Mashina Vremeni

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Mashina Vremeni
Background information
Origin	Moscow, Soviet Union
Genres	Rock and roll, Blues rock
Years active	1969–present
Website	www.mashina.ru
Members
Andrey Makarevich Alexander Kutikov Valeriy Efremov Evgeny Margulis Andrei Derzhavin

Mashina Vremeni (Russian: Машина времени, Russian for Time Machine) which formed in Moscow in the late 1960s, is recognized as one of the two "patriarchs" of Russian rock music (the other one being Aquarium).^{[citation needed]} This indirectly dates the Soviet/Russian rock-n-roll tradition: the leaders of both bands (Andrey Makarevich and Boris Grebenshchikov, who share a career-long friendship) were born in 1953 and admitted to getting into rock-n-roll due a high-school fascination with The Beatles.

Despite the influence, Mashina never sounded much like the Beatles: their rock anthems, which are a staple of Russian pop-culture,^{[citation needed]} somewhat resemble Creedence Clearwater Revival, and over the course of their career they've recorded songs in various tints of 70's rock music, in addition to outright blues numbers. Mashina Vremeni has tried to incorporate Eastern European and Asian folk influences, although to a lesser degree. Mashina Vremeni's best known members are Andrei Makarevich - the founder, principal singer-songwriter and the band's public persona, and Alexander Kutikov - the bass player and producer/sound engineer.

Other members have come and gone throughout the years, which contributed to the fact that Mashina Vremeni is a pluralistic band - on any given record one will hear songs performed by at least two different singers (on the later records the number is usually four).

History

The first band Andrei Makarevich was involved in was a school band which consisted of two guitarists and two girls on vocals singing American folk songs. Serious attempts began in 1968 when Andrei Makarevich heard songs by The Beatles. The band was reformed and called The Kids. After some time the girls were removed from the squad and the band began to be called Mashiny Vremeni (Time Machines - in plural form imitating The Beatles, Rolling Stones etc.) The most significant founders included Sergey Kavagoe and Andrey Makarevich. The band's repertoire consisted of eleven songs in English, now lost.

• 1971 - Alexander Kutikov becomes the bass player, introducing more of buoyant rock-n-roll into the band's material
• 1972 - Line-up losses in the band as several members are drafted into service (which to this day is compulsory in Russia)
• 1973 - Tensions between Sergey Kavagoe and Alexander Kutikov; the latter leaves the band for a hard rock outfit Visokosnoe Leto (Leap Year Summer)
• 1974 - Sergey Kavagoe leaves, Alexander Kutikov returns. However, Kavagoe also returns after about six months. The band performs with the following line-up: Andrei Makarevich, Alexander Kutikov, Sergey Kavagoe, and Alexey Romanov (future leader of another prominent Russian band Voskreseniye ("Resurrection" or "Sunday"))
• 1975 - Romanov and Kutikov suddenly depart. Evgeny Margulis joins on guitar
• 1976 - Mashina Vremeni is invited to a festival "Songs of youth in Tallinn - 76" and performs there with a great success. Many people join (including couple of violinists) and leave after some time during this year.
• 1978 - First studio record of Mashina Vremeni. Alexander Kutikov, though playing in Visokosnoe Leto, was also working in sound-recording studio in order to help the band gain access to good equipment. The record is now known as "Eto bylo tak davno" ("It was so long ago").
• 1979 - Band in crisis. Sergey Kavagoe and Evgeny Margulis leaves the band and join Voskresenie. At this time, Andrei Makarevich writes one of the band's most enduring and popular songs: "Poka gorit svecha" ("While the candle burns"), as a statement of his not giving up. After some time of frustration, Alexander Kutikov saves the situation by leaving the Visokosnoe Leto band and bringing Valeriy Efremov (also from Visokosnoe Leto) as drummer and Petr Podgorodetskiy on the keyboards.
• 1980 - The beginning of the golden era of Mashina Vremeni. The band wins the festival "Spring Rhythms 80" main award and continues its concert tour. However, they are only allowed this because of musical freedom indulgences given in light of 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow.
• 1981 - The song "Povorot" ("The turning point") stays on the top of charts for 18 months. The band composes the soundtrack to the popular movie Dusha, starring Sofia Rotaru watched by more than 57 million cinema-goers in the Soviet Union.^[1].^{[unreliable source?]}
• 1982 - Repressions begin in earnest with a denouncing article "'Blue Bird' ragout" ("Blue Bird" was a popular song of the band) which describes the band's output as depressive and ideologically unsound. A nationwide wave of protest against the denunciation sends thousands of fan letters to newspaper editors. Petr Podgorodetskiy leaves; Alexandr Zaitsev replaces him.
• 1986 - "Best songs 1979-1985" compilation is recorded. Album "V dobriy chas" ("Good Luck") is recorded.
• 1987 - "Reki i Mosty" ("Rivers and Bridges") album recorded. It is considered Mashina Vremeni's first official album (all the previous ones were recorded illegally, for underground distribution. First appearances on the television. The band performs at Live Aid 2 festival in Japan.
• 1988 - First international tours - USA, Canada, Greece, Spain and Bulgaria.
• 1989 - "V kruge sveta" ("In the circle of light") album is released.
• 1990 - Alexandr Zaitsev leaves and Evgeny Margulis and Petr Podgorodetsky join the band once again.
• 1991 - "Medlennaya khoroshaya muzyka" ("Slow good music") album is released.
• 1993 - Alexander Kutikov's company "Sintez Records" releases retro albums "Best songs 1979-1985" and "That was so long ago". Album "Vneshtatniy komandir Zemli" ("Part-time commander of the Earth") is released.
• 1994 - Acoustic live album "Unplugged" is recorded and released. 25th anniversary is celebrated in 7 hours concert on the Red Square
• 1995 - Compilation of old unpublished songs is released. This compilation is known as "Kovo ty hotiel udivit?" ("Whom did you expect to astound?"), after one of Alexander Kutikov's most acclaimed songs.
• 1996 - "Kartonniye krylia lubvi" ("Cardboard wings of love") album is released.
• 1996 - "20 let spustya" ("20 years later") album is released.
• 1997 - "Otryvayas" ("Breaking away") album is released.
• 1999 - The 30th anniversary of the band. A massive concert, usually considered to be the band's best ever, takes place in the main stadium of "sport-complex Olympiyskiy" im Moscow. "Chasy i znaki" ("Hours and signs") album is released. Petr Podgorodetskiy leaves due to tensions. Andrey Derzhavin takes his place on the keyboard.
• 2001 - "Mesto gde svet" ("The place where there's light") album is released.
• 2004 - 35th anniversary of the band. A concert featuring 35 selected songs is played at the Red Square. "Mashinalno" ("Mechanically") album is released.
• 2005 - Live album "Kremlin rocks" is released. The band performed with the Kremlin chamber orchestra "Kremlin".
• 2006 - Sintez Records releases a compilation called "Mashina vremeni - chast' 1" ("Time Machine - Part 1"). The band records a new album (which is called in English "Time machine") at famous Studio 2 at Abbey Road Studios.
• 2007 - The group releases the Time machine album.
• 2009 - The band celebrates its 40th anniversary with a large concert.

