The article has been automatically translated into English by Google Translate from Russian and has not been edited.

This is the monster I released: how in Russia 90's got on the air 'Splin', Zemfira and 'Hands Up!'

'13.04.2019'

Source: Lenta.ru

About the first independent music FM radio stations, the first Russian popularity charts, Russian music on the radio, Agate Christie, Spline, Zemfira, the group Hands Up! And girls with razors "Tape.ru”Said the country's main radioman, the general producer of the radio stations Maximum, Nashe Radio and Radio Ultra, music producer and host of the Dozhd TV channel Mikhail Kozyrev.

Frame of Zemfira's video for the song “Iskala”. Photo: screenshot YouTube / zemfira

By the time market relations were declared in Russia, the Western music business had already come a long way. The laws of popularity, rules and exceptions to the rules were known and worked out to the smallest detail. Of course, their observance did not guarantee the artist of obligatory prosperity at all, but otherwise the chances of success tended to zero.

Of all the arts, radio is the most important

The main tool for the promotion of artists (before the beginning of the MTV era) was radio. And even if you were Beatles, even the Rolling Stones - in order to sell well, you had to get into the hot rotation of music radio stations. For this, there existed a completely unknown system of relations in the USSR, an important part of which was the culture of singles — small vinyl records with a big hole in the middle, recorded at 45 speeds per minute.

The publishers, or the artists themselves, sent “forty-fives” on music radio stations. DJs, depending on the format of the radio stations, their taste and level of engagement, put future hits on the air with a certain frequency. The more often the song sounded on the air, the better it was bought in music stores. And the better the single was sold - the higher it went up in the sales charts. Getting to the top of the charts provided even hotter rotation on the radio. The circle was closed.

In the USSR, where even pop culture was subordinated to socialist planning, such a system did not work. It simply did not exist. The company "Melody" had no competitors, but there was a work plan for the next five years. The radio did not broadcast anyhow anyone, but only highly artistic artists who were approved by the cultural line of the party. The whole initiative was distributed almost exclusively on cassettes. How this happened will be a separate material.

With the collapse of the USSR, private music radio stations began to appear - such as “Europe Plus”, which played light music between commercial advertising. The popularity of artists and the music market, they almost did not affect. But a holy place, as you know, is never empty.

Music of Bolshevik children and grandmothers

The first domestic radio station that not only began to work correctly, but also essentially formed the domestic music radio culture, was Radio Maximum. It happened after Mikhail Kozyrev became its program director. In addition to the radio "Maximum", Kozyrev "raised" two more projects - "Our Radio" and Radio Ultra.

Lenta.ru: As far as I know, you were born in Sverdlovsk, served in the army, graduated from the Medical Institute. And after all this, how did you become what you became? Not the most obvious way.

Mikhail Kozyrev: At first glance, a random combination of circumstances, but if you look closely, accidents always add up to a pattern. I went to the medical institute because there was a military department there, and it was possible not to go to the army, but then the rules changed, the booking was removed, and from the second year all the young men were taken to serve. So I spent on the institute not six, but eight years. During this time, the Soviet Union ceased to exist, the Iron Curtain disappeared, and the opportunity arose to go abroad quite legally. I went to the States, where I was going to confirm my medical degree.

And how did you get to America from Yekaterinburg?

For love. I had an affair with an American named Kimberly, who had come to Ekaterinburg for an internship. She suggested that I take off with her to the States to prepare for exams. I saved some small money, earned on translations of English texts and night shifts by ambulance and drove off. I could not pass the exam for the profession of a doctor on the move - I did not get the required number of points. Indeed, since I taught anatomy and physiology in the first years of the institute, a long time has passed, I managed to serve in the army ... And then I was lucky. In California College, where my friend was studying at the time, a recruitment for language resident was announced. This person had to assist at the Russian language department, study with students, immerse them in the atmosphere of the country. I passed an interview and got this job, salary and the ability to use all the resources of the college.

