1968
ILLYA KURYAKIN * IKE BENNETT AND CRYSTALITES * ISLAND 3134 * UK
The title is taken from a character in the popular 1960s TV spy series: The Man From U.N.C.L.E. Illya Kuryakin was an English actor playing a Russian agent working for the fictitious and mysterious American based secret international law-enforcement agency called U.N.C.L.E. (the United Network Command for Law and Enforcement). His role, and. it's reasonable to assume, the purpose of the program was to both uphold and perpetuate the 'cold war' propaganda while simultaneously confuse and dissemble story so as to better hide its intention.
Illya Kuryakin is a fine Rock Steady instrumental with a strong Hammond organ (led) sound that is very reminiscent of old Pop tunes like Stranger On The Shore or Blue Moon; and is probably something of a tribute to the program as television was still a novel thing in the 1960s and folk were less cynical about its agendas than they are today, though as a general rule audiences in the UK might accept that, for example it is claimed that Fox Television = right of center, but fewer will be prepared to believe that their own (sic) BBC promotes a Marxist/left wing bias . And while some of the methods of social engineering and political persuasion have become more sophisticated to stay ahead of the perennial increase in general awareness that most so called Western societies go through the broadcasting companies still use and get away with blatant propaganda, not least because of the change in demographics and the need to cater for a large proportion of folk who have a different understanding of the media and its uses.