The first pirate CD made in the USSR was probably the “Rolling Stones — 19 Nervous Songs” (SUM 90 001) CD, which was made at Melodiya. Some sources call it the only Rolling Stones album produced in the USSR with a license, but it was actually released illegally by the Russian company Orfeus.

From 1989 to 1991, Aleksandr Belyavtsev started putting out the magazine Rock!—the first officially registered rock-music magazine in the USSR, published twice a year. Before that, independent music magazines in the USSR were only circulated illegally as samizdat, sometimes in just one or two copies.

When editor Mikhail Shugaev joined the project, the quality of the content improved a lot, but it didn’t save the magazine.

“He hit me up and asked me to be editor, and we put out three or four more issues. After a few issues, he said, “I’m no longer interested in this. Compact discs are the new trend.” Melodiya has bought equipment, and you can have CDs made there—just place the order and they’ll do it.”

In 1990, Belyavtsev started the Orfeus label and stopped working on the magazine to focus on releasing records and compact discs. Like Andrei Tropillo, Belyavtsev interpreted copyright law in a way that supposedly allowed free copying of phonograms published before 1973.

“This is a pirate disc,” Mikhail Shugaev explains. “Even though there’s a Melodiya logo in the corner of the cover. He had an enormous collection, all about the Rolling Stones. He was a big fan of the blues and the Rolling Stones—that was his main passion. The most important thing to know is that all the notes, song titles, and album title 19 Nervous Songs are only in Russian—they’re all translated. The disc was made on equipment that was top-notch for the Soviet Union. It was the only officially purchased, hard-currency equipment on which they began making the first illegal compact discs.”

Viktor Kuzin, who was in charge of CD production at Melodiya, remembered Belyavtsev as the person who started piracy at the plant.

“Aleksandr Belyavtsev came to the plant—a journalist, an entrepreneur, and, more than anything, a huge rock music fan. He had a lot of drive, pressure, and a knack for persuasion. He convinced everyone that putting out on CD any releases from before 1973 (the year the USSR signed the copyright-protection agreement) wasn’t piracy, especially if it was a compilation from several discs. To be fair, Alex made some good choices and brought in artists to design the booklets. Over a few months in late 1990 and early 1991, at his request, the discs Rock ‘n’ Roll. Greatest Hits, Creedence, and Shocking Blue were released. I decided to ask my Swedish friends about it, and they were very clear: “You should not do this.”