Natural beauty cannot be hidden, and it is with this that the real rebels of humanity - rockers - amaze the public. Except for excessive frankness, Belarusian rocker girls are still just as hot and popular this year.
10. Natalya Kunitskaya
Natalya Kunitskaya is a backing vocalist in the group Clover Club, that is, another reason for the jealousy of girls. And this is not without reason, because the image of a young girl can turn heads with its innocence. But in the still waters, as they say, there is a demonic attraction.
9. Olga Tyashkevich
Olga Tyashkevich is another sunny example of Belarusian attractiveness. The Clover Club member has an unusual magnetism, so she can safely be called a style icon. Her voice, which carries a real rocker core, gives goosebumps.
8. Anastasia Shpakovskaya
Anastasia Shpakovskaya is a striking example of an aristocratic, erotic woman, whose majestic image is also complemented by her unusual hobby - singing in the rock band Naka. She gained recognition from fans thanks to her outstanding vocal abilities and appearance, from which it is difficult to look away.
7. Anna Khitrik
Anna Khitrik captivates men with her natural appearance, her pretty face and, of course, her talent. You can’t say “shameless redhead” about the vocalist of the rock band Sounduk, but you can’t even look at her without admiration!
6. Ksenia Zhuk
Ksenia Zhuk is a charming singer and keyboard player in a music group from Minsk called NaviBand. Real, always positive, she simply shamelessly captivates the attention of all representatives of the stronger sex.
5. Sveta Ben
The Belarusian star, nicknamed Benka, was born in 1973 and became one of the best jazz performers in her country. Playing in the Silver Wedding group, Sveta Ben also manages to charm men of different ages with her appearance. For her artistry and openness, the singer received fifth place.
4. Yulia Bykova
The lead singer of the group Aura, Yulia Bykova, was born in 1976 and, it seems, this does not prevent her from occupying the first position among erotic beauties. Maybe this is due to Aura, this pop-rock and ethno in one bottle - such an elixir of youth.
3. Alesya Berulava
Alesya Berulava, despite her 45 years behind her, proudly ranks third on the list of the most desirable performers in Belarus. What helps Olga keep herself in such great shape? Hmm, nothing more than hard work and participation in the pop-rock group Mantan.
2. Ekaterina Ivanchikova
The next person who needs to be given credit and deserved second place is Ekaterina Ivanchikova, the well-known vocalist of the IOWA band. Yes, many high school boys will be extremely shocked that such a juicy and energetic beauty from the screen turns out to be a thirty-year-old girl, and not a first-year student.
1. Lena Shad
Lena Shad is not just a member of the Minsk trio L.A. Band, and also the first in the position of the sexiest rock vocalists in Belarus. In addition to performing with the cover band, the young girl manages to travel and never tire of photographing her attractive smile against the backdrop of equally charming landscapes.
Rock is a lifestyle. For a long time, representatives of the fair sex were embarrassed to demonstrate to brutal bearded men that they also had trump cards in their pockets. Long hair, curvaceous figures and an unrivaled voice are the new nuclear weapons that women have given birth to on the stage of the discreet and culturally developed territory of Belarus.
PRIVATE EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION
"INSTITUTE OF MODERN KNOWLEDGE NAMED AFTER A.M. SHIROKOV"
Department of Artistic Creativity and Production
course work
in the discipline "History of Variety Art"
on the topic: "Belarusian rock and roll"
Art student
Sevkovskaya V.V.
Supervisor
Zanko A. G.
Minsk 2013
Introduction
Chapter I. Rock and roll in the USSR
Chapter II. Rock and roll in Belarus
1 Unique music from a unique country
2.2 Belarusian rock and roll in portraits
Conclusion
List of sources used
Introduction
It was a revolution. She changed the life of an entire generation, and therefore, without her, the fate of subsequent generations would have been different. It swept the whole world. She changed the course of history. She scared the authorities and forced adults to re-evaluate themselves. A distinctive feature of this revolution was its bloodless nature - an amazing thing for such a profound revolution. For an American teenager in the 50s, rock and roll was a revolution in everything: in the manner of dressing, speaking, walking, dancing, in views on the world, on authorities, on parents. But most importantly, it is a revolution in a person’s views of himself. With the advent of the rock and roll era, young people stopped focusing on their parents in everything. Rock and roll gave teenagers freedom and independence. It was unusual - noisy and rough music, with a powerful charge of energy and a manic, pulsating beat. It is impossible to describe. You can listen and feel it.
This is how it was in America. Many books have been written about the history of world rock and roll; the Internet is full of sources that allow you to find answers to any questions regarding this topic. But there always comes a moment when, after reading yet another biography of a foreign star, you wonder: what was it like with us? Do we have our own “King of Rock and Roll”? Who started Belarusian rock and roll and does it have “its own face”?
Disclosure of the topic of this course work allows you to learn the history of Belarusian rock and roll and answer all these pressing questions.
The purpose of the work is to analyze the history of the development of Belarusian rock and roll and characterize the genre.
ü study the work of Belarusian musicians playing in the rock and roll style; ü identify the distinctive features and national characteristics of Belarusian rock and roll; ü determine the place of rock and roll in the Belarusian music industry today. Chapter I. Rock and roll in the USSR Rock and roll came to the Soviet Union after the World Festival of Youth and Students in 1957. In the early 1960s, rock music existed semi-underground in the USSR, remaining primarily an aesthetic dessert of advanced musical gourmets who had established personal contacts with the West and had the opportunity to receive records of American rhythm and blues and British "big beat" - mainly " The Beatles and the Rolling Stones. In the mid-1960s, the first beat groups appeared in the USSR, i.e. essentially the first rock ensembles: “Slavs”, “Wanderers”, “Myths”, “Skomorokhi” in Moscow; "Vanguard", "Forest Brothers" in Leningrad; "Pesnyary" in Minsk. To ensure the legitimacy of their status and access to an audience of thousands, the first rock groups were forced to masquerade as “Soviet pop” performers - this is how dozens of vocal and instrumental ensembles (VIA) arose ("Jolly Fellows", "Singing Guitars"), or as quasi- folklore ensembles (“Pesnyary”). At the same time, rock music penetrated into the USSR through channels of cultural exchange from the “fraternal countries” of socialism (for example, the Polish “Skalds” were very popular). At the end of the 1960s, the passion of Soviet youth for Anglo-American rock music (primarily the Beatles and the Rolling Stones) became widespread. In schools and universities of large cities (primarily in Moscow and Leningrad), dozens of amateur ensembles are created - not VIA, but real rock groups (mostly quartets: three guitars and drums), performing songs from the repertoire of the Beatles, Rolling Stones "and other Anglo-American and European groups (for example, the super popular hit Venus performed by the Belgian rock band Shocking Blue). In 1971, the first rock festival in the history of the USSR was held in Gorky, at which the Moscow “Skomorokhs” led by Alexander Gradsky and the Chelyabinsk “Ariel” were particularly successful. At this time, on the official Soviet stage, rock and roll was presented in a lightweight commercialized variety - the twist (Soviet pop hits of the mid-1960s Black Cat, Beauty Queen and the later Somewhere in the White World... from the film Prisoner of the Caucasus). Throughout the 1970s, rock continued to remain a marginal phenomenon of Soviet musical culture, along with the creativity of the so-called. bards (Bulat Okudzhava, Alexander Galich, Yuliy Kim, Vladimir Vysotsky) occupying the niche of a semi-forbidden phenomenon. Public performances of rock bands of the 1970s and early 1980s were held almost underground: at home ("apartment concerts" or "apartment buildings") or in the assembly halls of capital's universities. Thanks to unofficial concerts in the institute's palaces of culture, new teams quickly gained fame: “Ruby Attack”, “Flowers”, “Lucky Acquisition”, “Araks”, “Leap Summer” and others, which mainly performed “cover versions” in English. international hits and - rarely - songs of his own composition. In the 1970s, such a specific phenomenon for Russian rock culture as “magnitizdat” flourished, which was a network of production and distribution of “master copies” of amateur ensembles recorded in artisanal conditions. "Magnetoalbums" were distributed among hundreds of fans. "Magnitizdat" became an important factor in the development of Russian rock, in particular, causing the indifference of Russian rockers to complex acoustic experiments. Rock musicians, long deprived of the