История этого мира....The origins of Russian Rock

Viktor Tsoi Lives!

Soviet rock rocks. This is the first installment of a radio show I presented on WXYC, 89.3 FM in Chapel Hill on the history, origins, and major bands of the underground Soviet rock scene in the 1970's and 1980's. What follows is not a comprehensive or authoritative history of Soviet rock - but a sampling of some of the era's best known and most beloved bands. A link to the first half hour of the show should load shortly -- or you can go straight to the source at OurMedia.org:


The first part of the show introduces some of the western influences on Russian rock (for example, the Beatles, Queen, Bob Dylan, reggae, blues and rockabilly).

Playlist for Part I (complete playlist for the show is here):

Сектор Газа (The Gaza Strip) - "Вступление"("Introduction")

Чайф (Chaif) - "Рок 'н Рол Этой Ночи" ("Rock'n Roll That Night")

Машина Времени (Time Machine) - "Наш Дом" ("Our House")


Зоопарк (Zoo) - "БугиВуги Каждый День" ("Boogie-Woogie Every Day")

Аквариум (Aquarium) - "Странный Вопрос" ("Strange Question")

Кино (Cinema) - "Бошетунмай" ("Boshetunmai")

Оловянные Солдатики (Tin Soldiers) - "У попа была собака" [песня от мультфильмa "Ну, Погоди!"] ("The Priest had a Dog" [song from cartoon “Nu, Pogodi!”])

Машина Времени - "Поворот" ("Turn")

There will be more to add in future posts - but for now - here is Episode 9 of the classic Soviet cartoon, "Nu, Pogodi!" - from 1976. Tin Soldiers (Оловянные Солдатики) wrote the rock song "У попа была собака" beginning at about 3:30 in the video (and their version of "Desert Caravan" is near the end of the clip -- though the story of jazz in the Soviet Union is another matter all together):


Оловянные Солдатики (pictured left) are credited with making the first full length original Russian rock record in the Soviet Union - "Рассуждения" ("Reasoning"), which was released in 1972 (and is available for download on the band's website). The group got its start in 1967 under the name Бегемот (Hippopotamus) - an apparent sly reference to "hippies" - under the direction of Sergei Kharitonov, then a student at the Moscow Power Engineering Institute (МЭИ). In 1968, Andrei Gorin - a drummer for a jazz big band ensemble at the Moscow Aviation Institute - joined the band. They changed their name to Tin Soldiers soon thereafter. Their first big hit, "Баллада о водосточной трубе" ("Ballad of a Rainwater Pipe") followed in 1969. Tin Soldiers gained status as an officially recognized Vocal-Instrumental Ensemble (вокально-инструментальный ансамбль or ВИА), allowing them to earn a living as musicians in the Soviet Union.

The following video of Tin Soldiers is from a 1993 performance -- the year the band reunited after more than ten years apart. Though more than twenty years after they recorded Рассуждения - and performing some new material - you can still hear a 1960's psychedelic rock sound in some of their songs. Andrei Gorin performs lead vocals (and near the end - at about 33 minutes into the clip -- he performs an extended tribute to the Beatles, the biggest influence on early Soviet rock) -



The radio show starts with Sektor Gaza's appropriation of Queen's "We Will Rock You" - but here is an example of the band's more original work - the song "Ява" or "Java" -- a reference to the Ява motorcycle (pictured below). The song is featured on the band's 1991 release «Ночь перед Рождеством» ("The Night Before Christmas"). Sektor Gaza's songs chronicle the darker side of the worker's paradise, featuring slang and swear words from the late Soviet era. The band's name is not a direct reference to the Gaza Strip (the literal meaning of Sektor Gaza), but is instead a reference to a contaminated industrial area in the band's home town of Voronezh. The band no longer exists due to the untimely death of Klinskikh - who performed under the nickname Хой (Khoi) - in 2000. This video was assembled by an enterprising fan of Sektor Gaza, who synced Khoi's vocals with footage from three different concerts:

Ява 250