Gorky group. Group "Gorky Park". Rock encyclopedia. History of creation and composition

In Russia, and, perhaps, throughout the world, the Gorky Park group has the status of a legend. And how could it be otherwise: in the first years of its existence, Gorky Park already had hundreds of thousands of records sold all over the world and global recognition. Now the group is almost twenty years old, but “Gorky Park” (ex-“Gorky Park”) is still loved and eagerly awaited in all cities of Russia. This group went down in world history rock music under the name Phenomenon. It is this phenomenon that we want to introduce you to as closely as possible, bringing to your attention the truly unique life of the Russian team. This story is based on known facts and publications. It may omit some events or be fictional to one degree or another, but the only thing that can be said for sure is that it is one hundred percent original, since it is written “as is” and based on real life events.

Most of us, Russian people, remember how the life of our country radically changed in the late 80s. These were the times when the Soviet rock scene was making its way from the underground to the ranks of popular music. The young group, unknown in Russia or anywhere else, rehearsed in secret in a small studio inside the largest amusement park in Moscow. Rock 'n' roll was still something" not of this world", semi-illegal in the USSR. Those who played such music had to beware of the police and “invisible” KGB agents. However, many say that it was much more fun this way.

But let's return to where we started.

Those young guys were not newbies after all (as it might seem at first glance):
(now better known as) - played bass guitar in the fairly famous group "Araks" (maybe anyone remembers "For Whom Our Alarm Bell Tolls"?), and before that in the group "Seventh Ocean".

Alexander Lvov– drummed in the first lineup with which he recorded.

Alexander "Yan" Yanenkov- I used to sing " We wish you happiness"together with Stas Namin's group "Flowers", which was extremely popular among Soviet youth, being the guitarist of this group.

Stas Namin himself has gained a reputation as the founder of the group. It was he who became the first manager, press attache and concert director. The name of the group was determined "by the nearest corner." Yes, it was Gorky Park - the entertainment center of Moscow. The guys spent time in the studio of the Park named after. Gorky for several months, continuously working on English-language material. Naturally, there was no money then. According to Noskov, the guys woke up at night with mice running over them; Lvov and Belov were forced to sleep “back to back”, covered with one blanket - all for the sake of their cherished dream of breaking through to the West and conquering the whole world. In the late autumn of 1987, the concert debut of “PG” took place. Around the same time, the first video clip for the song "Fortress" was shot, shown on the popular music television program "Don King Show".

Spring 1988, after two years of work in the SNC studio, Stas Namin organized the performance of “Park” as a warm-up group during the Scorpions’ Leningrad tour. In the summer of 1988, during the band's first trip to the United States, the Make-A-Difference Foundation charity organization invited PG, along with leading hard and heavy musicians, to take part in recording a charity album as part of a program to combat alcoholism and drug addiction. For this record, the song “My generation” was written, written by Peter Townsend from the group “The Who”.

In December 1988 Stas Namin invited the management of the Polygram company to Moscow and signed the first direct contract in the history of domestic rock Russian group"Gorky Park" with an American record company. Thanks to the beginning of perestroika, it was a little easier to cross the border. So the guys came to the United States as an unknown group from Russia when the two countries were still in the Cold War. This silent war was at its final stage, and perhaps this was the best time and place to come to. Undoubtedly, luck and hard work helped the guys climb the ladder to fame. Later, Alexey Belov said that he met several great people who are directly responsible for the success of Gorky Park. One of them was Frank Zappa. "He was a person you could come to at any time. He worked in the studio 24 hours a day, but he could always find time for us." Later, after the group moved from New York in Los Angeles (1991), Frank often invited the guys to his home for various holidays, where a huge number of extraordinary people gathered famous people. And then, in 1988, little by little they began to pay attention to the group. On the one hand, this was due to the merit of Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora from Bon Jovi, who had already signed contracts with Mercury Records and recommended cooperation with “Park” to this record company. The group sounded modern and original, plus they were truly exotic for the States at that time - a rock band from Russia. Anyway, Mercury Records decided to give them a chance. Finally, in 1989, the world saw ! Not many predicted it would become a big hit, but within weeks of its release, Gorky Park was SHOCKING North America and the International charts.

