Ensemble of my youth. via "flowers". History of the group Who is in the group flowers

The group "Flowers" was created in Moscow in 1969 by the lead guitarist - at that time a student of the 1st year of the Institute foreign languages them. M. Torez - Stas Namin.

Having got acquainted with rock music early, already in 1964 Stas created his first group "Sorcerers", then in 1967 - the group "Politburo", and in 1969, having entered the Institute of Foreign Languages. Maurice Torez, becomes the leader-guitarist of the famous Inyazovsky group "Bliki" among the students.

At the beginning of 1969, Stas Namin, still playing in Bliki, but realizing that the band's musicians were finishing their last year and the ensemble would break up, created his own new group. At that time, especially after [source not specified 221 days] the Woodstock festival, the Flower Children hippie movement also appeared in Moscow. Hence the name that Namin took for the group.

First composition. Namin, as before playing the solo guitar, was the first to invite Vladimir Chugreev to the group. On the keyboard instruments Vladimir Solovyov played in the first composition of the Flowers, in the past he was a musician of the Red Devils group at the Bauman Institute. Even then he had his own electric organ, which gave the group solidity and a "signature" sound. There was no permanent bass player, and the bassist from Blikov (A. Malashenkov) alternately played in the group, then from Vagabundos, another Inyazov group. Elena Kovalevskaya, a student of the French faculty of foreign language, became the vocalist of the group. Such was the first composition of the Flowers group. The repertoire at that time was mainly the most fashionable hits from the repertoire of Jefferson Airplane, Janis Joplin and others.

Six months later, at some party, Namin saw Alexander Losev singing the song “Horses Can Swim” to the guitar (music by V. Berkovsky, lyrics by M. Slutsky), and decided to try him in a group, despite the fact that Sasha sang pop songs and rock didn't get involved. Stas suggested that he learn the bass guitar and learn a few songs in English from the repertoire of "Flowers". Then it was the songs of Jimi Hendrix, deep purple and etc.

"Flowers" performed at student and school parties and became more and more popular among Moscow youth. Then the group was invited to television for the first time - they were even filmed at the studio, but they did not get on the air.

Copper group experiment. In 1971, when Elena Kovalevskaya graduated from the institute and left the group, and Solovyov and Chugreev also received professions and quit music, Stas replenished the group with new musicians. He invited pianist Igor Saulsky to keyboards, Vladimir Zasedatelev to drums, Namin and Losev remained on solo and bass guitars. Under the influence of the bands “Blood, Sweat, Tears” and “Chicago” that appeared then on the musical horizon, Stas decided to try to include a “copper section” in the “Flowers”. He invited his friend from the Suvorov Musical School, trumpeter Alexander Chinenkov, trombonist Vladimir Nilov, and two saxophonists - first Vladimir Okolzdaev, and then Alexei Kozlov.

Return to the small composition. Six months later, Namin abandoned the experiment with wind instruments and even the keys, deciding to leave only the rock trio in the traditions Jimi Hendrix and cream. He also replaced the jazz-rock player Vladimir Zasedatelev with Yuri Fokin, a drummer who, from Stas's point of view, had a better feel for rock music. And all the remaining musicians of the Flowers became in fact the first composition of the Arsenal ensemble, created by Alexei Kozlov immediately after leaving the Flowers.

If Stas Namin was an adherent of Hendrix's music, " Rolling Stones"And The Beatles", and Losev gravitated more to the stage like Tom Jones and the Carpenters, and under the influence of Namin leaned towards Deep Purple, Chicago and Blood, Sweat, Tears, then the arrival of Fokin, an ardent admirer " Led Zeppelin”, made the group even more fatal.

In 1971, in parallel with their studies, "Flowers" also performed a lot at school parties, in clubs and institutes in Moscow (Inyaz, MGIMO, Moscow State University, Bauman Institute, etc.). At that time, rock parties were often held in Inyaz, where the most fashionable bands in Moscow played - Scythians, Vagabundes, Second Wind, Shards of Sikorsky, Mirages and many others. As another experiment, Namin, in addition to the “Flowers” ​​already popular among students, created another group - “Village Boys and a Strange Creature”, which played oriental ethnic music based on rock with guitar solos and lasted about a year.

In 1972, when Namin transferred from Inyaz to Moscow State University, he took his group "Flowers" with him. Regularly performing in the lobby of the 2nd floor of the building of the humanities faculties of Moscow State University and in the 8th dining room of Moscow State University, famous for its rock parties, the group gathered not only University students, but also fans from all over Moscow.

Carier start. Recording the first disc. In 1972, "Tsvety", as a student ensemble that won the festival of student ensembles in Moscow, managed to release a soft-rock flexible record, which sold 7 million copies, and made them famous in the USSR.

In 1973, after the second single, sold by Melodiya in an even larger circulation, Flowers consolidated their popularity, despite the fact that they did not appear on radio, television, or in the press.

The first recordings of "Flowers" both in style and performance were a compromise that the group was forced to make in order for the recordings to pass the artistic council. But even two minions released by Melodiya were enough for Flowers to gain significant popularity.

In 1974, "Flowers" were called in the Moscow press "Soviet Beatles" and began a professional tour of the USSR. But in the same year they were stopped by the Ministry of Culture, and the name "Flowers" was banned as "propaganda of Western ideology and hippie ideas."

Stas Namin Group (1976-1980)

Having no rights to the name, "Flowers" went underground for 2 years and after a two-year break, in 1976, the group resumed activities, but under a different name - as the "Stas Namin Group", and with a changed line-up: Stas Namin (solo guitar), Konstantin Nikolsky (guitar, vocals), Yuri Fokin (drums), Vladimir Sakharov (bass guitar, vocals), Alexander Slizunov (piano, vocals) and Alexander Mikoyan (guitar, vocals). However, the ensemble was still banned from television, radio and press [source not specified 18 days]. "Flowers" were only allowed to record at the Melodiya company, since circulation brought huge profits to the company, but not to the group. In the same 1976, a new hit "Old Piano" was recorded and released, and in 1977 another disc with the hit "It's Early to Say Goodbye" was released.

After 1978, the composition of the group changed again: Yuri Fokin, Sergey Dyachkov and Vladimir Sakharov emigrated abroad, and in order not to stop the group's activities, Stas invited session musicians to the ensemble - Vladimir Vasilkov (drums), Vladislav occasionally took part in the recordings and concerts of those years Petrovsky, Valery Zhivetiev, Sergey Dyuzhikov, Nikita Zaitsev and others. As a result, there was new composition: Igor Sarukhanov (guitar), Vladimir Vasiliev (bass guitar), Mikhail Fainzilberg (drums) and Alexander Slizunov (piano). In 1979, the band's disc was recorded with another hit, "Summer Evening".

