Andrei Derzhavin left “Time Machine” to revive “Stalker”: an interview with the musician. Detailed biography of the Time Machine group. Biography, discography, information. Rock encyclopedia Who left the time machine

It often happens that the name of a performer or musical group becomes for millions of people a symbol of the era they lived through - it is so closely woven into their personal memories that it becomes an integral part of them. For many current Russians, and especially for those whose youth fell in the seventies and eighties, this is, of course, the “Time Machine” group. The composition, photos and description of the creative path of the legendary group will be the topic of our article.

How it all began

It all started back in 1968, when students from Moscow school No. 19 created a rock band called The Kids. Today's old people remember well that in those days it was rare to find a school that did not have its own vocal and instrumental ensemble. This fashion was a tribute to the general passion for the songs of the then Western idols the Beatles, and other inhabitants of the musical Olympus.

From English, the name of the group could be translated in different ways - “kids”, “guys” and even “kids”. So, the first cast of these “goat guys” included: Andrei Makarevich, his friend Mikhail Yashin and two girl vocalists - Larisa Kashpero and Nina Baranova. Imitating their idols, the group performed English-language repertoire at various school parties and amateur concerts without much success. Looking ahead, it should be said that the composition of the “Time Machine” group will change many times over the years.

English version of the group name

Fate gave them a chance when, that same year, the professional VIA Atlanta performed at their school, and its director A. Sikorsky communicated with the young musicians on equal terms and even played music with them during the break. This evening helped the guys to believe in themselves. The very next year they created a new team, which included their peers from neighboring school No. 20 - Beatles fans like themselves. The journey had begun.

The name of the group was taken, as in the first case, in English - Time Machines, a prototype of the future “Time Machine”, but in the plural. The first cast of “Time Machine” was purely male. It included: Andrei Makarevich (guitar, vocals) - he will be a constant member of all subsequent bands, Igor Mazaev (bass guitar), (rhythm guitar), Sergei Kawagoe (keyboards), Pavel Rubin (bass guitar) and drummer Yuri Borzov. The future composition of “The Time Machine” will mainly be formed from them.

Failed architects

Also in 1969, the first recording of Time Machines songs took place, performing mainly with a repertoire made up of cover versions of hits by American and English groups, supplemented by English-language compositions of their own composition. Only after some time did he begin to write lyrics in Russian. There is no doubt that during this period the musicians were influenced by the hippie movement, popular among Western and Soviet youth. This was reflected in their songs and their entire lifestyle.

The seventies begin for two members of the group, Andrei Makarevich and Yuri Borzov, with an important event - they enter the Moscow Architectural Institute, where, learning the secrets of architecture, they continue to study music. There they also met Alexei Romanov, who was soon to join the Time Machine, and a little later - with A. Kutikov, who in 1971 was invited to the group to replace I. Mazaev, who had gone into the army.

Official appearance of the group's name

In the early seventies, the team continued to remain amateur, and its composition changed several times. During these years, Time Machines successfully performed in the beat club, then created in Moscow under the patronage of the Komsomol City Committee. It is curious that a year earlier they were not accepted there due to their “low performing level.” By the way, at the beginning of their career, the Beatles were denied recording songs for the same reason.

The Russian-language and familiar name of the group first officially appeared in 1973 and was forever assigned to the group. Until 1975, he went through a difficult period, performing on dance floors and random concerts. During this period, the composition of “Time Machine” changed several times. Fifteen musicians managed to be in this group. Problems also arose in the life of the group leader A. Makarevich. Due to a conflict with the leadership of the architectural institute, he was expelled under a formal pretext.

Recognition of professionalism

The group's popularity grew rapidly when, after meeting Boris Grebenshchikov at the Tallinn Festival in 1976, it got the opportunity to tour Leningrad frequently. In the city on the Neva she enjoyed constant success. The beginning of experiments with sound dates back to this same period. The composition of “Time Machine” in 1977 was replenished with the addition of saxophonist E. Legusov and trumpeter S. Velitsky. This gave the songs they performed a new expressiveness.

In 1980, having finally become a professional group, the group received official status at Rosconcert. O. Melik-Pashayev is appointed its artistic director, and A. Makarevich is appointed its musical director. This year, “Time Machine” expected great success at the festival in Tbilisi, where it won the main prize, and thanks to which the first album released by Melodiya appeared.

Creativity to live outside ideological frameworks

Those whose youth was spent under socialism remember how Soviet ideology, deceitful and hypocritical in its essence, filled all spheres of life, and mass art languished under its especially strict control. In order for the audience to see the new program, it had to receive approval from various authorities and artistic councils, where its fate was decided by people who knew nothing about art and took into account only compliance with the requirements of the current party line.

The success of “Time Machine” at the Tbilisi festival is explained not only by the artistic merits of the compositions’ performance. This was, in fact, the first time that musicians appeared on the official Soviet stage who stood out sharply from the general faceless, but ideologically consistent mass. No wonder the concert organizers, discouraged by their phenomenal success, took measures to ensure that the winning musicians left the festival before its end.

Triumph in the city on the Neva

In the eighties, the group's popularity in Moscow and Leningrad reached unprecedented proportions. According to eyewitnesses, the excitement at their tour concerts was comparable only to the madness of the times of Beatlemania. The Sports Palace, where the performances took place, was attacked by thousands of teenagers, and the musicians who delivered were forced to resort to detour maneuvers in order to save the “Time Machine” cast from the enthusiastic crowd. 1980 marked the beginning of their unprecedented rise.

The result of a twenty-year journey

In the early nineties, the time came to sum up the first results. Ideological censorship no longer exists, and Andrei Makarevich releases his book “Everything is very simple,” in which he talks about everything that the group has had to endure over the past twenty years. “Time Machine” is still among the most popular musical groups in the country. She takes part in many festivals and often travels with touring programs. Due to the fact that perestroika opened up the opportunity to travel abroad freely, the geography of their trips expanded significantly, including many countries around the world.