It received a 5-point rating from Billboard - "best performance". Such compositions as “Bang”, “Try to find me”, “Peace in our time” paved the way for the musicians to the top of the Billboard charts: “Bang” rose to third place in the MTV charts, the disc took the 80th place in the list of the two hundred most popular albums of Billboard magazine; within three weeks from the start of sales, the album's circulation exceeded 300 thousand copies. In the same 1989, Russia welcomed the world at the Luzhniki stadium famous bands. It was the Moscow Peace Festival organized by Stas Namin with performances by Gorky Park, Bon Jovi, Cinderella, Motley Crue, Ozzy Osbourne and The Scorpions. The spectacle was simply amazing - to see our guys on the same stage with stars from overseas!!! Thousands of fans simply went crazy when the sounds of heavy metal permeated the crowd...

From the very beginning, Gorky Park was emphatically a Russian group. They even seemed to insist on this, using this image everywhere: in stage costumes (shirts with Russian patterns), song lyrics (at the very beginning of “Bang” a shoveled “Utushka Meadow” is inserted, and in the song “My Generation” from the repertoire WHO groups- theme "Rise up, Russian people..." from Prokofiev's cantata "Alexander Nevsky"), in vocals. Right down to the famous balalaika guitar, made especially for Alexei Belov by the American company Kramer. Gorky Park's participation in this festival undoubtedly influenced their popularity in America. The group was managed in America by Berardi-Thomas Entertainment, Inc. headed by Thomas Berardi, who was also the president of the Kramer company (founded by Gary Kramer in the USA, New Jersey, in 1975, Kramer guitars are loved and often advertised by Van Halen).
Sasha Lvov: " Our first manager, he was also the president of the Kramer company, and he made two thousand of these balalaikas with our autographs. And the balalaikas were made, oddly enough, in Korea and from plywood, and they were sold in America and Europe at a price of two thousand dollars per thing, you know, that is, they also made a business out of it...“They learned that they were simply laundering money behind the musicians’ backs only after one day the manager “fell through the ground.” He just disappeared. Later it turned out that his company went bankrupt and he was involved in major fraud. It also turned out that Gorky Park does not have a direct agreement with Polygram Records and that the million dollars allocated by the investment company West Train for the initial needs of the group has long been spent... But the most important thing is that there is not a cent in the musicians’ accounts! Lawyers and lawyers drank valerian, raking through a bunch of dubious documents that Russian rock stars signed... Members of the board of Polygram Records, the president of the company, who promised to make superstars out of the musicians, was simply fired... Nevertheless, the musicians continued to tour tour of the States and Nikolai has problems with his ligaments. Without money, without a manager or producer, the musicians lived in a hotel in New Jersey, recording all their expenses on a "Guest Card". While Russian newspapers trumpeted that “ours conquered America”... As a result of a misunderstanding, Noskov nevertheless left the team.

Soon, little by little, things began to improve in the group and Alexander Minkov took the place of vocalist.

- Yan Yanenkov: « At that point we had sold over half a million records in America and more than a million- Worldwide. That's decent. But they didn’t receive a penny of royalties. We called Polygram, with which we had a contract, and they said: we spent so much on you, and you just repaid the expenses... If we had our own company back then, our income would have been millions.»
- Alexey Belov: « For us, for the Soviets, what kind of attitude has always been there? A good uncle will come and he will do everything for us. We didn't understand that it was the artist who hired the manager, and not the other way around. We always had the feeling that we were working for him, that we owed him something. Now it’s like this: if we need something done, we’ll hire him. If he fails, we will fire him...»

Initially, the “parkers” planned to spend three months in America, but as fate would have it, their first tour dragged on for five years. However, interest in the group did not dry up, and, having begun its collaboration with BMG, Gorky Park began recording its second album.

Alexey Belov: " We recorded ours just like the first one - like soldiers, under pressure. Studio time is very expensive, and we had to meet tight deadlines. No one would pay us for even an extra minute in the studio if we didn’t meet the deadline".

The demos for the album had to be written at night in a half-abandoned house without electricity: the cord was painted in green color, so as not to stand out on the grass, and they took turns running to connect it to the neighboring house. Producer Fee Waybill worked with the guys on the second album. Worked is not the right word: the “parking guys” worked like crazy, they could record two songs in a day (and this takes into account the fact that it took an average of 6-7 hours to record the vocals of one composition).

