Rock music became known in the Soviet Union in the 1960s and quickly broke free from its Western roots. According to many music critics, its "golden age" years were the 1980s, when the Soviet underground rock bands became able to release their records officially. Since then, Russia and Russophone artists in various other countries have developed a varied rock scene that covers virtually all rock genres, from classic and alternative rock to punk and heavy metal. The majority of the Russian bands perform in the Russian language.
Boris Borisovich Grebenshchikov is a prominent member of the generation that is widely considered to be the "founding fathers" of Russian rock music. Due as much to his contribution and the lasting success of his main effort, the band Aquarium, he is a household name in Russia and much of the former Soviet Union. Grebenshchikov is frequently referred to as BG, after his initials.
Aquarium or Akvarium is a Russian rock group formed in Leningrad in 1972. The band has had many line-up changes over its history, and lead singer and founder Boris Grebenshchikov is the only remaining original member. Former band members include Anatoly Gunitsky, Mikhail Feinstein, Andrei "Dyusha" Romanov, Vsevolod Gakkel, and Sergey Kuryokhin.
Viktor Robertovich Tsoi was a Soviet and Russian singer and songwriter who co-founded Kino, one of the most popular and musically influential bands in the history of Russian/Soviet music.
Kino was a Soviet rock band formed in Leningrad in 1982, considered to be one of, if not the greatest rock band in the history of Russian music. The band was co-founded and headed by Viktor Tsoi, who wrote the music and lyrics for almost all of the band's songs. Over the course of eight years, Kino released over 90 songs spanning over seven studio albums, as well as releasing a few compilations and live albums. The band's music was also widely circulated in the form of bootleg recordings through the underground magnitizdat distribution scene. Viktor Tsoi died in a car accident in 1990. Shortly after his passing, the band broke up after releasing their final album, consisting of songs that Tsoi and the group were working on in the months before his death.
Khleb is an album released by the Russian band Leningrad. This album was later re-released in Germany, where it gained some popularity.
Radio Africa is an album by the Russian rock band Aquarium.
Yuri Dmitriyevich Kasparyan is a Russian and former Soviet musician best known for his time as the guitarist of the Soviet rock band Kino and as a member of Vyacheslav Butusov's group U-Piter.
Yuri Eduardovich Loza is a Russian singer, poet, and composer.
The Leningrad Rock Club was a historic music venue of the 1980s in Leningrad, situated on Rubinstein Street in the city centre. Opened in 1981 and overseen by the KGB, it became the first legal rock music venue in Leningrad. Overall, it was the largest rock scene in the Soviet Union and influenced the development of Russian rock.
Mister Twister is a Russian rockabilly band. The band was formed in 1985 when rock’n’roll music was allowed in the Soviet Union. After 20 days of constant rehearsals they took the stage. The record label Melodiya issued their self-titled début album that sold 1.7 million copies.
Joanna Stingray is an American singer, actress, music producer and socialite. She was a key figure in popularizing Soviet and Russian rock music and culture in the West in the 1980s.
N.E.P. is a Russian rock band formed in 1988 in Saint Petersburg, then Leningrad, and widely credited as a legend of Russian rock music and classics of Russian rock, according to the biggest national mainstream rock radio.
Brigada S was a Soviet/Russian rock band fronted by Garik Sukachov which played dynamic mix of rough rock and roll, reggae and rhythm and blues marked by the effective use of the brass section. Formed in 1984 the self-described "proletarian jazz orchestra" released five albums, toured the United States (1988) and appeared in Savva Kulish's film The Tragedy in Rock (1988) before breaking up in 1993. After the band's demise, Garik Sukachov went on to front Neprikasayemye, while guitarist Sergey Galanin formed SerGa.
AVIA is a Soviet/Russian experimental pop band formed in Leningrad in 1986. AVIA released four studio albums and led the first wave of the Soviet bands which made their breakthrough in the West in the late 1980s.
DK was a cult Soviet underground rock band founded in Moscow in 1980 by its drummer and leader Sergey Zharikov. It was one of the first Soviet and Russian experimental rock bands. DK was known for the dirty art punk style, sound that combined blues rock, free jazz and RIO, and their scandalous satirical anti-Soviet creativity. The band released about 40 albums from 1980 to 1990. DK was one of the most influential bands in USSR, influencing Soviet and Russian bands such as Grazhdanskaya Oborona, Sektor Gaza, Mongol Shuudan, and Dna Error.
Strannye Igry was a Soviet Leningrad-based new wave band, noted for using the ska influences, writing lyrics based on the translations of the early 20th century French poetry and indulging themselves in all sorts of buffoonery on stage. The Leningrad avant-pop experimenter Sergey Kuryokhin was their regular collaborator. Six of Strannye Igry's songs featured in a 1986 split double album Red Wave which also featured Aquarium, Kino and Alisa.
Andrei Vladimirovich Tropillo is a Soviet and Russian record producer, music publisher, sound engineer, founder of the label AnTrop ("АнТроп"), and rock musician.
Roksi was a Soviet rock samizdat journal founded in 1977. It published 15 issues between 1977 and 1990. Roksi is generally considered to be the first rock music periodical in the Soviet Union.
AnTrop is a Russian record label and production center founded by Andrei Tropillo. The name of the label is made up of the first letters of his first and last name.
