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    Back to Press Play with Madeleine Brand

    Press Play with Madeleine Brand

    New film asks: ‘What the Hell Happened to Blood, Sweat, & Tears?’

    The band Blood, Sweat, & Tears says the State Department blackmailed them into touring communist Yugoslavia, Romania, and Poland in 1970. A new film tells the story.

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    By Madeleine Brand • Mar 21, 2023 • 16m Listen

    In 1970, Blood, Sweat, & Tears was one of the biggest acts around, but its lead singer David Clayton-Thomas faced deportation. So their manager came up with an idea: If the band agreed to a tour through communist Yugoslavia, Romania, and Poland for the State Department, they would make Clayton-Thomas’ immigration problems go away. That tour behind the Iron Curtain went off the rails and the band’s career never recovered. Their story is chronicled in the documentary called “What the Hell Happened to Blood, Sweat, & Tears?”

    The full episode

    4 of 4
    LAUSD strike day 1, tax tips, first US band to go behind Iron Curtain
    1. 0:00LAUSD strike: What does special ed aide want from district?
    2. 11:10Tax filings: How to get a bigger return — and sooner
    3. 21:21Fox News producer alleges coercion, sexism in lawsuit against network
    4. 32:39New film asks: ‘What the Hell Happened to Blood, Sweat, & Tears?’You’re reading this
    • https://images.ctfassets.net/2658fe8gbo8o/AvYox6VuEgcxpd20Xo9d3/769bca4fbf97bf022190f4813812c1e2/new-default.jpg?h=250

      Madeleine Brand

      Host, 'Press Play'

    • KCRW placeholder

      Sarah Sweeney

      Vice President of Talk Programming, KCRW

    • KCRW placeholder

      Angie Perrin

      Producer, Press Play

    • KCRW placeholder

      Michell Eloy

      Former Producer/Line Editor, Press Play

    • KCRW placeholder

      John Scheinfeld

      documentary filmmaker

      CultureEntertainmentHand-Picked Music

    The full episode

    4 of 4
    LAUSD strike day 1, tax tips, first US band to go behind Iron Curtain
    1. 0:00LAUSD strike: What does special ed aide want from district?
    2. 11:10Tax filings: How to get a bigger return — and sooner
    3. 21:21Fox News producer alleges coercion, sexism in lawsuit against network
    4. 32:39New film asks: ‘What the Hell Happened to Blood, Sweat, & Tears?’You’re reading this
    Back to Press Play with Madeleine Brand