Joanna Stingray: how a singer from the USA shocked the USSR and became an ascetic of Russian rock
'26.01.2021'
Source: InosMI.ru
When the 23-year-old singer from California arrived in the Soviet Union in 1984, she had no idea that the KGB and the FBI would be interested in her future passion for Russian rock. "Inosmi.ru".
Joanna Stingray's love for the underground music of Leningrad, now St. Petersburg, inspired her to smuggle the recordings out of the Soviet Union for a joint album of four Russian bands.
The record Red Wave was released in the West in 1986 and put an end to the Kremlin's censorship of Soviet rock. Then Mikhail Gorbachev asked: "Why are such albums released in America and not here?"
Stingray's story is first told in her biography, and the book is also called The Red Wave.
Stingray went to the Soviet Union after a fight with the manager - this quarrel put an end to her rock career. It was also a youthful riot. Her father, in 1962, shot an anti-Soviet documentary entitled The Truth About Communism, in which future President Ronald Reagan reads offscreen text.
“My father used to say to me: 'Don't even stick your head behind the Iron Curtain,' she said. "But when your parents forbid you to do something, you only get even more inflamed."
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Before the trip, a Russian émigré gave Stingray the phone number of Boris Grebenshchikov, the lead singer of the Aquarium, the most popular rock group in the Soviet underground. Upon arriving in Leningrad, Stingray eluded the official Intourist guides and met Grebenshchikov, who was called the Russian Bob Dylan.
They became friends for life, and Grebenshchikov - and he speaks fluent English - introduced her to the Soviet rock scene. Stingray also made friends with the musicians of the Kino group, which Viktor Tsoi created under the influence of the “new wave”. Thanks to his gloomy lyrics, he later became the star of the perestroika era - he died in a car accident in 1990. Later Stingray managed to marry the guitarist of "Kino" and get divorced.
But despite the immense popularity of the group of the format "Aquarium" and "Kino" could not record records and perform at state venues.
Instead, they distributed their albums on rewritten cassettes, and gave underground concerts wherever they could - from communal apartments to semi-abandoned houses. The only venue in Leningrad where they were allowed to perform officially was the Rock Club, where KGB agents supervised the performances.
Deprived of the opportunity to earn a living with their music, but forced to work under the Soviet law on parasitism, Russian rock stars were served as janitors and stokers.
Imbued with the "unique surrealism" of the Soviet underground, Stingray promised to return. Before leaving, Grebenshchikov provided her with the number of a banker friend who had access to David Bowie's managers. Bowie, too, became fascinated by the Soviet Union back in the 1970s, traveling across the country by train. On her next visit, Stingray brought Grebenshchikov a Fender Stratocaster, a gift from Bowie.
Determined to bring Russian rock to Western audiences, Stingray hid tapes and lyrics in a leather jacket and boots from Soviet customs.
“I was so captivated by the music that I was completely unaware that I might be caught,” she said.
Due to frequent trips to the Soviet Union, the FBI became interested in her. In 1986, an agent interrogated her at her mother's home in California and warned that the Soviets could plant drugs on her to force her to cooperate with the KGB.
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In 2006, Stingray read her FBI dossier (with bills) and found out that intelligence did not rule out that she was secretly in touch with Soviet officials. The KGB also suspected that her fascination with Soviet rock was just a cover. In Leningrad, she was interrogated by secret agents.
In the 1990s, Stingray (this is her real name since 1987) continued her Russian career. Her distinctive blonde hair with dark strands, black clothes and sunglasses have inspired hordes of teen wannabes.
However, fame also had a downside. At some point, the Russian mafia demanded a share of the kickback, which it allegedly pays to TV channels for the rotation of its videos.
Her life is like the plot of a Hollywood movie. Bowie thought so too. He offered to buy the rights to her biography, and Molly Ringwald offered to play her in another film adaptation. But Stingray rejected both offers.
Stingray, now 60, is among the few foreigners to become stars in Russia but remain unknown at home. Last year, fans lined up at bookstores to unveil a Russian-language version of her biography.
When asked what brought her to the Soviet Union many years ago, she answered without hesitation: "Destiny."
