In the 1960s, as Beatlemania stormed across the globe, it also made its way through the Iron Curtain and into the radios of Soviet youth via Radio Luxembourg and other Western broadcasts. With no Beatles albums legally being sold within the Soviet Union, a black market arose where Beatles songs were illegally recorded onto x-rays straight from radio broadcasts. These x-rays became known as “bones,” and they helped spread The Beatles’ sound across the country.
Soviet authorities realized a moneymaker when they saw one and established a bootleg rock and roll recording industry through the government controlled record label, Melodiya. These “legal” albums helped rock and roll reach the masses and planted the seeds for a social movement that 30 years later would bring an end to the Soviet Union.
As the world descends on the southern Russian resort city of Sochi for the start of the 2014 Winter Olympics, let’s take a look at some of the artists who over the years created the Russian rock and roll sound and influenced today’s modern Russian groups.
Mashina Vremeni — Povorot
Throughout most of the 1960s and 70s, The Soviet Ministry of Culture sanctioned and recorded only certain groups — publicly called VIAs (Vocal Instrumental Ensemble) — under strict rules for their dress, appearance, and most importantly, their music. Russian bands not a part of the VIA system struggled for decades to establish themselves without the support of the Soviet government.
One of the first non-VIA groups to gain popularity within the Soviet Union is still making music today. Andrei Marakevich started Mashina Vremeni with high school friends in 1969 and is the only original member still with the group today. Mashina Vremeni started by covering rock and folk songs from the U.S., but soon found their own sound by combining rock, blues and Russian folk music.
Akvarium — Masha and Bear
Like Mashina Vremeni, Boris Grebenshchikov’s Akvarium struggled for most of the 1970s frequently playing apartments and small clubs in Leningrad. But a memorable performance at the Tbilisi Rock Festival in 1980 lifted the curtain on the band and Soviet rock music for the world to see.
Grebenshchikov was one of the first Russian rockers to head west in the late 1980s and recorded an English language album, Radio Silence, produced by Dave Stewart of the Eurthymics in 1989. He even made his American television debut that same year on Late Night with David Letterman. (The other guests were Super Dave Osborne and a pop singer named Rachele Cappelli.)
Kino — We Want Changes
With the groundwork laid by underground artists like Akvarium and Meshina Vremeni, new groups were beginning to establish themselves across the Soviet Union. The Soviet government still controlled mainstream Russian rock, but songs from underground artists began commmenting on social and political issues facing Soviet society.
Kino, led by Viktor Tsoi, was influenced by Grebenshchikov, but also by alternative music scenes growing in the U.K. and U.S. Tsoi was one of the first Russian musicians to address political and social themes in his music, which made him an instant star with the anti-establishment movement. By the time of Tsoi’s death in 1990, Kino was the most popular band in the Soviet Union and the 28-year-old Tsoi had become a national hero.
Sektor Gaza — Tuman
Russian rock music was beginning to break free from government restrictions in the years before the Soviet Union fell in 1991. Instituted by Mikhail Gorbachev in the late 1980s, perestroika and glasnost were social and political reforms created to restructure the country. They ultimately led to greater freedom for artists and citizens, and historians argue whether these reforms also led to the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
After the fall of the Soviet Union, musicians within Russia gained freedoms unheard of when the Ministry of Culture was in control. By the end of the decade, groups like Sektor Gaza and Korol i Shut, influenced by punk and American nu metal, were adding theatrics and obscene lyrics to their stage appearance and songs. Russian rock had also splintered into various genres and pulled slightly away from the Russian folk background of groups from just a decade earlier.
Louna — Karma Mir
Even with greater Western influence and exposure, Russian rock music has still held on to its roots. Most Russian rock bands still sing in Russian, unlike counterparts in Sweden or France. Although amongst Russian pop groups, a trend is growing to sing in English. Russia even had an international pop sensation in the early 2000’s with t.A.T.u., but this probably had less to do with the group singing in English and more to do with two scantily clad girls kissing. Oddly enough, rumors suggest that t.A.T.u. will be performing during the opening ceremonies in Sochi.
The trend of Russian rockers pushing social and political agendas continues albeit with a much more open attitude than the groups from the 1970’s and 80’s.
The punk band Pussy Riot became international news when three members were sentenced to prison for protesting within a church. All three have been released and have been speaking out against President Vladimir Putin and the Sochi games. Metal band Louna has publicly denounced the Russian Orthodox Church and “religiously motivated terrorism” was the theme of its 2013 album, Business. Both groups were going to be the focus of an episode of the Shepard Fairey produced documentary series, Rebel Music, but pressure from “outside sources” forced MTV to shelve the episode.
With the Winter Olympics just days away, it is unlikely that any of the bands mentioned here — with the possible exception of t.A.T.u. — will take part in either the opening or closing ceremonies. Russian rock music has made huge strides since it was illegal to play Beatles records, but it continues to stay slightly underground.
Follow Jeremy Klumpp on Twitter @Klumpp13
