jadis

And here's his favorite piece of music, played by his great compatriot


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ZzjpnSdeVA

Always liked Vysotsky. I'm interested in the Soviet dissident movement in general and he's such a huge icon of resistance to the regime. A true phenomenon.

This one always cracks me up


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkojGf_u2uI

__________________
Wireless enthusiast intercepts government secret radio band and uncovers secrets and scandals of deceitful type proportions

Maksim_Frolov

Thanks!

I'm not sure if he was a dissident. He was an actor and a wonderful poet. Dissidence is a position and, one way or another, it is propaganda. Great musicians and poets are not engaged in propaganda, they are above it all. Of course, many people get involved in politics and propaganda in their youth, but they quickly switch to truly eternal things. For example, even Brodsky was not a dissident, despite emigrating. That's why the Great Ones are loved by everyone.

It is visible even now. For example, one of my favorite musicians is Noise MC (Ivan Alekseev). A very talented man... but politics and the desire to impose one's opinion destroys creativity. He become not a poet and a musician, but a propagandist.
An example on my favorite Letov's covers . The song "Everything's Just Like People's" (song of 1989, a bitterly ironic take on the sameness of everyday life). A tribute can (and probably should) sound different, like this one:
Band "Animal Jazz"

https://youtu.be/N10pn_hpWkA?si=B6p4PTlzngXjiEt5

But when Noise made his own lyrics, leaving only the chorus, it was not a tribute, but propaganda:

https://youtu.be/eLAHSRmFFzE?si=GWnP33zIr7G9ETwI

And it's very sad, because one of the most talented people of my generation is unlikely to become great, despite tens of millions of views.

It's just one of his funny songs . I remember when I was 6 or 7 years old (before school), I loved playing the same song on my father's old tape recorder, and my father scolded me that the right thing to do was listen to all the songs on tape, rather than constantly rewinding to the beginning, but I liked this particular one (although I didn't even understand half the words).))
from 0:35

https://youtu.be/-UpZXFwY8S8?si=0enTMXMtSCDPekCc

jadis

Yeah what I meant to say is that Vysotsky was an icon and inspiration to the dissidents, a very central presence in dissident culture.

It's also true that Brodsky didn't think of himself as a dissident, but as a spiritually free man in an unfree society.

Btw one could even say that the dissident movement, or at least parts of it, were not what we normally understand by a "political" movement: they sought freedom from the constant intrusion of politics into their lives under the Soviet regime. So their attitude to the whole idea of politics was different than what we take for granted today.

__________________
Wireless enthusiast intercepts government secret radio band and uncovers secrets and scandals of deceitful type proportions

jadis

Btw not many know there's a homemade recording of Vysotsky in my hometown!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ReQhoXz3FM

Moreover, one of my favorite Vysotsky stories is set in Montreal:

__________________
Wireless enthusiast intercepts government secret radio band and uncovers secrets and scandals of deceitful type proportions

Maksim_Frolov

Yes, you are right.

Thank you, I didn't know this story

Maksim_Frolov

Early Noize MC (Ivan Alekseev)

https://youtu.be/99xQhYWX09s?si=WT1lcbpoqRUcGHKk

Mature

https://youtu.be/AOrH0sq-tKY?si=nBFAvP7o9h5xRazV

Ironic

https://youtu.be/F_U_bT27SGk?si=OGXss2dl8rQqFn2H

Last

https://youtu.be/R0jkgXrXk44?si=9niy1Sl3awFJ3RBu

Maksim_Frolov

Alexey Arkhipovsky.
The Majestic Balalaika.


https://youtu.be/QShyvWocloQ?si=_XMljN-j2izmUQBH


https://youtu.be/nNwDtSKFtqg?si=P23YtPBRYRa7VBDG

Maksim_Frolov

And a little more balalaika (in one form or another)


https://youtu.be/qPVMLUQabEE?si=pXYggOwb2c-AaFCf


https://youtu.be/YeEuvelfkgY?si=mcDDacgZq5duqehk

Maksim_Frolov

New from Loqiemean

https://youtu.be/KtTz7ySl-oQ?si=OA2Up4pBeKm1AsHq

Maksim_Frolov

Aria. "The Russian Iron Maiden". The most successful heavy metal band in Russia, with a long history and several lineups (except for a couple of guitarists). Everyone in Russia who enjoys heavy rock grew up on their songs. Despite the genre, even in the USSR, they were never underground and were officially recorded on vinyl by Melodiya, selling millions of copies (1987, the album "Hero of Asphalt"). Professional sound, professional lyrics (most of it written by poets Alexander Elin and Margarita Pushkina). I thought long and hard about which songs to start with for this band; let it be ballads (from childhood ).

1985

https://youtu.be/1t-B6C6QQpA?si=B0_-oUGkashYNu2q

1995

https://youtu.be/1Q30Uf6bJCo?si=eSVu4jz33BjtHPo-

2001 (The band's last album with vocalist Valery Kipelov)

https://youtu.be/xKutHauhLj0?si=qA19wOilseltUpmr

2003

https://youtu.be/KE8HXmVBd7k?si=dubUsz_XI48oauLm