The college had its own student radio station, and I brought along a bunch of vinyl and a CD: “Aquarium”, “Bravo”, “DDT” ... I hoped to spend the long winter California evenings to the sounds of my native music. He suggested that they make a program about Russian music. Shel 1992 year. Stormy events took place in Russia, followed by the whole world with interest.

The program was called Music of Bolsheviks' Kids and Babooshkas - “Music of Bolshevik children and grandmothers”. I found Russian words that were understood by the Americans. She went out on Friday nights. The audience was in English. And I liked it so much that at the same time I began to study how things are arranged on the radio station. How jingles are made, as screensavers, how a grid of programs is composed. Developed a logo for the radio station. And somehow it all fell in love.

Later I understood why everything happened. At home we always had music. Dad was the first violin in the symphony orchestra, mom was filming documentaries - everything revolved around what we now call entertainment. This zigzag - through the medical institute, the army and California - led me to the radio.

And how did your parents react to such a zigzag?

Mom and dad are very puzzled. Parents always wish a child such a profession, so that there is something to earn a living. What is radio? .. When I returned to Russia, the FM band was almost pure. White noise!

If the radio, then "Maximum"

After all, you did not just return to Russia, but you almost immediately got a job on the radio, and not anyhow, but the program director of Radio Maximum. How did this happen?

The key role was played by my cousin Zhenya Abov, who worked in the Moscow News. He called me and said that the Americans had recently come to them, who offered to make a radio station. We received the frequency, launched it, but do not really understand what to do with this radio station. I told him that I also did not understand anything about this, but he persuaded me to come to Moscow and meet with the founders. I came, we met, talked. They were completely at a loss for what to rely on. As a result, my little experience at a student radio station in California and decent English played a decisive role. I was taken to the position of program director of radio "Maximum".

Who then owned the radio station?

Three companies. Of these, one Russian, one American and one joint: the newspaper "Moscow News"; Story First Communication - the company of a very successful American investor in Russian media, Peter Gervey, who later founded STS; and Westwood One are American producers of programs and syndicated shows. They decided to enter the Russian media market in this way. And we were obliged to broadcast several times a day: "You are listening to Radio Maximum, our founders are Moskovskie Novosti, Story First Communication and Westwood One."

The radio market was then empty. There were only Radio Rocks, Radio 101 and the French - Europa Plus. It was necessary to come up with some kind of chip, to be different from them. I suggested making a radio station that would become advanced, unlike the omnivorous “Europe Plus”. Radio Maximum should have become a fashionable metropolitan station, which you have to listen to in order to feel attached to modern youth culture, to current musical trends. This concept worked. We quickly became number two after Europe Plus.

But still it was necessary to explain to people what FM is.

Such a time was ... We are used to the fact that in the Soviet Union radio is a three-program receiver in the kitchen. And then a fleet of cars increased dramatically, modern recorders began to sell, players appeared, stereos with an FM scale. All this is rapidly developing.

What have I always wanted to achieve? People meet with their eyes on the subway, and both have the icon for Maximum radio or a sticker on the bag, and immediately feel that they are of the same blood — they are listening to the same wave. And it turned out to be the right concept. "Maximum" in 1990-x entered the top three attributes of modern advanced Muscovite, who read the magazine "OM", listened to the radio "Maximum" and visited the club "Titanic".

You could not only listen to you in Moscow ...

We quickly opened in St. Petersburg. And I came up with a slogan: "Radio of two capitals." This gave us such a correct "metropolitan" spirit. Sasha Nuzhdin then began to lead the "Hit Parade of Two Capitals". And to emphasize that one cannot live without us, a wonderful slogan was launched at the same time: “If radio, then -“ Maximum ””.

The principle of three boxes

How was all this arranged from the inside? How was the music selected, who ordered it?

Every week I received a fax on the charts of American radio stations - the top 40. There were several professional publications that monitored all radio stations and collected these tables. In America, it was a powerful multi-million dollar industry.