In 1980, the first solo album of the Stas Namin Group "Flowers" "Hymn to the Sun" was released, which included the hits "After the Rain", "Tell Me Yes", "Heroic Power", "Rush Hour", "Dedication to the Beatles", "Bach creates ”, etc. In addition to the main composition, Alexander Fedorov (vocals), Alexander Pishchikov (saxophone) and others took part in the recording. In the same year, the group participated in the Olympics-80 and was first shown on television.

In the same year, the group visited Poland and performed at the festival in Sopot, together with the Baltic singer M. Zivere.

Taking advantage of the “warming”, immediately after the disc “Hymn to the Sun”, the group recorded two more discs at the Melodiya company - as an experiment in other genres that are not similar to the style of “Flowers”: dance “Reggae, disco, rock”. Namin wrote all the music for the disc in just a week, and the recording took two weeks. Music, lyrics and arrangements were finalized and invented right in the studio. And the album "Surprise for Monsieur Legrand" on French in the style of symphonic jazz, and arranged by Namin Vladimir Belousov.

"War" with the authorities (1981-1985)

In 1981, "Flowers" performed at the festival in Yerevan and at the end of the concert brought the audience, playing until 2 am. Both the whole festival and the performance of the Flowers became another target of the authorities. The group was again officially accused of "undermining the ideological foundations of the country", the press was ordered to boycott the festival, and the video recording of the festival (dir. E. Ginzburg) was demagnetized. The only information was preserved only in the Time magazine, which published a large article about the festival and the group. During this period, the pressure of the authorities especially intensified, the group was not only closed again in all media and banned from giving concerts in big cities. The prosecutor's office of the RSFSR began to pursue her and follow her every step, not hiding the goal of starting a criminal case, investigating where Flowers got equipment and tools.

"Flowers" offered the artistic council of the company "Melody" a more rigid repertoire in rock style with social poems: "Nostalgia for the present" (A. Voznesensky), "Idol" and "I do not give up" (E. Yevtushenko), "Empty Nut" ( Yu. Kuznetsov), “Once at night” (D. Samoilov) and others. The Melodiya company refused them.

In 1982, Flowers filmed a video clip for the song "Old New Year" (verses by A. Voznesensky) with openly political overtones. The clip did not even reach the artistic council and first hit the air only in 1986 in the USA on MTV.

Even Namin's unambiguously positive song "We wish you happiness", written in 1982 and, as it were, completing the romantic period of the 1970s, was banned in the media until 1985 [source not specified 18 days] and only with the help of the same A. Pakhmutova appeared on television during the Festival of Youth and Students, where "Flowers" were able to perform several times with great success. During the festival, Stas Namin's group managed to illegally record a double album with the participation of foreign musicians. The disc, of course, was never released in the USSR. But at the same festival, by a decision of the Collegium of the Ministry of Culture, “Flowers” ​​were accused of “Pentagon propaganda” and “contacts with foreigners” (minutes of the Collegium of the Ministry of Culture).

The beginning of a free life (1986-1990)

Except for a few trips to the socialist countries with performances for Soviet troops, for the first time the group "Flowers" went abroad in 1985. It was a five-day trip to West Germany through the Friendship Society (SOD), which happened by chance on days when the leadership of the Ministry of Culture was away.

But the real foreign tour of the Flowers began in 1986. It was the very beginning of perestroika. In 1986, the Stas Namin Group, after a 6-month scandal with the Ministry of Culture and the Central Committee of the party, and only thanks to the trends of the new time associated with Gorbachev's coming to power, was still able to go on a 45-day tour of the USA and Canada. Advertising of the concerts of the Stas Namin group in the USA was organized at a serious national level in the largest media, and the scandal with the cancellation of the tour could have a bad effect on the image of the beginning perestroika.

In addition to participating in the play "Child of the World", the group gave concerts for American audiences in New York, Boston, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Minneapolis, Seattle, Washington and other American cities. There were also jam sessions and meetings with Yoko Ono, Peter Gabriel, Kenny Logins, Paul Stanley and many other legendary musicians.

This trip opened up new opportunities for the Stas Namin Group. The group flew to Japan immediately after the USA at the invitation of Peter Gabriel to the rock festival Japan Aid 1st. Then for several years the group toured Eastern and Western Europe, Africa, Australia, South and North America and many other countries.

Already in the 87th year, planning to stop the work of the Flowers in 2-3 years after the world tour, Namin began to help the musicians subsequently start their own careers. So, within the group "Flowers", especially for Sergei Voronov, the ensemble "League of Blues" was created, for which musicians were accepted: Arutyunov and Yaloyan. Alexander Solich became one of the founders of the Moral Code ensemble under Namin's tutelage, Alexander Malinin, having received the Flower School, began his career as a soloist. Namin also helped Losev to make an ensemble, arranging it at his Center, which also included Vladislav Petrovsky (keyboards) and Grigoryan (drums). On the basis of the musicians who also worked in the "Flowers" (A. Yanenkov, A. Marshal, A. Belov, A. Lvov), in 1987 Stas Namin created and by 1989 he promoted the Gorky Park group to the whole world Thus, in 1989, after the end of his historic world tour, Stas Namin officially stopped the activities of the Flowers group and all the musicians began to work on other projects.

that only Namin owned and owns the official rights to the name "Flowers" and no one except him has either a legal or moral right to use it, impostors began to appear in some places on the periphery. In addition, helping Losev in creating his own group, Namin, given that Losev himself did not write songs, temporarily allowed him to perform his songs from the Flowers repertoire and even sometimes use this name. Subsequently, Losev in his solo touring activities sometimes (under the guise) also used him. But, given its heavy at that time, life situation- addiction to alcohol, and already poor health, no one has made legal claims against him. Moreover, Namin supported him, allowing him to record his famous and new songs at the SNC studio, and also patronized and represented Losev himself in the press, on radio and television, in order to facilitate the development of his solo career.

During the 10-year break in the group's activities, Namin officially used the name "Flowers" only 2 times: once in 1989 for a trip to Alaska, and in 1996 on the Vote or Lose tour of Russia. Losev's group actually participated in these projects.

After a 10-year hiatus (2000-2008)

In 1999, Stas Namin again assembled "Flowers" himself, no longer playing in the ensemble, but doing theater and other projects. The basis of the group was: Oleg Predtechensky - vocals, guitar, Alexander Gretsinin - vocals, bass guitar and Yuri Vilnin - guitar, then Alan Aslamazov - keyboards joined them, and occasionally performed with the group: Oleg Litskevich, Valery Diorditsa, Armen Avanesyan, Natalya Shateev. The group "Flowers" began concert activity, as well as the musicians of "Flowers" participated in the Russian production of the musical "Hair", in the production of the rock opera "Jesus Christ Superstar" and in other projects of the Stas Namin Theater.

