About Soviet Rock
The history of music production in the Soviet Union remains largely unexplored and poorly understood in the English-speaking world.
Outside of Russia, knowledge of Soviet rock and the underground scene is limited to a few widely known events and bands. Inside Russia, the history of the music industry itself draws little interest.
This neglect is evident in the gradual loss of primary sources: unique materials written by those who lived through the events of the 1970s, ’80s, & ’90s are disappearing, surviving — at best — only in web archive, and almost exclusively in Russian.
The SovietRock.com was created to preserve materials like that for an English-speaking audience. I want to create the most comprehensive encyclopedia on the recording, production, design, and distribution of both legal and underground music in the Soviet Union from shellac & X-Ray records to Vinyl and CDs.
Believe it or not, it’s a fascinating story.
Artur Netsvetaev
Editor in Chief
I’m a designer, product manager, and entrepreneur who grew up on classic, progressive & jazz-rock. My passion for music and history eventually led me to write a book about Soviet bootleg albums and the evolution of the music industry in the USSR.
Last Added
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The Beatles Official Releases in the USSR
People in the USSR first learned about The Beatles in the early 1960s, at the peak of beatlemania. At that time, newspapers wrote sarcastic articles criticizing pop music. Soviet articles…
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The Beatles — Past Masters
A very small run of 3,000 copies. Santa’s Past Masters mirrors the original CD Past Masters Vol. 1. Tracks from Vol. 2 had already appeared (mostly) on the label’s Hey…
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The Beatles — Hey Jude
Don McCullin’s photograph was replaced with a compositionally similar image. On different print runs, the initials of Nikolai Kibalchich appear either on the right or on the left, but the…
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The Beatles — Let It Be
It looks like the cover was taken from the CD booklet, enlarged, and left unchanged—the white frame around the photos is gone. The font of the title was swapped out…
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The Beatles — Abbey Road
It’s interesting that Abbey Road, the band’s final album, was actually the last Antrop bootleg released with Tropillo’s involvement in 1993. Since the album was such a hit, a bunch…
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The Sound of Misunderstanding: Misheard Lyrics, Beatles Homophones & Memes in Soviet Russia
Things like homophonic translation, soramimi and Soviet mondegreens is very interesting. Especially Soviet mishearings of English songs. This article aims to tell the history and evolution of mishearings (mondegreens) in…
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Aquarium — The Triangle (1981)
When you want something—not consciously, but with your whole being—it comes true. In the spring and summer of 1981, in a studio that quite literally fell from the sky into…
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Aquarium: A Brief Report on Sixteen Years of Recording
This text is meant as extracurricular reading for those who listen to Aquarium and—for whatever reason—want to know how what they’re hearing was recorded. It is by no means “memoirs,”…
FAQ
Is this a commercial project?
No. I’m developing this website in my spare time and funding it myself. I don’t plan to run ads anytime soon, but you’re welcome to support the project with a donation in USDT TRC20: THPArEmajAMtNpz8RQVT75ie3Hu7ujQ3LV.
Who owns the website’s materials?
Each original author is credited at the end of the article. Where possible, I include links to the original Russian sources (almost everywhere). If there is no © — it’s a mixed summary article from different sources.
If you want to cite or use anything — please, email me at [email protected].
Is this only translations, or do you publish original texts too?
I did a lot of research for my book and publish my own original articles, excerpts from my book chapters, and interviews with musicians, producers, and artists.
I have an idea or want to collaborate
Email me at [email protected] with your proposal.