Soviet Music playlist: kzread.info/head/PLNq3y0OU1_BYhVy_Vq46GVLlMnlro7ppN VIA Samocvety: kzread.info/dash/bejne/Z3ZhusN_gc-ymM4.htmlsi=FtxfYIgGflh3RYhm VIA Singing Guitars: kzread.info/dash/bejne/d2eey9SlZNyyerg.htmlsi=DdvQzzMYTHjL7uBa VIA Jolly Dudes: kzread.info/dash/bejne/nZp8tKyKZau6n7w.htmlsi=umn7arVVDJZK-W8_ VIA Pesnyary: kzread.info/dash/bejne/i6iYt496YJWco7g.htmlsi=pPo_X5LXUwCCpEW4 VIA Verasy: kzread.info/dash/bejne/dpxlsdZwpZCvdtI.htmlsi=LnR0STUkglpV5lGh VIA Smerychka: kzread.info/dash/bejne/ZqKN2qiBktSrfdo.htmlsi=mpXC_0gqVSBTxSIF VIA Yalla: kzread.info/dash/bejne/Zn6Jm7CLd6iwmLQ.htmlsi=fTwi6KLjLOw5jzWL

@customfantasyhotwheels

Ай бұрын

Quick question: Why "WE"? At the end of your videos, you always say _"WE'LL TALK TO YOU SOON."_ Who is the "We" in your videos? It's you speaking, so who is the other person you refer to? If you identify as a "they/them", disregard my question because I do not even want to go into that.

@UshankaShow

Ай бұрын

Good question! I have no idea why I say "WE". An old Politburo habit, I guess

@customfantasyhotwheels

Ай бұрын

@@UshankaShow - Interesting, yet, I do not know what a "Politburo" is. Either way, the "we" doesn't translate onto the English language. You should just say "I'll talk to you all soon", to disassociate yourself from russians. Lately, I have noticed many russians and Ukrainians use the "we" to identify themselves and I just think about how odd and weird it sounds in English. You guys are the original "they/them"s before it was trendy😂😂😂 Great content & stories on your channel, Sergei👌🏼Greetings from Texas.

@UshankaShow

Ай бұрын

@@customfantasyhotwheels en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politburo

I'm confounded there wasn't a Groupies Union to entertain the entertainers.

@MelanieAF

2 ай бұрын

lol

Back in 87-88 I remember watching "The World of Music" on MTV. The Soviet bands reminded me of the garage bands/underground club bands in NYC from the late 70's-early 80's

@kirbyculp3449

2 ай бұрын

Well, there was the Dictators so that's appropriate. The question is, who can play faster and louder?

@djmrjoel

2 ай бұрын

@@kirbyculp3449Huge stoner metal bass solo 15 years before Sleep by Melodiya Ensemble

Great episode. I miss the rooster, too. Also, I mentioned this to you once before: In May 1977, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band became the first American group allowed to tour the Soviet Union playing 28 sold-out concerts, and a televised appearance that is estimated to have been watched by 145 million people.

Hi many thanks for answering my question. Believe me there was no sarcasm intended The question was triggered by one of your previous videos and the info that the band Piknik (that was to perform at the Crocus theater attack) was a Soviet era band I have heard that western music was smuggled into the USSR and some western bands did play in Russia. I remember Elton John playing concerts in USSR

@shatnermohanty6678

Ай бұрын

Questions like this help the channel grow 👍

Please make a video on Alla Pugacheva or a KZread Shorts on her

@djmrjoel

2 ай бұрын

She is Barbara Streisand, Diana Ross and Donna Summer rolled into one

@UshankaShow

22 күн бұрын

Working on it! 👍

@shatnermohanty6678

22 күн бұрын

@@UshankaShow Thanks Comrade 🙏

You start understanding why smuggling from Finland, etc was so popular.....

As an American I think Kino was pretty good, and Omega from Hungary.

@andrefiset3569

2 ай бұрын

Omega,i have one of two LP, but Phoenix from Romania are my best from USSR.

