DDT (band): Difference between revisions

For other uses: see DDT (disambiguation).

DDT

DDT (or ДДТ in Cyrillic) is a popular Russian rock band founded by its lead singer, Yuri Shevchuk (Юрий Шевчук), in Ufa (RSFSR) in 1980. It is one of the most successful and prolific Russian musical groups of the 20th and 21st centuries.

History

The band was formed in 1980 and originally consisted of 5 members:

• Yuri Shevchuk — vocals, guitar
• Vladimir Sigachyov — keyboard
• Rustem Asanbayev — guitar
• Gennady Rodin — bass
• Rustam Karimov — percussion

In 1982, Komsomolskaya Pravda paper declared a competition for young music performers called Zolotoy Kamerton (Golden Tuning Fork). DDT submitted three compositions - "Inoplanetyane" (Aliens), "Chyornoye solntse" (Black Sun), and "Ne strelyai" (Don't Shoot). During the long-running competition, the group published their first album (on tape), Svinya na raduge (Pig on a Rainbow). The album contained elements of rock and roll, blues and country music. During this time Russian popular music was divided between sanctioned "official" performers who were admitted to the musicians union, and unofficial artists. Unofficial artists were often highly trained musicians who also had other jobs. A complex underground network evolved in the 1980s and "unofficial" music became widely distributed (although, of course, without any compensation for the artists), in a similar way to the underground channels that had existed for non-state sanctioned literature (samizdat). Such "underground" artists became widely known, and their unofficial albums were sometimes mentioned in the press. In the 1980s, DDT straddled the line between underground and sanctioned artists, but leaned more towards the unsanctioned category.

DDT's submission to Zolotoy Kamerton reached the finals and the group was invited to perform in a concert at Moscow's Orlyonok complex, together with the other finalist, Rok-sentyabr (Rock-September) from Cherepovets. DDT and three members of Rock-September, Vyacheslav Korbin, Yevgeny Belozyorov and Andrey Maslennikov, soon produced a collaborative album (on tape), Monolog v Saigone (Monologue in Saigon). After recording the album, Sigachyov and Shevchuk returned to Ufa.

Sigachyov distanced himself from the group, while Shevchuk recruited new members including Rodin, drummer Sergey Rudogo, guitarist Rustam Rezvanov and keyboard player Vladislav Strochillo.

In May 1983, DDT successfully performed at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, as part of a three-day, sanctioned festival, "Rok za mir" (Rock for Peace). Their performance, however, was edited out of the official television program covering the event.

The new collective produced the album Periferia (Periphery) in April 1984. After recording this album, some members of the group began to be watched and contacted by the KGB. Their music was banned, forcing them to go underground. In some ways this made them even more popular among young Soviets.

Although they never considered themselves political activists, Shevchuk always felt it his duty as a citizen and a songwriter to address not only the strengths but the weaknesses of his country's government, a stance none too popular in the U.S.S.R. DDT continued to work as a "non-conformist" group, producing albums and giving concerts throughout the Soviet Union. This was no easy feat, as they received little if any money for the records they produced during this period, and very little for their concerts as well. Like other dissident artists, they survived through a combination of cleverness, perseverance, and wit.

Shevchuk spent some time in Sverdlovsk (present-day Yekaterinburg), performing with the group Urfin Juis. In November 1985, DDT recorded the album Vremya (Time) in Moscow.

In 1986, Shevchuk moved to Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg) with his wife, son and mother. This relocation also helped him to establish himself at the forefront of the Russian rock scene. In 1987 he rebuilt DDT. Its new members included:

• Nikita Zaitsev — guitar
• Vadim Kurylev — bass
• Andrey Vasiliev — guitar
• Igor Dotsenko — drums
• Andrey Muratov — keyboard
• Mikhail Chernov — saxophone

In June 1987, DDT performed at a St Petersburg rock-club festival. DDT performed in front of a crowd of 3,000, even though the venue's capacity was 1,000.

In the summer of 1988, DDT toured across the USSR, and recorded a new album, Ottepel (Thaw). In 1988 they also made their first visit to the U.S., their concert in Los Angeles was covered by MTV.

In 1989, they went on another tour with the group Alisa, performing also at a rock festival in Hungary. In 1990, DDT performed several concerts in the U.S. and Japan. They also performed as part of a concert in honor of Viktor Tsoy. After the U.S.S.R.'s collapse in 1991, DDT became even more popular at home and abroad, as their albums and concerts began to be broadcast and publicized widely. In 1991, DDT released another album, Plastun (Scout). The next album followed in the spring of the same year, Aktrisa Vesna (Actress of Spring).

Soon afterwards the group changed its performance strategy by adding programmes to its repertoire: well-prepared, conceptually prepared concerts. During December 1992 and January 1993, DDT presented its first program, Chyorny Pyos Peterburg (Black Mongrel Petersburg), and toured widely in CIS countries. On May 27, 1993, the anniversary of the founding of St. Petersburg, DDT performed a free concert on Dvortsovaya Square. 120,000 people attended.

