Top British rockers adored in the USSR
In spite of all the prohibitions and difficulties caused by "obtaining" records with this kind of music, the Soviet Union foreign rock and roll was adored! Especially everyone loved the Brits. And that love began with the Beatlemania, when the Great Liverpool Four were followed almost by the whole world. But it wasn't just The Beatles songs that the Soviet music lovers were fed up with...
In their day, these iconic Brits literally broke through the Iron Curtain, and became a "people's favorite" in the USSR - and they didn't even need to visit the country to get this title. It was enough that their powerful riffs and grooving rhythms had been the youth of a whole generation... And, as it seems to us, not even one. Who were they?
Slade
From about the mid-1970s on Slade The Soviet music lovers begin to talk about it actively. And soon the British glam-rock pioneers (or at least one of them) became almost all-Union famous - the whole country began to listen to their songs! But all this music, of course, was obtained with difficulty, because the government was still against rock. Especially, it was against such eccentric foreign artists. And there really was a lot to see during Slade's live performance...
"Ooh la la in L.A." - the band's most recognizable and much adored song to this day.
Uriah Heep
These British gave the Soviet Union the famous "July Morning.". A real anthem of its era! The song became so wildly popular that it even brought a new tradition to Bulgaria: For decades now, every year on June 30, people from all over the country come to the Black Sea coast to... greet the first morning of July!
David Byron still remains one of the greatest and most beloved rock singers in history, despite the fact that his life was tragic and short...
Queen
Queen They quickly made millions of people fall in love with them! How did they manage to achieve such success, and go down in history as the most popular band of the 70's and 80's? Well... they had a few trumps up their sleeve: theatricality, unlimited genre boundaries and... Freddie Mercury.
Freddie's striking voice is something. And that's exactly what drew a lot of people to songs like "Bohemian Rhapsody" or "Killer Queen." Not sure anyone else could perform them as cool, though!
Pink Floyd
The kings of psychedelic rock, Pink Floyd were releasing not albums, but true masterpieces that became classics of their genre. For example, "The Wall.
Their music is not for everyone: it's deep, lyrical, roaring, emotional... But in the USSR, many people loved their music. Even today they are fondly loved.
deep purple
Music deep purple - this is truly magical music. And that's because the emotional guitar riffs here were the responsibility of Ritchie Blackmore - the legendary and mysterious Man in Black.
Ian Gillan is still the most beloved vocalist of the band for multimillion audiences all over the world, although there were times when others stood at the microphone. And the most famous hit is still the iconic song "Smoke Over Water.". Gillan and Blackmore are undoubtedly geniuses of their craft. But the two talents couldn't get along in one project...
Led Zeppelin
Talk about Led Zeppelin and the love of Russian music lovers for this band is endless. In the USSR, these guys were actively listened to - not by everyone, of course, but by rock fans for sure.
The Zeppelins had every album full of great tracks! And the lineup itself was strong: a great John Bonham behind the drum kit, John Paul Jones on bass Jimmy Page with a guitar and... beautiful Robert Plant at the microphone. They all combined their talents and abilities beautifully, resulting in timeless hits like "Stairway to Heaven.
Black Sabbath
Black SabbathThey may not have been the most popular British rock band in the USSR. But they were definitely loved.
It was Black Sabbath, led by Ozzy Osbourne showed domestic music lovers what heavy rock was all about. Their rumbling riffs, roaring motifs and Osborne's intimidating vocals made them kings of their genre... And public favorites.
The Beatles and The Rolling Stones
The Beatles and The Rolling Stones - two iconic bands that were simply adored in the Soviet Union!
Some people liked the Rolling Stones better, while most of them just liked the Beatles. And yes: these two bands had a tremendous influence on domestic rockers. That's why they mean so much to our country up to now... You could say that thanks to them our future rock stars picked up the guitar...