@djmrjoel

2 ай бұрын

Kino is sort of like the Russian Cure. Very cool 😎

@natashka1982

2 ай бұрын

Aria and Kipekov. And Nautilus Pompilius

The amount of bureaucracy, restriction, and lack of creative freedom is absolutely suffocating. The entire government-controlled culture of the Soviet Union was the reason why people eventually stopped believing in the system and caused it to implode. I can't help but think of people like Vaclav Havel, a playwright rendered into a non-person for writing subversive material, wrote about parallel systems where creativity and life could actually be embraced. Rather than a lifeless world mandated by a bunch of mindless talentless bureaucrats who decided how people should run their lives without having a clue as to how to even do so.

@louvendran7273

2 ай бұрын

That explains American Pop & Rap right now. 😂 "Keys to my rarri". Even when Joe Walsh wrote the lyrics of "Life's been good" it was more about a nobody being lucky enough to achieve the American Dream. It was not as he expected but grateful nonetheless. "Being a billionaire & miserable is better than being a pauper & being miserable", Burton Reynolds. At least as a billionaire you can take designer pills to sleep. As a pauper, a bottle of moonshine & a nasty headache in the morning gets you through the night. Americans have a false sense of freedom. Its time you grew out off it.

@kirbyculp3449

2 ай бұрын

Asianometry has a good episode about Terri's, and computers in the USSR.

I cant wait for part 2 of this video. Wish i lived to see the all the various underground bands of early 80s leningrad. All the persecution they were subject to spawned what's in my opinion the most authentic and honest music scene ever. Really looking forward to learning more details about them. Great video

It seems like classical music, musicians/orchestras benefitted more in the Soviet Union, than any attempt at a soviet version of "pop" music. In fact quite a few musicians and composers were internationally recognised and respected in the West and Melodiya exported many classical recordings from the Soviet Union to the West.

@andrefiset3569

2 ай бұрын

And many seized classical recordings from Nazi Germany but they gave them back relatively recently.

The Soviets were as exploitative as the west. I raise my hat to their brilliance.

@natashka1982

2 ай бұрын

We had immense amounts of plagiarism

First people who drivers porshes and most expenisve Mercedes in Yugoslavia were musicians,you could open private business but you could not have more then 9 employers but musicians did not have any cap how much they can earn. THere was a law where folk music was taxed 70% which was consider by governant as non progressive music and rest were 20% .But still like first $ milioner in 80s Yugoslavia was folk singer call "Lepa Brena" .People from towns would listen to rock,pop even electronic music was popular while people from villages would listen to folk music. So there were like 2 sides that publicly would not admit that they listen to other side music but in reality even rock fans when get drunk would listen to folk

@parasatc8183

2 ай бұрын

Non-ex-YU person here who's been interested in ex-YU music for some time now. I enjoy EKV, though lately I've been listening more to Miroslav Ilić and Toma Zdravković, and then on sporadic occasions I listen to some Haustor.

@dzonikg

2 ай бұрын

@@parasatc8183 EKV was great rock group with sad ending.There is movie about Toma Zdravkovic life from 2021 call "Toma" its actually good movie

@dzonikg

2 ай бұрын

@@parasatc8183 EKV was great group with sad ending.There is movie about Toma Zdravkovic from 2021 call "Toma" ,its actually good movie

When we are on topic, why no intro jingle anymore? I loved that about your channel! Anyway, great video, as always Sergei!

Hi, I think that the correct English term for "Ansambli" is "Ensemble", not assembly

@clavichord

2 ай бұрын

Da, Comrade

As a kid in the 80s (teenager in 90s) the perception was that Russia was just getting blue jeans and rock and roll, and that they seemed to be like, 30-40 years behind the curve. Obsessed with Elvis and earlier types of rock and roll. I have no doubt that's not the full story, but that's kind of what was presented in media, from my memory.