opportunity to use high-quality instruments and the latest electronic equipment for sound recording and mixing, have developed in themselves and their listeners the habit of a kind of musical minimalism. Guitar and a simple “beat” of drums - the entire acoustic palette of Russian rock, which initially paid more attention to the verbal series, boiled down to this. Therefore, the songs of leading rock performers, from Makarevich, Grebenshchikov and Tsoi to Butusov-Kormiltsev and Shevchuk, are, first of all, poems of intense social-critical and emotional-moralistic content. Acoustic experiments, for example, “Aquarium” (the introduction of strings and wind instruments, not typical for rock) seemed like unheard of daring experiments. Since the second half of the 1970s, Western popular music (including rock and roll) has been penetrating the USSR quite officially. The only recording studio in the country, Melodiya, begins releasing albums “Melodies and Rhythms of Foreign Pop,” which, along with hits from the “socialist countries,” also contained hits of Western pop and rock stars from Elvis Presley to Tom Jones. In the late 1970s, Cliff Richard, Elton John and the leader of European disco music, Bonnie M, came to tour the Soviet Union. At the same time, pop music festivals from the Polish Sopot and the Bulgarian Sunny Beach begin to be regularly broadcast on television. In the Baltic republics at this time rock festivals are held, disguised as youth folk song festivals ("Lituanika" in Vilnius, festivals in Tallinn, Tartu, etc.). In the spring of 1980, the “Soviet Woodstock” took place - the Spring Rhythms-80 festival in Tbilisi, at which leading rock bands from Moscow and Leningrad performed. The 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow, like the Moscow Festival of Youth and Students, became a powerful catalyst for the legitimation of rock music. In 1982, the first amateur association of musicians in the USSR was formed in Leningrad - a rock club, which included “Aquarium”, “Automatic Satisfaction”, “Zoo”, “Tambourine”, “Myths”, “St. Petersburg” and others. A little later, a “rock laboratory” was created in Moscow at the Gorbunov House of Culture (“Gorbushka”). At this time, the main directions of Soviet rock music emerged: classic rock and roll ("Zoo", later "Bravo"), lyrical folk rock ("Time Machine", "Chaif") "heavy metal" ("August" , “Aria”, “Black Coffee”, “Black Obelisk”, “Metal Corrosion”, etc.); punk rock ("Automatic Satisfiers"), hard "new wave" ("TV"), jazz rock ("Arsenal"). Groups arose that used elements of postmodern banter ("Crematorium", "Sounds of Mu") and social art ("AVIA", "Brigade S", "Auktsion"). In addition to the Moscow and Leningrad, other regional “schools” have taken shape: Ural rock, represented primarily by the Sverdlovsk teams “Urfin Jus”, “Nautilus Pompilius”, “Chaif”, “Nastya” and the Ufa “DDT”, close to them, Siberian rock ("Kalinov bridge"), Vladivostok rock ("Mumiy Troll"). At the same time, the best albums of leading rock groups appeared: “Kino” (The Last Hero, Blood Group), “Alice” (JAZZ, Energy, The Sixth Forester), “Zvuki Mu” (Simple Things, Zvuki mu), “TV” (Procession Pisces), "DDT" (I got this role), "Civil Defense" (One Hundred Years of Solitude, Survival Instructions), "Agatha Christie" (Second Front, Cunning and Love), "Nautilus Pompilius" (Separation, Prince of Silence) , "Center" (Centromania), etc. Released in 1986 in the USA, the double album Red Wave with recordings of four Leningrad groups (Aquarium, Strange Games, Alisa and Kino) played a significant role in the legalization of Russian rock and in its entry onto the world stage. After the Red Wave album, Soviet rock musicians got the opportunity to tour abroad. So, “Kino” made a tour of France and Japan in 1988-1989. In 1988, "Sounds of Mu" released the album Zvuki mu in the UK, and then toured England and the USA. Finally, in 1988, the leader of Aquarium, B. Grebenshchikov, recorded the English-language album Radio Silence in the USA, which, however, did not have much success. Coming out of hiding, rock musicians quickly became cult figures: for playing the leading role in the film Needle (1988), Kino leader V. Tsoi was recognized as the best Soviet film actor of the year. And the Soviet film "Taxi Blues" (1989) with the lead singer of "Sounds of Mu" P. Mamonov in the title role won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. Unlike rock music in other European countries, which remains predominantly English-speaking (Holland or Scandinavia), Russian rock clearly defines itself as a Russian musical phenomenon. The rock poet and performer A. Bashlachev, who died early, played an important role in turning Russian-language rock to the roots of Russian musical folklore. True, along with interest in the Russian folklore tradition (in particular, in the work of groups such as “Chaif” or “Kalinov Most”), Russian rock is fond of obvious kitsch “a la russe” (earflap hats, balalaikas, accordions, tarpaulin boots , blouses of "Brigade S"). The craving for processing elements of “Soviet pop” and bard songs was evident in the group “Lube”, which was extremely popular in the 1980s. At the same time, at the peak of popularity were such retro groups as the beat quartet "Secret", the rockabilly group "Mister Twister" and especially "Bravo", which owes much of its popularity to the charismatic soloist Zhanna Aguzarova, and then to the new soloist Valery Syutkin. Among urban teenagers, heavy metal bands enjoyed great success: “Black Coffee”, “Aria”, “Black Obelisk”, “Iron March” and especially the bright “Corrosion of Metal”, whose performances turned into noisy happenings with elements of striptease shows. At the end of the 1980s, on the crest of Gorbachev’s “perestroika,” rock bands turned into commercial projects, which became possible thanks to large city tours, sold-out stadium concerts and the release of “legal” albums at the state recording studio “Melodiya”. This applies, first of all, to the pioneers of Russian rock music ("Time Machine", "Zoo", "Aquarium", "Kino", "Alice"). Largely thanks to the performances and records of these groups, a Western-style pop music industry emerged in the USSR in the late 1980s. A typical phenomenon of the new pop music industry was the disco group "Tender May". Designed for a young provincial audience with an unpretentious musical taste (primarily girls aged 12 to 17 years), this teenage vocal and instrumental ensemble achieved fantastic popularity in 1988-1989. The commercial success of the group’s “live” concerts was so great that simultaneously in different cities of the Union concerts were held to the soundtrack of “Tender May” songs with dummy “performers.” The E years are the period of the final formation of the Russian pop music industry. Once imbued with a powerful pathos of nonconformism and social or moral protest against the “system,” Russian rock music has turned into a conglomerate of more or less commercially successful enterprises. The commercialization of Russian rock is also associated with its inevitable dissolution in the wide stream of pop music (from Philip Kirkorov and the show group "Na-Na" to sweet-voiced vocal ensembles like the trio "Lyceum" or the "scandal girl" Zemfira - a commercial imitation of Zhanna Aguzarova) . The history of Belarusian rock begins with the collapse of the USSR, although there is an opinion that no matter how original Belarusian rock music is, its entire history, its social role shows that it is more “Russian rock” than rock in the Western sense. Well...let's try to figure it out. beat rock belarusian musical Chapter II. Rock and roll in Belarus: unique music from a unique country Belarus is a rare case in the post-Soviet space. This is a state where, after a short breath of freedom, perhaps the shortest in the European part of the former USSR - from 1991 to 1994, the restoration of the Soviet system began again. As a result, Belarus represents, perhaps, a unique phenomenon in world practice: in this very monoethnic country, two political nations are clearly expressed: the Belarusians “white-chyrvon-white” and “red-green” can be considered as two full-fledged communities. Each of them has its own state flag, coat of arms, its own awareness of the nation’s past and historical memory. They even use different grammars of the Belarusian language. The music of Polish musicians had a significant influence on Belarusian rock. Poland in the second half of the 80s was a more open country; Western examples were more accessible there. And in Poland itself, worthy groups have already appeared, such as LADY PANK, to which Belarusian authors also referred (KRAMA: “I write on the marmur scenes of Lady Pank”). In Poland, democratic reforms began earlier, and the main Belarusian-language rock festival “Basovishcha” has been held there, near Bialystok, 15 kilometers from the border, since 1990. It is characteristic that from the very beginning a noticeable part of Belarusian rock music was very nationally oriented, but this did not prevent the leaders (ULIS, MROYA) from releasing records on the Melodiya company. Of course, it was already 1989, but ULIS songs were free even for that time: “Kali Empire znіkne”, “Radiye Svoboda”. In the lyrics of N.R.M. The national and anti-Soviet aspects are less open, however, quite noticeable: “The shmat of the father in May Radzima/The shmat