Theater projects

The group "Flowers" participates in performances not only as an instrumental ensemble. Oleg Predtechensky, Oleg Litskevich and Natalya Shateeva perform the main vocal parts in musicals and rock operas and the main roles in dramatic performances. "Flowers" have become musical basis the theater's first premiere performance, the famous anti-war rock musical Hair, and the first domestic production in the original language of the legendary rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar.

For more than 35 years, various musicians and soloists have played and recorded songs in a group with Stas Namin, and at the same time, the "handwriting" and the individuality of the group's melodic lyrical style have remained unchanged. Famous hits: “To be honest” was recorded by S. Dyachkov, “My clear asterisk” - A. Losev and O. Predtechensky, “Old piano” and “It’s too early to say goodbye” - K. Nikolsky and A. Slizunov, “Summer Evening” - V .Vasiliev, the entire disc “Hymn to the Sun”, including the songs “Heroic Power”, “After the Rain”, was performed by A. Slizunov, I. Sarukhanov, A. Fedorov, V. Vasiliev, “We wish you happiness” - recorded by Stas Namin and other soloists of "Flowers", etc. Throughout the history of "Flowers" a few times appeared on TV, and the phenomenon of their popularity is that it arose and was supported only thanks to concerts and recordings. The liberality of the Melodiya company, which allowed a semi-legal group to write, is simply explained: during the existence of the Stas Namin Group, more than 50 million records of the group were sold, while only Melodiya received the entire royalty for circulation, traditionally not paying performers. "Flowers" was the first rock band that came out of the "underground" and met with the reality of the Artistic Council and the official Soviet censorship. But even the forced compromise in the group's early recordings, released by Melodiya, which softened its style to soft and pop-rock, revolutionized the then official Soviet song. "Flowers" became, as it were, the forerunner of Russian rock in popular culture countries. Several generations have been brought up on their music, many have studied on it. modern stars rock and pop music. "Tsvety" is one of the few Russian rock bands born in the late 1960s that still exists today. Their songs are still remembered and loved by millions of people, and Namin's song "We wish you happiness" has become truly popular.

"FLOWERS" ON THE ROCK MUSIC FLOWER

Group "Flowers" deserved its place in history, if only because it became one of the first musical groups that brought an element of rock to the stage of the Soviet Union. The entire Soviet non-format within the framework of mass pop culture began with this group. Dozens have grown on the work of "Flowers" famous musicians and several generations of loyal fans.

Influenced by Woodstock

Rock band "Flowers" appeared in 1969 thanks to the efforts of a student of the Institute of Foreign Languages ​​- the grandson of the famous Soviet party leader Anastas Mikoyan. Stas became interested in rock music early on, and gathered his first band at the Suvorov Military School in 1964. The hippie movement could not stay away from the creative nature of Namin and soon after the legendary festival "Woodstock" he founded a group called "Flowers". Its first participants, besides Stas himself, were fanatically in love with music Vladimir Chugreev, Vladimir Solovyov and vocalist Elena Kovalevskaya. The repertoire of young people at that time consisted mainly of hits by Jefferson Airplane, and other rock stars.

Soon, at an evening in one of the capital's universities, Stas heard Alexander Losev's guitar performance. Namin liked his vocals so much that he invited him to try himself in Flowers. At the same time, “personnel” changes took place in the team - Kovalevskaya and Solovyov left the group, Losev became a bass player, Chugreev performed drum parts, and Namin played solo guitar.

And immediately in the "black list" ...

Stas Namin was a big fan of the music of Jimi Hendrix and the Rolling Stones, Alexander Losev gravitated more to the work of Tom Jones and the Carpenders, and the appearance of an ardent admirer of Led Zeppelin Yuri Fokin in the group made it even more fatal.

In 1970, Stas went to study at Moscow State University, and the group began to perform at the university club. Once upon a the street next to the club even had to block traffic, because a huge crowd of fans came to listen to the music of the Flowers. So the name of the group first got into the "black list" of the Ministry of Culture.

Another scandalous incident happened to the group during the Moscow Student Festival. The Flowers performed Jimi Hendrix's "Let Me Stand Next To Your Fire". The audience was in such delight, which the organizers of the festival saw for the first time. Frightened by the consequences, the management of the Luzhniki Sports Palace, where the performance took place, simply turned off the equipment for Flowers. But this did not prevent the group from becoming the laureates of the festival and getting the right to release a flexible mini-record.

Stas Namin treated this event with the utmost seriousness, invited professional pianist and arranger. For the first disc, Stas selected three compositions (“My clear star”, “Don’t” and “Flowers have eyes”), which could be performed in such a way as to demonstrate that rock music, which has not yet been heard on the Soviet stage.

The first disc of "Flowers" appeared in the fall of 1972. Namin and Fokin made a special trip to the factory to see it before it goes on sale. The surprise of the musicians knew no bounds when one of the workers brought them a record. In life, Stas and Yuri's hair was below the shoulders, and on the cover, the retoucher "cut" them. But this did not lessen the joy and pride experienced by the members of the group. Unexpectedly for many, the record sold 7 million copies, and the songs sounded from all windows. Although this did not help the team say goodbye to the semi-underground status of a student group. Radio and TV did not want to recognize the already popular manner of performing "Flowers". As before, the guys had to perform only at student parties.

Transformation "Flowers"

Professional concert activity group "Flowers" began in 1974 at the Moscow Regional Philharmonic. The group also began to perform pianist Alexander Slizunov and guitarist Konstantin Nikolsky. At the "live" concerts, rock and roll drive reigned, and the Philharmonic made a lot of money on this. But because of 3-4 concerts a day, it was no longer possible to create new songs. A conflict began between the musicians and the administration, and unexpectedly for everyone, Alexander Losev took the side of the Philharmonic. As a result, the main staff was fired. Only in 1977, Stas managed to restore the team, but, without having a copyright on the name "Flowers", the musicians began to perform as the "Stas Namin Group". By hook or by crook, they managed to record several hits, including "The Old Piano", "Summer Evening", "The Wheels Are Knocking" and "It's Early to Say Goodbye".

Underminers of ideological foundations

After a long-term ban in the media, the attitude of the authorities towards the group has become a little more loyal. And in 1980, the musicians were able to release their first solo disc, Hymn to the Sun. Then they participated in the cultural program of the Moscow Olympics-80 and were shown on TV for the first time. Taking advantage of the situation, the group created two more experimental albums, not similar to their style. The first one was a dance one called "Reggae, Disco, Rock", and the second one ("Surprise for Monsieur Legrand") was released in French and sounded in the style of symphonic jazz. Stas Namin gradually began to restore the former name of the group, printing it small print near the already promoted Stas Namin Group.

It hasn't even been a year since "Flowers" fell into disgrace. After performing at the festival in Yerevan, Time magazine wrote positive material about the group. Musicians were again accused of undermining the ideological foundations of the state. "Flowers" were banned from concerts in large cities, surveillance and threats began.

