The most fashionable Soviet composer

We remember our favorite songs by Yuri Chernavsky: from “Robinson” by Pugacheva to “Banana” from “Assy”

On September 29, at the age of 78, Yuri Chernavsky, a composer, arranger and producer who made Soviet pop music of the 1980s truly fashionable and relevant, died.

It is generally accepted that the official permitted music in the USSR, with rare exceptions, was deeply ideological, traditionalist, faceless and boring. Real art, which knows no barriers, has no geographical references and is open to all new cultural trends, was created only underground and distributed by samizdat on the principle of word of mouth - copying reels and cassettes to each other on magnetic tapes. Chernavsky in this sense is a rare example, balancing on the edge of these two worlds, building bridges between them and blurring the boundaries.

Being built into the system and working with censored vocal and instrumental ensembles , he managed to create innovative works in the advanced genres of new wave and electronic music, which the propaganda of that time hardly favored. But the composer's undoubted talent, together with his commercial acumen, allowed him to reach a wide audience.

Chernavsky was guided by discos that were gaining popularity - and soon the whole country was dancing to his songs. Many famous artists worked with him, including Alla Pugacheva. He also created the first production center in the Union that promotes new stars. After the collapse of the USSR, Chernavsky moved to Germany and then to the USA, where he continued to produce. “Meduza” recalls the most striking songs by Yuri Chernavsky.

Yuri Chernavsky “Hello, Banana Boy”

Thus, the 1983 album “Banana Islands” became a breakthrough between officialdom and the avant-garde. Yuri Chernavsky recorded it underground together with composer Vladimir Matetsky and members of the VIA “Jolly Fellows”. He performed all the vocal parts himself, without finding a suitable vocalist.

The result is not quite rock, but not quite electronic yet. The main hit from the album was an absurdist composition about a little boy who lives in a telephone receiver and makes sounds “too-too-too.” This same Banana eventually became the prototype for the hero of Sergei Solovyov’s film “Assa” performed by Sergei Bugaev. The song, of course, also sounded in the film and, along with “Changes” by Viktor Tsoi, became one of the anthems of the perestroika era.

Yuri Chernavsky "Robot"

Another big hit of Banana Islands was a standard sample of Soviet synthpop (obviously inspired by the composition “Die Roboter” by the German group Kraftwerk). In this song, Chernavsky, in a mechanical voice passed through a vocoder, reads in the chorus: “I am a robot, I am a robot, I have gone crazy.”

In the mid-1980s, the songs “Banana” and “Robot” were played at every discotheque; they occupied the top lines in unofficial charts, but they were not allowed on state television and radio. The album “Banana Islands” was officially released only in 1995. It is included in the famous book “100 magnetic albums of Soviet rock” by Alexander Kushnir.

"Speaker" "Mom bought me a guitar"

But, in fairness, Chernavsky appeared on TV even before “Banana Islands”. In 1981, together with guitarist Vladimir Kuzmin, he created the group “Dynamic”, which played fashionable new wave.

The first two albums, in which Chernavsky participated, made Dynamics the most popular professional rock band in the country. Because of this, they were even invited to close the teleconference between Moscow and Los Angeles in 1982 . In this performance you can see Chernavsky on keyboards.

Alla Pugacheva “Reflection in water”

The country's main singer couldn't help but pay attention to the hit composer. In 1984, at the Odessa Film Studio, Alla Pugacheva starred in the musical “Season of Miracles” by Georgy Yungvald-Khilkevich. Chernavsky wrote a soundtrack especially for her - with the instantly popular songs “White Panama”, “Robinson”, “White Door” and, of course, this melancholy and sticky pop reggae “Reflection in the Water”.

Vladimir Presnyakov “Zurbagan”

No less a hit was the children's fairy tale “Above the Rainbow” by the same Khilkevich in 1986 - about the boy Alik Rainbow, who loves to compose songs and, at the behest of the sorceress Siren, receives the gift of being the best high jumper. This production launched the musical career of Vladimir Presnyakov Jr., who in the soundtrack sang songs about Zurbagan, roadside grass and a pig in a poke for actor Dmitry Maryanov. Chernavsky wrote all of them in collaboration with the poet Leonid Derbenev.

Mikhail Boyarsky “Moonlight Cinema”

The only official record by Yuri Chernavsky, released during the USSR by the Melodiya company, is “Moonlight Cinema”. The vocal parts in it were performed by Mikhail Boyarsky, for whom the recording was one of the first experiences and experiments in the synthpop genre. Not the most noticeable or successful, but quite interesting now as a document of the era. At that time, Chernavsky was actively inspired by the Yello group.

Alla Pugacheva “Superman”

The song “Robinson”, composed by Chernavsky for the film “Season of Miracles”, is connected with an interesting story about the foreign career of Alla Pugacheva. In 1985, the singer recorded the entirely English-language album “Watch Out” in Stockholm together with the backing vocalists of ABBA. Robinson, translated into English, became Superman and suddenly became a big hit in Sweden.

In his memoirs, Chernavsky said that he was entitled to 150 thousand dollars from the percentage of sales of the track abroad, but in the Soviet copyright society he was given only 180 rubles.

Valery Leontiev "Margarita"

In 1986, Chernavsky founded the All-Union Studio of Popular Music “Record” - essentially the first production center in the USSR, which, among others, recorded and promoted the groups “Tender May” and “Mirage”.

One of Record's first clients was Sergei Minaev, a disc jockey who became famous for his Russian-language re-covers of Modern Talking hits. To consolidate his success, Chernavsky wrote a Eurodance track for him, “Margarita,” which hinted at the heroine of Bulgakov’s novel. Subsequently, “Margarita” became an eternal hit in the career of Valery Leontyev.

Yuri Chernavsky and Alla Pugacheva “I can’t live without you”

For a long time, Pugacheva wanted to record a whole joint album with Chernavsky called “Video Machine”. But this work was never completed due to the composer’s departure abroad. What remains of it is the touching duet “I Can’t Live Without You,” sounding in the best traditions of sophistry-pop of the 1980s.

Bonus track. In 2023, Ivan Urgant recorded a cover of this song for Alla Pugacheva’s next birthday.

Tribute to Yuri Chernavsky “Return to the Banana Islands”

In 2018, musician Anton Sevidov and journalist Denis Boyarinov organized a tribute concert to Yuri Chernavsky in Moscow. Then his compositions were performed on stage by Manizha, Naadya, Kate NV, Miriam Sekhon, SBPC, Pavel Artemyev, and actor Alexander Gorchilin even sang about Bananana twice (the second time as an encore).

Chernavsky himself was also present in the hall - he flew in specially from Los Angeles for this occasion. When the younger generation called the maestro onto the stage in the finale, began to confess their love to him and thank him for his great songs, the composer came up to the microphone and briefly answered: “Tut-tu-tu.”

Soon the publishing house “White Apple” will publish Yuri Chernavsky’s autobiography “Hello, Banana Boy ”.

"Jellyfish"

Cover photo: Yuri Chernavsky's Facebook page