The composition of “Time Machine”, by this time mostly already established and time-tested, is periodically replenished with invited musicians, including Pavel Rubin, Alik Mazaev and a number of other names well known to rock fans. In the nineties, not a single New Year's program and not a single noticeable festival could take place without the participation of Andrei Makarevich and his team.

Life of the group in the difficult nineties

The group celebrated its twenty-fifth anniversary in 1994 with a grand concert on Red Square, in which many of the country’s most popular musical groups took to the stage with them. Their official position was largely strengthened due to the support they provided to Boris Yeltsin, participating in the “Vote or Lose” campaign in 1996, which became part of his election campaign.

At the beginning of the 2000s, the composition of the Time Machine group was replenished with keyboard player Andrei Derzhavin. The next stage begins in their history, which included a lot of work related to the search for new forms of sound and the use of various audio effects. At the same time, the group does not stop performing concerts and releasing discs, both in Russian studios and abroad. In particular, their albums are released by the famous English company Sintez Records, famous for producing Beatles records.

Events of the last decade

Makarevich begins the second decade of the 21st century with the release of three of his new books, which quickly became popular among music lovers of all ages. In 2012, a film dedicated to them, directed by M. Kapitanovsky, was released. It was called “The Taimashin: The Birth of an Epoch” - this is a literal repetition of how “Time Machine” was designated in 1983 on the blacklist of ideologically unreliable musical groups.

The composition of the group has changed many times throughout the history of its existence. 2012 was no exception. At the end of June, E. Margulis left it, preferring the development of his own project. Soon his place was taken by Igor Khomich, who had previously collaborated with the Kalinov Most group. In 2014, an anniversary charity concert was held with great success on the site in front of the Luzhniki sports complex, in which the group “Time Machine” also performed. The 2014 line-up remained unchanged, and on their 45th anniversary the team performed their most popular hits.

Concerns of our day

At the beginning of February 2015, fans of the group were alarmed by information that appeared in the press about an alleged split within the group related to the different positions of its members regarding the events in Ukraine. This information seemed quite likely, since recently political issues have become an exciting topic of discussion for many people. Fortunately, this was soon rebutted.

Finally, let’s name the composition of the “Time Machine” group in 2015, which has remained unchanged to this day: Andrey Makarevich (guitar, vocals), (vocals, bass guitar), Valery Efimov (drums) and Andrey Derzhavin (keyboards, backing vocals).