@natashka1982

2 ай бұрын

Yeah, that's what communism does

The story of Joanna Stingray is nuts. I’d love to see you do an interview with Cold War conversations podcast. You hit so much that Ian wants to talk about 🫶🏻

Friends of mine, Danish rock bad Sort Sol was thrown out from the SSSR when they wey touring there in 1989 in the project Next Stop Soviet. Fun thing, first they weren't heard from for weeks when they were there, no one knew where they where and the Danish press was full of rumours. Then they were thrown out and banned from ever returning to the USSR. Effective all until 1991, hehe

@MM22966

2 ай бұрын

For what reason(s)?

@andershansson2245

2 ай бұрын

@@MM22966 for "western decadence" on stage in one of the central asian SSRs = drinking alcohol om stage. But that was just a pretext, the plitruks coulnnd't handle a bunch of old punk rockers...

Excellent vlog. I've been interested in Soviet pop-culture for a long time. I've learned something new.

@natashka1982

2 ай бұрын

Check out Ariya and Kipelov

i absolutely love Gruppa Krovi and Konchitsya Leto from Kino

Great video. I have been collecting Soviet vinyl ever since finding a cover of Stayin’ Alive by Raimonds Pauls at a Seattle thrift store a couple decades ago. Love too many to list, but Zodiac, Verasy (Music For All Vol. 2), Iveria and much more. This video helped answer many questions for me.

If anyone hasn't watched the Moscow's Metallica 1991 concert on KZread. The expression on the crowds faces is pretty epic, the size of the crowd was insane 1.6 million people. Going from the type of concert they were used to, to that, must've been absolutely mind-blowing to everyone involved and unfathomable just months or a year prior.

@natashka1982

2 ай бұрын

I was 9 and was on a subway with my grandma. All the stations were closed, it was insane.

Your video does a lot to explain what I've seen of music groups in movies (in restaurant scenes and other settings). Some of it I had kind of guessed from the context, but I certainly hadn't guess every detail that you provided. It also explains somewhat of the mentality that made it so important that a jazz "expert" be found who could give the group in "We're from Jazz" some credibility. That film is thoroughly anachronistic, but still, some of it makes more sense given your explanations.

I found the best freeze dry coffee Nescafe gold espresso. Made in France.

Privet tavarish Sergei! Thank you for all your great content, I have followed for many years. I have been learning the Russian language on my own and will say it is very difficult! I still struggle with Cyrillic letters. I’ve noticed you have a few videos mentioning how you learned English in the USSR. I think a video by you, giving a few pointers for us new Russian speakers and many whom are interested in the languages of the many regions of the USSR would be greatly appreciated! Thanks and keep up the work. ~cheers from Canada

Another fascinating video. Thank you!

I watched a 1967 Soviet movie featuring the comedian Nikulin. In the movie, Nikulin danced with a woman to a band playing a 1950s US Rock style beat and they were doing the "twist". I was surprised 😮

No rock bands until late 80s? We were rocking since late 70s in estonia.

I can't think of Soviet rock music without thinking about the movie "Clerks."

Thanks

Kino hit harder while listening to them in a post Soviet Country while on vacation drinking beer.

I collect LP records for few decades and always took the ones from the USSR who seems to be rock music. Interesting stuff sometimes but rarely on Melodia, maybe the Republics where less strict. Sometime they sound dated but in a good way. In my french speaking corner of Canada, in the 60's, it was really common to have local bands who translate Anglo-Saxon hits into French.

always interesting

Sergei could do a video on Leningrad Cowboys, except they were really Finnish, not Soviet.

Do you remember an American woman, Joanna Stingray, that got together with four bands in the USSR and made a great album that was sold in the US?

I love ostbloc music

Comrade Sergei is a rock star!

i really wish the Greatful Dead would have toured the USSR! i've seen them talk about it in a few interviews. woulda been a wild time!

A very interesting episode, thank you for making and sharing! Question: was singing in the non-Russian languages frowned upon by authorities?