During the summer of 1994, DDT took part in the rock festival White Nights of St. Petersburg in Berlin. That autumn, the group was awarded the prestigious Ovatsiya award (Ovation) for Best Rock Group of the Year. Yuri Shevchuk was also named Best Rock Musician of the Year.

In the beginning of 1995, a new album, Eto vsyo… (That's all…). was recorded. In January, Shevchuk went on a peace mission to Chechnya, where he performed 50 concerts for both Russian troops and Chechen citizens alike.

On June 25, 1995, DDT performed a solo concert in Petrovsky stadium, which attracted tens of thousands of fans.

Afterwards, the group toured with its newest programme, Ot i do (From and To). At the end of the winter of 1995–1996, the group worked in the USA. In February–March 1996, they recorded a new album, Lyubov (Love), at Long View Farm in Massachusetts with two new musicians: bassist I. Tikhomirov (from the group Kino) and keyboard player D. Galitsky.

In the summer of 1996, upon their return from the United States, the group headlined several festivals, including VladiROCKstok, the first large-scale international music festival in the formerly closed city of Vladivostok on the Sea of Japan.

Since that time, the band has won many Russian music awards and numerous humanitarian citations for their creative and charitable work. Today, DDT is one of the most popular rock groups in Russia, and their concerts attract tens of thousands of people. Shevchuk and his group also regularly travel throughout the C.I.S. and other former Soviet republics to give benefit concerts: in the spring and summer of 2002, 10 out of 11 concerts that the band played were benefits for various social and cultural organizations. They are also reaching an ever-growing audience in the U.S. and Europe, and for the past 20 years have traveled frequently throughout the world making ever more converts to their unique sound. Shevchuk's music and lyrics are not only influenced by traditional "western" rock music, but also by the entire scope of Russian folk, classical, and religious music. In many respects their years as an underground group shaped their philosophy towards their art. The question of their music's marketability was never part of the song writing process for there was no "market" in which to compete.

In 2005, they celebrated their 25th anniversary with an extended tour throughout Russia, Europe, and North America, and released a new CD entitled "Пропавший без вести" (Vanished Without a Trace) to huge critical acclaim. Their most recent album, "Прекрасная любовь" (Wonderful love), was released in 2007.

On March 3, 2008, DDT performed at the Dissenters' March in St. Petersburg to protest the controversial and possibly unfair election of Dmitry Medvedev as President of Russia. Recently, Shevchuk received considerable media attention following a pointed dialogue with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in which he openly confronted him (on state television) with questions regarding such controversial topics as democracy, freedom of speech, assembly, and the press in Russia.

The group is currently working on a new double album at their studio in St. Petersburg, and is preparing to embark on a worldwide tour in 2011.

Shevchuk put together the first incarnation of the band in the summer of 1980, and although its members have changed over the years, Shevchuk continues to voice the concerns and frustrations of the Russian people in his music today just as he did in the band's infancy. The more than 20 albums in DDT's discography not only chronicle the history of a rock group; they are narratives that examine all aspects of life in the Soviet Union and Russia over the past 30 years.

Discography

Transliterated title	Original title	Translation	Year of release
Svinya na raduge	Свинья на радуге	Pig on a Rainbow	1982
Kompromiss	Компромисс	Compromise	1983
Periferiya	Периферия	Periphery	1984
Vremya	Время	Time	1985
Ya poluchil etu rol	Я получил эту роль	I received this role	1988
Ottepel	Оттепель	Thaw	1990
Plastun	Пластун	Scout (this is an archaic term originating with the Cossacks, see Plastun)	1991
Aktrisa Vesna	Актриса Весна	Actress Spring (here Spring is name of actress)	1992
Chyorny pyos Peterburg	Чёрный пёс Петербург	Black Mongrel Petersburg	1993
Eto vsyo	Это всё	This is Everything (or: This is All)	1994
Lyubov	Любовь	Love	1996
Rozhdyonny v SSSR	Рождённый в СССР	Born in the USSR	1997
Mir nomer nol (Single)	Мир номер ноль	World number zero (Single)	1998
Mir nomer nol	Мир номер ноль	World number zero	1999
Prosvistela	Просвистела	(It) whistled by	1999
Metel avgusta	Метель Августа	Snowstorm of August	2000
Yedinochestvo I	Единочество I	Oneliness	2002
Yedinochestvo II. Zhivoy.	Единочество II. Живой.	Oneliness II. Alive.	2003
Pesni	Песни	Songs (greatest hits)	2003
Gorod bez okon. Vkhod.	Город без окон. Вход.	City with no windows. Entrance. (compilation)	2004
Gorod bez okon. Vykhod.	Город без окон. Выход.	City with no windows. Exit. (compilation)	2004
Propavshy bez vesti	Пропавший без вести	Vanished without a trace (Also: Missing in action)	2005
Prekrasnaya lyubov	Прекрасная любовь	Wonderful love	2007
Ne strelyay	Не стреляй	Don't Shoot	2008

External links

• Official website
• DDT discography at MusicBrainz
• Template:Last.fm
• DDT at Russmus
• Oct 2008 News article in NG Antrakt discussing Shevchuk's activism
• May 2007 Interview with Shevchuk in Religare publication
• March 2004 Article on DDT in BBC News