The following took part in the recording of the album: famous musicians How:

Richard Marx (backing vocals on "Two Candles")
Scott Page (saxophone) Pink Floyd”),
Steve Farris (“Mr. Mister”),
Dweezil Zappa.

In 1995, another colleague of Belov’s from Moscow, keyboard player Nikolai Kuzminykh, joined Gorky Park. The financial stability of the group allowed them to experiment and not rush into recording.
Belov: "The first title of our album was Facerevers, which we remade in English and it came out as face - this is a face, reverse - inside out, as it were. Face inside out. They even made a cover, but the Soyuz company didn’t like it, it seemed a little gloomy or too abstruse... And that’s why they called it “ Stare" - based on the first perky song, for which a video was later shot. That’s how this album appeared...".

"The last two albums - "Stare" and "Protivofazza" - were, in principle, one big album, - Alexey Belov told the MTV film crew, - we recorded it in the studio. There were, I remember, twenty-one songs, and we mixed these songs. When we made the selection for "Stare", we were left with a huge number of songs - ten songs. What should we do with ten songs? Some of them are very strong works, there are even such ethnic-symphonic ones, such as “Liquid dream” and “Mooving to be still”... It’s just interesting music! Then we decided to just write two songs quickly... So we got a double like this. The name Protivofazza was born in our studio. We had a huge remote control - an old NEVE; a remote control that people are chasing in America, but we got it in Russia, oddly enough, and then transported it to America. We understood why they sold it to us so easily, although it was priceless in itself, the sound there was so powerful... It’s just that wherever you point, there’s antiphase everywhere".

The musicians explain the term “antiphase” as follows: “ There is a term in radio electronics when one phase is reversed compared to another and the sound becomes not what it should be. When a person swims against the current, the same thing happens. Roughly speaking, antiphase is a contradiction to everything". According to the musicians, the name "Antiphase" will suit any of their albums: they are always swimming against the current. Soon a very important period in the history of the group begins, an attempt to create their first album in their native Russian language (which will later be postponed indefinitely). “It should have included songs based on poems by Brodsky, Mandelstam, Rubtsov, and texts of his own composition. The Russian audience listened to the music and often did not understand what “Gorky Park” was singing about. We decided to change this situation and, while maintaining our musical style, overcome the language barrier." The group's last concert tour in Russia took place in 1998, the group toured the country, collecting sports palaces and stadiums.
After the end of the tour, the group actually broke up, Lvov and Yanenkov left for the USA, Marshal worked solo, Alexey Belov created the group “Belov Park”, which, in addition to Belov, included: Alexey Nelidov (vocals, bass guitar), Alexander Makin (drums) and Nikolay Kuzminykh (keyboards). The group successfully toured throughout the country, giving concerts in clubs and stadiums. The Russian-language single “Made in Russia” was being prepared for release, but for objective reasons it did not see the light of day. In addition, a video was shot for this composition.

"Belova Park" even performed in live in the “Air” program on “Our Radio”, where the musicians communicated with the audience and performed their songs. Gradually, Alexei Belov’s creative interests begin to move in a different direction. He begins to spend more time in his Moscow studio, trying to perform less and devote more time to family and writing music. At the same time, he is offered to write music for films starring legends of world cinema. This is how the music for two films appears: “Red Serpent” directed by Sergei Vorobyov and Eugene Tanases, released in 2003, and “Mirror Warriors – First Reflection” produced by Oleg Kapanets in 2005.

During the stage absence of Gorky Park, interest in their music not only did not fade away, but moved into a new phase. Proposals to unite the original line-up of the group began to gain in excess natural forms. And people’s desire to hear a live performance of their favorite music increasingly forces Alexey Belov to get out of his studio, put on a guitar and rock the stage just as he always has.

In 2004 being the author of almost all the songs in Gorky Park, Alexey Belov decided to creatively rework them, which he did with great success, the songs received a new original modern sound, Alexey also performs vocal parts himself.

2004 tour lineup: Alexey Belov, Alexander Yanenkov, sound engineer Dmitry Afanasyev, Alexander Makin, group director Egor Dervoed.

In November 2006, after the departure of Alexander Makin, a new drummer joined the group - Viktor Konkov. As always, the group swims against the tide, using the stones that everyone trips over as support. And the one who swims against the current always wins!

