Cccp - American Soviets

What this video is

Released in 1987 at the height of Cold War cultural anxiety, C.C.C.P.'s 'American Soviets' weaponized the superpower standoff as dance-floor spectacle. The band — a West German project led by Rasputin Stoy (Rai Streubel) — provocatively adopted the Soviet state acronym as its name and built its signature track around a mock diplomatic dialogue between Reagan and Gorbachev. The single was originally released in 1986…

Why it matters

A defining artifact of West German EBM and synth-pop's crossover moment, 'American Soviets' demonstrated that overtly political electronic dance music could achieve mainstream chart penetration across Europe and the US. It prefigures the harder-edged industrial-dance crossover of the early 1990s…

The director

British music video director and film editor based in London. Co-founded a film production company alongside photographer Anton Corbijn. Worked primarily in music videos and commercials, earning MTV and D&AD award nominations. Directed videos for artists…