Category: Bands
Profiles and histories of Soviet and Russian musical groups—covering their origins, key works, evolutions, and contributions to Russia’s musical heritage.
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Ole Lukkoye
The experimental band Ole Lukkøye (often just “Ole Lukoje”) formed in 1989 by keyboardist Boris Bardash and bassist Andrei Lavrinenko after their stint in the art-rock group Season of Rain.…
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Zoopark (The Zoo)
Zoopark was one of the most influential bands to come out of the Soviet rock underground, and its leader, singer-songwriter Mike Naumenko, is still a huge figure in Russian rock…
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Avtomaticheskie Udovletvoriteli (AU)
In the summer of 1979, Andrei Panov — quickly nicknamed Svin’ — gathered a circle of bored, restless young people who were fed up with Soviet monotony and uninspired rock. Panov had decent…
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Aquarium (Soviet Rock Band)
Aquarium was created in Leningrad in July 1972, when Boris Grebenshchikov, a university math student and budding songwriter, teamed up with playwright-in-training Anatoly “George” Gunitsky. BG was already in a…
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Kino (Cinema) Soviet Rock Band
Why they matter Kino moved from Leningrad’s underground music scene to the center of Soviet popular culture in less than a decade. The band came together around Viktor Tsoi, who…
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Mify (Myths) Soviet Rock Band
Why they matter Mify was one of the first rock bands in the USSR. They were there when Soviet rock was just getting started, and they went from playing school-beat…