"Earthlings" is one of the most famous vocal and instrumental ensembles of the time of the USSR. At one time, the team was admired, they were equal, they were considered idols.
The band's hits don't have an expiration date. Everyone heard the songs: “Stuntmen”, “Forgive me, Earth”, “Grass near the house”. The last composition is included in the list of mandatory attributes at the stage of seeing the astronauts off on a long journey.
The history of the creation and composition of the Earthlings group
The Zemlyane group is over 40 years old. And, of course, during this time the composition of the team has constantly changed. Moreover, in the early 2000s, at least two bands with the same name toured the country.
The "fans" were divided over which of the two bands could be considered "authentic".
But real fans don't need litigation. Most fans associate the Zemlyane group with two names. We are talking about Igor Romanov and soloist Sergei Skachkov. The voice of the latter determined the sound of the tracks.
But if we return to the legislation, then the right to use the name of the group belongs to producer Vladimir Kiselev.
The prototype of the current group was created back in 1969 by students of the technical school of radio electronics. Initially, the band's repertoire consisted of cover versions of foreign performers. A few years later, the musicians began to play songs of their own composition.
Cardinal changes in the composition of Earthlings
In 1978, the first soloists left the center where the rehearsals took place, but the group's administrator Andrei Bolshev remained. Andrei was joined by the organizer of another group, Vladimir Kiselev, in order to create a new ensemble on the basis of the group.
Andrey and Vladimir called rock performers to form a full-fledged group. The first part of the group included: Igor Romanov, Boris Aksenov, Yuri Ilchenko, Viktor Kudryavtsev.
Bolshev and Kiselyov did a good job of changing the style of the Zemlyane group. They diluted boring pop, rock and metal. In 1980, a new vocalist Sergei Skachkov joined the band.
The charismatic Sergey, who had a powerful voice, determined the characteristic sound of the group's songs for decades. In 1988, Kisilev left the post of organizer, and Boris Zosimov took his place.
In the 1990s, the musical group briefly broke up. It was rumored that the breakup was due to conflicts that took place within the group. However, Skachkov united the guys, and they began to create further.
The renewed group went on tour with the program "Second orbit around the Earth". This time the composition of the group did not change stably for two years.
In addition to the soloist, the Zemlyane group included Yuri Levachev, guitarist Valery Gorshenichev and drummer Anatoly Shenderovich. In the mid-2000s, the latter was replaced by Oleg Khovrin.
In 2004, Vladimir Kiselev again joined the musical group. At this time, the group celebrated its 30th anniversary. Then the band of the same name appeared on the stage, which was assembled by Kiselev from completely different musicians.
The soloists of Sergei Skachkov (according to the court decision) did not have the legal right to perform or use the creative pseudonym "Earthlings", but they could use some songs from the repertoire.
Music by Zemlyane
Fans believed that their favorite group performed rock tracks. But music critics argued that the group "Earthlings" never played rock in its purest form.
The musicians used the entourage and special effects used at concerts, so the band and its songs corresponded to the pop style of performance.
The musicians accompanied the performances with the use of pyrotechnics, choreographic numbers and forced sound, which was not so common in the 1980s. The performances of the Zemlyane group were very reminiscent of concerts of foreign stars.
The turning point came in the group when the composer Vladimir Migulya refused to work with the group. The compositions "Karate", "Grass near the house" ("Earth in the porthole") in a second turned the soloists of the "Earthlings" group into real idols of millions.
After gaining all-Union love, well-known producers wanted to work with the team. Mark Fradkin wrote the track “Red Horse” for the group, Vyacheslav Dobrynin - “And life goes on”, Yuri Antonov - “Believe in a dream”.
Collections of the group "Earthlings" were bought up by millions. Only one recording studio "Melody" produced 15 million copies, which instantly disappeared from the music shelves.
International Group Awards
In 1987, the talent of musicians was already appreciated at the international level. The group was awarded the award in Germany. And in the winter, the musical group performed at the Olimpiysky Sports Complex together with British rockers Uriah Heep.
In the first decade of the 2000s, the team, where Sergey was the soloist, pleased the "fans" with the release of three albums. Then the group "Earthlings" took part in the project "Disco 80s".
The idea of the action belonged to Skachkov together with Valery Yashkin from the Pesnyary group. "Disco of the 80s" was held at the site of the radio station "Autoradio".
During the period of their creative career, the group replenished their discography with 40 albums. The last records were: "Symbols of Love", "The Best and New", "Half the Way".
Interesting facts about the Zemlyane group
- The first performer of the song "Grass by the House" was not the soloist of the group "Earthlings", but the author of the music Vladimir Migulya. A video has been saved where he performed it on the Blue Light program.
- The themes of the band's lyrics were often associated not with romance, lyrics or philosophy, but with "manly" professions. The guys sang about stuntmen, pilots and astronauts.
- The composition "Stuntmen" - one of the most famous songs from the group's repertoire, was included in the federal list of extremist materials by the decision of the Dorogomilovsky District Court of Moscow.
- In 2012, the musicians presented a video clip for the song "Grass at Home".
Group Earthlings today
You can follow the creative life of your favorite musicians on the official website of the Zemlyane band. It is necessary to separate the official pages of the Kiselev team and the children's and youth creativity "Earthlings", from which Skachkov works.
In 2018, Andrey Khramov joined the musical group. In 2019, the group received the prestigious RU.TV award for the composition “Loneliness” in the nomination “The Best Video for the Song of Mikhail Gutseriev”, the BraVo Award in the category “Soundtrack of the Year” and the “Golden Gramophone”.
The group "Earthlings" continues to tour. Most of the musicians' concerts take place on the territory of the Russian Federation.
In addition, musicians do not forget to supplement videography with clips. The latest music video for "God" was released in the winter of 2019.