Other news

In the spring of 1987, an “export” hard rock group, Gorky Park, was created at the Stas Namin Center (SNC). It was named after the place of its creation, since the Stas Namin Center was located on the territory of the Moscow Park of Culture and Leisure named after. Gorky, and also at that time was very popular in the West novel of the same name Martin Cruz Smith.

The final composition of this group included quite well-known musicians: Nikolai Noskov (ex-Moscow, VIA Singing Hearts, Sergei Markin's group) - vocals, Alexey "White" Belov (ex-VIA Nadezhda, Mashina Vremeni, Moscow) - guitar, Alexander "Yan" " Yanenkov (ex-group of Stas Namin) - guitar, Alexander "Big Sasha" Minkov (ex-Araks, Phoenix, 7th Ocean, Flowers) - bass guitar and Alexander "Little Sasha" Lvov (ex-Aria, Sergei's group Markina) - drums. It is worth noting that in different time Stas Namin planned to involve such musicians as Andrey Bolshakov (ex-Zigzag, Aria), Igor Molchanov (ex-Alpha, Aria) and others. Then, he will become Russian manager"Park" in 1996-98.

After several months of hard rehearsals, already in autumn time In 1987, the group made its stage debut and shot a video clip for the song "Fortress", which was shown on television in the popular American program "Don King Show".

I's maximum big concerts occurred in the spring of 1988, when Gorky Park acted as a warming band in a series of Leningrad Scorpions performances (see video film Scorpions “To Russia With Love”).

After this, in the summer of the same year, Gorky Park went on a promotional trip to the USA, during which the charitable organization Make-E-Difference Foundation invited the group to participate in recording a charity album in support of a program to combat alcoholism and drug addiction. For this purpose, a cover version of the composition was recorded The group Who "My Generation". This version of the song performed by Gorky Park was quite a success, mostly due to the insertion from classic work Prokofiev "Rise up, Russian people." In the West at that moment there was a fashion for everything Russian, and the Soviet group, which took the “sickle, hammer, rock and roll” style (Belov’s balalaika guitar alone is worth it) was quite appropriate, therefore already in the autumn of 1988 . an agreement was signed with one of the largest recording companies "POLYGRAM". After this, the group accompanied Bon Jovi during their Soviet promotional tour.

Gorky Park spent the entire spring and almost half of the summer of 1989 in studios in Vancouver, Philadelphia and New Jersey, where they worked under the patronage of producer Bruce Fairbairn (known for working with such stars as Scorpions, Aerosmith, Bon Jovi, Poison, etc.) on the debut album, which eventually appeared in August of the same year. It should be noted that the song "Peace In Our Time" was co-written by Jon Bon Jovi and his band's guitarist Richie Sambora, who also participated in its recording.

The release of the album of the same name was anticipated by the single for the song "Bang", which at that moment became business card groups. The video for this song made it into the MTV Top 15. Before this, no Soviet group had achieved even a hundredth of this. The debut work of Gorky Park itself instantly took a place in the “100 Best” list of the authoritative (but by no means fatal) Billboard magazine. For the first week sales, only in the USA the circulation of the disc exceeded 300 thousand copies (later this figure increased several times), which was a very impressive result for the first album, and especially for a non-American group.

After recording the first album, the Gorky Park group returns to the USSR, where it takes part as equals in the two-day “Peace Festival” organized by Stas Namin with world hard 'n' heavy stars such as: Scorpions, Ozzy Osbourne, Bon Jovi, Skid Row, Cinderella, Motley Crue and makes it to the final documentary filmed during this festival.

After this, Gorky Park goes on a long world tour, during which vocalist Nikolai Noskov left the band. A huge scandal broke out, where both sides “poured” a large amount of dirt on each other. However, be that as it may, the group did not look for a new vocalist, and bass guitarist Alexander Minkov took his place at the microphone stand (he is replaced by Alexey Belov on some songs).

As for Nikolai Noskov, he soon returned to Russia (the Soviet Union had ceased to exist by that time) where he invited Stas Namin to recruit new option Gorky Park. However, having received a refusal, he assembled his own group “Nicolay”, with which he released the album “Mother Russia” (1995), stylistically corresponding to the works of “Park”; however, without finding adequate help both in the Russian Federation and in the West, this project died down and Soon Nikolai Noskov reoriented himself to other music that had almost nothing to do with rock.

