All about the band Zemlyane: history, art, hits

Bands that began their history under the Soviet Union have an eventful history. There aren't too many bands that didn't incorporate the following into their original lineup new people. The group did not escape it either. "Earthlings."The composition of which has changed frequently since its inception.

Today we will look at how the Soviet group, which at one point became iconic for the whole country, climbed to the pinnacle of glory and what is happening to her now.

Covers of Western hits, or how it all began: the history of the band and its early years

The group was founded in 1969. Initially the Zemlyane were fusion two creative directions of children from the same radio technical school. At first the group was unnamedBut after Solomon Jacobson, the head of the college orchestra, took the musicians under his tutelage, the unofficial name of the group became "Solomon's Children". There were also minor There have been some changes: Yevgeny Myasnikov and Andrei Bolshev have joined Strunkin, Yarzhin, Turagov, Zagrebelny, and Krustam, who were already in the group.

Up to 1974 the band was constantly changing: musicians joined them, then they left. From 1970 to 1975 the band also actively spoke at various concerts with the name "Earthlings."which was suggested by Myasnikov.

The guys mostly performed covers popular with rock music fans foreign bands: Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, Iron Butterfly. Vladimir KiselevThe band, which would greatly influence the fate of the band in the future, tried out as a drummer in the summer of 1975, but his place was taken by Pavel Tretyakov. When the band was threatened by the police in the fall of 1975 because of a forged performance rights paper, the Zemlyans made a profitable sentenceThe guys didn't say no to the idea of becoming the main group for the Dzerzhinsky Cultural Center. The guys didn't refuse.

In 1976, in addition to covers, the band began to perform own songs, with "We Are the Earthlings" being the band's debut track. A year later, the band's early era endedThe guys had a misunderstanding with the group's cameraman Andrei Bolshev.

At the Dzerzhinsky DK Bolshev and "April" drummer Kiselev recreate "Earthlings." The group formed initially was to be called "April", but the leadership of the Culture Center recommended musicians to take the name "Earthlings.

Kiselev is becoming manager the band. By 1979 the lineup becomes the most stable: in addition to Igor Romanov, a vocalist appears in Zemlyane, whose voice would later become characteristic of the group. Sergey Skachkov. The period from 1979 to 1985 becomes for the collective iconic.

All-Union success and major hits of the period

The guys write down a few good ones. hits"Red Horse", "Stuntmen", "Forgive Me, Earth", and in this they are helped by the Soviet composer Vladimir Migulya. But the main song of the Zemlyan is rightly considered to be "Grass by the House."which was co-written by Miguli and Anatoly Poperechny.

By the time of the creation of the nationally beloved hit, the musicians had managed to work with Yuri Antonov and By Vyacheslav Dobrynin. That's when the thematic content of the texts changed: the group began to focus more on adventure romanceThe song heroes were people of valiant professions - pilots and cosmonauts. Despite the fact that Zemlyane performed heavy music for the stage of that time, officially they were not called a rock band.

In 1985, the team leave Romanov, a guitarist, and Brusilovsky, a drummer. After that, Kiselev makes an urgent attempt to change the band's direction toward a stronger version of blues music. From 1987 to 1988 the band's fame becomes wide: they receive their first Award for Excellence, and they also participate in international concerts in Dresden and Sopot. The Zemlyane were also the first Soviet rock band to perform with the masters of British rock music Uriah Heep.

At the end of the 1980s, Vladimir Kiselev founded his production center and promotes young bands, and he leaves his position as producer of Zemlyan. In 1989, the successful Soviet band gives a concert in France at the Pierre Cardin Theater. Later the band changes its name and becomes "Oriental Express". Changes take place in the line-up as well: the frontman of the band becomes Yuri Zhuchkov. So the group exists for several years until it finally ceases to exist in 1992.

"Zemlyane today - what happened to the band

After trying to revive The Zemlyanets, which was undertaken by vocalist Sergei Skachkov, nevertheless appearing on stage: with a new concert program and a new, but not so volatile, lineup the musicians performed from 1994 to 2014. However, the band formed by Skachkov, since 2007 fought for the rights to perform songs with past producer Vladimir Kiselev.

Kiselev also creates new The band Zemlyane in 2007, where he recruits a young cast without original members, which did not go unnoticed. However, Kiselev's Zemlyane successfully performed at various events, which pestered Skachkov's group. In the course of court proceedings The rights to the original Zemlyane band became the property of the To Sergei Skachkov.

At present, there is only the Zemlyane LLC brand registered by Kiselev, whose musicians do not stop their activities.

The fate of ex-vocalists...

Perhaps the most loved ones and memorable Sergei Skachkov and Yuri Zhuchkov are considered to be the vocalists of the group.

In 1980, the band recruited the vocalist. Skachkov. His voice was the key to the whole image of the Zemlyans, because it was the voice by which all the legendary hits of the collective. He is still counted among the the best to the pop singers of the USSR. It is believed that it was with Skachkov's departure that the "golden era" of the band ended. Now the musician performs as a solo artist.

After the band's trip to Paris in 1989, the lineup changed with the change in musical direction: leading The vocalist of Zemlyan was now Beetles. Under the name "Vostochny Express" the band performed until the beginning of the coup d'état in the country. After the band disbanded, Yuri began to pursue a solo career.

There is a widespread belief that Igor Romanov was also the vocalist of the band. This is due to the fact that it was Romanov who the country saw soloing near the microphone in the program "Song of the Year 83.". This happened because Kiselev suggested the idea of replacing the vocalist Skachkov with a guitarist more attractive to the female audience. However, after that the band had to explain in various interviews that Skachkov was the voice of Zemlyan at that time.

Now the vocalist in the band is Andrey KhramovThe band's new line-up is the most successful in this role and sings their familiar hits with dignity. However, the audience, looking at the new cast of the group "Zemlyane", don't forget about the vocalists who made legendary compositions real "nettles.".