of the father is a bezbatskoushchyna” (“Shmat”), “Laskae, grymits tsyagnik irzhavy” (“Kastrychnitski tsyagnik”). The main themes of Belarusian rock at that time were an attempt to understand the place of Belarus in the world. Already a new Belarus. Songs are often dedicated to national symbols: “Tsyagnik on Nyasvizh”, “Plyats Frantsyshka” (ULIS), “Slutsk Gate” (KRAMA). Here we mean the national Meccas of the Belarusians: Nesvizh - a city in the Minsk region, the “second capital” of the Grand Duchy of Lithuanian-Russian, the patrimony of the Radziwill princes, who repeatedly defended the autonomy of the Principality from the Polish Crown; Francis is the Belarusian pioneer printer Frantisek Skaryna, a figure of the Belarusian Renaissance. Often protest against the system was expressed in abstract negative images: “Kamendant”, “Aposhni Inspektar”... In general, Belarusian groups then had the same social role as Russian ones, but a significant addition was national themes. The transformations of 1991, the independence of the country, the restoration of national state symbols, the rehabilitation of the Belarusian language and the emergence of national freedoms... nevertheless plunged the Belarusian rock into crisis. A significant part of the groups found themselves on the verge of collapse. This is how the leader of MPOI, and subsequently one of the most popular groups N.R.M., describes this period. Lyavon Volsky in Viktor Dyatlikovich’s book “Ikh MROYA. Ikh N.R.M.”: “We did not know ourselves in the hour of the rise of democracy, because we were ignorant of our image and soul. And at that hour of blasphemy became absolutely useless.” In 1994, a national music award appeared in the country - “Rock Karanatsya”. However... ULIS is falling apart. (It breaks up, so that later, when the founders leave for Poland, Canada, the USA, they can gather in a new composition). At the end of 1994, Alexander Lukashenko won the presidential elections. "Old Man" begins the gradual restoration of the Soviet system. And it is at this moment that the social theme in rock music is revived. It was then that the demarcation of Belarusians into “red-greens” and “white-chyrvon-whites” began. It's not hard to guess which camp rock ended up in. At the turn of 1994/95. several groups at once (N.R.M., ULIS in a new lineup, Kasya Kamotskaya) release strong albums, not very noticed at first, but appreciated later, when the restoration of the Soviet system reached its apogee. These albums collected live impressions of the new government. The image of this time appears as “The saints of breast hands, the saints of clean teeth”, “The sky, the sky has become discolored”, “And the pakul, and the pakul here is a deaf desert”, “The winter hibernation of the land is breathless”... And Belarusian rock is being revived as a genre. New stars appear: NEURO DUBEL, Alexander Pamidor, LIAPIS TRUBETKOY. As dissatisfaction with the regime widens among young audiences, the generation raised in the mid-90s is growing up, ensuring the popularity of rock musicians. And although there are no longer large public concerts, as in the early 90s, many songs from 1998-2000 are simply becoming folk songs ("Rubber House" by N.R.M., "Three Charapakhi" and "Pavetrany Ball" by N.R.M.). Meanwhile, the authorities are pursuing a policy of ousting the Belarusian language from everyday life: Belarusian schools and universities are closing, Belarusian-language broadcasting on television is being reduced. A strong protest arises in society, and as a result, the Belarusian language becomes a language of protest; it is increasingly popular in culture. This also affects rock: although most of it is Belarusian-speaking from the very beginning, Russian-speaking groups, both old (NEIRO DUBEL) and new (IQ 48), are also switching to the national language. The relationship between music and government is getting worse. Passions are running high a year before elections for a third term. On July 24, 2004, on the day of the 10th anniversary of A. Lukashenko’s rule, a large concert took place in the capital’s Bangalore Square, timed to coincide with the opposition rally. The enthusiasm of the public was so high that the authorities cut off the electricity in the middle of it. However, this did not stop the entire assembled choir from singing the song “Rubber House” by NEURO DUBEL to the end. The authorities were scared. All participants in the concert (even instrumentalists DRUM ECSTASY and chansonnier Dmitry Voityushkevich) were, by unspoken order, excluded from TV and radio broadcasts, some were fired from government jobs, their mention was prohibited in state newspapers. What about concerts? Performances in Belarus are practically impossible. They are canceled on flimsy pretexts, sometimes several hours before the start. A significant part of the disgraced groups began to perform mainly in Poland and Ukraine, and in other countries. N.R.M. actively participated in the Orange Revolution. In particular, it was during a break in their speech that V. Yushchenko made his famous address to the nation. But at the same time, Belarusian rock is alive. A new generation of groups has grown up that have not yet had time to quarrel with the authorities (INDIGA, P.L.A.N., IQ 48, GLUKI). They are not prohibited from performing, although their songs are sometimes even more openly anti-regime than those of the masters. What is modern Belarusian rock singing about? The theme of war is very common. Moreover, it is understood completely differently than in Russian rock. If for Russians it is something distant, going on on the outskirts, from where one can return (“He walked slowly, returning from the war,” CHAIF), then in Belarusian it is eternal and constant, going on in this territory (“Waina was in session, war was our right-hand man", N.R.M.; "Forward the cut and the peremoga, you fight your forest in your own hands", P.L.A.N.). Another important topic is the relationship between East and West, the place of Belarus among them (“Kagostsi tsyagne na Zakhad, nekhta pnetsa na Oskhod”, “Belarusian gifts”, N.R.M.; “Senya I came from behind the Bug”, “Tanks”, NEURO DUBEL) . In cycles where rockers reconstruct songs of the 20s (the “Narodny Album” project and not only), the East significantly loses to the West, and sometimes seems to be something hostile (“Perad navalai s Ўskogo muram stone”, “You are my land, land "; "With tiny shoulders on the way out on the way Alg Erda", AQUAMORTA). Much attention is paid to understanding today. Moreover, the current situation is assessed as a kind of darkness, stagnation... And hence: “I’m looking, I’m looking for a high place. And the search results for different groups, and even in different songs of the same group, are very different: from “Paper heroes, dashing, brave are waiting for the dawn that does not exist” (“Rubber House”, NEURO DUBEL) to “Nikoli tsemra svyatlo nya zgasits: svyatlo tsemra has a meeting with svetsitsy” (“Svyatlo at tsemry”, IQ 48). Despite all the problems and prohibitions, new groups are emerging, although it is difficult to name even a few groups, with the exception of the apolitical J:MORS and NEW JERUSALEM, which are allowed on state television. Masters perform at apartments and private gatherings in nature, concerts of young bands continue, but festivals are practically impossible. The main musical event - "Basovishcha" - is held, but still in Poland. But the selection of young groups for it in Minsk somehow had to be carried out under conditions of strict secrecy. Today the situation has changed a little... In the posters you can see previously banned names and less and less concerts are canceled the day before the start. Very young teams are trying to stay out of politics, live and create rock and roll, imitating Western musicians. 2 Belarusian rock and roll in portraits Many Belarusian groups played rock and roll: Akute, BONDA, BeZ bileta, Dali, J:Mors, N.R.M., Naka, Krama, Krambambulya, Krasnye Zvezdy, Lyavony, Mantana, Mroya, Neuro Dubel, Ulis, New Jerusalem, Pesnyary ́, Ruble Zone etc. Let's consider the work of the most significant for Belarusian rock and roll. VIA Pesnyary can rightfully be called the first rock and rollers. Vladimir Mulyavin and his friends started in 1969 - they played in Minsk cinemas before screenings, and played with such drive that the public often demanded to cancel the film screening and continue the music. Before being called "Pesnyary", they were called "Lyavon", which translated into Russian meant "Balagur". This very name already contained not only a foretaste of the folk rock that they were to play, but also a clear concept of the character of Mulyavin, who was respectfully and lovingly called Mulya in the group: he, like the fairy-tale Ivan the Fool, was distinguished by simplicity, depth and cunning . The trick was to combine a song about bast shoes and the European pop hit “Delilah” in one program. Simplicity was in the very appearance of Mulyavin’s clear, round face - as he spoke, he tugged at his mustache with a naive smile... They could get wild in places - quite in the style of The Who's Pete Townshend, who was known to destroy his drum kit on stage. At some concerts, Mulyavin played the guitar lying down, at others he crushed the television equipment that got on his nerves. In any case, there were rumors about similar exploits of the Mustache