The Russian team was founded in the mid-80s. The musicians managed to become a real phenomenon of rock culture. Today, fans enjoy the rich legacy of "Pop Mechanic", and it does not give the right to forget about the existence of the Soviet rock band.
Formation of the composition
At the time of the creation of Pop Mechanics, the musicians already had a whole army of competitors. At that time, the idols of the Soviet youth were the groups "Cinema" and "Auktsion". Their path cannot be called easy, rather, they went to the dream through the thorns of obstacles.
Sergey Kuryokhin stood at the origins of the group. The musician played in a jazz ensemble, and sometimes even traveled abroad. At that time, theatrical shows on the territory of the USSR were regarded as a real provocation to society.
Kuryokhin was lucky. Soon he met BG personally, and his life was turned upside down. During the period of cooperation, the idea arose to create an experimental project, which has no equal in the Soviet Union.
The group was founded in 1984. They appeared as a team of professionals who skillfully play art instruments, make psychedelic tracks. In their compositions, the influence of reggae and jazz was clearly audible.
"Pop-mechanics" began to be accused of plagiarism. The fact is that, remotely, the work of the musicians really looked like the Devo team. Foreign colleagues "made" music in the genre of post-punk, electronica and synth-pop. The only difference was that American musicians spice up their concerts with bright stage numbers.
In order to keep up with their foreign colleagues, Soviet musicians invited Timur Novikov to cooperate. He was listed as one of the best connoisseurs of visual paintings. Timur worked as a designer in a rock club, so he brought the musicians together with useful acquaintances.
At the origins of the team are:
- Seryozha Kuryokhin;
- Grisha Sologub;
- Vitya Sologuy;
- Alexander Kondrashkin.
From time to time the composition of the team changed. It is noteworthy that musicians who did not have a specialized education played in the group. And only Igor Butman, Alexei Zalivalov, Arkady Shilkloper and Mikhail Kordyukov are considered to be professionals in their field. The presented musicians gradually joined the Pop Mechanics.
Creativity and music of the collective Pop-mechanics
The debut performance of the team took place a year after the approval of the composition. This event will be discussed for a long time in the popular rock clubs of Leningrad.
Kuryokhin, who was already familiar with the nuances of organizing concerts, presented the new USSR project with the rest of his bandmates. The first performances of "Pop-Mechanics" were most impressive. This was facilitated not only by the powerful voice of the vocalist, but also by the bright stage numbers.
Sergey Letov, the brother of the frontman of the Civil Defense group, recalled how he and the rest of the band members were exhausted during long rehearsals. But the return that the audience gave during the performance compensated for all the difficulties.
There were also some improvisational tricks. So, a participant in Pop Mechanics, nicknamed Captain, was considered the most creative person, he could create “plays” presented on stage almost on the go. The audience squealed from what the musicians were doing on stage.
In a short period of time, the musicians of "Pop-mechanics" managed to become real idols of Soviet music lovers. With the light hand of journalists, they learned about the progressive team far beyond the borders of the USSR. Soon the team was already traveling around Europe.
Relinquishing control allowed the team to get into television programs. Soon, as part of the Musical Ring program, a full-length performance of the group took place. The whole country sang the long-loved motives of the tracks "Tibetan Tango", "Stypan and Dyvchina" and "Marsheliaise".
When "Pop-mechanika" outdid most of the Soviet rock bands in its popularity, almost all the musicians of the USSR secretly dreamed of a place in this particular team. The real geniuses of Soviet rock increasingly appeared at the microphone installation.
Over time, Pop Mechanics turned into a semi-commercial project. Attendance at the group's concerts and sales of records - just rolled over.
The band's discography was devoid of traditional LPs. Recording of records took place right on the stage in front of hundreds of caring fans.
The collapse of the rock band
In the 90s, such a concept as “glasnost” began to spread in the USSR. Thus, the underground elite gradually begins to “wash away” from the view. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, informal halls began to close.
Sergei Kuryokhin began to lose musicians. Someone preferred to realize themselves in a different niche, while someone simply did not live to be 40 years old. Against the backdrop of these events, Sergei realized that Pop Mechanics would soon fall apart.
He realized that there was nothing more to lose, so he took up a solo career. He recorded new compositions and toured. In the organization of concert activities, he was helped by old acquaintances.
The last performance of the group took place in the House of Culture. Lensoviet. Russian journalists could not miss such news and the very next day they published a photo report from this grandiose event. Tickets for the Pop Mechanics concert were sold out to the last.
After such a warm reception, the musicians even thought about returning to the stage. They had big plans for the development of "Pop Mechanics". However, their plans did not come true. The death of Sergei crippled the entire team, and the group finally broke up in 1996. The memory of Kuryokhin was dedicated to international festivals that took place in major European countries and Russian cities.
