The Moscow Rock Laboratory (; 1986–1992) was an officially sanctioned rock club in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

that promoted and controlled the activities of

Soviet rock Rock music became known in the Soviet Union in the 1960s and quickly broke free from its Western roots. According to many music critics, its "golden age" years were the 1980s (especially the era of perestroika), when the Soviet underground ro ...

musicians who did not belong to state concert organizations.

History

The Moscow Rock Laboratory was established on October 23, 1985. The laboratory's headquarters were in the Unified Scientific and Methodological Center of the Main Department of Culture of the Executive Committee of the Moscow City Council (). The club was founded by order of

Viktor Grishin Viktor Vasilyevich Grishin (russian: Ви́ктор Васи́льевич Гри́шин; – 25 May 1992) was a Soviet politician. He was a candidate (1961–1971) and full member (1971–1986) of the Politburo of the Central Committee of ...

, then the First Secretary of the Moscow party committee of the

CPSU "Hymn of the Bolshevik Party" , headquarters = 4 Staraya Square, Moscow , general_secretary = Vladimir Lenin (first)Mikhail Gorbachev (last) , founded = , banned = , founder = Vladimir Lenin , newspaper ...

. The Rock Laboratory was set up with the help and support of the local

Komsomol The All-Union Leninist Young Communist League (russian: link=no, Всесоюзный ленинский коммунистический союз молодёжи (ВЛКСМ), ), usually known as Komsomol (; russian: Комсомол, links=n ...

. The Moscow Rock Laboratory's first director was Bulat Musurmankulov. Olga Opryatnaya was the laboratory's second director. Artemy Troitsky was elected to the governing board of the Rock Club. The artistic council, which was responsible for accepting new groups into the laboratory, also included Pyotr Mamonov,

Aleksandr Lipnitsky Aleksandr Davidovich Lipnitsky (; 8 July 1952 – 25 March 2021) was a Soviet and Russian journalist, writer, and musician. He was one of the founders of the Soviet rock group Zvuki Mu. Biography Aleksandr Lipnitsky was born on 8 July 1952 in ...

, and

Vasily Shumov Vasily Gerardovich Shumov (russian: Василий Герардович Шумов; born 23 March 1960) is a Russian-American artist, musician, multimedia and experimental artist, short film director and record producer. He is probably best known ...

. The Moscow Rock Laboratory closed in 1992. The services the rock laboratory provided to musicians had become less essential and more difficult to maintain due to the political and economic changes of the late 1980s and early 1990s. In 2015, a concert to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the founding of the Moscow Rock Laboratory was held at Yotaspace in Moscow.

Activities

The Moscow Rock Laboratory provided non-professional rock musicians a place to rehearse, give concerts, and record albums, under the supervision of the authorities. The laboratory provided sound and light equipment and amplifiers, organized shows, and handled publicity for its members. Since Moscow Rock Laboratory bands were officially considered "amateurs", they were not paid for their concerts. Aleksandr Ageev's recording studio, Kolokol (), operated from the Moscow Rock Laboratory until the laboratory's closure in 1992. The first Rock Lab Festival took place in January 1986 in the hall of a House Of Culture. Performers at the festival included

Bravo Bravo(s) or The Bravo(s) may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music Groups and labels *Bravo (band), a Russian rock band * Bravo (Spanish group), represented Spain at Eurovision 1984 *Bravo Music, an American concert band music publishing company ...

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(),

Zvuki Mu Zvuki Mu (russian: Зву́ки Му , roughly translated as "Sounds of Moo") was a Russian alternative rock/indie/post-punk band founded in Moscow in 1983. Lead singer and songwriter Pyotr Mamonov was one of the most revered and eccentric fig ...

(), (), and (). The laboratory regularly held festival called the Festival of Hopes (). Groups from other cities performed in Moscow at the invitation of the rock laboratory. The Cheryomukha-92 () festival was the last event organized by the Moscow Rock Laboratory before its closure.

Members

The laboratory held regular auditions for new groups. The artistic council would listen to 10–12 groups and select four or five to become members. As of 1987, about 100 bands were members of the Moscow Rock Laboratory. The members of the rock laboratory included

Brigada S Brigada S (Брига́да С) was a Soviet/Russian rock band fronted by Garik Sukachov which played dynamic mix of rough rock and roll, reggae and rhythm and blues marked by the effective use of the brass section. Formed in 1984 the self-describe ...

(), Krematoriy (),

(),

(), Alyans (), Nochnoy Prospekt (), (), Chorny Obelisk (), Korroziya Metalla (), and ().

References

{{Point of interest of Russian rock Russian rock music

History

Activities

Members

See also

References