Uncle. But more than any rumors, the energetic power of the group was proven by its music. As soon as they started a folk-rock song, with a heavy bass refrain, Mowed Yas Konyushina, the floor began to tremble... The lifestyle of the group and its members was quite rock and roll - but adjusted for the Belarusian mentality, which included three leisurely meals a day and a liter of vodka at night. In the triad of sex, drugs and rock-n-roll, instead of drugs, Pesnyary had vodka with bulba as a snack. The band's drummer, Alexander Demeshko, recalled many years later in an interview that in those years, “without blinking an eye, I drank two bottles of vodka, a liter of tomato juice with sour cream and dill, and snacked on herring, boiled potatoes and two Tatar steaks.” I felt this Belarusian Rabelaisianism in full measure back in 1977, when I came to Minsk as a correspondent for the magazine “Rovesnik” to write about the American tour of “Pesnyary”. Anatoly Kasheparov, the vocalist of the group (he later emigrated to the USA), invited me to his home - I still remember that long evening at the table, an abundance of steaks, a pan of boiled potatoes, a bottle of moonshine and the feeling of slowly falling into stupor from a hearty meal and strong brainwash... But at the same time, despite periodic outbursts of aggression, Pesnyary have never been a protest team and part of the rock and roll underground. The fate of Mike Naumenko or B.G. Mulyavin was not attractive. It is unlikely that this was a meaningful, mental choice of move in a chess game - it was simply different in nature. Dissident twists were not characteristic of him. He was not a Belarusian by nationality (he was born beyond the Urals), but he absorbed the Belarusian mentality, the Belarusian way of thinking and feeling. How to define this image? Good nature, unhurriedness, loyalty, lack of hysteria, gentleness of character, in the depths of which, like a pig in a ball of fluff, lies a hard core. You could feel it all in his music. It was not just a unified cosmopolitan rock, but specifically rock from Belarus - music devoid of metropolitan pretension, free from petty fuss, spacious, like winter fields, unhurried, like forests along the road. Mulyavin fit very well into the circumstances offered to him by the Soviet government - he participated with his group in various Komsomol song competitions, sang songs of Soviet composers and went on tour abroad in those years when other rock groups, at best, went to play dances at a neighboring school . He played quite loyally by Soviet rules. If he and his group had only this, there would be nothing to talk about now. But beyond the ability to adapt, there was something else in “Pesnyary” that strikingly distinguished them from other so-called VIA, which disgustingly sang official optimistic songs... People who clearly divided music into underground and therefore genuine rock and roll and into permitted and therefore false rock and roll were often perplexed by Mulyavin’s songs in those years. They were allowed, they were played on the radio and released on records (12 million copies of Pesnyary records were released in the USSR), but at the same time they had genuine drive and true feeling. In those years I knew a person - a completely rock and roll person who listened to Deep Purple and Grand Funk - who for several months in a row sang only one song: it was the sensitive and shrill Alexandrina. Mulyavin somehow managed to be wider than the framework that he voluntarily accepted, higher than the ceiling under which he good-naturedly agreed to exist. Moreover, now that the Soviet Union no longer exists and one can evaluate not the heroism of the rock and roll underground, but simply the music, it is clear that Mulyavin’s compositions contained more music than many simple creations of underground rock and rollers who They played guitars poorly and wrote naively pathetic lyrics for their inept songs. Mulyavin clearly knew what he was doing. He was a professional - this became clear to everyone who had ever attended his rehearsal. He commandingly led his team, achieving the purity and transparency of the sound so characteristic of “Pesnyary”. The musicians from his group, who appeared on the Soviet stage as naive folklore boys, were not them at all: pianist Gilevich, for example, listened to Oscar Peterson and Rick Wakeman, and Kasheparov listened to Led Zeppelin and Uriah Heep. Mulyavin himself, by the way, in that long-ago interview with me, answered the question about his musical preferences with the naive cunning of a person who wants to emphasize his independence, but at the same time not seem behind the fashion: “We try to avoid the influence of other groups... I like Chicago.” . He heard very well the smooth, soft melody of Russian and Belarusian speech, very subtly felt the local rhythm and sound, which did not coincide with the rhythm and sound of the worldwide musical flow. He wove a lyre he found in one of the museums into the electric sound of the group. He tried to inject a Slavic escape into Western rock and roll. There were very few such attempts - and only two of them can be called unconditionally successful. This is Czerwone Gitary in Poland - and “Pesnyary” in the USSR. Formed in 1982 on the initiative of students of the Minsk Art School. Initial lineup: Lyavon Volsky (guitar, vocals), Vladimir "Vladya" Davydovsky (guitar), Yuri Levkov (bass guitar), Ales Demidovich (drums). The team became the first performer in the history of modern Belarusian popular music to record and release at the All-Union company "Melodiya" an album consisting entirely of original works in the genre of rock music in the Belarusian language. At various times, the lead guitarists of the group were Venedikt Konev-Petushkovich, Leonid Shirin (later “New Heaven”, “Da Vinci”), Viktor Smolsky (later “Rage”). In 1993, Pete Pavlov joined the team. In September 1994, the band members decided to change its musical direction and name. Since then, this group has been performing under the name "N.R.M." ("Independent Republic of Mroy"). The most famous works of the group “Mroya”: “I am a rock musician”, “Kastrychnitski Cyagnik”, “Aposhni Inspectar”, “Mom Mafia”. Festivals: Republican youth music festival "Navapolatsk" (Novopolotsk, 1988), "Rock-krok" (Grodno, 1988), "Rock-dialogue" (Mogilev, 1989), "Rock-bohemia" (Dneprodzerzhinsk, Ukraine, 1989), "Rock-Maffia" (Sopot, Poland, 1990), "Belfort-FIMU" (Belfort, France, 1991), "Basovishcha" (Grodek, Poland, 1991). Awards: laureates of the Navapolatsk festival (Novopolotsk, 1988), audience award at the Rock-Krok festival (Grodno, 1988), grand prix at the Three Colors festival (Minsk, 1990), laureates of Basovishcha (Grodek , Poland, 1991). Discography: "Old Temple" (album, MS, 1983) "Zrok" (album, MS, 1987) "BM Studio" (album, MS, 1988) "28 Zorka" (album, LP, 1990) "Biyapole" (album, MS, 1991) "Sweet songs from the album 1988-90" (collection, MS/CD, 1992) N.R.M.R.M. (Belarus. Nezale ́ zhnaya Respu ́ blika Mro ́ i) - a cult Belarusian rock band, sings in the Belarusian language and often uses the Belarusian Latin alphabet (Latinized alphabet) when writing lyrics. Founded in Minsk in 1994 by members of the rock band "Mroya". The name change was due to the desire to move away from the stereotypes associated with "Mroyai" and start playing new music on a new level. Album "Pashpart of Gramadzyan N.R.M." (Passport of citizen N.R.M.) (1998) became the pinnacle of the group’s work. Songs from it (especially “Pesnya pra kahanne” (Song about love) and “Pavetrany shar” (Balloon)) have become truly iconic among nationally oriented youth. Since then N.R.M. remains the most popular Belarusian rock band in Belarus. Album "Try č arapachi" (Three Turtles) (2000) became a qualitative transition for the group to a new level in working on music. The music and the style of the lyrics changed slightly, which caused the departure of some old fans of the group and the emergence of numerous new ones. The music became heavier, the lyrics deeper and relevant. In general, the album is much more professional than the previous ones. One of the most hit songs of N.R.M. č arapachi", without which not a single concert was complete. Since 2000, the participants began to allocate more of their time to work in other musical projects (as a result, almost the entire rock scene of Belarus is in one way or another connected with the members of the N.R.M. group), therefore albums began to appear less frequently, and the number of solo concerts decreased. "Dom kultury" (House of Culture) (2002) consolidated the transition marked in 2000. Notable hits - "Try č arapachi - 2" and "Fabryka" (Factory). But since 2002, rumors began to appear about the upcoming collapse of the group. At least over the next 4 years, not a single new album was released (only two new songs on the collection “Spravazda 1994-2004” (Report 1994-2004) (2004)). But over the next three years the group continued active concert activity. Numerous performances took place abroad: in Poland, Germany, Slovakia, Sweden. In their homeland at that time, the group was on the list of prohibited groups, so concerts were held rarely and in semi-underground conditions. In 2007, the long-awaited sixth studio album "06" was released. It was recorded, according to Lyavon Volsky, under the influence of the political