After that, Stas Namin decided not to seek compromises with the authorities anymore and replenished the group's repertoire with songs for serious social topics- "Nostalgia for the present", "Idol", "I do not give up" and others. Now for the "Flowers" the path was closed not only in the media, but also to the recording company "Melody".

Takeoff and stop

At the very beginning of "perestroika", the group got the opportunity to go on the first real (not counting the countries of the socialist camp) foreign tours. "The Stas Namin Group" was the first among the Soviet rock bands, which was able to go on a month and a half tour of the United States and Canada. In addition to participating in the musical "Child of the World", the musicians gave a series solo performances for the American public at the most prestigious concert venues. It was this trip that gave them hope for a new life. Immediately after the tour in America, one of the founders of the group, Peter Gabriel, invited soviet collective at a rock festival in Japan. After that, several years "Flowers" toured in Europe, Africa, South and North America. But after the end of the world tour, Stas officially stopped all the activities of the group. It didn't actually exist for the next 10 years.

historical justice

The team reconvened in 1999. Considering that never earlier group did not work with a single composition, this time Stas Namin decided to immediately create a team that would remain unchanged and could together replenish the repertoire, create arrangements and constantly develop. First, Stas invited a keyboardist and vocalist to the group Valery Diorditsa, then guitarist Yuri Vilnin, bass player Alexander Gretsinin, then vocalist Oleg Predtechensky, pianist and saxophonist Alan Aslamazov appeared. In such composition "Flowers" celebrated the 30th anniversary of the team and gave big concert. But even after that they did not return to Russian show business, only occasionally presenting exclusive performances. Most of the group's time was spent on foreign tours.

A to creative activity "Flowers" restored historical justice after many years of bans and recorded at the legendary London studio Abbey Road all their famous compositions. The result was a double album of 24 songs - "Back to the USSR". It really brings Flowers fans back to their younger days, which were in the 1970s and 80s. A little later, another album was recorded there - “Open Your Window”. It contained songs that, due to Soviet bans, have so far remained unrecorded. It is from these compositions that one can imagine what the group's work would have been like in the 1980s, if not for censorship.

Absolutely new repertoire the group presented in 2012, as if freed from their old image that developed in the 1970s. "Flowers"sounded modern, the style of their new songs is different from the music early period as obvious as, for example, the first melodies from their latest records.

In general, the creative merit of "Flowers" is invaluable. When only patriotic Soviet songs were on the stage, even their naively romantic fatal themes became an innovation. They were so different from the existing standard that they instantly fell under the ban. But this did not prevent the group from becoming popular throughout the country. The songs of the "Soviet Beatles" sounded everywhere, and time put everything in its place.

DATA

In 1983 group "Flowers" filmed the first video clip in the USSR for the song with overtly political overtones "Old New Year". It is not surprising that he was not even considered at the artistic council, and he first got on the air only in 1986, and it happened on the American channel MTV. By the way, even the absolutely “harmless” song “We wish you happiness”, written by Stas Namin in 1982, was banned until 1985. And only thanks to the composition sounded on television.

During the days of the Moscow Festival of Youth and Students, despite the prohibitions of the Ministry of Culture, the Stas Namin Group managed to organize several illegal performances and record an album with the participation of foreign musicians who came to the event. The reaction of the authorities was not long in coming. "Flowers" was accused of propaganda by the Pentagon and even of unauthorized contacts with foreigners. The recorded album, of course, was banned in the USSR. But in 1986, the authorities had to publish it in a limited edition for exclusive export by special order of the UN.

"Flowers" updated: April 7, 2019 by: Elena

"Flowers" is a Moscow rock band, created by guitarist and songwriter Stas Namin back in 1969. Among other amateur groups, the group stood out for its "live" sound, interesting arrangements, searches for means of expression from the big-beat arsenal, suitable for synthesis with the traditions of Russian melos. Stas Namin defined the style of "Flowers" as "lyrical rock".

The group "Flowers" was created in Moscow in 1969 by the lead guitarist, at that time a first-year student at the Institute of Foreign Languages. M. Torez, Stas Namin (Anastas Alekseevich Mikoyan). Namin was fascinated by the Flower Children hippie movement, and in 1969, under the influence of the legendary Woodstock hippie rock festival, he created a group, calling it Flowers ...

The first musician whom Stas invited to the group was Vladimir Chugreev - a self-taught drummer fanatically in love with rock music, he had an outstanding physical strength and played with a powerful rock sound. Vladimir Solovyov played keyboard instruments in the first line-up of "Tsvetov", in the past he was a musician of the group "Red Devils" at the Bauman Institute.

Elena Kovalevskaya, a student of the French faculty of foreign language, became the vocalist of the group. She possessed a performance drive that was unexpected for that time and a very beautiful soulful voice; the public took it with a bang. Stas Namin played the lead guitar. Such was the first composition of the Flowers group. The repertoire at that time was mainly the most fashionable hits from the repertoire of Jefferson Airplane, Janis Joplin and others.

After some time, at a party at MIREA, Namin saw Sasha Losev performing Nikitin's song "Horses Can Swim" with a guitar. He liked Sasha's vocal abilities and musicality, and he invited him to try himself in Flowers. Despite the fact that Losev sang pop songs and was not fond of rock, Stas suggested that he master the bass guitar and learn a few songs in English from the repertoire of "Flowers". Then it was the songs of Jimi Hendrix, Deep Purple and others. So Losev got into Flowers.

In the 70s, Elena Kovalevskaya left the group, graduating from Inyaz, and also Solovyov left the group, and Alexander Losev came to the bass guitar instead of Malashenkov. Thus, the second composition of the group "Flowers" consisted of three people: Namin - solo guitar, Losev - bass guitar, Chugreev - drums.

Once, during a performance of "Flowers" at the Moscow State University club on Herzen Street (now Bolshaya Nikitskaya), traffic had to be blocked due to a huge crowd of fans. Then for the first time the name "Flowers" appeared in the "black" list of the Ministry of Culture of the USSR, which reached this scandalous case.

Stas Namin was an adherent of the music of Hendrix, the Rolling Stones, Losev gravitated more to the stage like Tom Jones and the Carpenters, and under the influence of Namin began to listen to Deep Purple, Chicago, Pink Floyd and other rock music, and the arrival of Fokine, an ardent fan of Led Zeppelin, made the group even more fatal.

Once, speaking on behalf of the University at the Moscow Student Festival at the Luzhniki Sports Palace, Flowers performed a composition by Jimi Hendrix, presenting it as a song of the struggle of the Negro people for freedom. And the title of the song "Let Me Stand Next To Your Fire" was translated by Stas into Russian as "Let me stand next to the fire of your struggle."