Bert Kleiman, a consultant at Westwood One, led the programming process. He taught me a lot, I am very grateful to him. He showed me what rotation is and how best to give songs on the air. Since then, in three minutes I will explain to any person how the broadcast of a music radio station is being built.

And how is it built?

It is very simple. The computer programs the station on the principle of cards. You have three boxes, as in a regular filing cabinet. There is a hot rotation in the first box, you have ten songs there. The song is lost, you shift the card to the end. Next lost - at the end. They go in a circle. Accordingly, if you program two songs in each hour, then each of the songs will be repeated every five hours. And if you program four positions in an hour, they will rotate faster - every two hours. People gradually get used to the song, and it reaches a peak two to three weeks after it is put on the air.

The second box is those songs that have already played their own and “burned out”. And there is also a third base file, which makes up the “blood and flesh” of the radio station - these are eternal hits. Depending on how deeply you program, there may be a hundred cards or a thousand. The more archival tracks, the more diverse the air. And vice versa - when there are a lot of new hits, the station sounds fresh. All rotation programs are based on this principle.

Every week we listened to new songs that came on the Top Hits CD compilations. By the way, when we started the Radio Maximum, we still had huge reel-to-reel tape recorders on which the tape was spinning. And many programs we broadcast on these reel tape recorders. And the girls mounted them with razor-glasses, gluing the film with tape. It was a hell of a work, like in classic Soviet cinema, where they also mounted razor-glasses and glue.

The American top 40 is good, but the tastes of the Russian audience have always been different from the American ones.

Of course, you couldn't copy everything blindly. I clearly understood that Hootie & the Blowfish and even Bruce Springsteen would never be close to a Russian person in their lives, while, for example, Depeche Mode, for some incredible reason, became a Russian folk group. On this occasion, there were constant disputes between me and Bert Kleiman, who oversaw the broadcast. He had to admit that I was right, and we put on not only American music, but also European artists: Prodigy, Faithless, Bjork, Blur, Oasis ...

"I had to focus on your taste"

It is understandable with foreign performers, but what about Russian music?

What to do with Russian music - that was the question! The fact is that we lacked any statistics that could be trusted. There were no charts. There was nothing to rely on. I had to focus on my own taste and the intuitive feeling of a hit. In addition, there was an intensive work with the record labels that appeared like mushrooms after the rain, record companies, production centers, which brought us what they released.

When a new album is released in the US - say, Aerosmith, the record company develops a plan to promote this album two years in advance. They are counting exactly at what moment to release which song as a single and shoot a clip on it, which remixes to be scattered around dance clubs, which song on which show to perform ... If the calculation is correct, then the hit “shoots”.

But we had nothing like this ...

Did not have. Our record labels wandered in the dark to the touch. Unless Igor Tonkikh, the owner of the recording company FeeLee, signed a contract with the label Mute and quickly introduced here everything that was done in the West. Accordingly, the Russian groups that he signed - “Wah Bank”, “Cockroaches!”, “ChayF”, Tequilajazzz - he spun up very correctly.

But most did not even know what to do. They gave me a record, I listened and said: “I think this song has the greatest potential.” “Do you promise to deliver it?” They asked me. “Yes,” I replied. “I guarantee you, if you make a bet on this song, I’m ready to play it.” That's how questions were solved on the selection of hits. I remember very well all the discussions related to the appearance of “Mumiy Troll”, “Night Snipers”, Zemfira. I then took part in the selection of their first songs on the radio.

I remember how I found the “Shameful Star” CD of the group “Agatha Christie” somewhere on the shelf, put the song “Like in war” to everyone. “Here it is, you have been here on the shelf for a long time!” - and we put it on the air. And that's it! From this moment began the star story of "Agatha Christie".

"Well, dude, honestly, how much does it cost you?"

And tell me, surely there were attempts to encourage you to put what publishers needed? It could not be ... People came and said: "Let us twist, for example, Lena Zosimova, and we will give you money ..."

