Demis Roussos I Dig You (1977)
Belarus is considered the last dictatorship in Europe. With 30 years in office, Alexander Lukashenko is the 10th longest-serving head of state in post-WWII history. At the beginning of his political career in post-Soviet Belarus, he appeared to have an almost religious anti-corruption stance and vehemently opposed the privatization of state production resources. Belarus was thus spared the fate of other Eastern Bloc states, which saw large parts of their assets sold off through non-transparent privatization campaigns and, as a result, became economically paralyzed and dependent soon after opening up to the West. As the process continued, however, it became increasingly clear that Lukashenko was only protecting state assets in order to essentially annex them for himself and his entourage. According to WikiLeaks, Lukashenko is said to be the richest Belarusian with a personal fortune of around 10 billion US dollars. To the outside world, Lukashenko presents himself as a humble public servant with noble intentions, and it is unclear whether he copied the script from Putin or whether Putin copied it from him. What is clear, however, is that Lukashenko is a great admirer of Putin (and a junior partner in the Ukraine war). But Lukashenko also admired another, less controversial (?) man: singer Demi Roussos. Roussos sold over 60 million albums worldwide and became "an unlikely kaftan-wearing sex symbol." His lesser-known disco banger “I Dig You” is our song of the day.
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