Iran: Sounds From the Underground

The regime of Ayatullah Ruhollah Khomeini has tried to ensure that Iran is contaminated by no joy, no color and no foreign culture. Morals police patrol the country publicly abusing or sometimes arresting women with even a trace of makeup. Men are not permitted to wear sleeveless shirts. "In the view of the Islamic Republic," says one Iranian, "a happy face deserves no hearing."

Faced with so cheerless a life, some Iranians have been staging something of a cultural revolution within their own homes. The focus of this underground world is that icon of blithe energy, Michael Jackson. On the black...