I don’t remember a single case when they came to me and offered money in an envelope ... Or they brought a pack ... It became clear to everyone very quickly that, firstly, I don’t take bribes in principle, and secondly, this rock-and-roll The non-pop part of the market will not play according to the rules adopted in the pop industry, where such issues can be solved with the help of money.

But you had pop music at the station too.

Depending on what is considered pop.

Dima Malikov, Decl ...

Decl we did not play. But they played several songs by Malikov, Alain Sviridov, Leonid Agutin ... Such high-quality pop music.

The world of show business is very compact, everyone knows each other in it. In principle, I am not able to take bribes or kickbacks. I do not know how to do it. Never in my life doing this. In addition, if you ever give someone up and slack and bend, the first thing that a person does when he comes out from you is that he will pick up twenty familiar producers and say: “So, in short, this one takes. Keep in mind". And you will never be able to argue in your life, because you will always be reminded: “Wait, you took money from this!”. And that's all. The end.

I was never even offered. And I still have not figured out with any of my colleagues from other radio stations: “Well, dude, honestly, how much does it cost you? And how much of this did it take to roll back? And how much did you put on the table? ” I have never had such conversations with anyone. And I never wanted to know that.

And from above, the owners of the radio station could tell you: “Borya Zosimov is our friend, let's turn his daughter Lena more often?”

I was lucky with the chiefs. The direct head of the radio station was Ruslan Terekbaev, who had everything very clearly built, and the areas of responsibility were divided. In addition, from the very beginning I discussed this question. I always, when I started new projects, said: this is my territory, I am responsible for it, and no one here has the right to climb. I decide what to broadcast. We look at the results of the year, analyze the ratings, and if I do not give you the expected result, you will part with me. I had this conversation with the owners of Radio Maximum, and with Boris Abramovich Berezovsky, and with Natasha Sindeeva on the TV channel Dozhd, where I am responsible for the music that we show. Clips and artists are aired only with my approval.

People offended?

The most memorable meeting was with Yuri Aizenshpis. Some near-criminal legends always went around him, and everyone was afraid to meet him at that time. Thank God, he understood that Vlad Stashevsky on the “Maximum” can not be offered. But he tried to punch us on the new-minded singer Nikita. I had to go with him to the meeting, and he tormented me with Nikita's remixes for two hours. Few who were so earnestly in love with their wards, as Aizenshpis. But I tactfully refused him. It is important to adhere to our principles, to defend them with reason and to outline for ourselves the permissible zone of compromise. I promised Yury Shmilyevich that we would broadcast some of his actual remixes once in a special program. On that and went.

How to get on the air

I still have this case in my memory. Once in the winter, when you and I were already doing the Twilight program at Maximum, we had to go to Ostankino. And the stove didn't work in your car. And it was wildly cold. We got into the car, began to warm it. And, chattering with your teeth, you said: “Let's listen to something so vigorous to warm ourselves.” In the car lay a plastic bag with cassettes. You got a cassette at random, put it in the player - garbage, another - garbage, put the third, fourth ... And from the speakers it went "Libe Libe, Amore-Amore ...". While we were driving to Ostankino, we listened to it five times. And then you put it in the rotation. I then had the impression that it was the same cat that was accidentally pulled out of the bag ...

I do not remember exactly this situation, but this could be. So many groups got on the air. I listened to everything myself for a very long time. Already on Nashe Radio, when I realized that I was not coping with this stream, I joined several other people in the process, whose taste I trusted.

How did the Spleen get to you?

"Spleen" Kostya Kinchev advised me. Kostya said that in St. Petersburg there is such a terrific poet Sasha Vasilyev. I listened to their first album, it was very raw, but it was already clear that it was cool. There was an amazing “Love walks by wire” thing, but for the first single we took “Fish Without Panties”. This is a very strange song, and the first single should surprise and shock the audience as much as possible. By the same principle, for example, the song “AIDS” was chosen for Zemfira.

