my old friend on stage. In addition to the performance I have included a second that is part of a documentary done on his life. POWERPLAY (Demo segment) 1978 E-Encyclopedia of Dean Reed...Дин Рид в России: Download link Anti powerline demontration at the substation at Delano Minnesota, (Oct 1978) segment from 'Powerplay'. (At 54secs in) The arrest of the singer Dean Reed; famous in the Eastern Bloc at the time...