At the end of the tour, the Gorky Park musicians, already firmly settled in the USA, founded their own studio and record label "M.I.R. Records". It was on it that in 1992 the group recorded their own II album, “Moscow Calling” (in most countries, in particular in the Russian Federation, it was released under the name “Gorky Park II”). In Europe this disc was presented by BMG, in Scandinavia by CNR, in Japan by Crown, in Southeast Asia by Pony Cennen, and in the Russian Federation by Soyuz.

"Moscow Calling" continued the hard rock line of the first album, only the Russian orientation was somewhat diminished. The style "rock and roll - Soviet Union" lost its former significance and Gorky Park gradually abandoned it. However, despite all this, the album "Moscow Calling" had phenomenal success, winning "gold" and "platinum" statuses in many countries around the world, from Scandinavia to Southeast Asia. And this time, many famous musicians participated in the recording of the album, such as: vocalists Richard Marx and Fee Vabil (Tubes), guitarists Steve Lukather (Toto), Steve Farris (Mr. Mister), Dweezil Zappa and Pink Floyd live saxophonist Scot Page , mixed under the direction of Ervin Musper. In support of the album, videos were shot for the following songs: “Moscow Calling”, “Stranger”, “I’m Going Down” and “Tell Me Why”, which were repeatedly shown on television. After the release of the album, the group again went on a long world tour, during which, after long break The Russian Federation was also covered.

1995 marked the group's transition from commercial hard rock towards progressive. This was evident from the results new entry, which, like the previous work, took place at the M.I.R. Records studio in Los Angeles. This time among the guest stars were the famous American guitarist Alan Holdsworth and one of the best percussionists in the world, Ron Powell. In addition, the group recorded with Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra(GDRZ Studio-5, Moscow). Major work on orchestral arrangements was done by a keyboard player who at one time played with Alexei Belov in the group "Moscow" - Nikolai Kuzminykh, who was accepted into the group shortly before the start of recording.

Before the release of the album "Stare" a sudden scandal broke out. Stas Namin, who has not been the general producer of the group for a long time, said his rights to the name "Gorky Park", which was officially registered by his company "SNC". This happened just at the moment when the album was already being printed at music factories. However, soon mutual understanding was reached and the name "Gorky Park" was purchased and remained with the group.

In the winter of 1996, the group's third album, "Stare", was released, and in 1998, IV - "Protivofazza". The songs, which were recorded in almost one session (for the fourth album there was additional studio work), were divided into 2 albums according to the principle that less experimental things went to “Stare”, and maximum to “Protivofazza”. This was due to the fact that the group did not decide to make a sharp jump from one style to another, but prepared a gradual transition for listeners. This division into 2 albums was by no means in all countries, and the recorded material was released as one disc. For example, the title song of the 3rd album “Stare” was described by the musicians as “transitional”, and this song is not included in the American release of the album at all; the same thing happened with several other compositions that did not make it into a single album.

In support of the new albums (album), the group also carried out a large tour as before, but this time a huge emphasis was placed on Russia. In addition, videos were shot for the following songs: “Stare”, “Stop The World I Want To Get Off”, “Jenny Loses Me”, “Liar”. Soon, many of the group’s musicians, after living in the United States, returned to their homeland for permanent residence. The group’s plans also included recording a “live” (concert) album, however...

1998 was characterized by the departure of most of the musicians from the group: Alexander "Marshall" Minkov, Alexander "Jan" Yanenkov and Alexander Lvov. In their place were invited Alexey Nelidov (ex-Angels&Demons) - vocals, bass guitar and Alexander Makin - drums. With this composition, at one time, under the name "Belova Park", the group prepared new program. A video clip was shot for the composition “Made in the Russian Federation”, which was presented on April 19, 2001, but the matter did not go further. Alexey Nelidov left the group, leaving for permanent residence in Germany. After this, the Gorky Park group ceased its own activities.

In addition to the group's discography, it is worth noting that in 1996, Moroz Records released a collection best songs groups in the "Legends of Russian Rock" series (just between the third and fourth release). It included previously unreleased songs "Nitti Gritti" (album "Gorky Park") and "Do What You Want" (album "Moscow Calling"). This company also re-released the group's first disc.