events of the spring of 2006. The album "06" is composed of songs of different styles and stands out because the recording used new instruments for the group - cello, mandolin, keyboards. In addition, for the first time the songs are performed not only by Lyavon Volsky, but also by the rest of the group members and even the children's choir. After the events of the end of 2007, the group was removed from the list of prohibited groups, which gives it the opportunity to perform legal concerts in Belarus, which is what the group does, conducting active concert activities throughout 2008. At the beginning of 2010, the group recorded a new song for the first time after a three-year break - “Palityka-paralytyka”. However, in 2011, after the events of December 19, the group was again included in the list of banned groups (although the Belarusian authorities strongly deny the existence of such a list). At the 2011 Rock Coronation, the group performed with an incomplete lineup without Lyavon Volsky. Throughout 2011, the group performed with a new lineup without Volsky, who left the group due to disagreements with its other members. February 16, 2012 The first single for the new album of the group, recorded without the participation of Lyavon Volsky, was released. On May 18, 2012, a charity concert “Pramen of the Sun” was held in Minsk with the teaching of N.R.M. Ł a Ł a Ł a Ł a (1995) Odzirydzidzina (1996)in N.R.M. (1997) Pashpart of Gramadzian N.R.M. (1998) Acoustic kanzerty kantsa XX stagodzia (1999) (2000) č arapachi (2000) culture (2002) č a 1994-2004 (2004) Neuro Doubel "Neuro Dubel" is a rock band from Minsk, Belarus. The group's style is punk rock, or less commonly - "Russian-language rakenroll". However, the group uses a variety of styles - from reggae and blues to hardcore. Perhaps it was this diversity, together with the most powerful concert energy and “nervous”, as journalists termed, texts, that was the reason that the group won sufficient love from the Belarusian audience... Neuro Dubel was founded in 1989 by Alexander KuLLinkovich (at that time still KuLinkovich) and Gennady Ageichik. The band's birthday is considered to be July 17, when the duo, in a state of terrible hangover, wrote and recorded several slow and sad songs. Over the next few years, the duo worked primarily at home, collecting musical material and creating their own style and sound. In this state, using mainly home audio equipment, the group released several albums (including one acoustic), which were called “Poor products of the GangrEna Production studio.” In 1991, Ageichik left the group, and in place of the duo a concert lineup emerged: leader and lyricist Kullinkovich, guitarist Yuri Naumov, bassist Dmitry Chizh and drummer Andrei Stepanyuk. Neuro Dubel's first appearance on stage took place at the opening of the Astrolabe Show on October 4, 1991. In 1992, the first studio album “Romashka (From the Ass with Love)” was recorded. The group was the first guest from Belarus at the Moscow punk cafe "Otradnoe". In 1993, with the advent of new musicians - keyboardist Max Ivashin and bassist Stas Poplavsky, the group reached an almost professional level and began to give many and active concerts. Neuro Dubel took part in local festivals: "BE SLEEP" and "Alien Water? in Mogilev, "In Defense of Musical Minorities", "Rock Forum", "KG - Angry Holiday", "Hard Day" in Minsk, in the actions " Belarus Against Nuclear Weapons" and "Musicians Against Drugs", at the "Rock Coronation" ceremonies in 1995-96, where the group was awarded a special prize by the Leningrad Rock Club and the DDT group. In 1995, together with the new lead guitarist Maxim Parov, the double studio album “Smart Things (The Best)” was recorded. In 1996, the album “Brutal Suicide by Berner’s Universal Cut” was released, and during the first two months of 1997, this program sold more than 5,000 copies with virtually no promotion or advertising campaigns. In 1996-97, the PAN Records company implemented the cover project “Pesnyarok”, where leading Belarusian groups performed versions of songs by the famous ensemble “Pesnyary”. At the presentation of the disc on July 4, 1997, Neuro Dubel with his arrangement of the song “Vologda” performed at the very end, even after “Pesnyary” themselves, thus leading and closing the show. In 1997, exclusively via the Internet, Neuro Dubel took part in the compilation of the Canadian company "United Records" - "United We Stand". The song "Wai-Wai" was also the honorable last track on the disc in the company of 19 independent lineups from the USA, Canada, Great Britain and Finland. In 1998, from May 1 to May 3, the rock festival “Baltic Coast” was held in the city of Sosnovy Bor near St. Petersburg 98". Neuro Dubel received: the Audience Sympathy Prize with a margin of 40% from the nearest nominee and the Grand Prix of the Leningrad Rock Club. In 1998, at the award ceremony for the best rock bands of Belarus "Rock-Karanatsy" 98" Neuro Dubel received the main prize - the Rock Crown; in addition, the group won in the categories: Best song of the year ("Hunter and Saiga"), Best album of the year ("Hunter and Saiga"), Best video of the year ("Hunter and Saiga" ). At the annual award ceremony for the best music videos "Crystal Monogram" 99", the video clip for the song "Planes" from the album "Vorsinki and Pellets" won in three categories: Best Screenplay, Best Director, Best Actor. At "Rock Coronation" 99" album "Vorsinki and Katyshki" was named the best album of 1999. At "Rock Coronation 2008" the group received the main prize for the second time - the rock crown, and also won in the nomination for best album - "Stasi". In November 2007, at a concert in the Graffiti club, the first concert DVD in the history of the group was recorded. In 2009, on the website "Tuzin gitoў" the song "Tryvayu" from the album "Stasi" took 6th place at the end of the year and was included in the collection of the best songs "Prem er Tuzin 2009". At "Rock Karanatsi 2009" the group received a special prize "For devotion to rock music". The song "Kasmanauty" from the album "Aftars of Truth" at the end of the year took 6th place in the hit parade "Tuzin gitou". According to the Internet portal "Tuzin gitoў" the album "Aftars of Truth" became the best album of 2010. It was formed at the end of 1991 on the basis of the group "Rok_s", which included vocalist and co-writer of songs Igor Voroshkevich (ex-Bond). First lineup: I. Voroshkevich (vocals, harmonica), Sergei Trukhanovich (guitar), Ilya Shevchik (guitar), Ruslan Pravda (bass guitar), Andrey Leonchik (keyboards), Anatoly Gorbach (drums), Zmitser Lukashuk (lyrics), Andrey "Klaus" Beliznyak (sound engineer). Over the years, the group performed: Sergei Knysh (drums), Arkady Yushin (guitar), Yuri Fedyuk (bass guitar), Igor Moskalenko (drums), Vladimir Garilenko (keyboards, accordion), Alexander Solovyov (guitar). At the beginning of 2005, the group performed with: I. Voroshkevich, S. Trukhanovich, A. Leonchik, Alexander Vankevich (bass guitar; ex-Verasy, Little Blues Band), Andrey Filatov (drums; ex-Suzorie ", "Zindan", "Mojo Blues"), Alexander Gazizov (guitar; ex-"Rouble Zone", "Syabry"). The most famous songs: “Byazhy, byazhy, lad”, “What a help to us”, “Stefka”, “Gomel Waltz” (with Anatoly Yarmolenko), “Hey there, pour it”, “Have a drink”. Festivals: "Basovishcha" (Grodek, Poland, 1992, 2004, 2006, 2007), "Slavic Bazaar" (1993), "Generation" (Moscow, Russia, 1994), "Visagino Country" (Lithuania, 1996), "Maladzechna "(1994, 1995), "Noc Bluesowa" (Rawa Mazawiecka, Poland, 2002). Awards: winner of the Basovishcha festival (1992); "Group of the Year" (main prize) at "Rock Coronation 1994"; I place at the competition of the festival "Generation" (Moscow, Russia, 1994); "For fidelity to the genre" at "Rock Coronation 1995"; "Tradition and Modernity" at the "Rock Coronation 1999"; "Album of the Year" ("Hawaisya ў Bulbu") at the "Rock Coronation 2001"; "Blues-rock performer" at the "Rock Coronation 2004-2005" (Minsk, Belarus); 10th place (album “Everything Zhytsyo - Dziўny Dream”) at the “Mystery of Sound 2008” awards (based on sales results, Belarus). Discography "Ills on rock and roll" (album, MC, 1993) "Vodka On Ice" (English album, MC/CD, 1994) “Hey there, pour it!” (album, MC, 1994) "The Commandant" (album, MC, 1995) "The Best" (compilation, MC, 1995) "Lyaniva Dances" (collection, MC, 1996) “What do we need” (album, MC, 1998) "Hawaisya ў bulba" (album, CD, 2001) "Enjoy The Silence" (maxi-single, CD, 2003) “Be with us - The Best” (collection, CD, 2005) "All life is a dream" (album, CD, 2008) Conclusion The path of development of Belarus, which was different from other post-Soviet countries, could not but affect the fate of its rock music. Having analyzed the path of development of Belarusian rock and roll, we can say the following: although in general Belarusian rock developed according to the same laws as Russian, it is nevertheless felt significant influence from the Polish rock tradition. In my opinion, Belarusian rock and roll is a collective image of neighboring countries through the prism of national identity. List of sources used 1. Alekseev A., Burlaka A., Sidorov A. Who is who in Soviet rock. - M.: Publishing House MP "Ostankino", 1991. - 320 p. - 200,000 copies. - ISBN 5-86018-001-2. A. Trofimov, V. Marochkin “Russian rock” - Small Encyclopedia. - M.; published by LEAN, 2001. Rock encyclopedia. Popular music in Leningrad-Petersburg. 