Valery Obodzinsky: best songs, main hits

Today, this man is vaunted by the extreme notoriety - or rather his name, since he himself Valery Obodzinsky is long gone. "Lovelace, psychopath, autocrat, as well as an alcoholic and substance-dependent fallen nugget of Soviet pop music" - such features endowed Obodzinsky critics and modern reading of his difficult biography, including the TV series "These eyes opposite". Well: Obodzinsky was indeed a difficult personality. He could afford to go on stage "stoned", and, confused by the lyrics of his own hits, to sing "these eyes don't mind.". He also had conflicts with colleagues, as the artist had a rather fiery temper! Nevertheless, millions of people loved him sincerely and admired his pure as a diamond voice....

At one point Obodzinski dropped off the radar: the artist did not appear on television, did not give concerts, did not release new records... Loyal fans were sincerely worried about the idol - but their worried letters received no answers from Moscow. Valery himself at that moment finally lost the incentive to live and create: under the pressure of censorship and betrayal by his wives, the iconic tenor of the USSR began to drink more and more. Before he took the stage at the Rossiya Concert Hall in 1994 - three years before his unjustly early death - Obodzinsky had time to work as a watchman at the tie factory and find support in the person of his last love, his common-law wife. Anna Esenina.

Today, of course, the name of the great performer is surrounded by a dark halo of gossip and fictions, although, to be fair, it is not without true facts. However, are there any sinless geniuses at all? It's hard to imagine what it's like to be famous and under constant scrutiny, to listen not only to praise but also to reproach... Talent.... the real burden! And yet, albeit with his own methods, Obodzinsky coped with it - because how many beautiful classical compositions he left behind. Actually, we suggest to remember them together...

Oriental song

That song made Obodzinski all-union idol! The song was first heard on a radio programme "Good morning!"But later on, almost every performance of the artist was performed without it - in fact, many of his colleagues also performed their own interpretations. But the place in the listener's heart always belonged to the original, which was difficult to equal, let alone surpass.

The history of this hit is quite interesting. Few people know, but originally Obodzinsky was not at all didn't want to do "Oriental Song" - despite the fact that he was a young aspiring singer at the time, and could not boast any hit singers in his catalogue. However, it was his candidature that attracted the composer David Tukhmanov and a poet Onegina Gadzhikasimova. Luckily, they managed to talk him into it. But, actually, why "Oriental"? In fact, the title of this song has absolutely no hidden meaning - well, except for the connection with the melody. From Tukhmanov's memoirs:

"There were no ideas at all - there wasn't even anything to latch on to. So 'Oriental Song' came to mind. Onegin was stupefied by the idea, but agreed quickly, as it sounded quite interesting - though strange..."

Those eyes across the street

"Those eyes across the street." - as a separate chapter in Obodzinsky's career! This song is so iconic that even after more than half a century it is remembered, and many modern performers do their own covers of this Soviet schlager! But it's impossible to repeat the original, let alone overpower it.

This song is also notable for the fact that performing in the 80s in Uzbekistan, the singer, being not quite sober, sang "don't mind." instead of "opposite." It was quite comical, but the audience was delighted! However, it was a sad concert for Obodzinsky: at that time he was going through hard times - both professionally and personally. Soon he would disappear from the radar, leaving fans wondering where their favourite performer had disappeared to... That concert, by the way, was the singer's first and last in Uzbekistan: if rumours are to be believed, he ran away that very night, leaving the band to the further torment of the public.

The old vulture

Perhaps this song was the most popular in Obodzinskii's career - in any case, the singer himself never complained so much about any of his other hits as he did about this one: sometimes the audience asked Valery to perform "Old Vulture" encore three times! Agree: after such a thing you begin to hate even your most successful schlager!

We owe this composition to... Americans, strange as it may seem. We're sure that many people remember the spectacular western film "McKenna's Gold."and a wonderfully melodic, beautiful song from it. As befits a true genius, Leonid Derbenev was able to turn a foreign ballad "Old Turkey Buzzard." to "Old Vulture" - the song that made Valery Obodzinsky an unrivalled tenor of the USSR! Despite the fact that it is noticeably out of the performer's general repertoire, it attracted new fans to Valery and forever became his calling card.

By the way: the original version was written by the hand of another genius - Quincy Jonesand brilliantly executed Jose Feliciano.