During the performance, there was such a stir in the public that the band's equipment was turned off. “We saw this for the first time and just got scared,” the director of the Luzhniki Sports Palace, Sinilkina, later recalled. Nevertheless, "Flowers" became one of the winners of the festival and received the right, together with the trio "Linnik" (MSU) and the ensemble "Lingva" (Inyaz), to release small flexible records at the Melodiya company.

Namin took this very seriously unique opportunity and specifically for these recordings he invited his friend, who has musical education pianist and composer Sergei Dyachkov, and on his advice Vladimir Semenov, who helped prepare professional arrangements for recording. Stas said that, like the Beatles, they should have their own George Martin.

For the first disc, Namin selected three songs that, in his opinion, for all their traditional character, allowed the group to arrange and perform them, demonstrating that school of rock music that was not familiar to the official stage. These were the songs “My Clear Star”, “Flowers Have Eyes” and “Don't”.

The recording featured Stas Namin (lead guitar), Alexander Losev (bass guitar, vocals), Yuri Fokin (drums), Sergey Dyachkov (keyboards, vocals), Vladimir Semenov ( acoustic guitar), Alexander Slizunov (keyboards), the female trio of Mira Korobkova and A. Aleshin (back vocals).

The recording took place at the Melodiya studio on a four-channel tape recorder, on stereo, with almost one sound overlay and internal information. First, the entire instrumental part was recorded on two channels without the possibility of any balance corrections - drums, bass, solo guitar, acoustic guitar, all strings, back vocals, etc. at the same time, and then solo vocals were recorded overdubbed on this already finished phonogram .

It was possible to record a lot of doubles in the vocals, and this saved the song “My Clear Asterisk”, since I had to make many options, from which they then glued together by individual words and sometimes even by sounds what went on the disc as a result. More than 50 vocal doubles were recorded, from which the original was literally glued together syllable by syllable. Losev then could not even imagine that "Asterisk" would become not only a super hit, but also the main song in his life.

When the instrumental soundtrack of the song “Don't” was recorded for the first disc, sound engineer Alexander Shtilman unexpectedly, when the solo guitar began to play, stopped the recording of the entire orchestra and asked to remove the sound distortion on the guitar. Stas did not even understand what kind of distortions he was talking about, since he had been preparing this sound of his homemade guitar fuzz for several months and was very proud of it.

"Distortions" managed to be defended, and they can still be heard in old recordings. This was historical fact when for the first time at the Melodiya company a guitar with the Fuzz effect was recorded. It also took a long time to persuade the sound engineer to put a separate microphone on the kick drum, since no one had ever written rhythmic accompaniment with snare drum and kick drum patterns in the Led Zeppelin style at Melodiya.

In the summer of 1972, immediately after recording, "Flowers" went to rest in the Crimea at the student camp of Moscow State University, where "Time Machine", Alexander Gradsky, Sergey Grachev, a group from Moscow State University "Mosaic" and other then popular student groups also arrived. There, everyone drank a lot of young home-made Crimean wine, walked and played dances.

In September of the same 1972, the first flexible disc "Flowers" was released, and Namin and Fokin, returning from the sea, went straight to the record factory at the "River Station" in order to pick it up as soon as possible. It was already difficult to imagine that the group had their own record, and even more so with such a design - there should have been a photo on the cover where Yura and Stas had hair below their shoulders! Imagine their surprise when, having asked for a record from the workers of the plant, they saw that their hair was "cut" by a retoucher.

But happiness still knew no bounds. When the record appeared in stores, it unexpectedly sold 7 million copies and sounded from almost all the windows of the country. Nevertheless, "Flowers" continued to lead a semi-underground existence of a student amateur group. Having already become popular, her style and manner of performance were still not recognized by the media, and she performed, as before, only at student parties.

In 1974, Namin decided to try professional concert activity at the Moscow Regional Philharmonic. In this regard, he additionally invited pianist Alexander Slizunov, who participated in the first recordings of the group, and guitarist Konstantin Nikolsky, his friend from college rock parties, to the group. Nikolsky not only played the guitar very musically, but also wrote songs.

His talent was very close to the style that Namin cultivated in Flowers, and he and Losev, being the same height, not only looked good, but sang together. Alexander Slizunov, the only professionally literate in music, graduated from the Moscow State Conservatory. He also wrote songs and arrangements. The forced compromise in the manner of performance, which the group made in the recordings, was more than compensated by the real rock and roll drive in the "live" concerts of "Flowers".

The Philharmonic made a lot of money on the Flowers, organizing tours of three concerts a day at stadiums and sports palaces. In these tours, the soloists of the Flowers, in addition to Alexander Losev, were also Sergei Grachev, Konstantin Nikolsky and Alexander Slizunov.

Due to overwork, which made any creativity impossible, a conflict began between the musicians and the administration of the Philharmonic. Losev agreed with the administrator Mark Krasovitsky and at the general meeting unexpectedly spoke out against the whole group on the side of the Philharmonic.

As a result, Namin, Nikolsky and Slizunov were fired, and the Philharmonic, using state status, tried to keep its name and for some time, using Losev as a soloist and recruiting new musicians, exploited the promoted name and continued the tour schedule for 3-4 concerts in day.

But the innovation and free spirit of the first recordings of "Flowers" were not long in coming. The Ministry of Culture banned both the group and the very name "Flowers" as "propaganda of Western ideology and hippie ideas."

After the breakup of the group, the musicians of the "Flowers" were depressed by what had happened. It was then that Konstantin Nikolsky wrote his songs “I myself am one of those who hid behind the door” and “Musician”. Alexander Slizunov was taken to serve in the army, and Stas Namin concentrated on studying at the Moscow State University. The group's journey does not end there, but that's another story...

I am already over 50 - but even today, listening to this music and song, I return to my youth. It seems that life has stopped - and there is no world today, but there is only one when friends were friends, when pain was common ... and when everyone had the same salary - everyone was equal. I don't know if it was good or not - but we were honest with each other - we could call each other - "... this is my Friend", or "... this is my Friend". Now who dares to call someone sincerely a Friend?

"Lullaby"
Sasha Losev was persuaded to sing this song for a long time, but he still refused. In the end, he did sleep.
And how I slept!

Alexander Losev and the group "Flowers". Lullaby. 1993

I read in the news feed and ... my heart stops.

"On Sunday, Alexander Losev, who was undergoing treatment for cancer, died suddenly. former soloist group "Flowers", which was led by Stas Namin ... "

Sasha was one of the most intelligent, beautiful and at the same time painful voices of our stage. At least the last quarter of the last century.

Start

70-80s years, the group "Flowers" (or, as indicated on the posters, the group of Stas Namin) was one of the most popular VIA of the country. I was then in a pioneer camp. In the same place I heard for the first time the famous "Asterisk". During the camp shift, literally all the words of the songs of "Flowers" were learned. The record itself was beaten to the point that by the end of the shift it both hissed and the needle jumped from one track to another, but oddly enough, this gave a special charm to the songs. And what happened in the evenings on the dance floor! I have no doubt that all the quivering feelings and memories of first love are still associated with the songs of "Flowers" and, of course, with the unique voice of Sasha Losev.