Having, in fact, become the first star of Russian rock music and largely predetermined its transition to Russian-language creativity, “TIME MACHINE” was organized in one of the Moscow schools, although its creator and since then permanent leader Andrei Makarevich began his journey into music a year earlier. In 1968, he heard “” for the first time and, influenced by the general fashion, assembled the vocal and guitar quartet “THE KIDS” from his classmates and classmates, which played English-language numbers at school amateur performances with varying degrees of success. Her acquaintance with A. Sikorsky and K. Nikolsky’s “ATLANTS”, who were already singing in Russian at that time, prompted her to form a “real” group and start composing songs on her own.
The first, very short-lived, composition of “TIME MACHINE” included: Andrey Makarevich - guitar, vocals; Alexander Ivanov - guitar; Pavel Rubin - bass; Igor Mazaev - piano; Yuri Borzov - drums. The need to achieve a minimally professional sound soon caused changes: one after another, Ivanov, Rubin and Mazaev left. They were replaced by Alexander Kutikov - bass, vocals and Sergei Kawagoe - keyboards. Little by little, the group began to perform, gaining popularity in the surrounding schools.
In 1970, the last of the “veterans” - Yu. Borzov - was replaced by drummer Maxim Kapitanovsky, quite famous in Moscow. “TIME MACHINE” now has its own apparatus and a fairly extensive repertoire. Two years later, however, Kapitanovsky leaves to subsequently disappear into the restaurant-philharmonic carousel, and the group, not finding a worthy replacement for him, breaks up. For the next 12 months or a little more, the fate of the participants in “TIME MACHINE” turned out to be connected with the fairly well-known pop group in Moscow “BEST YEARS” by R. Zobnin. Shortly before this, “THE BEST YEARS” radically changed its composition and one of the new recruits was Makarevich’s fellow student at the Architectural Institute, Sergei Grachev, who brought Makarevich, Kutikov and Kawagoe after him.
In 1973, “THE BEST YEARS” almost in its entirety went to the professional stage and “TIME MACHINE” was brought back to life. From the fall of 1973 to the beginning of 1975, the group went through troubled times, performing on dance floors and sessions, playing “for board and shelter” in southern resorts, constantly changing the lineup. During these one and a half years, at least 15 musicians passed through the group, among whom were drummers Yuri Fokin and Mikhail Sokolov, guitarists Alexey “White” Belov, Alexander Mikoyan and Igor Degtyaryuk, violinist Sergei Ostashev, keyboardist Igor Saulsky and many others. Unable to withstand this whirlwind, Kutikov eventually went to "", Saulsky later played with Alexei Kozlov's "ARSENAL".
By the spring of 1975, the composition of “TIME MACHINE” had stabilized: Makarevich, Kawagoe (as a result of all these movements, he ended up behind the drums) and bassist, vocalist Evgeniy Margulis; acquired recognizable features and style of the group, which was determined by the numerous interests and passions of its members: from bard songs to blues and from country to rock and roll. Plus Makarevich’s characteristic texts: slightly ironic, sometimes a little pathetic, in the form of a parable or fable, they touched on a wide range of problems characteristic of the youth of that time.
In March 1976, “TIME MACHINE” triumphantly performed at the Tallinn “Days of Popular Music”, after which, at the invitation of “MYTHS” and “AQUARIUM”, it gave several concerts in Leningrad, which became the beginning of a massive “machine mania” that lasted 5 years. six months later, Leningrad bluesman Yuri Ilchenko (ex-“MYTHS”) joined the group. “TIME MACHINE” makes shuttle flights to Leningrad every 2-3 months, giving several concerts, causing confusion in the ranks of local rock fans, and then disappears again.
The growth of the group’s popularity was also facilitated by its participation in G. Danelia’s film “Afonya”, in which its then hit “You or I” (“Sunny Island”) was heard. Experiments with the composition continued. After Ilchenko’s departure, violinist Nikolai Larin, trumpeter Sergei Kuzminok, clarinetist Evgeniy Legusov, keyboardists Igor Saulsky (secondary) and Alexander Voronov (ex-“”) appeared in “TIME MACHINE”. In 1978, Leningrad sound engineer Andrei Tropillo released the first magnetic album “TIME MACHINE “Birthday”. The following year, the group prepared the monumental program “The Little Prince” with extensive instrumental solos, poetry readings and the beginnings of directing (it was also recorded on film).
In the summer of 1979, internal contradictions that had been accumulating in the group for a long time found their resolution. TIME MACHINE disintegrated again: Kawagoe and Margulis, having gathered old friends, formed RESURRECTION, Voronov reorganized "", and Makarevich brought it to the new composition of “TIME MACHINE” takes place on stage: Alexander Kutikov - bass, vocals; Valery Efremov - drums; Petr Podgorodetsky - keyboards, vocals. They prepared a new repertoire, went to work at the Moscow Regional Comedy Theater, and in March 1980 they became the main sensation and laureate of the All-Union Rock Festival “Spring Rhythms. Tbilisi-80". The group finally came out of hiding and received recognition from millions of listeners. However, the thaw did not last long. In the spring of 1982, a campaign was launched against rock music, inspired by the article “Blue Bird Stew” in Komsomolskaya Pravda. The first album was never released on Melodiya, the TIME MACHINE program was corrected and revised many times by countless artistic councils. Podgorodetsky left the group and was replaced by violinist Sergei Ryzhenko and keyboard player Alexander Zaitsev. Ryzhenko, unfortunately, leaves a year later.
The forced decline in the activity of “TIME MACHINE” prompted Makarevich to look for himself in other genres. He performed solo (with an acoustic repertoire), acted in films (together with the group): in two not very interesting feature films by A. Stefanovich - “Soul” (1982) and “Start Over” (1986), wrote music for the films “Speed” and “Breakthrough.”
Only in 1986, with a change in the entire cultural policy of the country, “TIME MACHINE” was able to operate normally. New, rather strong programs “Rivers and Bridges” and “In the Circle of Light” were prepared, which served as the basis for records of the same name. A retrospective record “10 years later” was also released, on which Makarevich tried to restore the sound and repertoire of “THE TIME MACHINE” of the mid-70s x years. The group visited several foreign rock festivals and worked on an album in the USA, where, by the way, their “pirated” record was released back in 1981.
Documentary films “Rock Cult”, “Rock and Fortune”, “Six Letters about Beat” are dedicated to the fate of “TIME MACHINE” in one form or another. For a long time, “TIME MACHINE” did not attach importance to determining the names of its albums and did not date them for years. In the discography we present the most important and interesting examples of sound recordings of the group, which, by the way, also had a great many “pirated concert” albums.
In the summer of 1990, before a tour in Kuibyshev, Alexander Zaitsev left THE TIME MACHINE. Evgeny Margulis, who now plays guitar, and Peter Podgorodetsky return to the group. The repertoire of “TIME MACHINE” again contains many songs from the “classical” repertoire of past years.
A year later, the group participates in the International Festival “Musicians of the World - Children of Chernobyl” in Minsk, “Action of Solidarity with the “Vzglyad” Program.” The group tours a lot, records discs, Alexander Kutikov publishes old recordings of the group, Andrei Makarevich writes a book, and an exhibition of graphic works is being held in Italy. Solo projects of group members are recorded and published.
1999 is an anniversary year! Preparations for the tour are underway. The rock group was awarded "For services to the development of musical art" by President Boris Yeltsin with the Order of Honor. The awards ceremony took place on June 24 with a live broadcast on TV. In November, a press conference and autograph session “TIME MACHINES” was held at GUM, dedicated to the release of the album “Clocks and Signs”. On December 19, the grand final concert of the anniversary tour of the 30th anniversary of “THE TIME MACHINE” took place at the Olimpiysky Sports Complex in Moscow. After the concert, the next day there were changes in the composition of the group: the keyboard player, Pyotr Podgorodetsky, was fired, and Andrei Derzhavin was taken in his place. Half a year later, a double CD and a video cassette with a recording of the anniversary concert are released.
A new century and millennium is coming. In 2001, the album “The Place Where the Light” was released. The group is actively touring and actively celebrating their next date. On May 30, 2004, “TIME MACHINE” celebrates its 35th anniversary on Red Square. The concert took place as part of the “Future without AIDS” campaign. The group joined the movement to fight AIDS along with Elton John, musicians of the group “,” Mstislav Rastropovich and Galina Vishnevskaya. This project was continued in St. Petersburg and other major cities of the country. In 2005, a new album, “Mechanically,” was released. In 2006, the musicians set off to record a new disc at the legendary ABBEY ROAD studio in London. The presentation of the album “Time Machine” took place in March 2007 at the Olimpiysky.

Evgeny Margulis leaves the group on June 25, 2012, a month after the 43rd anniversary of “TIME MACHINE,” says a message posted on the group’s official website. The reasons for the guitarist's departure are not stated. At the same time, some media outlets suggested that Margulis was leaving the group to record a solo album.
This is not the first time Margulis says goodbye to TIME MACHINE. In 1979, he left for another popular group, “”, but after 11 years he returned to Andrei Makarevich’s team. In addition, the guitarist performed in such groups as "", "AEROBUS" and "
Guitarist Igor KHOMICH is brought into the group as a session musician in the studio and a special guest at concerts.

