''Red Wave: 4 Underground Bands from the Soviet Union'' was a
split
Split(s) or The Split may refer to:
Places
* Split, Croatia, the largest coastal city in Croatia
* Split Island, Canada, an island in the Hudson Bay
* Split Island, Falkland Islands
* Split Island, Fiji, better known as Hạfliua
Arts, entertai ...
double album
A double album (or double record) is an audio album that spans two units of the primary medium in which it is sold, typically either records or compact disc. A double album is usually, though not always, released as such because the recording i ...
released in 1986 and featuring
Russian 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 ...
bands
Aquarium
An aquarium (plural: ''aquariums'' or ''aquaria'') is a vivarium of any size having at least one transparent side in which aquatic plants or animals are kept and displayed. Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, aq ...
,
Kino
Kino may refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasters
* KINO, a radio station in Arizona, U.S.
* Kino FM (98.0 FM – Moscow), a Russian music radio station
* KinoTV, now Ruutu+ Leffat ja Sarjat, a Finnish TV channel
Fictional entiti ...
,
Alisa
Alisa is a female given name, a version of Alice in used in Russia, Finland, Estonia and other countries. Notable people with the names Alisa and Alissa include:
Alisa People
*Alisa Agafonova (born 1991), Ukrainian former competitive ice dancer ...
, and
Strannye Igry
Strannye Igry (russian: Странные игры, Strange Games) was a Soviet Leningrad-based new wave band, noted for using the ska influences (which was unusual for the Soviet music scene of the time), writing lyrics based on the translations ...
(Strange Games), all from
Leningrad
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
. It was the first release of Russian rock music into the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
.
Joanna Stingray
Joanna Stingray (russian: Джоанна Стингрей Dzhoanna Stingrey, , born Joanna Fields, 1960) is an American singer, actress, music producer and socialite. She was a key figure in popularizing Soviet and Russian rock music and cultur ...
, who developed a friendly relationship with some of the most prominent Soviet underground rock band members upon her first visit to the Soviet Union, and
Boris Grebenshchikov
Boris Borisovich Grebenshchikov (russian: link=no, Борис Борисович Гребенщиков; born ) is a prominent member of the generation which is widely considered to be the "founding fathers" of Russian rock music. He is the fo ...
, the
Aquarium
An aquarium (plural: ''aquariums'' or ''aquaria'') is a vivarium of any size having at least one transparent side in which aquatic plants or animals are kept and displayed. Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, aq ...
frontman, are credited with the idea of releasing such an album in the West. The material for this compilation was recorded on a non-commercial basis by the four Leningrad bands and smuggled by Joanna Stingray to the US. Production and release was done by the Los Angeles-based indie label Big Time Records on June 27, 1986.
Three of the four bands (Aquarium, Kino and Alisa) on this album have later become icons of the Russian rock movement and are still widely known and followed in Russia. Due to the success of ''Red Wave'', the Soviet state label
Melodiya
Melodiya ( rus, links=no, Мелодия, t=Melody) is a Russian (formerly Soviet) record label. It was the state-owned major record company of the Soviet Union.
History
Melodiya was established in 1964 as the "All-Union Gramophone Record Firm ...
released the albums ''Noch'' and ''Energiya'', as well as a compilation of Akvarium songs, in 1987 and 1988.
Track listing
Side 1 (Aquarium)
From albums ''Taboo'', ''The Children of December'' and ''
Radio Africa
''Radio Africa'' (russian: Радио Африка) is an album by the Russian rock band Aquarium.
The album's style presents an eclectic mix of influences: new wave, art rock, post-punk, jazz, Psychedelic rock, psychedelia, honky tonk, free i ...
''.
# "Пепел" (Ashes) – 3:10
# "Сегодня ночью" (Tonight) – 4:36
# "Танцы на грани весны" (Dance on the edge of the spring) – 4:25
# "Жажда" (The Thirst) – 3:56
# "Сны о чём-то большем" (Dreams Of Something Bigger) – 4:20
# "Рок-н-ролл мёртв" (Rock'n'Roll is dead) - 3:27 (only on the vinyl release)
Side 2 (Kino)
Side 3 (
Alisa
Alisa is a female given name, a version of Alice in used in Russia, Finland, Estonia and other countries. Notable people with the names Alisa and Alissa include:
Alisa People
*Alisa Agafonova (born 1991), Ukrainian former competitive ice dancer ...
)
All songs from the album ''Energy''.
# "Экспериментатор" (Experimentor) – 4:31
# "Мы вместе" (We're together) – 2:43
# "Доктор Буги" (Dr. Boogie) – 3:49
# "Плохой Рок-н-ролл" (Bad boy) – 3:21
# "Соковыжиматель" (Juice squeezer) – 3:14
# "Ко мне" (Come to me) – 5:01
Side 4 (Strange Games)
From the albums ''Metamorphoses'' and ''Look at Them Both''.
# "Метаморфозы" (Metamorphoses) – 2:38
# "Хоровод" (Chorovod song) – 3:21
# "А телефона нет" (No telephone) – 2:51
# "Эгоцентризм" (Egocentrism) – 4:29
# "Если ты думаешь" (If You Think) – 3:54
# "Бумажные цветы" (Paper Flowers) - 4:20 (only on vinyl release)
Release history
The album was first released as a double LP on Big Time in 1986 containing 24 songs, six by each band. In 1987, the album was released in Europe as a single 14-track LP. The album was first officially released in Russia in 1991 on LP through SNC Records, containing the original US tracklist. 1994 saw the first and to date only CD release, also on SNC and omitting one track each by Kino, Akvarium and Strannye Igry.
References
Further reading
*
{{Authority control
Soviet rock music
SNC Records albums
Soviet Union–United States relations