Alexander GRADSKY:

I often had tours with the Flowers group. She was incredibly popular in the 70s and 80s, but few associated her success with the name of Sasha Losev. Rather, few people knew that the soulful voice of the "Flowers" bears this name. It's a shame, but the group often depersonalizes individual talent. Perhaps that is why I myself have been working alone for a long time. Losev was too modest a man.
In 1983, I invited Sasha to sing one of the main roles in my Stadium. Because when the question arose of who to call, it turned out that there were no singers. With a real, clear voice, and even singing live.
After the death of his son, Sasha often repeated that he did not want to live.

Sasha was born in 1949 in the family of the secretary of the Moscow City Party Committee.
So school years Sasha became interested in music, learned to play the guitar, participated as a soloist in school and then in student amateur ensembles. With a unique voice, he could perform songs of any genre.

After school, while studying at the Moscow Institute of Radio Engineering, he met the young and ambitious, full of creative ideas, grandson of AI Mikoyan Stas Namin, a student at the Institute of Foreign Languages. Then the period of their joint creative activity began.
Actually the group "Flowers" created by Stas Namin, this is as a result of his passion for the movement in those days, and especially, which left an indelible impression on him

In the basement of the recreation center "Energetik" there was a rehearsal base, where rock musicians from all over Moscow liked to gather, including the future "Flowers" Stas Namin and Alexander Losev.
At first, everything was like many others - the usual imitation: "... they played and sang from the Beatles, the Rolling Stones."

Alexander Losev
"... they invited me to play in some clubs for 10 rubles, and they even carried the equipment on themselves.
There were persistent rumors that at that time my phone number for fans cost 25 rubles on Gorky Street. The guys told me that they themselves sometimes earned money for beer."

One of interesting stages in their work was participation in 1971 in the ensemble of Alexei Kozlov. They played jazz with elements of rock from the repertoire of the American groups Chicago, Blood, Sweat and Tears. All songs were performed by A. Losev.

Alexander Losev

"... Stas had a dream to record a small disc, publish it in a circulation of a hundred pieces and give it to friends. At this time, we get to know Volodya Semenov and Serezha Dyachkov - two great musicians.
They talked us out of recording with English songs. We decided to record "Asterisk" and Dyachkov's song "Don't". At the same time, Oscar Feltsman offers to sing the song "Flowers Have Eyes", having learned that the group is called "Flowers". Magomayev sang it two years before. These three songs were combined into a forty-five disc. It sold immediately with a circulation of about seven million.

Alexander Losev and the group "Flowers". Photo for the first disc

Success

Many viewers did not even doubt that the tall, thin, handsome man was Stas Namin. They even shouted to him at concerts: "Stasik, come on!"

Alexander Losev

"... We were practically not shown on the" box ". Soon we will release the second disc with the songs" To be honest "," More life” and “Lullaby”. For two years we still continued to play as an amateur group.

Alexander Losev and the group "Flowers". First concerts

The asset of Alexander Losev was not only working together with Stas Namin, but also cooperation with the "Red Poppies" and other groups. He was one of the few vocalists of the Soviet VIA who were able to approach the singing standards of Western hard rock bands. Alexander Losev himself told in an interview how, having decided at all costs to include the Deep Purple song "Black Night" in the repertoire of his group, he convinced the artistic council that "progressive Western musicians" wrote it under the impression of the Soviet film "Two Soldiers" and songs " Dark night"performed by Mark Bernes.

Sergey DYACHKOV, composer:

“It was easy to work with young Sasha, he respected me as an elder and obeyed. And only once he made a demarche, it is not clear why he categorically refused to sing "Asterisk", his main future hit. Felt that this song would predetermine his whole further fate? Maybe I shouldn't have insisted on my own ... "

Of course, the VIA movement was a product of the semi-official Soviet stage, but, nevertheless, Alexander Losev was an innovator in his business. Released by Melodiya in 1972, the disc with the songs "My Clear Star", "Flowers Have Eyes" and "Don't" sold 7 million copies! It was his voice that sounded on the radios. In such hits as "Our Heroic Strength", "Jurmala" and "Honestly".
In 1971, Stas Namin and Alexander Losev met Sergei Dyachkov, who worked in the recreation center "Vysotnik" music director amateur ensemble "Mlada" Acquaintance was the beginning creative work with Vladimir Semyonov and Sergey Dyachkov and the creation of VIA "Flowers". The result of this creative work was the recording in 1972-1973. on the firm "Melody" two records.

In 1973, the Melodiya company released the first disc of VIA “Flowers” ​​with the songs: “Don’t” (S. Dyachkov - O. Gadzhikasimov), “Flowers have eyes” (O. Feltsman - R. Gamzatov, translated by I Kozlovsky) and “My clear star” (V. Semyonov - O. Fokina).
All songs were performed by Alexander Losev. VIA "Flowers" are becoming popular.

In 1974, the second disc was released with the songs: "Honestly" (S. Dyachkov - M. Nozhkin), "You and Me" (A. Losev - S. Namin), "More Life" (V. Semenov -L. Derbenev) and "Lullaby" (O. Feltsman - R. Gamzatov, translated by Y. Kozlovsky). All songs were performed by Losev, except for “Honestly speaking”, which was performed by S. Dyachkov. In the same year, VIA "Flowers" begins professional work at the Moscow Regional Philharmonic.

In 1974, Alexander Losev marries. In 1977, a joyful event happened in the Losev family - the son of Kolya was born.
At the end of the year, the first concert of the VIA "Flowers" took place in the city of Elektrostal, Moscow Region, at the Sports Palace "Kristall".

Alexander Losev and the group "Flowers" on tour in the USA

After the termination of the professional activities of the VIA "Flowers" in 1978, the musicians move to the newly created "Vocal-Instrumental Group" under the leadership of Stas Namin at the Moscow Regional Philharmonic.

A. Losev gets a job at the Tula Regional Philharmonic Society as a soloist of the VIA "Red Poppies". In the VIA "Red Poppies" A. Losev recorded "How can I stop loving you", "All that was", "Mirror", "Kiss for the Beloved", "Insomnia".

Legend

During a meeting on tour in 1980, Stas Namin persuaded Alexander Losev to become a soloist with the Stas Namin Group.

In 1985, Alexander Losev participated in the recording of Alexander Gradsky's opera Stadium.

By 1986, according to the calculations of the firm "Melody" total circulation records group "Flowers" amounted to more than 50 million!
It was he who sang the main vocal part in the song "We wish you happiness" recorded for the Festival of Youth and Students in 1985 in Moscow, which in the early years of perestroika literally became a musical symbol of the warming relations between the USSR and the USA. Thanks to his interest in the USSR and the active production activities of Stas Namin with the group, he traveled all over the world. Played with Eddie Munny in Alaska, with Peter Gabriel and Lou Reed in Japan, with Mick Jagger's band in Australia.