@natashka1982

2 ай бұрын

In English it was

06:28 When gangster rap hit the shelves. It was niche. Corporate America bought it off & cleaned it up. What's the difference? 🤔

@D.S.handle

2 ай бұрын

Was it done because of the perceived need to be ideologically compliant with the state, or because “the Corporate America” wanted to make a buck? Have there been any other legal ways for such music to become popular?

@louvendran7273

2 ай бұрын

@@D.S.handle I could write a thesis on the topic. Backcground. As you know people of colour were second class. Elvis was no1 because he passed as white. I remember Dave Brubeck turned down an award as he felt Duke Wellington deserved it first. Mover, blues stars only got airplay because of the Beatles & Stones. Remember I am from the Anglosphere. The British invasion represented the working & middle-class of all colonies & counties. The lyrics were explosive, it was the first real free speech. John Lennon was a master of protest. He was in Nixon's black book. They were disgusted with racism. These Blues singers were burly, absolutely respectable middle-aged men who white Americans wrote off as animals. I remember reading a comment by a fellow KZreadr, writing about funk in the 1970s in the US. It was not allowed at family gatherings. You listened to it at your own peril. I was shocked when I heard that. I grew up in Apartheid South Africa where boundaries were just as rigid especially with the Afrikaners as the English where I lived were okay. Singers of colour made peanuts compared white artists. Hip hop started as a form of art denouncing the "segregational state" supported by its "gestappo" police force. A popular theme was against exploitative employers/managers which they coined "the man". List to MWA or The Chronic by Dre or even Ice⁰. Much of the lyrics are telling people of to stop bring the victims of mass marketing buying overpriced & unnecessary consumption goods, expensive fashion etc. After 2Pac & Biggie got murdered. It became a cult. Prior to the is metal/pop was huge amongst the "surburban" listeners. Executives got in for 2 reasons, the money from the untapped market & to control the narrative of Rap. Dre for example by the "Next Episode" was already captured. Even "Doggystyle" was a crossover album. Regarding the narrative, I no longer listen to Rap for the same reason. All lyrics are censored for anti-inquality, job layoffs, corporate greed, police uses of excessive force, a Rap no1 to "dis" Trump, or a Rap No1 to trounce the Killing of George Floyd; Jan 6; The GOP, The greatest irony is that Rap has transversed the planet. In Turkeyë the rappers are on the government, in Britain the same, in South Africa (mini USA don't be fooled by the pro-Gaza position) The narrative changed from protest to "beefs" as Biggie vs Tupac created a stir & obviously the objectifying of women. Feeding on the insecurity of women without big booties to go for plastic surgery. It is sick in my opinion. I had an Afrikaner assistant/secretary many.years ago, she complained of a African buttocks. I told her not to worry & to be proud of her body. Who knew 20 years big buttocks would be the rage. The execs fine tuned the lyrics to bourgeoisie items as expensive jewelry, expensive cars, expensive mansions, objectified women. If you see early Rap stars like Eve, Lady of Rage, their message was different. I have lost touch with Rap because it is no longer a form of protest but a form of capitalist bragging. As a human being, I would not be able to sleep at night if I had a million dollars worth of sneakers in my dressing room a new one for every new outfit I wear. Sewn by a Vietnamese or Bangladeshi or Indonesian earning a $ a day 12 hours a day & people listening to my tracks living on credit card debt. My prosperity is inversely correlated to the poor.

@natashka1982

2 ай бұрын

​@louvendran7273 um...Elvis was white lol Stop it.

Tell us about western artists that were smuggled in during the 80s. Who was cool to listen to while wearing Adidas. Did you hear about Monsters of Rock. Several American and European rock bands went to tour Russia in the late 80s

Plagiarism was omnipresent, even Soviet cult bands were guilty of it. Kino, Alisa, Agatha Christie copied cure, Smiths, joy division or Depeche mode. While on the heavier side, Aria, quite literally, was the cover band of Iron maiden, Judas priest and Manowar. There are also two comical examples of plagiarism: Use of The Godfather theme music in a Soviet cartoon. Bootleg version of Let it be by The Beatles - "Будет так"

@natashka1982

2 ай бұрын

Haha I mentioned plagiarism. Like books as well. Buratino, Volshebnik Izumrudnogo Goroda

I've heard the song Uchkuduk by Yalla. I love that one.

