Leap Summer is a rock band from the USSR. The talented guitarist-vocalist Alexander Sitkovetsky and keyboardist Chris Kelmi stand at the origins of the group. The musicians created their brainchild in 1972.
The team existed on the heavy music scene for only 7 years. Despite this, the musicians managed to leave a mark in the hearts of fans of heavy music. The band's tracks were remembered by music lovers for their original sound and love for musical experiments.
The history of the creation and composition of the Leap Summer group
The history of the creation of the group originates a year before the official date. It all started in 1971. The "fathers" of the rock band Chris Kelmi and Alexander Sitkovetsky then worked as musicians in the Sadko band. But soon the group broke up, and the artists teamed up with Yuri Titov and continued to perform together.
In subsequent years of existence, the composition of the group changed several times. The place of the soloist was taken by Andrey Davidyan.
It was in the performance of this singer that music lovers enjoyed cover versions of tracks by popular foreign performers. Fans especially liked the cover versions of songs by the Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin.
The first performances of the group were without much excitement. The audience attended their concerts reluctantly. Musicians came to summer cottages and closed nightclubs, using scraps of postcards with a purple stamp as invitations.
The turning point in the life of the Leap Summer group occurred after a new musician, bassist Alexander Kutikov, joined the group. Until recently, he was a member of the Time Machine team. But later he had disagreements with the rest of the musicians. He hurried to leave the squad.
At this stage, it was decided that Chris would take up the keyboards, and instead of the departed Titov, Anatoly Abramov would sit down at the drum set. There were three soloists at once - Kutikov, Sitkovetsky and Kelmi.
Then the musicians decided that they would perform original compositions. Soon the bassist left the group, and Pavel Osipov took his place. The talented Mikhail Faybushevich now stood at the microphone. The musicians were in no hurry to please the audience with tracks of their own composition, rehashing Slade's compositions with pleasure.
Increasing the group's popularity
The peak of the popularity of the Soviet rock band was after the return of Kutikov. During this period, the so-called golden composition of the group was formed, which, in addition to the bassist, included Chris Kelmi, Sitkovetsky, as well as drummer Valery Efremov.
Together with the former musician of the Time Machine group, the poetess Margarita Pushkina joined the project. A talented girl in a short period of time managed to fill the band's repertoire with compositions in Russian.
Margarita Pushkina managed to enrich the collective's musical treasury with real hits. What is the immortal track "Pigs rushing into battle" worth.
The musicians for a long time could not get permission to perform their tracks, because the compositions were filled with an abundance of metaphors and a psychedelic bias. The musicians have found a solution. They submitted them to the committee as instrumental.
In the compositions of the Leap Summer group of this time, the influence of hard rock culture was heard. The performances of the musicians resembled theatrical shows. They used lighting effects. The band's show was like the performances of Western colleagues.
The audience especially noted "Satanic Dances". During the performance, the keyboard player appeared on stage in black clothing, which depicted human bones. Nothing unusual, but for Soviet music lovers it was a novelty.
Performances by the group "Leap Summer"
In the years of the group's golden composition, the performances consisted of three parts. First, the musicians performed compositions that were difficult to perceive, and then the rock opera Chained Prometheus and an entertainment block. At the last stage, the musicians were just having fun on stage.
A spectacular appearance on stage is what the fans of the band's work remember the most. But once the originality of the musicians almost played a cruel joke with them. At the rock festival in Tallinn, the audience got so excited that they began to smash everything around. Because of this, the soloists of the Leap Summer group were suspended from the performance the next day.
Soon the musicians presented a video for the popular track "Shop of Miracles". Around the same time period, a new member joined the group. We are talking about Vladimir Vargan, whose beautiful voice is heard in the song "World of Trees".
The discography of the rock band was replenished with the debut disc Prometheus Chained (1978). The collection includes hits already loved by the public: "Trust in a slow river" and "People are former birds." This was followed by the release of Leap Summer.
Prior to their release, the band's recordings were very difficult to obtain, and most of them were in poor quality. Fans especially singled out the collection "Concert in Arkhangelsk". The record was recorded during the group's performance in Arkhangelsk by a dedicated fan.
Then the team performed in full force at the festival in Chernogolovka. At the festival, the Leap Summer group was a serious competitor to the Time Machine group in the struggle for the main prize. As a result, the guys took an honorable 2nd place. However, the judges completely criticized the compositions of the musicians. According to the jury, the band's tracks were too separated from reality.
The collapse of the group "Leap Summer"
In the late 1970s, creative differences began to arise between the members of the team. The musicians understood that they no longer wanted to perform under one creative pseudonym.
Chris Kelmi wanted to hear a lighter "pop" sound in his new works. According to the musician, this could increase the number of fans. The commercial sound is especially audible in the track "Mona Lisa". Sitkovetsky was attracted by more aggressive motives. Creative differences led the band to announce their breakup in 1979.
After the dissolution of the composition, each musician began to engage in their own projects. For example, Titov returned to the Time Machine group, where he took Efremov with him, Sitkovetsky created the Autograph group. And Kelmi - "Rock Studio".
In 2019, a common misfortune united fans and former members of the Leap Summer group. The fact is that the talented Chris Kelmi has passed away.
The cause of death was cardiac arrest. The musician abused alcohol for a long time. And this despite the fact that doctors warned about the possible consequences.
Director Chris Kelmi Evgeny Suslov said that the condition of the star on the eve of "caused suspicion." Paramedics who arrived on call failed to prevent death.