In the late 80s, the group suspended its work. Later, Mr. Namin founded his own Theater of Music and Drama, and Alexander Losev recruited a new line-up of young musicians. He sang mostly old hits, prepared new material.

Stas NAMIN:

“There are people who know how to combine business, creativity, family life... But Losev could only sing, and it was impossible to stop him. Only one "Asterisk" is enough to say that his life was not in vain.
By the way, with regard to "Asterisk" - on the day of the recording, Sasha's father got him a ticket for USSR hockey - Canada and Sasha said that he could not come to the recording. But it was impossible to postpone the recording - I forced him into the studio. The song didn't work. He cried and left. We did 30 takes. Sculpted according to the word.
At concerts, he sang this song worse than on the record. And he sang it better than on the record, only after the death of his son Kolya.

Since 2000, after disagreements with Stas Namin, Alexander Losev has been working as a soloist and bass player in the Alexander Losev and the old composition of the Flowers group.

In 2001, Alexander Losev was invited to an anniversary concert dedicated to the 30th anniversary of the Tsvety group, in which musicians of past years took part. Stas Namin allowed Alexander Losev to perform only the last verse "My clear star"

The last time Alexander performed his famous hits on January 23 - 25, 2004 in Haifa and Tel Aviv (Israel).

Alexander Losev

"Every person is lonely. And divorced, like me, and married. Although, of course, there are a lot of friends and buddies. With age, there is a reassessment of values, which means that attitudes towards life and songs change ..." from the last interview for " Nezavisimaya Gazeta"

The last years of Alexander Losev's life were haunted by misfortunes: - the death of his son and, as a consequence, a divorce from his wife, who soon remarried. After the death of his son, Sasha, according to friends, has changed a lot: he got older, lost weight, smoked a lot - two packs a day.

Shortly before the New Year, Alexander Losev was diagnosed with a serious oncological disease - lung cancer of the 3rd degree. He had part of a lung and two ribs removed. After that, Losev underwent intensive chemotherapy at the oncology center.
The treatment went quite well, and Losev, although he did not feel well, already toured Israel at the end of January, and nothing foreshadowed trouble.

Alexander Losev and the group Flowers Asterisk my clear 1996

On February 1, at a friend's birthday party, the singer, who was undergoing chemotherapy, allowed himself some alcohol ... In a matter of minutes, death occurred.

Name: Stas Namin (Anastas Mikoyan)

Age: 67 years old

Activity: musician, composer, producer, artist, director

Family status: married

Stas Namin: biography

Stas Namin - Soviet and Russian singer, founder of the rock movement, composer, film director, producer, photographer, artist, organizer of rock festivals. The leader of the musical groups "Flowers", "Stas Namin's Group", "Gorky Park".

The future musician was born on November 8, 1951 in Moscow in the family of a test pilot, Hero of the Great Patriotic War Alexei Anastasovich Mikoyan and musicologist and writer Nami Artemievna Mikoyan, who graduated from the Moscow Conservatory with a degree in piano and music theory. At birth, the boy was named Anastas Mikoyan.

The family moved from garrison to garrison, so Stas and his parents visited Belarus, Murmansk, Germany. After the parents divorced, the mother was mainly engaged in raising her son. At the age of 6, the boy went to Moscow school N ° 74, while he began to study music with a composer. The house was often visited famous musicians, Mstislav Rostropovich, Alfred Schnittke. The boy's stepfather Vasily Feodosevich Kukharsky, Deputy Minister of Culture of the USSR, was close friends with and.

At the age of 10, at the insistence of his father, Stas was assigned to the Suvorov Military School, located in Moscow, to continue the military dynasty. Paternal grandfather - Anastas Ivanovich Mikoyan - worked in the Politburo of the Central Committee of the CPSU and raised five sons, four of whom became military men.

Music

At the age of 13, Stas was influenced by the music of The Beatles and The Rolling Stones, together with classmates, created the group "Wizards", which lasted for a year. In 1967, the young man continued his creative experiments in the company of his cousin Alik Mikoyan and childhood friend Grigory Ordzhonikidze. New Music band received the name "Politburo" in honor of the bust and the red banner that were present in the room where the teenagers rehearsed.

After graduating from college, Stas entered the Moscow State Institute of Foreign Languages. Maurice Thorez, but studied there only until the 2nd year. For a year, Stas managed to take part in the work of the student VIA "Bliki", but, having become acquainted with the hippie movement, the young man decided to organize his own musical group "Flowers".

In 1971, the young man was transferred to the Faculty of Philology at Moscow State University, where he expanded his circle of acquaintances among creative youth. Anatoly Zverev, Oleg Tselkov, Anatoly Brusilovsky, Alena Basilova, Genrikh Sapgir, Yuz Aleshkovsky become friends of the musician. While studying at Moscow State University, Stas is fond of Indian culture and joins the Harey Krishna movement.

In 1972, the Flowers group received the first prize at the Moscow Student Festival at the Luzhniki Palace of Culture and recorded a floppy disk at the Melodiya studio with the compositions My Clear Star, Flowers Have Eyes and Don't. The circulation of records is 7 million copies. A year later, the record was repeated with the second disc, which included the songs "Honestly", "Lullaby" and "More Life". On the wave of success, the group goes on an all-Union tour. But, since the work of the musicians was not approved by the ruling circles, the band was disbanded on charges of promoting Western ideology.

In 1977, Stas Namin received a diploma as a teacher of literature and the Russian language, but did not go to school, but created a new musical group, the Stas Namin Group. For several years, the rock group has been releasing the albums Hymn to the Sun, Reggae Disco Rock, Surprise for Monsieur Legrand, We wish you happiness, with the hits Early Saying Goodbye, Summer Evening, Jurmala, "Nostalgia for the present", which are distributed throughout Soviet Union 40 million circulation.

In 1981, on the wave of easing censorship in connection with the Olympics held in Moscow, Stas Namin organized the largest pop and rock festival in the USSR at that time in Yerevan. The venue is a cycle track that can accommodate 70,000 spectators. The American edition of Time and the German magazine Stern commented positively on the event, calling it "Yerevan Woodstock". After the festival, the regulatory authorities find out the biography of the musician and forbid Stas Namin to give concerts in the big cities of the country.

Unable to work with a rock band, Stas enters higher courses directors in the hope of gaining freedom of expression through the means of cinema. The teachers of the disgraced musician become,. In 1982, Stas shoots the first video clip in the USSR "Old New Year" for poetry, but work in the USSR is immediately banned. The clip was shown only in 1986 on the MTV channel. In the early 80s, Stas Namin wrote music for the films "Fantasy on the Theme of Love" and "Hourglass".