On December 20, 2017, keyboardist Andrei Derzhavin left the group after 17 years of collaboration.
In November 2017, the team went on tour without Derzhavin, and his place at the keyboard was taken by former musician of the NUANCE group Alexander Lyovochkin. Many attributed this to political reasons: because of Derzhavin’s opinion on Crimea, he was not allowed into Ukraine.
Andrei Makarevich denied the rumors: “This is an absolutely temporary coincidence. This could have happened and would have happened at any other time, one way or another.
We work all the time, now there was a Ukrainian tour, and before that there was a tour in Germany, which ended with a concert in London. It so happened that the time to part fell during a pause between these tours.”
Andrey Derzhavin appeared in the group in 2000, leaving his own group “STALKER”. As part of MACHINE, he played the keys and was also a vocalist and co-author of many songs. The unexpected change of role and the musician’s future plans were revealed by his now former colleague Andrei Makarevich:
“We liked this strangeness then. It seemed to me that this looked extremely unexpected, because no one expected from him the kind of music that we play, but he - please, you. But everything has passed. He revives STALKER. I don’t blame him, he’s his brainchild.”
“TIME MACHINE” will begin the new calendar year with a concert in Tallinn, and in February 2018 it will perform at the Chart’s Dozen Award Ceremony.

Materials used:
A. Alekseev, A. Burlaka, A. Sidorov "Who is who in Soviet rock", publishing house MP "Ostankino", 1991.

The Mashina Vremeni band is rightfully considered the founder of classic Russian rock and has made an invaluable contribution to Russian musical culture. “Machinists” were not only the first to compose and perform rock music in Russian (the official date of birth of the group is 1969), but also filled it with deep meaning, thereby forcing the audience to think about important universal problems. For half a century, the work of “The Time Machine” has not lost its relevance and is a kind of standard of musical style and professionalism for both millions of fans and numerous colleagues.

History of the group's creation

Moscow schoolboy Andrei Makarevich became interested in music as a teenager and already at the age of fifteen he organized his first band, “The Kids,” which, in addition to him, included Misha Yashin, Larisa Kashperko and Nina Baranova. At first, the guys sang in English, performing hits by popular Western artists at amateur performances and school discos.

In 1968, Andrei first heard the Beatles, whose work completely changed his consciousness. The example of the Fab Four, as well as a joint performance at a school concert with VIA Atlanta, inspired young Makarevich to create the rock band Time Machines. In it, by analogy with the Beatles, there was no longer a place for girls: Andrei sang and played the guitar, Pasha Rubin and Igor Mazaev became bass players, Yura Borzov sat on the drums, Sasha Ivanov played rhythm guitar, the keys were entrusted Seryozha Kawagoe. The latter’s parents worked at the embassy, ​​lived and worked in Japan for a long time and acquired high-quality musical equipment, which qualitatively improved the sound of the newly formed group.

At first, disagreements often arose among the members of the group regarding the musical material: Makarevich insisted on the original repertoire, the rest of the guys tried to imitate the Beatles. Because of this, there was even a split in the group, and Mazaev, Borzov and Kawagoe made an attempt to create their own team, which was unsuccessful. Time Machines reunited again, and soon the first album, consisting of eleven English-language songs, was recorded on a home tape recorder. Unfortunately, this material has not survived, which Makarevich does not regret at all, calling it “monstrous.”

By this time, the guys had graduated from school and were thinking about continuing their education. Not everyone managed to combine university studies with music, and Rubin and Ivanov left the group. Makarevich and Borzov entered the capital's architectural institute, where they met Alexei Romanov and Alexander Kutikov. The guys began performing together in the institute rock band and gave concerts at the Energetik Palace of Culture.

Soon Kutikov replaced Mazaev, who had gone into the army, and Maxim Kapitanovsky took the place of the drummer. A year later, he also went to serve in the Armed Forces, and Kawagoe himself sat down at the drums.

The main stages of creativity

This trio remained the main part of the group until the mid-70s, which by that time had already changed its name to “Time Machine” and, thanks to the participation of the Zodiac trio in the recording of the album, even appeared at the Melodiya studio.

But Rosconcert and the Union of Composers ignored the appearance of a strange group that stood out from the general concept of the Soviet stage, and created all sorts of obstacles for the young musicians. Not everything was going smoothly in the group itself either, and in 1974, due to disagreements with Kawagoe, Kutikov left it. He was replaced by Evgeniy Margulis, a versatile musician with a “blues” voice.

In the same year, the “drivers” were invited to star in Georgy Danelia’s film “Afonya”, and although the episode with their participation was cut out in the final version, the song “You or I” remained in the film, and the name of the group remained in the credits.

In 1975, “Time Machine” was invited to television to record the “Music Kiosk” program. The program never aired, but seven new compositions, recorded in a professional studio, quickly spread throughout the country. When in 1976 the group was invited to perform at a music festival in Tallinn, their songs were already well known to the public, who warmly greeted “Time Machine”. The team won the main prize and met many talented musicians, including Boris Grebenshchikov. He helped organize the “machinists” tour in St. Petersburg, which was a huge success.

Time Machine - Puppets (1977 performance)

But, nevertheless, “cultural” officials continued to persistently ignore their increased popularity, so the group’s touring activities took place in “underground mode.” Makarevich was nervous about this situation, and he tried in every possible way to give the team official status. Andrei even came up with the literary and musical program “The Little Prince,” with which he unsuccessfully tried to get into Rosconcert for several years.

The rest of the group members were quite happy with their “illegal” situation, which did not in any way affect the income from touring activities, so disagreements began again among the musicians. In 1979, Kawagoe and Margulis moved to “Sunday”, Kutikov returned to the group, and after some time Pyotr Podgoretsky joined the team.

In the same year, “Time Machine” received the opportunity to perform from Rosconcert, joining the troupe of the Moscow Comedy Theater. The musicians immediately began creating a new concert program, and a few months later they loudly announced themselves at the prestigious music festival in Tbilisi. From this moment the group's rapid rise to the top of the musical Olympus begins.

Time Machine - Only I Know (1985)

Their hits were played on radio stations, cassettes filled record kiosks, and after participating in the film “Soul,” the band members began to be stopped on the streets. But, despite this, in 1982, the work of “Time Machine” was sharply criticized by officials (“... the rock group declares indifference and hopelessness from the stage and multiplies the records of these dubious declarations,” wrote party critics), and only a wave of people's anger and thousands of fan letters forced the functionaries to retreat.