I remember the first time I saw "Spleen". In the cinema "Russia", on Pushkin Square, on the first floor was the club "Utopia". He had nothing to do with rock and roll, it was such pop space. Between the two halls there was a scene almost with a pole for striptease, and there “Splin” performed in the form of a duet - Yanik Nikolenko on the flute and Sasha Vasilyev with a guitar. It was impossible to imagine a more ridiculous combination than the “Spleen” group performing on such a pop scene. But I fell in love with them at first sight.

Tell me about Zemfira, how did she appear on your radio?

Dima Groisman, the producer of the “CHajf” group, brought me her notes already on Nashe Radio. Zemfira arrived in Moscow from Ufa and showed her demos to several producers, including Groisman.

Zemfira's songs were without final arrangements, just demos. I was not impressed with the move. I told Dima that I didn't know if it would fire or not. Very much depends on how to arrange and how to record. And Dima did not sign a contract with her.

And then I heard already the studio recording of the first album, and it sounded amazing! How to present this new name to the public was discussed by several people: Konstantin Ernst, Real Records director Alena Mikhailova, producer Leonid Burlakov, and I participated in this process. The final decision was always made by Zemfira herself, she will never do anything with which she internally disagrees.

We then discussed everything, approved, planned it out. And Lenya Burlakov threw me. And for the second time. Before that, he set me up with the participation of the Mumiy Troll group at Maxidrome. After that, literally on my knees I begged him to forgive. I forgave him. And when everything was ready, and Zemfira's disks had to go into circulation, I suddenly found on them the “Europe Plus” logo, despite the fact that the agreement with Our Radio was from the very beginning! Leonid spread his hands and said: "Well, you understand, they have a large audience." There are people who, if they throw, they always throw.

Well, where are you girls, short skirts ...

“Agatha Christie”, “Spleen”, “Mumiy Troll”, Zemfira - these were your luck. But there were punctures, too?

Were, I repent. I was the first person to broadcast the then-unknown group “Hands Up!”. The first song they sent was very witty, it was called Morning Gymnastics. It was a sample of the Soviet broadcaster, who had said on the Soviet radio: "We are starting a series of exercises ... Legs shoulder-width apart ... Hands up." And further - to-doo-doo-doo - the dancing rhythm began. It was really funny. I had no idea who these guys were. The song came to me, and I put it on the air.

Then they brought the song "Baby." It used the same technique - voice sample. The kid said: “A song about me. I am a sweet boy ... La la la la ... ". And it was also witty, and the music was fashionable and progressive. Sergey Zhukov and Alexey Potekhin almost gave their first interview with us on Radio Maximum. Well, then, at the fork between the actual club music and pop music, they turned to know where. Of course, I could not imagine all these future poetic gems: “Well, where are you girls, short skirts ...”, “Kiss me everywhere, eighteen to me already” ... In short, this monster was aired by me. Why should I burn in hell, of course ...

"I was told to collect my belongings in 15 minutes"

Tell me, why did you get fired from Radio Maximum? You managed to achieve that you became the most fashionable, most advanced and most influential radio station of the two capitals. And you were a key figure in this story. I understand this was not your decision.

Formally, I was reproached with the fact that I was allegedly paying too much attention to my own projects, and the radio station was relegating to the background. These claims were related to the anti-drug program "Twilight" on NTV, which I led along with you. This irritated the management. The station began to get too associated with me. It seemed to them that you were saying “Maximum” - it means Kozyrev, you say Kozyrev - it means “Maximum”.

They fired me overnight, and very badly. I came to work, I was told to collect my belongings in 15 minutes and leave the premises, having passed a cell phone at the entrance. It was not the easiest moment in my life. But it turned out that everything that is being done is for the best ...

Follow success stories, tips, and more by subscribing to Woman.ForumDaily on Facebook, and don't miss the main thing in our mailing list

WP2Social Auto Publish Powered By: XYZScripts.com