@natashka1982

2 ай бұрын

Tri verblyuda

The sad thing: this is still less micromanaged than Kpop idols.

7:40 time into this video I felt so sad for Soviet Citizens 😞

the lyrics i remember, from U.S. tv, " stop ,stop, stop Mister Reagan."

It's interesting that you mention an Elton John show was 5 rubles when your parent made 150 rubles at the time. Recently Elton John performed in my city in a 10k+ capacity arena. Tickets were $400+ for nose bleeds. I make more than average and it was 3 days wages.

Many rock groups from Yugoslavia would go on tour to USSR ,have you ever saw some commercial for concert from Yugoslavian groups

Please talk about Кино in the next video

U maybe covered this but could u go over the video games or arcade games in the soviet union ?

from my experience with musicians from the former ussr countries, the "rock" genre was very much restrcted. people got mix tapes smuggled from other countries, but it was often by the time they got it outdated (compared to what was going on in teh west), and even if they did get a hold of something and tried making their own music, it was viewed by some as "copy cat" music. in otehr words, a musician in russia was in a dilemma-if you dont make the "establishment" songs, you were seen as someone that just had no authenticity. incidentally that was teh exact charge that was placed against composers in the tsarists era, like tchaikovski, who was accused as composing music that was not russian and therefore not authentic. the only exception to this rule, was with jazz. jazz musicians enjoyed much more freedom to perform than others , as long as it did not include vocals in the ensembles. jazz maybe also suits russian mentality well which is very competitive.

Vulcans in the band at 9:15 !

What's with ВИА Дос мұқасан from Kaz SSR ?

@UshankaShow

2 ай бұрын

I've never heard of it

हम कीनो और ग्रूप्पा फोरुम पसंद करते है

Rock bands such as kino Mashina vremeni and akvarium existed pre perestroika

@UshankaShow

Ай бұрын

Exactly! "Existed" is the word 😄

Were there any iconic Soviet singers? Like a Frank Sinatra or Judy Garland type etc.?

@UshankaShow

2 ай бұрын

Of course! kzread.info/dash/bejne/hZ-WlLGfYMzOZ9Y.html

@chrism1102

2 ай бұрын

@@UshankaShow I knew there had to be. With such a large population. It makes me wonder how much incredible talent was never discovered because there was no star system. And they couldn't leave and go to Hollywood to be discovered..

@keijiwatanabe5304

2 ай бұрын

Sofia Rotaru and Alla Pugachëva

Who determined who was in or out of a VIA?

Given Soviet laws about homosexuality, it's interesting that they were fine with Elton John performing.

@yurilytviak9066

2 ай бұрын

Depended on which acts he was performing…

@andrefiset3569

2 ай бұрын

Well, he declare he was bisexual in 1976. Maybe the soviets didn't make the link.

@Eddies_Bra-att-ha-grejer

2 ай бұрын

Does his songs contain anything related to that?

@natashka1982

2 ай бұрын

It's not like he was singing about sucking d. They had no clue

"Stop Mr. Reagan" is on YT.

they weren't from russia but i liked the stalingrad cowboys,i think from Finland?They did a good job with "sweet home alabama" but the red army choir also did the same song.

@rogerpack5712

2 ай бұрын

leningrad cowboys.

@andrefiset3569

2 ай бұрын

@@rogerpack5712 Saw the movie.Leningrad Cowboys goes to America.