"In the Nikitsky Botanical Garden." The first clip of “Time Machine”

This dual situation persisted until the mid-1980s. The group actively toured the country and freely performed songs of their own composition. At the same time, she was banned from official performances in Moscow, most of the television programs with the participation of musicians ended up “on the shelf,” and until 1986 not a single professional studio album was published.

With the beginning of Perestroika, the situation changed radically. The team became a participant in the Festival of Youth and Students and went on tour abroad for the first time. The excitement at their concerts was comparable to the height of Beatlemania, when fans were ready to burst into tears from the excess of feelings of their idols. At the end of 1986, the group’s first official album, “In Good Hour” (a compilation of the best songs), was released, and a year later, the first studio album, “Rivers and Bridges,” was released. The musicians became frequent guests on television; not a single popular music and entertainment program of that time could do without their presence.

“Time Machine” celebrated its twentieth anniversary with a large-scale concert in Luzhniki, at which close musician friends and former members of the group performed. The next quarter-century anniversary of the “machinists” was celebrated in the very heart of the capital, on Red Square. The best Russian rock bands were present at the concert, and about 350 thousand people gathered to listen to the musicians.

After 1991, Makarevich began to actively participate in the public life of the country, openly expressing his civic position. The group came out in support of Boris Yeltsin on the barricades of the White House, and in 1996 they supported Boris Nikolayevich in the next presidential election.

Time Machine - My friend plays the blues better than anyone else

At the anniversary concert at the Olimpiyskiy, dedicated to the thirtieth anniversary of the group, many politicians were present. Among them were Anatoly Chubais, Boris Nemtsov and Vladimir Putin, then still in the position of prime minister. Immediately after this large-scale show, Pyotr Podgorodetsky was fired due to excessive addiction to cocaine. Later, he wrote a scandalous book, “A Machine with Jews,” in which he spoke unkindly about his former bandmates.

The last concert in which Podgoretsky took part was a performance in 1999, dedicated to the 30th anniversary of the group. In 2000, a concert DVD recorded at this performance was released. The musicians performed 36 of their hits.

Time Machine - The Place Where the Light Is (2001)

In the 2000s, the group consistently delighted fans with new creativity. In 2001, the experimental album “The Place Where the Light” went on sale, in which keyboardist and arranger Andrei Derzhavin, who replaced Podgoretsky, made his debut. He also wrote the lyrics for the song “Wings and Sky,” although he later admitted that it turned out rather weak. In general, the album turned out to be unusual for the group’s work: listeners were treated to a completely new sound quality and a large number of soloists.

The tenth anniversary studio album of “Time Machine”, entitled “Mechanically” (it was invented by 26-year-old Elina Sokolova, who won a naming competition announced by the group), was released in 2004.

The musicians recorded their next album, Time Machine, at Abbey Road Studios in London. The studio employees wanted to send the resulting material to the organizers of the Grammy Awards (in the Foreign Music category), but this required enormous investments from the group itself, and it was impossible to earn several hundred thousand dollars by selling discs in Russia.

The next album, “Do Not Park Cars” (2009), in addition to the group’s new songs, unexpectedly included covers of other artists’ old hits from “Time Machines.” Sergei Chigrakov from “Chizh” sang “Crossroads”, Alexey Kortnev sang “What did you have”, Boris Grebenshchikov - “I am a snake” and “Apocrypha”, Pyotr Mamonov - “Leisure Boogie”, etc.

Discography

• Rivers and Bridges (1987)
• In the Circle of Light (1988)
• Slow Good Music (1991)
• It was so long ago...1978 (1992)
• Freelance commander of the Earth. El Mocambo Blues (1993)
• Cardboard Wings of Love (1996)
• Breaking Away (1997)
• Clocks and Signs (1999)
• The Place Where the Light Is (2001)
• Mechanically (2004)
• Time Machine (2007)
• Don't park cars (2009)
• YOU (2016)

The Time Machine group now

Recently, “Time Machine” has sharply reduced the number of performances and does not often spoil its fans with concerts. Perhaps this is due to Margulis leaving the group and the political statements of the group leader, which disappointed many fans of the group. Thus, in 2014, the anti-militarist Makarevich condemned the annexation of Crimea to Russia, repeatedly participated in anti-government rallies of “white ribbon” democrats, and spoke to Ukrainian military personnel in Slavyansk. The discrepancy in political views also explains the sudden departure from the group of Andrei Derzhavin, who was banned from entering the country by the Ukrainian authorities before his tour in the fall of 2017.

Time Machine – Rats (2012)

As for creativity, the group’s last album, “You,” was released in 2016. A new member of the group, guitarist Igor Khomich, took part in the recording of the album.

Text source - Wikipedia
The beginning of the group's biography " Time Machine". 1968 - spring 1970.
School No. 19 (named after Belinsky) Moscow, Kadashevsky 1st lane, 3a. The group “Time Machine” was formed here. The predecessor of “Time Machine” was a group called “The Kids”, formed at the 19th Moscow school in 1968. It included:

Andrey Makarevich - guitar
Mikhail Yashin (son of the poet and writer Alexander Yashin) - guitar
Larisa Kashperko - vocals
Nina Baranova - vocals

The group sang Anglo-American folk songs and performed at school functions. The recordings have not survived; only one of the songs from that period can be heard on the “Unreleased” disc - this song “This Happened to Me,” which sang about unfulfilled love and separation. The group gave concerts in Moscow schools, where they managed to reach an agreement, but were not particularly successful, although they often performed at school amateur performances.

The turning point, according to Makarevich’s recollections, was the day when VIA “Atlanta” came to school with a concert, whose director Alexander Sikorsky allowed the young musicians to play a couple of songs on their equipment during the break and even played along with the schoolchildren on the bass guitar, with which they were completely we are not acquainted. After this event in 1969, the first composition of the group was formed from high school students from two Moscow schools, called “Time Machines” (in English, in the plural, by analogy with the “Beatles”, “Rolling Stones” and other Western groups). The name of the group was invented by Yuri Borzov. The group includes students from school No. 19: Andrei Makarevich (guitar, vocals), Igor Mazaev (bass guitar), Yuri Borzov (drums), Alexander Ivanov (rhythm guitar), Pavel Rubin (bass guitar), and also studied at neighboring school No. 20 Sergei Kawagoe (keyboards).