Soviet and Russian rock band, who sang on English language. In the late 80s, they gained fame in the United States as the first Russian rock band to appear on the MTV channel. Known for her stage image as folk costumes and Soviet symbols.

The group "Gorky Park" was formed in 1987. The first line-up included Nikolai Noskov, Alexander Lvov (drums, ex-Aria), Yan Yanenkov (guitar, ex-Tsvety), Alexander Minkov (bass) and Alexey Belov (guitar), manager group was famous composer Stas Namin. In 1988, the group performed as an opening act for the Scorpions group during their tour in Leningrad.

In the same year, a group in in full force went to the USA to find a major international label. The name changed to the Latin version: Gorky Park. Thanks to the mediation of Jon Bon Jovi, the group signed a contract with Polygram.

Released in 1989 debut album group, entitled Gorky Park. The cover featured a logo in the form of the letters GP, stylized as the Hammer and Sickle. Videos for the songs “My Generation” and “Bang!” were shot in New York. Thanks to the growing interest in the West in Soviet Union after the fall iron curtain, the group soon gained widespread fame in the United States. The group entered the Top 15 on American MTV and stayed there for two months; several compositions topped the Billboard charts.

Gorky Park began touring the USSR and the USA. In 1989 the group performed at the famous Moscow music festival world" in Luzhniki in front of one hundred and fifty thousand people, along with "Bon Jovi", "Motley Crue", "Ozzy Osbourne", "Cinderella", "Skid Row", "Scorpions". In 1990, the group took part in the Roskilde final, in the opening ceremony of the Goodwill Games, and in the Farm Aid festival. At concerts, musicians often performed in stage pseudo-folk costumes (harem pants, blouses), with balalaika-shaped guitars, waving Soviet and American flags.

In 1991, at the Scandinavian Grammy Awards, the team was recognized as the best new international group. In the early 90s, successful tours took place in Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and Germany.

In the 90s, with a decline in interest in Russia in the West, the popularity of Gorky Park in the United States fell. In 1992, Nikolai Noskov left the group. The vocalist was Alexander Minkov. With this lineup, the group recorded the album Moscow Calling and conducted the first full-fledged Russian tour in support of it. In 1995, Nikolai Kuzminykh joined the group.

In 1997, Alexey White Belov (guitar), Alexey Belov Jr. (keys), Alexey Belov gr. “Gorky Park” is recording a blues disc “Three Alexei Belovs”.

In 1998, Alexander Minkov left the group, starting solo career under the pseudonym "Alexander Marshall". Unexpectedly for everyone, he began to sing in the “Russian chanson” style. Since that time, Gorky Park has actually disintegrated. Alexey Belov and Yan Yanenkov continue to perform with the old repertoire under the name “Belov Park”.

Reunions

Since then, members of Gorky Park have gathered together several times for separate concerts.

In 2006, the group was seen in the city of Nefteyugansk at the Northern Impact festival, dedicated to the Day Russia, together with the group "Aria". The composition of the group at that time: Alexey Belov (guitar, vocals), Yan Yanenkov (guitar), Alexander Makin (drums). In the song “Moscow Calling” Alexey conveyed symbolic greetings to Nikolai Noskov, singing “Noskov Kolya” for the audience.

In 2008, the group was revived at the Avtoradio-15 festival. The band played 5 songs and an insert from the instrumental track Volga Boatman. A few days later, at the award ceremony of the Muz TV television channel, Gorky Park received an award for their contribution to rock music and performed as the last line-up (except for keyboardist Nikolai Kuzminykh) with the song Moscow Calling. The group also performed at the Aramil bike festival (Ekaterinburg). In 2009, the group performed the song “Moscow Calling” at the opening of the Eurovision 2009 festival. And at the Burabayk bike rock festival in Kazakhstan. In the same year, the band announced its full-fledged reunion with two vocalists in the lineup: Nikolai Noskov and Alexander Marshal.