1965-2005. - S-P.: Publisher: Amphora, 2007. - 416 p. - 5000 copies. - ISBN 978-5-367-00362-8. Artemy Troitsky "Back in the USSR" - St. Petersburg: Publisher: Amphora, 2007. - 264 p. - 7000 copies. - 978-5-367-00525-7. Martynenka Vitovt, Myalguy Anatoly "222 albums of Belarusian rock and not only..." - Minsk: Medisont Publishing House, 2006. - 500 pp. - 300 copies Internet resources http://ru.wikipedia.org http://www.ulis.by http://experty.by http://ultra-music.com Who is the most popular artist? Who is actually listened to the most? Are charts and awards the real measure of musical success? For a long time it was impossible to find an answer to these rhetorical questions. Until he appeared - Last.fm. A service that allows you to take into account the number of listenings of various musicians by service users. Of course, even Last.fm won’t give us a complete picture of what people on planet Earth are listening to, but 30 million people registered in the system and billions of daily listens is a good cross-section for a statistical sample. What about in Belarus? About ten thousand users from Belarus participate in the system. It is possible that they listen most of all in Belarus. This week ahead are Placebo, Radiohead, Depeche Mode, Muse and Lyapis Trubetskoy. But there are no statistics on which Belarusian musicians are listened to most. However, even determining the geographical affiliation of musicians is a very difficult task - music is globalizing and borders are being erased. I don’t want to repeat the mistakes of Belarusian officials, who, in order to achieve 75% of “Belarusian” music on the radio, record anyone as Belarusian, but we will still try to compile a list of the most popular Belarusian performers on last.fm. It’s worth making a few caveats right away. Firstly, not all musicians were included, so please leave comments with other names and links to them on Last.fm. Secondly, many musicians are recorded under different names and sometimes have different statistical indicators. We tried to find for each, if not all possible spellings, then the most common ones registered in last.fm, and count them together. And thirdly, the data on the number of listenings (and not the number of listeners), current as of June 3, 2009, was taken into account. In addition, the final list differs from the originally published version. Several performers have been added to it that were not taken into account when first compiled. Further additions will be considered in the future. Top ten The leader is predictable - "Lyapis Trubetskoy". More than a million streams - no one can get close to this mark. Next come N.R.M., Stary Olsa, Vicious Crusade and Seryoga - musicians representing completely different musical styles. Sixth place Dreamlin, whose name is probably unknown to many. This is an electronic project by Denis Korabkov and Egor Kunovsky, which has existed since 2000, having recorded two full-length albums and a number of soundtracks. Second ten At the top of the second ten are multiple rock kings Neuro Dubel, group CherryVata, who recently recorded a new album "ViaVanilla", metalheads Rasta And Gods Tower, which was expected to be seen much higher, because the groups are known far beyond the borders of Belarus. Third ten Four more electronic projects Koordinate of Wonders, Luna:r, Randomajestiq and Stone People in the TOP 40 of Belarusian musicians on Last.fm confirm the high level of development of this type of music in our country. Legendary group "Pesnyary" only 26. Fourth decade Ethno trio "Trinity", which participated twice in the Sziget festival, only 31. Also unexpectedly low were the groups ULIS, J: fruit drink, IQ48. Late 1990s Belarusian rock- the conventional name for rock music created by musicians from Belarus. In most cases it is Belarusian- or Russian-speaking.
One of the jury members, the young composer Igor Luchenok, then noted that in this music I would like to hear “less imitations” and “more of our Soviet repertoire.” Despite the fact that all the groups, except for Algorithms, were criticized by the jury, the republican press responded positively to the festival. Criticisms boiled down to the fact that the musicians do not have normal factory equipment, and they have to make guitars and all the equipment themselves. The newspaper "Chyrvonaya Zmena", for example, complained that professional composers wrote few works in the big beat genre (In the USSR, big beat at that time was called any modern electric guitar music: rock and roll, blues rock, rhythm and blues, etc.) . During all three days of the festival, it was filmed by Belarusfilm newsreels. A small short 10-minute film called “Route No. 13” (the name of one of the songs of the group “Algorithms”) was edited from the footage. While the film was being edited, events known as the Prague Spring took place in Czechoslovakia. In this regard, the political climate in the Soviet Union also changed. It was decided not to release the finished film on cinema screens. The film lay on the shelf until 1977, when an act of destruction was issued, as well as all working material for it. A copy of the film was hidden and preserved by cameraman Eduard Gaiduk. On September 1, 1969, the accompanying ensemble “Lyavony”, organized by Vladimir Mulyavin at the Minsk Philharmonic, was transferred to the category of vocal and instrumental. In October of the following 1970, the ensemble took part in the IV All-Union Competition of Variety Artists, having previously changed its name to the “more serious” “Pesnyary”. The first prize was not awarded to anyone that time, and the second prize was shared by “Pesnyary”, Lev Leshchenko and the Georgian ensemble “Dielo”. Thus, Pesnyary received the right to record the album. While working on the album, Leonid Bortkevich, a member of the Golden Apples ensemble, joined Pesnyary. The album was released in 1971. It didn’t have a name, so it is often called by the first song, “You showered me with light.” This record sold 4 million copies. The repertoire of “Pesnyary” consisted mainly of Belarusian folk songs, which Mulyavin set to big beat and blues melodies. Although Mulyavin himself was Russian by nationality, he made sure that the entire Soviet Union sang Belarusian folk songs. In 1974, the second album “Alesya” was released, which, in addition to folk songs, also included songs based on poems by Belarusian poets. In 1976, at the MIDEM music fair in Cannes, where musicians from all over the world come who have sold the most records in their country, Pesnyary represented the Melodiya company and the Soviet Union. There American producers drew attention to them and invited them on tour to America. Thus, Pesnyary became the first Soviet group to tour the United States. In 1976, “Pesnyary” presented a rock opera based on the poems of Yanka Kupala - “Song of Share”, and in 1978 the conceptual series continued with the opera “Guslyar”. These works were made more seriously than all previous ones, in the art rock style. Other VIAs also worked in the BSSR during this period of time (“Verasy”, “Syabry”), but they represented an ordinary Soviet stage. In the late 70s - early 80s, a full-time musical group under the same name worked in the Minsk youth Komsomol cafe “Suzor’e”. The musicians of the group “Suzor’e” played hard rock. This became possible due to some liberalization of the regime in the USSR as a result of the 1980 Olympics. However, already in 1983, under Yuri Andropov, persecution of rockers began and the Suzor’e group was banned. Nevertheless, all the musicians continued to work in the Philharmonic. In 1984 they released the magnetic album “Rock Therapy”. In 1986 they resumed performing as “Suzor’e”, and in 1988 they released the album “September River” on the Melodiya company. The situation in rock music completely changed with the advent of Perestroika. In 1986, the Komsomol organized the “Republican Competition of Youth Political Songs” in Novopolotsk, the first places in which were taken by the Brest group “Golden Mean” and the Mozyr “Reflection”. A fairly broad rock movement developed in Novopolotsk and Polotsk, the most notable group of which was the Myastsov Chas group. Later, the annual Rock-Cola festival will be organized there. In 1986, a rock club called "Nemiga" was created in Minsk. The rock club held its festival “Three Colors”. In 1988, the Rock-Krok festival was held in Grodno. In 1990, Belarusian students in Poland organized the festival of Belarusian music “Basovishche”. The Bond group (formerly called Studio 7) released in 1986 one of the first Belarusian-language albums of this decade, “Metsa Pad Sontsam.” In 1989, the group broke up and on its fragments such groups as ULIS, Krama and The Little Blues Band appeared. In 1989, the ULIS group recorded their debut album “Chuzhanitsa” in Poland, which received many positive reviews in the Belarusian press; in 1991, the album was re-released by Melodiya. In 1989, Belarusian music journalists drew attention to the group “Mroya”, where Lyavon Volsky then played the keys and sang. They sent a letter to the Melodiya company with a request to record these musicians. Melodiya sent a mobile recording studio to Minsk. This is how the album “Twenty-eighth Dawn” appeared. As in the rest of the Union, rockers are trying to raise