After the formation of the group, an internal conflict immediately occurs over the repertoire: the majority wants to sing Beatles songs, Makarevich insists on performing lesser-known Western material, citing the fact that the Beatles sing too well and unprofessional imitation of them would look pathetic. The group splits, Kawagoe, Borzov and Mazaev try to organize a group at school No. 20, but the attempt is unsuccessful and soon the Time Machines reunite.

The very first tape recording was made with this lineup, consisting of eleven English-language songs written by the group members. At concerts, the group performs cover versions of songs by English and American groups and their own songs in English, written in imitation, but very quickly their own songs in Russian appear in the repertoire, the lyrics for which Makarevich writes. The style of the group was greatly influenced by the principles of the hippie movement, which became popular among part of the Soviet youth in the early 1970s.

Participants remaining after graduation (1970-1972):
Andrey Makarevich - guitar, vocals
Sergei Kawagoe - keyboards
Igor Mazaev - bass guitar
Yuri Borzov - drums

Andrei Makarevich and Yuri Borzov enter the Moscow Architectural Institute, where they meet Alexei Romanov, who played in the institute rock band. On March 8, 1971, a concert of the group was held at the Moscow Architectural Institute, at which a meeting between Kutikov, who was invited there, and Makarevich took place.

In 1971-v the group was based for some time in the Energetik Palace of Culture. In the first years, the composition remains unstable, and the team is amateur. In the fall of 1971, Kawagoe invited Alexander Kutikov to take the place of Mazaev, who was drafted into the army (the first concert with his participation took place on November 3, 1971), then, at Kutikov’s suggestion, Max Kapitanovsky, who had previously played in the group “Second Wind,” sat down at the drums instead of Borzov, who went to the group of Alexei Romanov. In 1972, Kapitanovsky was also drafted into the army, and Sergei Kawagoe, in order not to look for a new person in the group, moved to drums. Despite his complete unfamiliarity with drums, he learns to play very quickly and remains the band's drummer until 1979. Until the mid-1970s, the main three musicians remained Makarevich (guitar, vocals), Kutikov (bass guitar) and Kawagoe (drums); the remaining members are constantly changing.

In the summer of 1972, Kutikov and Makarevich were invited as session musicians to the then-famous group “The Best Years”, led by Renat Zobnin; The musicians agree, since due to the busyness of Kawagoe, who decided to enroll at Moscow State University, “Machines” still cannot perform in full force at this time. The group is going to the Black Sea to perform for vacationers at the international student camp “Burevestnik-2”. At the concerts, hits of Western groups are mainly performed one-on-one (Sergei Grachev sings), but part of the program is devoted to songs from the repertoire of Time Machines performed by Makarevich. Upon returning from the south, joint performances continue for some time, but the alliance soon disintegrates. For some time after the collapse of “Machines”, the drummer of “Best Years” Yuri Fokin stayed and for about another year Igor Saulsky periodically played keyboards.

In 1973, under pressure from the public, the name of the group changed to the singular - “Time Machine”. For some time, Alexey Romanov, the future founder of Resurrection, sings in “MV”; he becomes the first and only “liberated vocalist” of the group in its entire history. Romanov does not stay long and soon leaves the group. The Melodiya company is releasing a vinyl disc with a recording of the vocal trio “Zodiac” (Dmitry Linnik’s trio) accompanied by “Time Machine”. This becomes the first mention of the group in official annals. As Makarevich wrote, “... even such a trifle helped us to exist: in the eyes of any official idiot, an ensemble that had a record is no longer just hippies from the gateway.”

From the autumn of 1973 to the beginning of 1975, the group went through a “time of troubles”, performed on dance floors and sessions, played “for board and shelter” in southern resorts and often changed its lineup. In a year and a half, at least 15 musicians passed through the group.

In the fall of 1974, under a formal pretext, Makarevich was expelled from the institute and he got a job as an architect at the State Institute for the Design of Theaters and Entertainment Facilities (Giprotheatr). The first experience of filming takes place - the group is invited to star in an episode of the film “Afonya” directed by Georgy Danelia as an amateur dance group. Danelia officially buys the rights to two songs for the film, and after filming the group receives the first official fee, 600 rubles (at that time - the salary of a typical employee or engineer for 4-5 months), which is spent on the purchase of a Grundig TK-46 tape recorder, in subsequent years, it replaced the group's studio. In the final version of the film, almost all the footage from “The Time Machine” is cut out - the group appears for just a few seconds, although the songs sound a little longer.

In 1974, due to numerous conflicts with Kawagoe, Kutikov left for the Leap Summer group. A few months later he returned, but in the summer of 1975 he again went to VIA at the Tula State Philharmonic. Kawagoe and Makarevich quickly find guitarist Evgeni Margulis, who has a characteristic “blues” voice. Makarevich immediately invites Margulis to play the bass guitar, to which he easily agrees, although he honestly warns that he has never held a bass in his hands. However, he quickly masters his new instrument; Since then, Makarevich has played exclusively lead guitar. In the group, Margulis begins to write and perform songs with a blues slant.

Over the next four years, the trio Makarevich - Kawagoe - Margulis became the core of the group, periodically supplemented by one or two session musicians. In 1975, Eleonora Belyaeva invites “Time Machine” to sign up for TV at the “Music Kiosk”. Over two days in a professional studio, sound engineer Vladimir Vinogradov records seven songs: “Sunny Island”, “Puppets”, “In the Circle of Clear Water”, “Flag over the Castle”, “From End to End”, “Black and White” and “ Flying Dutchman". The group is not allowed on television, but the first high-quality studio recording of MV’s own songs is immediately replicated and spontaneously distributed throughout the country.

