"Red Poppies" is a very famous ensemble in the USSR (vocal and instrumental performance), created by Arkady Khaslavsky in the second half of the 1970s. The team has many all-Union awards and prizes. Most of them were received when the head of the ensemble was Valery Chumenko.
The history of the team "Red Poppies"
The biography of the ensemble includes several high-profile periods (the group periodically returned in a new line-up). But the main stage of activity was in the 1970-1980s. Many believe that the "real" group "Red Poppies" existed between 1976 and 1989.
It all started in Makeevka (Donetsk region). Arkady Khaslavsky and his friends studied here at the music school. After some time, they were offered to create a VIA.
It was supposed to be not only an ensemble, but also an ensemble at a local factory (this meant that the musicians would be officially employed as production workers with a corresponding salary). The guys accepted the offer. The first name that was given to VIA is "Kaleidoscope". This was a few years before the official appearance of the Red Poppies group.
In 1974, in connection with the transition of the ensemble to the Syktyvkar Philharmonic Society, the group was renamed VIA "Parma". The team consisted of keyboardists, bass guitarists, guitarists, a drummer and singers. And in music they even used saxophones and flutes.
In 1977, the band's first album was released. Finished work at the Philharmonic. But since Khaslavsky had a lot of equipment and instruments, the musical activity of the group was not stopped.
The heyday of the popularity of the group "Red Poppies"
The situation has changed dramatically along with the change of the head of the ensemble. They became Valery Chumenko. There have been major changes in the composition of the team. Only one of the vocalists and a bass player remained from the original line-up. Professionals were recruited into the group - those who had already managed to participate in various ensembles and achieve some success.
Gennady Zharkov became the musical director, who by this time had already worked with the famous VIA "Flowers". Many compositions are marked by the authorship of Vitaly Kretov, who was just starting his career. But in the future he led the famous ensemble "Flow, song".
Gathered a strong composition, which began to actively record new music. The compositions were created in mixed styles. It was based on a pop song, typical for any VIA of that time. However, elements of rock and jazz sounded brightly in the work of the group. This greatly distinguished the musicians from other performers.
Zharkov, who was directly involved in the creation of music, left the ensemble in the late 1970s. Mikhail Shufutinsky, widely known in the future, helped to create concert arrangements for the ensemble. In 1978 he was replaced by Arkady Khoralov. By this time, he already had significant experience in participating in the Gems group. There he sang vocals and played keyboards.
In the group, he began to participate and be directly responsible for creating the musical basis for future songs. One of the first results of this cooperation was the song "Let's try to return", which became very famous on the Soviet stage. Later, Arkady often performed this composition both solo and with other groups.
New band style
A number of new songs have been added to the ensemble's repertoire, recorded in a new style - pop-rock. Among the musicians there were now many guitarists, violinists and keyboardists. The music began to sound fresher and richer. We connected synthesizers and other modern instruments and equipment. In 1980, the record "Disks are spinning" was released, on which there was an abundance of progressive music.
In the description of the disc, much attention is focused on Yuri Chernavsky. Despite the fact that he was the keyboard player in the group, most of the ensemble's musical experiments were made thanks to him.
Chernavsky was constantly looking for new sounds, experimenting with instruments and sounds. Thanks to this, the disc turned out to be modern, even ahead of many musicians of the Soviet stage.
In the early 1980s, the sound changed again - now to disco. At the same time, the musicians have repeatedly noted that they did not try to make the sound of their music modern. They just loved trying new things. Each person who came to the ensemble brought something of his own to the music. Considering how often the composition has changed, even a person far from music can feel these changes.
Who is your music for? - such a question was once asked to musicians. They replied that their listeners are ordinary youth - workers in factories, industries and construction sites. Simple people who have an interest in something new. Hence the themes of the songs - about the same simple people, hard workers.
The early 1980s were the peak of the group's popularity. For example, the main song from the album “Disks are spinning” played daily on the radio stations of the Soviet Union for almost six months. Then the VIA musicians collaborated with Alla Pugacheva. A joint concert program was even developed, so some musicians managed to play a number of concerts with the singer.
At the same time, the ensemble continued to record hits. "Time is racing" and many other songs of the early 1980s can still be heard on various television programs.
Later years
The situation changed drastically in 1985 when a censorship policy was introduced against rock music. Significant fines were imposed on performers, and music was banned. So it happened with the work of the Red Poppies group. Their music was on the stop list.
There were two ways out - either to change the direction of development, or to close the group. Some of the musicians left the band, so they did not see a way out of this situation. However, Chumenko created a new line-up, renamed the group "Maki" and started recording new material. The ensemble managed to participate in a number of television programs, but in 1989 it still ceased to exist.
In 2015, the group was re-assembled to record a number of their hits in a new performance.
