Zemlyane

Zemlyane

Zemlyane, circa 1984
Background information
Origin Leningrad, Soviet Union (now St. Petersburg, Russia)
Genres Pop rock, space rock, synthrock, art rock, new wave
Years active 1978–present
Labels Melodiya
Associated acts Alisa
Website www.zemlyane.com
Members Sergey Skachkov
Oleg Khovrin
Andrey Smirnov
Andrey Ismagilov
Sergey Kolchin
Past members Igor Romanov
Boris Aksenov
Pavel Borisov
Boris Dolgikh
Gennadiy Martov
Sergey Vasiliev
Yuriy Babenko
Aleksandr Krivzov
Georgiy Tonkelidi
Andrey Kruglov
Nikolay Kudryavtsev
Viktor Kudryavtsev
Veronika Stepanova
Yuriy Starchenko

Zemlyane (Russian: Земляне, meaning Earthlings) is a Soviet, and later Russian rock band which enjoyed great popularity in the early 1980s. The band was formed in Leningrad, Soviet Union in 1978 and remains active to this day.

A key artist in "VIA" (vocal-instrumental ensemble) wave of Soviet music, it was one of the first officially state-recognized bands to feature elements of rock music in USSR. Zemlyane used to mix hard rock music with synthpop, and Zemlyane's frontman Sergey Skachkov plays keytar. Most of their lyrics deal with risk, courage, and masculinity. They sang about cosmonauts, stunts, pilots, and sailors.

In 2010, their 1980s hit "Trava u doma" ("Grass by the Home") was awarded with the official status of the first anthem of Russian cosmonautics.[1] Russian cosmonauts have traditionally taken this song with them getting assigned for orbital deployments.

In 2015 "Zemlyane" supported actions of Vladimir Putin in Ukraine and gave a concert in Sevastopol, reunited with Russia.[2]

Biography

Zemlyane was formed in 1968 by students of Leningrad Radiopolytechnical College. Followers of bands such as Deep Purple, Iron Butterfly, and Emerson, Lake & Palmer, they played mainly cover versions of these bands' music until 1974 when they started creating compositions of their own.

In 1978 Zemlyane stopped performing on stage for several months for reasons of reorganization and rest.

Their former administrator Andrey Bolshev and drummer of rock band April, Vladimir Kiselev, decided to take advantage of this situation. They put together totally different musicians passing them off as real Zemlyane. Protests from original Zemlyane rock band were abruptly ignored. (The accession of the Soviet Union to the Universal Copyright Convention, which became effective on May 27 was formal and no one dared to sue for copyright violation or infringement.)

So in 1979 two groups of musicians were on stage bearing the same name 'Zemlyane': Zemlyane led by Myasnikov (keyboards) and Zemlyane promoted by Kiselev and Bolshev.

In 1980 original Zemlyane lineup was Sergey Skachkov (keytar, vocals), Igor Romanov (guitar, vocals), Boris Aksenov (bass guitar) and Vladimir Kiselev (drums), usually accompanied by session members as well. Kiselev was also Zemlyane's sound producer and manager ('artistic director', in terms of the time). In the early 1980s the band released several hits such as 'Trava u doma', 'Kaskadery', 'Vzletnaya polosa', among others. 'Trava u doma' featured in soundtrack of popular cartoon series Nu, pogodi!.

In 1987, Zemlyane performed at Olimpiyski Sport Complex accompanied by Uriah Heep.

The band went on hiatus by the beginning of the next decade, but was revived by Sergey Skachkov in 1994 with relatively new lineup. Another former Zemlyane member, Igor Romanov, now plays in Alisa. A copyright dispute between Skachkov and Kiselev arose when Kiselev (as producer) created a band of young musicians, unrelated to old Zemlyane, which used Zemlyane's name and performed its old hits. The dispute was eventually solved in 2009 in favor of Skachkov.

Discography

FULL DISCOGRAPHY OF OFFICIAL RELEASES AND MAGNIT-ALBUMS[3][4][5]

References

  1. ↑ "Песня нашего земляка стала гимном российской космонавтики". 31 March 2010. Retrieved 27 December 2013.
  2. ↑ (Russian)
  3. ↑ Дискография на официальном сайте Сергея Скачкова и группы "Земляне" // Источник: http://Zemlyane.Com
  4. ↑ Дискография Сергея Скачкова и группы "Земляне" на рок-сайте Mastersland.Com // Источник: Mastersland.Com
  5. ↑ Дискография Сергея Скачкова и группы "Земляне" на iTunes // Источник: iTunes.Apple.Com
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