In 1976, the “machinists” come to the “Tallinn Youth Songs-76” festival in Estonia, where they are surprised to learn that the “Machine” songs are known outside of Moscow. At the festival, the group receives the first prize, and there they meet Boris Grebenshchikov, thanks to whom periodic amateur tours in Leningrad begin. Yuri Ilchenko (formerly the lead singer of the Leningrad group “Myths”) joins the group for six months. After his departure, the group played as three members (Makarevich, Margulis and Kawagoe), and in 1977 they performed again in Tallinn, although with less success than the first time.

Experiments with sound begin: a brass section is invited to the group, initially consisting of saxophonist Evgeny Legusov and trumpeter Sergei Velitsky; in 1978, Velitsky was replaced by Sergei Kuzminyuk. Igor Klenov was then responsible for the sound. In March 1978, the “Birthday” magnetic album, compiled by Andrei Tropillo from individual recordings, was released. He took the recordings that Makarevich brought (Tropillo was then conducting underground sessions) and replicated this tape in the amount of 200 pieces. In the spring of 1978, Artemy Troitsky takes “Machine” to Sverdlovsk, where the group performs at the “Spring UPI” festival. The performance turns out to be scandalous - the group, with its appearance and repertoire, completely stands out from the general range of “politically reliable” VIAs that performed there.

In the summer of 1978, the “engineers” learned that Kutikov, who worked in the speech studio of GITIS, found an opportunity to organize a recording of the group “Leap Summer” (where he was then playing) there during non-working hours. Makarevich asks Kutikov to help “Machine” sign up: he agrees. In about two weeks, the group records 24 songs at night, which are currently performed at concerts. The recording used overdubbing and two tape recorders with poorly tuned paths; the sound of the guitars and the rhythm of the section against the background of the voice turned out to be “dull.” The recording is immediately copied, it is distributed throughout the country (as Makarevich claims - without the knowledge or consent of the group) and brings the group wide fame. The original version of the recording was lost; in 1992, from a copy kept by Gradsky, an album entitled “It Was So Long Ago…” was digitized and published. Subsequently, the existence of a higher-quality copy of the recording in GITIS was repeatedly mentioned on the Internet, but it was not officially published. There are also recordings of a number of “Time Machine” songs, made in the same studio, but at a different time, differing in technical features.

In the fall of 1978, the group received a call from the then unknown Hovhannes Melik-Pashayev and offered to perform for a lot of money in a construction team in Pechora, at the same time offering himself as a keyboard player. Performances in “field” conditions (in a forest clearing and in a small rural club) bring more than decent income, and Pashayev becomes established in the group, working at concerts as a sound engineer, but mainly serving as the group’s administrator. Using his rich connections, he organizes performances. Melik-Pashayev’s commercial activities are bearing fruit: according to the memoirs of Sergei Kawagoe, in the last year of their underground existence, the musicians earned more than a thousand rubles a month from concerts each (the salary of an engineer at the plant at that time was about 120-150, a skilled worker - about 200 rubles a month) .

In the same autumn of 1978, the group parted ways with the brass section. Alexander Voronov appears, playing a synthesizer of his own making, but does not fit into the team and soon leaves. On November 28, 1978, the group took part in the opening of the First Rock Music Festival “Chernogolovka-78”. The first place was shared by “Time Machine” and “Magnetic Band”, the second place was taken by “Leap Summer”. The most interesting thing is that “Time Machine” and “Magnetic Band” will again share first place in a year and a half at the Tbilisi-80 festival.

At the end of 1978, for 1979, the program “The Little Prince” was created, based on the fairy tale of the same name by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, which was a “Time Machine” concert, where during the first part the songs were interspersed with text interludes from the book, selected more or less in tune with the texts songs performed. Subsequently, from 1979 to 1981, the program changed, differing in composition, arrangements, and new prose and poetic fragments were included, including those by other authors. The texts were first read by Andrei Makarevich, and in February 1979, Alexander Butuzov (“Bassoon”) was invited specifically to perform the literary part of the program as a reader in the group.

In February 1979, Andrei Tropillo recorded “The Little Prince” during one of the “Time Machine” trips to Leningrad and distributed reels of the recording. This recording of "The Little Prince" is the only known recording of the program in its early version and with the old composition of the group. In 2000, a later version was released on CD.

By the spring of 1979, a conflict was brewing between the two founders of the group - Makarevich and Kawagoe. Makarevich in the book “Everything is very simple” talks about the creative crisis and personal conflict between him and Sergei Kawagoe. According to Podgorodetsky (he came to the group later and was not a personal witness to the events), there was a major scandal related to financial issues, in addition, Kawagoe and Margulis were against Makarevich’s desire to bring the group from the underground to the professional stage. The final split of the group occurs after a concert organized by Makarevich, despite the active reluctance of Kawagoe, in the basement of the newly formed City Committee of Graphic Artists - a committee of avant-garde artists on Malaya Gruzinskaya. According to Makarevich, the concert is going disgustingly (his colleagues specify in their memoirs that Kawagoe, Margulis and Melik-Pashayev clearly had too much alcohol before the concert and openly fooled around on stage). That same evening after the concert, the group gathers in Melik-Pashaev’s apartment, where the equipment was stored, and Makarevich announces his departure from the group, inviting “everyone except Kawagoe” with him. Margulis, whom Makarevich was counting on very much, leaves with Kawagoe. In “Time Machine” with Makarevich, the only musician, there remain Melik-Pashayev, Butuzov and technicians Korotkin and Zaborovsky.

In May 1979, Kutikov, who was then playing in “Leap Summer,” invites Makarevich to recreate “The Time Machine” with him and “Leap Summer” drummer Valery Efremov. Pyotr Podgorodetsky, who had recently been demobilized from the army, was invited to take the place of the keyboard player; a professional pianist, he makes a huge impression on Makarevich with his fantastic performance and ability to play anything. Kutikov and Podgorodetsky knew each other before “Machina”, since 2 weeks before arriving at “Machina” he was taken into the “Leap Summer” team. With this composition, the group is rehearsing a program that includes new songs “Right”, “Whom did you want to surprise”, “Candle”, “There will be a day”, “Crystal City”, “Turn” and others. Podgorodetsky writes several songs for the group with a humorous slant, which he performs himself.