In 1983, after graduating from directing courses, Stas returned to musical activity and already in 1984, together with his own group, performed at the Song of the Year television competition. A year later, the group illegally participates in the international program of the Moscow Student Festival, for which the musicians are accused of supporting the American government.

With the advent of perestroika, the situation changes. In 1986, the "Stas Namin Group" was the first of the Soviet rock bands to travel to the United States on tour. Soon the musicians are going to concerts all over the world. In 1987, Namin created the first production center in the USSR on the basis of the Green Theater in Gorky Park to help young musicians, artists, poets - the Stas Namin Center (SNS).

Initially, the organization was non-profit in nature and supported musical groups"Gorky Park", "Moral Code", "Kalinov Bridge", "Spleen". At the same time, Namin organizes the first non-state Moscow Symphony Orchestra under the direction of conductor Konstantin Krimets.

In 1989, Stas held the first International music Festival in Russia, where Bon Jovi, Motley Crue, Scorpions, Cinderella perform, as well as the brainchild of Namin - the rock band Gorky Park. The event was broadcast in 59 countries around the world. All fees from the concerts went to the fight against drug addiction.

In the early 90s, Namin organized a tour concert of the foreign star Iron Maden at the Olimpiysky Sports Complex, bypassing the State Concert. Around the country, SNS holds a series of festivals called " One world”, the festival “Rock from the Kremlin” is being organized in Moscow. In 1992, at the invitation of Stas Namin, to Moscow to meet with sole president The rock band Scorpions arrives in the USSR, after which the song "Wind of Change" is born.

For 20 years, the composition of the group has constantly changed, in Namin's team different periods worked A. Slizunov, Yu. Fokin, A. Sapunov. With the fall of the USSR, due to ideological differences, the Stas Namin Group disintegrates.

The musician switches to other activities. Stas goes on a trip around the world with and, after which he creates a series of documentaries "International Geographic". As part of the author's project, films about Jerusalem, Thailand, New York, New Mexico, Easter Islands, Tahiti and Bora Bora were released in the 90s. In the 2000s, the cycles “Countries of Africa and South America and Amazonia.

In the early 90s, Stas began to engage in aeronautics and designed a project hot air balloon"Yellow Submarine", which is one of the best balloons in the world. In 1991, under the leadership of Namin, the first balloon festival in the USSR was held on Red Square.

In the late 90s, in the Bolshoi Manezh, the Central House of Artists and in the St. Petersburg Russian Museum, personal exhibitions artistic photos by Stas Namin. Later, the musician will take up painting and graphics and will exhibit his works for the first time at the Bakhrushin Theater Museum in 2006.

In 1999, the Flowers group gathers to hold a concert dedicated to the thirtieth anniversary of its creation. In 2001, the songs performed at the performance - “After the Rain”, “Early to Say Goodbye”, “Heroic Strength” - are released as a separate disc “Nostalgia for the Real”. Without finally returning to show business, the musical group begins to cooperate with the Stas Namin Theater.

In the early 2000s, Stas Namin tried his hand at writing symphonic music. The suite "Autumn in St. Petersburg" appears, which premiered at a concert at the Moscow House of Music in 2007.

In 2009, at the Abbey Road studio, where The Beatles, Duran Duran, Pink Floyd, U2 used to work, the Flowers group recorded the retro album Back to the USSR. The album includes the compositions "Light and joy", "Tell me yes", "White ice floes", "Let it be so". At the same time, as part of the author's project One World Freedom, Stas Namin, together with Jivan Gasparyan, Sergey Starostin, Vladimir Volkov, ethnic musicians from Africa, Eastern Europe, Central Asia and the Middle East releases a disk of ethnomusic.

One year after anniversary concert in the Crocus City Hall, Flowers are recording the disc Open Your Window, which includes tracks from the unreleased repertoire of the 80s. In 2013, two live records appeared - "A Reasonable Man" and "The Power of Flowers". A year later, the group goes on a big tour of Russia and neighboring countries "Flowers - 45". All photo and video material of the team can be found on the official website of the Flowers group.

Theatre

In 1999, Stas Namin gathers the first theater troupe in Russia called the Stas Namin Theater of Music and Drama, which specializes in the performance of musicals. In the early 2000s, the group's repertoire included the performances "Hair", the comedy by V. Voinovich "Ivan Chonkin", the tragedy based on "Four Stories", the drama by F. G. Lorca "The House of Bernard Alba", the musicals by Randy Bowser "The Picture of Dorian Gray" and "Penelope, or 2 + 2", children's musicals " The Bremen Town Musicians”,“ Three Musketeers ”,“ Alice in Wonderland ”,“ Beatlemania ”,“ The Snow Queen and The Little Prince. In the rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar by E. Webber, which was first staged in Russia at the Theater of Music and Drama, the Stas Namin Group participates.

In 2014, two performances started on the stage of the theater: the production of "Cosmos" based on stories and the reconstruction of the avant-garde opera "Victory over the Sun". Later, the team began work on the opera The Marriage of Figaro, on A. Khvostenko's opera-ballet based on the verses of V. Khlebnikov's "Dweller of the Peaks" and on the play "My Heart is in the Mountains" based on U. Saroyan.

In 2008, Stas Namin was invited to teach acting skills at the Department of the Faculty of Cultural Studies and Musical Art of the Moscow State humanitarian university them. . Two years later, the musician receives the title of professor of the department musical theater and the musical GITIS.

Personal life

Stas Namin in the mid-70s married Anna Isaeva, from whom his daughter Maria was born in 1977. When the girl was 2 years old, the family broke up, but Stas and Anna maintained friendly relations. Now the ex-wife is working commercial director at the Stas Namin Center. The second wife of the rocker was the singer.

But, since the wife lived in St. Petersburg and did not intend to move to Moscow, the union did not last long. In the mid-80s, Stas Namin met Galina, whose son Roman was growing up at that time. After a long courtship, the girl agreed to Namin's proposal to become his wife.

Since then, the singer's personal life has not changed. In 1993, the wife gave Stas a son, Artem, who is now seriously engaged in painting. Roman graduated from a medical institute, but did not work in his specialty. From eldest daughter Maria, Stas Namin has a granddaughter, Asya.

Stas Namin now

Currently, Stas Namin has completely retired from public life and devoted himself to creativity. At the end of 2016, the musician completed work on the one-movement symphony Centuria S-Quark.

Discography

• "Hymn to the Sun" - 1980
• "Reggae Disco Rock" - 1982
• "Surprise for Monsieur Legrand" - 1983
• "We wish you happiness" - 1985
• "Nostalgia for the Real" - 2001
• "Back to the USSR" - 2009
• "Open Your Window" - 2011
• "Old Russian Village Songs" - 2012
• "Reasonable Man" - 2013
• "The Power of Flowers" - 2013