Compound

Nikolay Noskov (vocals)

Alexander Minkov (Alexander Marshall, bass guitar, later vocals)

Alexey Belov (guitar)

Yan Yanenkov (guitar, ex-Flowers)

Moscow. August 12-13, 1989 Luzhniki Stadium. In fact, friends, this is not just some date, but in fact it is a date historical event music industry. The fact is that these days in Moscow there was a "Moscow Music Festival of Peace". This event was broadcast in 59 countries around the world, because for the first time in the history of the USSR such a huge event occurred. I'm talking about a huge rock concert, where such rock monsters came to our country as: Bon Jovi, Mötley Crüe, Ozzy Osbourne, Scorpions, Cinderella, Skid Row and others.

The rock concert begins, Jon Bon Jovi, Ozzy Osbourne, and the Scorpions appear on stage. The people go crazy, sing songs of their favorite idols and among the monsters of rock, it’s our guys’ turn to perform.

Bass guitarist Sasha Minkov (Alexander Marshal) and guitarist Sasha Yanenkov, drummer Alexander Lvov, vocalist Kolya Noskov and guitarist Lesha Belov made up a single team of the Gorky Park group.

History of the name.

In the spring of 1987, the Gorky Park group was born. The team began with rehearsals in Stas Namin's studio, located on the territory of the Park of Culture and Leisure named after. M. Gorky.

Western influence.

In 1988, Gorky Park opened for Scorpions during their tour in Leningrad. Despite the fact that the public rated the Gorky Park performance rather coolly, Western producers became interested in the team. Charitable organization The Make-A-Difference Foundation invited the group, together with American hard and heavy bands, to take part in a project dedicated to the fight against alcoholism and drug addiction. For this purpose, Gorky Park recorded the song “My Generation,” which is a cover of the song of the same name by The Who. The name changed to the Latin version: Gorky Park. Thanks to the mediation of Jon Bon Jovi, the team signed a contract with Polygram in December 1988.

Success.

In early 1989, the group began recording composed material, collaborating with Frank Zappa. Alexey Belov would later state that at that time he met several people from the music industry who were directly responsible for the success of Gorky Park. One of them was Frank Zappa: “He was a person you could come to at any time. He worked in the studio 24 hours a day, but could always find time for us.” In addition, the sound and promotion of the group were greatly influenced by Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora from the rock band Bon Jovi, which reached the peak of popularity at that time.

Gorky Park.

In August 1989, Gorky Park's self-titled debut album was released. The cover featured a logo in the form of the letters “GP”, stylized as a hammer and sickle. Videos for the songs “My Generation” and “Bang” were shot in New York. Thanks to growing interest in the Soviet Union in the West after the fall of the Iron Curtain, Gorky Park soon gained widespread fame in the United States. The single “Bang” entered the Top 15 on American MTV and stayed there for two months, reaching number 3. The single “Try to Find Me” reached number 81 on the Billboard Hot 100, making Gorky Park the first Russian group to enter the national American chart. The album itself reached number 80 on the Billboard 200, and in three weeks from the start of sales its circulation exceeded 300 thousand copies.

USA tour.

Gorky Park went on a tour of the USA, in addition to performing at the famous Moscow Music Peace Festival in Luzhniki in front of one hundred and fifty thousand people, along with Bon Jovi, Motley Crue, Ozzy Osbourne, "Cinderella", "Skid Row", "Scorpions". In 1990, the group took part in the Roskilde final, the opening ceremony of the Goodwill Games of the Farm Aid festival. At concerts, musicians often performed in stage pseudo-folk costumes (harem pants, blouses), with balalaika-shaped guitars, waving Soviet and American flags.

In 1990, the group embarked on their second and final full-scale tour of the United States. The group's concerts were so successful that they were broadcast on American television. “A television company traveled with us, which simultaneously filmed television show. It came out every week. But the Gorky Park group is in Arizona, and here it is in another state. It was a whole series,” says Alexey Belov.

In 1991, at the Scandinavian Grammy Awards, the team was recognized as the best new international group. In the early 90s, successful tours took place in Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and Germany.

Split and Moscow Calling

After Nikolai Noskov left the group, bass guitarist Alexander Minkov became the group's lead singer, and the group began recording the album with renewed vigor. “We recorded our second album “Moscow Calling”, like the first - like soldiers, under pressure. Studio time is very expensive, and we had to meet tight deadlines. Nobody would have paid us for even an extra minute in the studio if we hadn’t met the deadline,” says Alexey Belov.