topics of various acute social problems of the time. The theme of national revival is fashionable. Belarusian rock music of this time is somewhat influenced by Polish rock (Lady Pank). In the early 90s, Belarusian rock was going through a crisis. Many notable bands of the last decade broke up in the early 90s. The collapse of the USSR, the acquisition of independence by Belarus and the onset of democracy cut the ground from under the feet of nationally oriented groups. Lyavon Volsky, leader of the Mroya group, explains: “We could not find ourselves during the heyday of democracy. We were fighters in both image and soul. And at that time the struggle became absolutely unnecessary.” In 1993, the rock band Drum Ecstasy appeared, which became a unique musical project. The band features four musicians playing steel-bodied drums and creating a wall of sound to blast the audience. The rock band presents its own version of the sound: heavy dance music created by three drummers, supported by a foundation passed through processing samples and electronic bass guitar percussion. At the same time, new groups appeared during this period, which would later become iconic in Belarusian rock. In 1991, the Krama group was founded. Their debut album, “Hvory na Rock-n-Roll” (1993), is considered one of the best in the group’s discography. The punk band Neuro Dubel is making a name for itself, whose first full-length studio album, Smart Things, was released in 1995. The group ULIS is being revived with a new line-up. Standing apart from everything is the Minsk group “Red Stars”, which is adjacent to the national-communist rock movement “Russian Breakthrough” and tours Russia together with Yegor Letov and “Civil Defense”. In 1994, the Rock Coronation music award was organized. The rock crown is awarded to rockers who have made their mark in a particular year. The group “Lyapis Trubetskoy” becomes a phenomenon. The first full-length album “Wounded Heart” (1996) makes the group popular in Belarus, and the next album “You threw” (1998) brings fame throughout the CIS. In the 90s, professional musicians began to develop an interest in folklore. Musical groups began to appear that began to synthesize traditional instrumental performance of Belarus with rock music. Instruments such as the duda, pipes, zhaleika, gusli, harp, ocarina, and lyre came into use. The most prominent representatives of such experimental folklorism were: “Palace”, “Yur’ya”, KRIWI, “Ban-Zhvirba”, ethno-trio “Trinity”. They were able to gain recognition among professionals and lovers of folk art. At the end of the 90s, such a phenomenon as joint albums took place in Belarusian rock music. These were not just collections. Each album had its own concept. The first such project was “People's Album” (1997), the idea of which was invented by the artist Mikhail Anempodistov. The album was dedicated to the interwar period of Western Belarus, and all the songs in it were stylized as folk songs. The recording was attended by: Lyavon Volsky, Kasya Kamotskaya, Alexander Pomidorov, Zmitser Voytyushkevich and others. The album was a great success, Polish Gazeta Wyborcza named "Narodny Album" in 1997 "Event of the Year" in Poland. Later, other joint albums appeared, but they did not have such success as “Narodny Album”: an album of carol songs “Saint Vechar 2000” (1999), an album of songs dedicated to Belarus “I’m Narodzіўsya here” (2000), an album with songs based on the poet’s poems and writer Vladimir Korotkevich “The Skrypka Drygva” (2001). In the early 2000s, musician Zmitser Voytyushkevich began his solo career, having played in the groups “Palace” and KRIWI in the 90s. Now Voytyushkevich began performing solo or with his group WZ-Orkiestra. At first, Zmitser used the pseudonym Todar. At the same time, groups such as “Dai Darogu! ", "No ticket". ##### (5diez), "Addis Ababa", which would later become famous. Of the groups that started at the beginning of the decade, the most successful were J:Morse, whose popularity, which had been growing since 2002, peaked by 2005; as of 2018, this group remains consistently among the top five most successful and beloved Belarusian rock bands. In 2007, the group “Lyapis Trubetskoy” released the album “Capital”, a landmark album for their work. This album changes the band's music. A new wave of popularity of Lyapis Trubetskoy is associated with Capital. In the 2000s, a rock opera appeared on the Belarusian musical theater stage in the repertoire of the Belarusian State Academic Musical Theater. Prior to this, attempts to create a rock opera had been made in the 1970s. At the beginning of 2011, due to internal contradictions among the musicians N.R.M. Its leader Lyavon Volsky was expelled from the group. Without Volsky, the group became “permitted” and toured Belarus, then the musicians released an album and took part in the selection for Eurovision 2013. This behavior was received ambiguously by fans and gradually the group's activities faded away. Lyavon Volsky began his solo career. He released two solo albums and one album with Krambambulya. Music critics unanimously recognized “Chyrvony Shtral” as one of the group’s best albums. Due to the lack of opportunity to perform at home, album presentations take place in Vilnius. In such cases, the Lithuanian Embassy meets halfway and issues free visas to spectators. In 2014, due to internal contradictions, the Lyapis Trubetskoy group broke up. Most of its members went to the Trubetskoy group of Pavel Bulatnikov. Sergei Mikhalok founded the group Brutto, and a little later, in parallel, the group “Lyapis-98” was created, where Sergei sings the old song “Lyapis Trubetskoy”. Unexpectedly, in the fall of 2016, after the completion of the US tour, it became “authorized” in Mikhalok’s homeland. First, Brutto is allowed a concert in Gomel, then in other cities, and then the group gathers Minsk Arena, the largest venue in the country. At the same time, the Grodno group Dzieciuki with whom Brutto repeatedly performed at joint concerts in Poland was included in the “black list”. In Belarus, the group’s concerts are canceled by ideology departments Today you can create high-quality musical material without leaving your apartment. Everything was different before. The Krama group recorded their debut album at the Pesnyarov studio secretly at night, N.R.M. Initially, they planned to make the long play “Three Charapakhs” in the famous English studio Abbey Road, and the leader of “Neuro Doubel” Alexander Kulinkovich wrote the songs for the record “Hunter and Saiga” in the hospital. Read how the cult albums of Belarusian rock were created in Friday's article from Onliner.by. Album N.R.M. “Three Charapakhs,” according to rumors, sold a fabulous circulation of 60 thousand copies by Belarusian standards. It was sold everywhere: in stores, at gas stations, and even in small kiosks in regional centers. The musicians say that the success of the album was quite logical. - At that time, the group had already gained great popularity - largely thanks to previous albums,- says the current frontman of the group, Pete Pavlov. - But it also affected the fact that we had practically no competitors: N.R.M. were on a wave of success, 10 thousand people came to concerts with our participation. We received an offer to record an album in Minsk in a studio with the then rising star of Belarusian sound engineering, Gennady Syrokvash. But the plans for “Three Charapakhs” were very ambitious. The manager of the group at that time was Lyavon Volsky’s wife Anna. She wanted to do something incredible - find the money to record an album in England at Abbey Road Studios. Her ambitions subsided a little, the bar was lowered to a studio in Germany, but it was still crazy money - about $25 thousand. For this amount one could buy three apartments in Minsk. As a result, we went to a studio in Poland, spent several days there, lived in terrible conditions: we didn’t even have a shower, and ate sausage and cheesecakes. We recorded an album there and realized that we were not at all happy with the result. We arrived in Minsk and took advantage of the offer to rewrite everything at the Minsk studio. Pavlov says that the biggest contribution to the creation of the album was made by Lyavon Volsky. But the album was made by a huge number of people, and all the songs were created collectively during rehearsals. The main hit not only of the album, but, perhaps, of all Belarusian rock music was the song “Three Charapakhi”, which, together with the compositions “Pavetrany Shar” and “Songs of Pra Kahanne” today constitutes the golden fund of domestic rock. - Her idea was born when we were going to Poland on tour with “People's Albums”,- says Pete. - Then the TV showed a speech by Boris Yeltsin, who at that time was, to put it mildly, not in the best shape and spoke some kind of incoherent stupidity. And we came up with a little gag. Yeltsin comes out and declares: “Russian statehood is based on three pillars.” They ask him: “Which ones?” And he answers: “On the first... second... and third whale.” We started developing this topic, joking, and a couple of days later Lyavon Volsky brought the finished lyrics to the song. And the music there is simple - it’s almost No Woman, No Cry by Bob Marley. The song was originally intended as a joke - we didn’t even really arrange it, which I really regret now.
