Nashe Radio plays popular music that isn't quite "pop." What's big in Russian-language rock, rap, punk, R&B, and alternative? Nashe Radio's all-Russian and eclectic play list can tell you. Once a month, SRAS provides a snapshot of what's at the top of their charts, with YouTube videos and additional commentary taken from the Russian Popular Music page of our Library.
1. «Напиши мне, напиши»- ДДТ
DDT (or ДДТ in Cyrillic) is a popular Russian rock band founded by its lead singer, Yuri Shevchuk, in Ufa (Bashkirtostan) in south-western Russia in 1980. The band started its existence with cover-versions of songs by Rolling Stones, The Beatles and other Western rock-bands. For some time musicians even argued whether it was possible to play rock-music in Russian, unaware that many Russian rock groups were already finding success in Moscow and Leningrad (now St.Petersburg). After many changes in group’s lineup and eventual relocation to Leningrad, it became one of the most successful and prolific Russian musical groups of the 20th and 21st centuries.
2. «Качели»- Алиса
Alisa is considered one of the most influential banks in Russian rock. They formed in 1983 in St. Petersburg (then Leningrad) and the group’s name is from Lewis Carroll's "Alice in Wonderland." The band's songs and lyrics started out as typical themes of rock and roll and social protest, but after lead singer Konstantin Kinchev's baptism into the Russian Orthodox Church in 1990, the band's lyrics began to take on the themes of Christianity and Slavic unity. This caused the group to lose some of its "hardcore" fan following but most of the "Alisa Army" (what their fans call themselves) have remained loyal.
3. «Питер рок-н-ролл» - Бригадный подряд, Король и шут, Пилот и Кукрыниксы
This punk-rock band was formed in 1986 in Leningrad, USSR, by three classmates. Its early career was held back by the fact that the USSR officially looked down on punk and rock music. However, the band broke up in the early 1990s, shortly after the fall of the USSR. It eventually came back together with a slightly different compensation. Some think that only songs produced in that first period of band’s existence are truly theirs, nevertheless, they still uphold a reputation as one of the best Russian live bands. Many of their songs also have been covered by other famous Russian rock-bands and artists. Their name "Бригадный подряд", in Russian business lingo, means “Contract Services.”
You can find this particular version of the song "Piter Rock-n-Roll" with participation of four famous bands on the site of Nashe Radio here.
4. «Дороги»- Мельница
Melnitsa (Мельница, the Russian for windmill) is a Russian folk rock band. It was founded in 1999 by Natalia "Hellawes" O'Shea and Alexey "Chus" Sapkov. The band fuses Russian, Irish, and other North European folk influences with guitar pop/rock. Natalia "Hellawes" O'Shea, the lead singer and primary songwriter, is an academic and a specialist in medieval European languages and cultures by day. Her expertise lends the typically complex fantasy-laden lyrics a degree of authenticity.
5. «На краю» - Король и шут
King and Jester is another veteran group, formed in 1988. Their style blends punk music with the epic stylings and black humor of their apparently vampire-obsessed lead singer Mikhail "Gorshok" (Jug) Gorshenev. ) The group’s songs often have horror story or fairy tale themes. The members cite many Western punk bands as influences and often perform wearing Misfits-style make-up onstage. The band holds a devoted cult following and their albums almost instantly top the charts after release.