In addition to the band itself, vocalists Richard Marx and Fee Vabil from The Tubes, guitarists Steve Lukather of Toto, Steve Farris from whitesnake, Dweezil Zappa and live saxophonist Pink Floyd Scot Page, mixed by Erwin Masper.

Moscow Calling came out in 1992. In many countries, including Russia, it was released under the name Gorky Park II. Having ignored the American chart, the album still managed to gain considerable popularity, selling half a million copies worldwide. The disc gained wild popularity in Denmark, receiving platinum status there.
The international success of Moscow Calling allowed Gorky Park to gain financial independence and set up his own studio in Los Angeles. Alexander Minkov: “From now on, we ourselves will manage our honestly earned money”; Alexander Lvov: “We don’t owe anyone anything now. We no longer have contracts with anyone, they can’t close us down, they can’t put us in a debt hole.”

"Stare" and "Protivofazza"

The fourth one was published in May 1998. studio album called Protivofazza. “The last two albums - “Stare” and “Protivofazza” - were, in principle, one big album,” Alexey Belov told the MTV film crew, “we recorded it in the studio. There were, I remember, twenty-one songs, and we mixed these songs. When we made the selection for “Stare”, we were left with a huge number of songs - ten songs. What should we do with ten songs? Some of them are very strong works, there are even ethnic-symphonic ones, such as “Liquid Dream” and “Moving To Be Still”... Just interesting music! Then we decided to just write two songs quickly... So we got a double like this.”

The title of the Gorky Park album is explained as follows: “There is a term in radio electronics when one phase is reversed compared to another and the sound becomes not what it should be. When a person swims against the current, the same thing happens. Roughly speaking, antiphase is a contradiction to everything.” According to them, such a title would be close to each of their albums: they are always swimming against the current.

Soon after living in the USA, the musicians returned to their homeland for permanent residence. The group's plans also included recording a live album, but events that changed the group's plans occurred.

Breakup (1999-2001)

The year 1999 was almost fatal for the group: Alexander Minkov left its composition, explaining this with his desire to try something new and implement own ideas and desires, Alexander Yanenkov and Alexander Lvov.

Gorky Park, also known as Gorky Park, is one of the few Soviet/Russian bands to gain fame in the United States.

In 1987, Stas Namin, the organizer of the first independent production center in the Union, had the idea of ​​​​creating a hard and heavy band performing songs in English.

The first lineup of the group included (vocals), guitarists Alexey Belov and Yan Yanenkov and drummer Alexander Lvov.

, who later replaced Noskov at the microphone, played bass.

The group made its first recordings and played as an opening act for. Although the performance was not particularly successful, Western producers “took notice” of the Soviet metallers.

Through mediation, Soviet musicians signed a contract with the American Polygram, one of the largest recording companies. In recording the first album, already in the USA, Gorky Park was helped not only by Frank Zappa, but also by Frank Zappa, who taught Soviet musicians a lot, whose professional level was then noticeably lower than average American bands. But absolutely falling into the trend and with the style of music (not particularly heavy heavy metal with

significant influence

pop rock) and with a calculated stage image made the Soviet wonder an event on the American stage. The song even managed to rise to third place on the MTV top, and the album showed good sales.

The group began touring America, impressing visitors with hammers and sickles, blouses, trousers and balalaika guitars.

The group also played on the same stage with, and other stars of the first magnitude at the first international Soviet rock festival - the Moscow Music Festival of Peace in 1989. The 150,000-person festival became a symbol of the fall of the Iron Curtain, a “Russian Woodstock” and was broadcast practically throughout the world. The following year, Gorky Park embarked on its second (and final) tour of the United States. Tom Hulat, the band's manager, suddenly dies of cancer and leaves. The reason was fatigue, a tense situation in the team and personal reasons - Nikolai had a wife and a newborn daughter in Russia. He exchanges the bass guitar for a microphone and Gorky Park records the album “Moscow Calling”. Although its popularity is already waning, the record is selling well - more than half a million copies have been sold. The contract with the label ends and the group sets out on its own in American show business.

Both vocalists, both and and, achieve success in their homeland, performing solo and both in a completely different genre, closer not to heavy metal, but to chanson.

Periodically, the group gathers in lineups close to the original one, and participates in Avtoradio group concerts and other one-time events.