@natashka1982

2 ай бұрын

They were Finns

I like Kino. I know only one title, “Pack of Cigarettes “

@natashka1982

2 ай бұрын

Check out Kukushka. Polina Gagarina did amazing cover

Bad enough that one person wrote stuff for multiple acts? Why do you think so much of American pop music sounds the same? A lot of it is written by just a few people too. I have to admit it's odd that is ALL the USSR had. They could have easily reviewed the lyrics and had the manager be a party member or something. I think it wasn't just control, I suspect it was also to get more talented musicians working (we can suck at non-music jobs lol) and to also ensure that the music was "high-quality" so the State could make more money off of album sales and shows. 100% a castration though.

listen to communist worker folk songs from 1917 only

So, who owns the copyright to the 50+ yo music from a dead country?

@UshankaShow

2 ай бұрын

Great question! Some smart comrades copyrighted even the Soviet anthem

@FlintIronstag23

2 ай бұрын

Here is what I found. Like all copyright laws, they are very convoluted: When the Soviet Union joined to the Universal Copyright Convention, all Soviet works published on or after May 27, 1973 became eligible to copyright in all other signatory countries of the UCC. This state persisted until the dissolution of the USSR. When the USSR disintegrated, so did its copyright law. The split into fifteen independent states translated into a split into fifteen independent copyright laws, each with its own jurisdiction defined by the territory of the new successor state of the Soviet Union. Through the Moscow agreement, Soviet works first published in the RSFSR, which were thus subject to the Russian law, became eligible for copyright is all other CIS nations, even if they had been published before 1973. With the accession of Russia to the Berne Convention, Soviet and Russian works that were copyrighted in Russia in 1995 became copyrighted outside of Russia. By virtue of the retroactivity of the Russian copyright law of 1993, this also included many pre-1973 Soviet works. In the United States, these works became copyrighted on January 1, 1996, the effective date of the U.S. Uruguay Round Agreements Act, if they were still copyrighted in Russia on that date. In the countries that had bilateral treaties with the USSR, pre-1973 Soviet works (from any of the fifteen SSRs) were copyrighted even before.

@belstar1128

2 ай бұрын

we need to bring back the ussr to abolish copyright

Blimey so much control, worse than some manufactured bands in the West. No wonder why some bands and solo artists music was banned in the Soviet Union.

Кино is the greatest of all time. America got the short end of the stick in the 80s. Victor Tsoi will live forever. American music is always trying to sell you something. But poetry is the cornerstone of the Russian soul. Even though Viktor was a Russian of Korean descent.

@FlintIronstag23

2 ай бұрын

Those are some very broad stereotypes about American music in the 80s. It wasn't all pop songs trying to get you to drink Coke or Pepsi.

@noco7243

2 ай бұрын

You sound delusional. I like Kino as well but you seem to have gone down the Slavaboo wormhole. Please, aside from Kino, name 5 other Soviet bands from the 80s that you enjoy. Then name 2 of them who have any major International Awards… go ahead, we have all day.

@natashka1982

2 ай бұрын

Sektor Gaza was better

How bad did everyone stink?

@UshankaShow

2 ай бұрын

kzread.info/dash/bejne/fmd8m9Opj7mue7A.html

@natashka1982

2 ай бұрын

When you're around it you don't smell

British metal band Uriah heep WAS LEGAL in the soviet union, go check it out

@UshankaShow

2 ай бұрын

Everything became legal after Gorbachev started his Perestroyka. I live in the USSR back then, I don't need to check it out, silly guy

This whole episode is sort of a hip-class on "Why Does Communism/Socialism Suck?"

You aren’t exaggerating when you say perestroika was one of the most amazing times. One of my favorites from that era is a unknown band called О'Кей or Okay very hard to find now. The picture of the band I was able to find also shows there was much diversity in the band as well. The song they recorded called Я найду другую or I’ll Find Another is just amazing. 😮 I recommend listening to your viewers to really experience this era. kzread.info/dash/bejne/mYOAz496qcSacbg.htmlsi=bVMPJexxEEyizNTq

@vasarahammer9702

2 ай бұрын

Sergei, could you make a list of most popular Western bands in the USSR? I remember that Abba was very popular in the 1970´s