The success of the album is the coming together of many people who helped the band. The group’s songs were played on the radio, the video for the song “Chistaya-Svetlaya” was shown on television, and the group’s concert director Vladimir Shablinsky organized the group a large-scale tour of Belarus.
- We wrote two songs per rehearsal,- recalls Pavlov. - It felt like we were drinking cold water on a hot day. We received great pleasure from what we were doing. The history of recording the debut album of the Krama group, “Khvory on Rock-n-Roll,” began in 1993 at the Pesnyarov studio - it was there that the first four years of the young band were recorded. Moreover, they were recorded illegally. - A lot of things were done like that back then.- recalls the group leader Igor Voroshkevich. - A familiar sound engineer worked at our studio, and he took us into the building at night; there wasn’t much security there. But we wrote the material for the album in Mozyr: there was the best studio in Belarus, even in the capital there was nothing like this. Initially, an English-language version of the debut album was recorded: the team had ambitious plans to enter the international market. When the material was sent to England, some songs began to be played on the radio there, the group was invited to tour, but, unfortunately, nothing came of it. - At the last moment they didn’t give work visas,- says Igor Voroshkevich. - That's why we didn't go anywhere. But we still had the album’s instrumental, recorded at the studio in Mozyr, and we decided to release a Belarusian-language album. We recorded vocals, and this is how “Hvory on Rock-n-Roll” came about.
The group performed songs from their debut album at the first “Rock Coronation”.
- Was there any criticism of the album?- Igor laughs. - Who will remember? This is 1993 - then everything was different, and I was never particularly interested in the reaction to my work. I just tried to do it well. The Gods Tower group was a unique phenomenon for Belarus (and not only) in the nineties. The musicians from Gomel created a real sensation at their first performance in Minsk, and many still believe that the “household goods,” as fans affectionately call the group, invented a new style by mixing heavy riffs and folk music. The first full-length work of “Tower of the Gods” was the album The Eerie, recorded in a few days in Gomel. - The Eerie was, one might say, a ticket to the big stage for us,- says Gods Tower vocalist Vladislav Novozhilov. - They recorded it in the Gomel Teachers' House: a studio was equipped there. Everyone came in a “pack” and without takes - they came and recorded every song from beginning to end, trying to play the songs cleanly the first time. I don’t remember how much it cost us; in the nineties, money was generally a relative value. But we did a lot of things through barter: I wrote lyrics for someone, Sasha Urakova[guitarist of Gods Tower. - Approx. Onliner.by] was invited to be a session musician - largely due to this, The Eerie was recorded.
The musicians of Gods Tower can even be called pioneers of Belarusian crowdfunding: in order to publish the album, they decided to organize a special event for the Gomel crowd. - We got into big debts when we recorded it, so when we needed to print the cassettes, we no longer had money,- says Vladislav. - And the director of the group, Viktor Lapitsky, went to the site near the city circus, where the entire Gomel crowd spent time. He organized a campaign: he invited everyone to chip in as much as they could. Those who gave money then received a copy of the album for free. It was Belarusian crowdfunding of the nineties! Nobody did that then, people lived according to Soviet concepts. When the album was ready, we decided to celebrate the whole thing. We bought expensive Amaretto wine, which cost a lot of money in the nineties, but there was nothing left for anything else - we had to drink the elite drink in the entrance of one of the Gomel high-rise buildings. The album, recorded in 1993, created a sensation. The group began to be invited to festivals, they began to visit Minsk often. They say that during the group’s performances the forfeits fell to their knees - the concerts of the Gomel residents were so emotional and atmospheric. - We did not expect such a reaction to the album. Everyone praised us! I play The Eerie for a friend and say: “Well, how’s it going? Does this look like Tiamat? And he listens, looks at me with rounded eyes and shouts: “Yes, this is cooler than Tiamat!”- Vladislav laughs. But real fame came to the Neuro Dubel group after the release of the album “Hunter and Saiga”. Every Belarusian with the slightest interest in music knew the title track and the hit “Moved by a Harvester” by heart, the band began to appear on television and went “to the people.” - This is a strange album. I actually wrote half of the songs in the hospital, including the hits “Hunter and Saiga” and “Moved by a Harvester”: in 1994 I underwent surgery and after that I underwent annual examinations. During one of them I wrote these songs,- says group leader Alexander Kulinkovich. - How did you write it? Yes, just like all the compositions of “Neuro Doubel” - spontaneously. Some stupid idea comes to my mind, I remember a joke, and a song is built around it. This is also how “Moved by a Harvester” was born - the chorus around which the entire composition was built. The album was recorded in 1998 at one of the Minsk studios. The musicians spent about $1000 on it - a huge amount of money at that time.
- But the video for “Hunter and Saiga” was filmed for free. How? When the album came out, we, as they say, woke up famous - people lined up to shoot a video for us, and we were already choosing what we wanted. Yes, it was popular: the songs “Hunter and Saiga” and “Moved by a Harvester” were played from every iron, sounded both on the radio and on TV. It's hard to imagine this now,- says Alexander. - Even Belteleradiocompany allocated its expensive studio for us to film the concert presentation (I think it cost about $3 million). We were singled out simply because we are Neuro Doubel. The presentation was memorable for me for a very unpleasant episode: before the concert, a completely drunk man called me and asked me to take him to the concert for free. Like, there is no money for a ticket. I was in a good mood and agreed. Before the performance, I met him to see him off, but he could barely stand on his feet - he was in such a state that I refused to let him in. You never know how this could end. And the next day this man’s mother called (he had my number written down) and said that this guy had been found dead. Since then I have tried not to refuse anyone. Perhaps if I had taken him to the concert, the man would have survived.
The concert presentation of the album took place in an unusual place for such events - in the Oktyabr cinema. The musicians recall that a huge number of people came to the concert, and during the performance they lost sound three times. - It turned out that the power cable ran straight across the dance floor, and people periodically pulled it out. As a result, security was assigned to the cable, and he drove the public away from it. And after the concert, a couple of articles were published in the press, where they said that there was a shootout at the Neuro Dubel concert. And we are neither sleepy nor in spirit. It turned out that the “new Russians” were celebrating something in the cinema restaurant and started shooting,- Alexander laughs. The album “Hunter and Saiga” was released on cassettes and CDs in a good number of copies, which, however, have not yet been sold out.
The group itself, which before the triumphant song “Capital” was known as a cheerful tent and remembered for its sticky banter songs, turned into the number one Belarusian band. “Manifesto” secured this status: the songs from the album were sorted into quotes, and most of them are still known and loved.
- Sergei was the first to bring the song “Manifesto” to the rehearsal. I played it, and I immediately liked it: I realized that it would be a hit,- says former member of Lyapis Trubetskoy and current leader of the Trubetskoy group Pavel Bulatnikov. - Everything was up to par: great lyrics, great melody. I can also highlight the song Belarus Freedom from this album - this is an excellent composition that was very relevant at that time. In general, after Capital we were so confident in what we were doing that we didn’t pay attention to anyone or anything.
- How successful was the album? One fact speaks about this:- continues Pavel Bulatnikov. - The day after the release of “Manifesto” we played in Russia, and everyone sang along to the words of the songs in chorus - this is an excellent indicator of popularity. All Lyapis albums are dear to me in their own way, but “Manifesto” is my favorite, that’s for sure. By the way, “Manifesto” became the first album of the group that was posted on the Internet for free download. In this way, the Lapis emphasized their title of “anarchosyndicate,” which they would subsequently emphasize very often. Reprinting text and photographs of Onliner.by is prohibited without the permission of the editors. [email protected]
Peculiarities
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Collaborative albums
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