By the end of 1979, pressure from party bodies and the police made “underground” concert activity increasingly difficult. A “curator” from the culture department of the city committee of the CPSU of Moscow is specially assigned to the group. Makarevich is hatching the idea of ​​leaving the underground and including the group in one of the state creative associations. Negotiations are underway, including with the Taganka Theater. As a result, the group received an offer from Rosconcert, and in November 1979 became part of the troupe of the Moscow Touring Regional Comedy Theater. It’s funny that the party curator, pleased with the departure of the scandalous group from under his care, gives “The Time Machine” a brilliant description. In the theater, the main occupation of musicians is the performance of songs built into performances, which makes it possible to bypass the ban on private concerts (according to Makarevich: “you could calmly practice your music and your songs, and then the session became not a criminal underground event, but a completely a legal creative meeting with artists of a famous theater"). The theater, having received the opportunity to write on posters “ featuring the group Time Machine", sharply increases fees.

1980s: work at Rosconcert.
The work of “Time Machine” as part of the theater lasts only a few months. In January 1980, the management of Rosconcert decides that it is more profitable to use the group for its intended purpose, and offers to present its own concert program. The concert program in one department is passed by the artistic council and in the spring of 1980, “Time Machine” receives the status of an independent ensemble at Rosconcert and begins its own touring activities. Hovhannes Melik-Pashayev officially becomes the “artistic director” of the group, and Andrei Makarevich is indicated in small print on the posters as the “musical director.”

Andrei Makarevich receives a certificate from Yuri Sergeevich Saulsky at the Tbilisi-80 festival. In the new composition, the group triumphantly debuted on March 8, 1980 at the Tbilisi Rock Festival of 1980, where it received first prize for the songs “Snow” and “Crystal City”, ahead of “Autograph” and "Aquarium".

The popularity of the group emerges from the underground and turns into an all-Union one. “The Time Machine” is constantly played on the radio, the songs “Turn”, “Candle”, “Three Windows” become popular. “Turn” topped the “Sound Track” hit parade of “Moskovsky Komsomolets” for 18 months (the only officially existing Soviet hit parade at that time). Clandestine magnetic albums are sold in large quantities, one of the sources of which is the studio recording of “The Time Machine” - “Moscow - Leningrad”, made semi-underground in the summer of 1980 during the group’s tour in Leningrad by sound engineer Andrei Tropillo at the Leningrad branch of “Melodiya”.

In the second half of 1980, an attempt was made to restore “The Little Prince” as a separate program, the concert was being rehearsed, costumes were being sewn, the program successfully passed several artistic councils, tickets for the performance at the Variety Theater were already arriving at the box office and were instantly sold out. However, on the eve of the first concert, an official from the CPSU Central Committee, Ivanov, arrives to approve the program; on his instructions, the program is not accepted, concerts are cancelled. Until 1981, the group continued to use literary fragments at concerts, read between songs, but in the fall Butuzov was fired from the group and this practice ceased. The negative reaction of the Central Committee led to the fact that “Time Machine” was not allowed to perform concerts in Moscow at all until 1986. During these six years, “Machine” manages to tour almost the entire Soviet Union.

Group "Time Machine" year of creation – 1968. (Moscow city)

Brief biography:

It was organized in one of the Moscow schools. The founder is well-known Andrey Makarevich. He performed a year earlier in the vocal and guitar quartet “The Kids” at school evenings.

Often songs were sung in English. (Because of the desire to resemble the group “”).

To the initial composition " Time machines» included:

vocals, guitar - A. Makarevich;
guitar – Alexander Ivanov;
bass guitar - Pavel Rubin;
piano – Igor Mazaev;
drums - Yuri Borzov.

Due to the need to improve the professional sound, changes were soon made in the team: Rubin, Ivanov and Mazaev were replaced by:
Alexander Kutikov (vocals, bass) and Sergey Kawagoe (keyboards). And a little later in 1970
Y. Borzov was replaced by Maxim Kapitanovsky, a drummer (already famous in Moscow). But after 2 years he leaves. And not finding a worthy replacement for him, the group breaks up.

For about a year, the fate of the MV team was intertwined with the “Best Years” group.
Having survived the troubled times, in the fall of 1973 Time Machine group makes itself felt again, performing on dance floors and southern resorts of the country, constantly changing its lineup.
In 1975, Kutikov left the group.

By the beginning of 1975, the composition of MV had stabilized: Makarevich, Kawagoe - sat down at the drums and Evgeny Margulis (bass, vocals). They performed music of different genres: blues, country, rock and roll.

In March 1976, the MV group performed very successfully at the Tallinn Days of Popular Music and later gave several concerts in Leningrad, after which they became mega-popular.
They even managed to appear in the film “Afonya”, in which their hit “You or I” from the album “Sunny Island” was performed. The composition of the MV was periodically updated.

In 1978, their first magnetic album “Birthday” was released.

Summer 1979 Internal disagreements lead to the repeated disintegration of the MV team. But in the fall of the same year, Makarevich took to the stage with a new line-up: the returning A. Kutikov (bass, vocals); Peter Podgorodetsky (keyboards, vocals); Valeniy Efremov (drums). And with a new repertoire, in March 1980 they became a laureate of the All-Union Rock Festival Spring Rhythms. (Tbilisi-80).

The group received recognition from many people, but in the spring of 1982, MV renewed its ranks again (thanks to countless artistic councils)
Makarevich himself appears in little-known films (together with the group). And in 1986, when the country’s cultural policy changed, MV again began to gain momentum and achieve creative success.
The most recognizable songs over all these years have been: “For those at sea”, “Turn”, “Blue Bird”, “Our Home”, “Puppets”.

In the 90s, 7 albums were released.
The most famous hits of that time and.
In 1993, MV celebrates its 25th anniversary with a concert on Red Square.
In January 1999, the group conducted the “XXX Years of the Time Machine” tour.

In 2000, MV toured with. And since the same year, she has been a regular participant in the Wings rock festival.
In 2007, MV played 2 free concerts, in Moscow and St. Petersburg. And in 2008 - a free concert in Ryazan.