"Mango-Mango" is a Soviet and Russian rock band formed at the end of the 80s. The composition of the team included musicians who do not have a specialized education. Despite this small nuance, they managed to become real rock legends.
History of Education
Andrey Gordeev stands at the origins of the team. Even before founding his own project, he studied at the veterinary academy, and at the same time he was sitting at the drum kit in the Simplex team.
Andrei was inspired by music during his military service. At the amateur competition, the young man presented to the military personnel, in his opinion, the ideal rock opera. Against the background of the rest of the contestants, who performed Russian folk songs, his performance looked really enchanting.
Gordeev took an honorable first place. As a prize, he was allowed to go on vacation home. He did not take advantage of the offer, and continued to salute the Motherland.
When he returned to civilian life, he received a diploma from the veterinary academy. Not that Andrey was burdened by love for animals. It was most likely a forced measure. The parents wanted their son to have a higher education.
After graduating from the academy, he took a job as a tennis coach. There he met Nikolai Vishnyak. Nikolai was one of those who adored parties, and could not imagine his life without music. By the way, it was Vishniac who would later offer street musicians to reach a new level and create music for the masses.
Group members
The founding date of Mango-Mango falls on April 1, 1987. Four musicians gathered on Stary Arbat, who at that time already had the first developments of author's tracks. The group was led by:
- Gordeev;
- Victor Koreshkov;
- Lyosha Arzhaev;
- Nicholas Vishnyak.
At the expense of one-two-three, the musicians began to play and hum one of the compositions of their repertoire. The first spectators gradually began to surround the four musicians. People applauded and tried to sing along to the guys, and the musicians had a satisfied smile on their faces.
Actually on this day, the band members decided to go to a completely different level. They realized that music could become a serious profession and enrich them. At the same time, another participant joins the squad - Andrei Checheryukin. The five musicians became part of the so-called rock laboratory.
Reference: The Rock Lab is an organization that controlled the organization of spontaneous concerts of Soviet bands. The organizers of the association supported rock musicians of the 80s.
There are several versions of the rock band's name. The leader of the group, to the traditional question about the birth of the name, gave ambiguous answers. One of the most interesting versions is related to the fact that the secretary of the district committee of the Komsomol, who approved the program, stuttered. That is why there was a repetition of the word "mango". In some interviews, Andrey said that the name has English roots - Man go! Man go!
After the formation of the line-up, the team plunged into the fascinating world of rehearsing, composing and recording musical compositions. However, due to a change in the state structure, as well as the emergence of pop bands, whose members sang funny and catchy tracks to the soundtrack, the activities of the rock band gradually began to fade away.
The dissolution and return of the rock band
The members decided to disband the line-up. Everyone went their own way, and what is most sad, this path was not connected with music. A little time will pass, and the musicians will decide to reanimate "Mango-Mango".
In the mid-90s, the composition of the group changed. Of the old participants, only the “father” of the group, Andrey Gordeev, remained. Volodya Polyakov, Sasha Nadezhdin, Sasha Luchkov and Dima Serebryanik joined the squad.
A few years later, the debut LP of the band was presented. We are talking about the disc "Source of Pleasure". On the wave of popularity, the musicians presented another collection - the album "Full Shchors".
At the end of the 90s, Mango-Mango became part of the so-called pop beau monde. At the same time, the musicians managed to preserve the originality and sincerity of the texts. The peak of the group's popularity came at the beginning of the "zero" years. Their discography includes 6 LPs.
Music of the group "Mango-mango"
At the beginning of their creative journey, the members of the group determined the vector of creativity for themselves. The compositions of the team are a whole story with the involvement of characters. They sang about people with interesting professions. The themes of the tracks were cosmonauts, pilots, scuba divers.
For the main characters, the guys came up with comical situations and no less interesting ways to solve them. The group's songs almost always distort reality, but this is precisely the highlight of the Mango-Mango repertoire.
The debut LP included the top songs from the Mango-Mango repertoire. Tracks "Scuba divers", "Bullets fly! Bullets! and “Such are not taken as astronauts” - are still in demand among modern music lovers. By the way, the last track is often used by comedians when staging their concert numbers.
As the leader of the group admits, these tracks are a kind of fortress that cannot be bypassed or jumped over. It should be noted that in addition to comical compositions, the musicians also released serious tracks. In confirmation of this, the song "Berkut".
New genre
At the end of the 90s, the musicians plunged headlong into the so-called military romance. The first place was taken by the hero of the civil war with the funny surname Shchors. The guys even managed to spice up such a serious topic with notes of sarcasm and humor.
Around the same period of time, the team members presented the vocal and dance song "Ballet" at the "Surprise for Alla Borisovna" evening. The musicians managed to bring the assembled guests to tears.
Then, in the creative biography of the musicians, a period of cooperation with the organization of stuntmen "Master" began. Starting from this period of time, the musicians began to perform with the support of professional stuntmen. Now the Mango-Mango concerts were bright and unforgettable.
The next longplay "People catch signals" was incredibly hard for the team. Firstly, the members of the band were affected by the economic crisis, and secondly, relations between the musicians deteriorated sharply.
At the same time, the group members tried on Scottish kilts, space works turned out to be in the center of their attention, and they offered music lovers their own reading of “Soldiers of the Center Group” by the Soviet bard Vysotsky.
The beginning of the so-called "zero" opened a completely new page for the group's creative biography. Musicians and their creativity flourished. Crazy popularity brought the composition "Mamadou". Today, the presented track is included in the list of the band's most recognizable works.
"Mango-mango" in the present period of time
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, 2020 has been a rather stagnant year for artists. This year, the musicians took part in the Rock Against Coronavirus online event.
On February 12, 2021, Mango-Mango will perform on the stage of the St. Petersburg cultural center "Heart" with a special program. The tour activity of the team is scheduled for the whole year.