Analysis

Although presented as a rock band, Mashina Vremeni incorporates many different genres. Through the its development the band played in many styles, beginning with imitations of Western rock leaders and ending with Mashina's unique style. However, experiments are welcome even now at the end of the fourth decade of the band's existence. The last album "Mashinalno" reflects the devotion of band members to the music of 1970s with the sound of the 21st century. The album includes some Beatles-like songs, punk composition, some blues and some slow ballads. Each album includes songs of many genres. The blues of Petr Podgorodetskiy and Evgeny Margulis, a variety of genres by Andrei Makarevich and hard rock and the fiery rock-n-roll of Alexandr Kutikov. And yet, this cannot be called a rule - all authors contributed almost to every genre.

Most of the charm of their songs is in melody and lyrics - many of the most popular songs in their repertoire are played only with guitar beats or one simple guitar solo. But that doesn't reduce their popularity among listeners of all ages. It is probably one of the few Russian rock bands at whose concert one can see bearded, 50-something Beatles fans alongside teenagers in the crowd.

Prominent hits

• Povorot ("The Turn" by Kutikov/Makarevich) is a pop-culture phenomenon for anyone of Russian descent, and comfortably one of the Top 10 most recognized pop/rock songs in Soviet/Russian (on the par with Hey Jude for the English-speaking world). A 2x4 70s pop-rock bulldozer (sounding somewhat like Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Proud Mary" with a rougher feel). It was usually performed next to last in concert, and sung along by most of the crowd. The lyrics play on the well-trodden image of the road taking a turn and life turning with it. Soviet censorship had long suspected that the lyrics might be concealing a call for dramatic reforms.

• Svecha ("The Candle" or "Until the candle burns" by Makarevich) - a song, firstly shown at festival "Tbilisi-80". Makarevich changed guitar for piano for this song, so it was played without guitars, but with two keyboards (another one was played by Podgorodetsky). Song became a second symbol of Mashina Vremeni (after Povorot), and since the end of 1980's group plays it as the final song in concerts. Makarevich usually plays piano with keyboardist of group (Podgorodetsky from 1990 to 1999, Derzhavin from 2000), but in some concerts (such as "XXX anniversary concert" (1999) or "Kremlin Rocks!" (2005)) Makarevich plays guitar, so main keys party is played by Podgorosetsky and Derzhavin.

• Marionetki ("The puppets" by Makarevich) is the other band anthem with the lyric being an elaborate sketch on the topic of humans being puppets in someone's "able and well-worked" hands. The puppeteer is never named.
• Sineya Ptitsa ("The Blue Bird" by Makarevich) Is a popular and well known song. It was the first song that the band was seriously criticized for with the article "Blue Bird ragout."

Albums

Mashina Vremeni is one of the best selling artists in Russia, but due to raging computer piracy, most of CDs sold are not legal CDs released by recording companies.

Trivia

The opening credits on the DVD with the group 30th anniversary concert (1999) give some info about the group's history. These credits say:

30 years are:

10957 days OR

15778080 minutes OR

4 general secretaries and 2 presidents OR

593 songs OR

21 albums OR

3359 concerts in 173 cities in 27 countries

Current line-up

• Andrey Makarevich - guitar, vocals
• Alexander Kutikov - bass-guitar, vocals
• Valeriy Efremov - drums, percussion
• Evgeny Margulis - guitar, bass-guitar, vocals
• Andrei Derzhavin - keyboard, vocals

• Sergey Ostroumov - additional percussions (regular on live performances since 2004)
• Alexandr Ditkovsky - trumpet (regular on live performances since 2004)

Related

• Mashina Vremeni at Wikipedia Russia
• Mashina Vremeni category at Wikipedia Russia
• Photos

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Mashina Vremeni

• Official site
• Official fan-site
• Rare Magnetic Tape Club of the Time Machine
• Main Unofficial site 1
• Biography of the band
• Russmus info on the band