‘Disko’ — it’s all the craze in Russia

Press, 20 October 1981, Page 21

‘Disko’ — it’s all the craze in Russia

By

PAUL WALLACE

Features International

Girls scream and faint at concerts: pop stars are mobbed wherever they go; discotheques have sprung up across the nation.

Not surprisingly, the strong men in the Kremlin do not know what has hit them. For Russia, a country which has always frowned on western-style pop, has suddenly gone disco-crazy. There are now 5000 groups in Moscow alone, huge queues gather outside record shops, and albums from stars like Elton John, Abba, and Barbra Striesand are sold out w’ithin hours.

And the same goes for the growing number of homegrown superstars. Valery Leontyev, for example, may

be unknown in the west, but in Russia he is the current King of Pop. Every record he brings out goes to the top. of the "khit parad" — thanks to countless plays on radio by the Soviet “disk-dzhokis.” He has even been awarded a medal by the Kremlin. The key to Leontyev's popularity is probably that he looks just like a western pop star — casual clothes, long hair, and a sultry look reminiscent of Elvis Presley. The next biggest Russian pop star is a 31-year-old intellectual, architect, and drama student. Leonid Bordkevich, who is married to the Soviet gymnast, Olga Korbut. Bordkevich. leader

of one of the first pop-music groups to make it big in the Soviet Union, "The Singers,” has now T left to form a new group. "The Hollyhocks."

Already they have had a successful concert tour, some hit records.’ and a TV show. They also play standard Russian melodies as well,as hard rock.

Like most of the big names in Soviet rock music, “The Hollyhocks" have their origins in the European republics of the U.S.S.R. East Germany. Latvia, and Estonia have all produced pop superstars, while the Ukraine and Georgia can also claim to have their own thriving pop industries. Top of the pops in East Germany is a 42-year-old American singer from Colorado. Dean Reed, sings smooth, western-type ballads — though the lyrics are often in praise of Marxism and the Communist system. He tried to break into the big time in America but failed. Would he like to go back? “I see no reason to go back to America and do nothing,” Dean says. Not many of Russia’s own stars are allowed to perform abroad, but an exception is Janna Bichevskaya, sometimes described as the “Soviet Joan Baez," who sings simple, haunting ballads and accompanies herself on the guitar. Apart from having entertainers in the mainstream of rock. Russia is also beginning to see the development of more aggressive groups, led by Time Machine." They wear outrageous costumes. and their punchy lyrics aboui the problems of young people have sometimes drawn .them into conflict with the authorities.

Punk rock is beginning to catch on in Russia, too. A programme of "futuristic music put out bv the B.B.C’s Externa) Services is reck-

oned to have a regular audience of more than five million.

A “disk-dzhokis," Seva Levenstein, said: "The audience is growing and I'm getting a lot of encouraging feedback. Number one band with Russian kids is Deep Purple, and Slade are not far behind." Some western acts have found popularity in Russia before they have achieved success back horpe. For instance, a female duo from London known as Lips." have made three highly successful tours of Russia, and an LP recorded at a live show last year has sold 3*2 million copies.

Established stars who have .also gone down well with Soviet audiences during tours in recent years have included Cliff Richard. Boney M, and Elton John.

In spite of the incredible growth of rock, the Soviet authorities still do not seem to have devised an official attitude to it. Previously, it was attacked as "decadent.' but now the Russian press has begun to feature regular columns on rock and roll, and recently a rock opera — the first in the Soviet Union — was staged at the Lenin Komsomol Theatre in Moscow.

If the authorities are beginning to take a more relaxed attitude towards modern music, they are certainly not happy about the growing disco craze.

Official guidelines were issued recently which said discos should "raise tne moral, cultural, educational, and artistic levels of patrons and propagate the works of the socialist world " However, one disco which changed its programme to music portraying "the struggle of western youth against racial and social oppression” promptly lost all its clientele.