Vopli Vidopliassova

Vopli Vidopliassova or VV (Ukrainian: Воплі Відоплясова, ВВ, [ˈvɔpli vidɔˈpljɑsovɑ], Russian: Вопли Видоплясова, ВВ, [vopli vidaˈpljasava, vɛˈve]) is a popular Ukrainian rock band. It was formed in 1986 in Kiev, in the Ukrainian SSR of the Soviet Union (present-day Ukraine). Their influences include folk, patriotic songs, punk, hard rock, heavy metal and, most recently, electronic music.

Their song Den Narodzhennya is featured in both Brother movies by director Aleksei Balabanov. Band member Oleg Skripka has also produced several solo albums.

In 2009, their record label, Kraina Mriy, released all their albums for free as a Christmas present.^[1]'

History

The band was formed in 1986 by guitarist Yuri Zdorenko and bassist Aleksandr Pipa, who had played in the band SOS since 1984. The band had their first performance at the Kiev rock club in 1987, with vocalist and accordionist Oleg Skripka and drummer Sergei Sakhno.

The band took its name from Vidopliassov, a character from The Village of Stepanchikovo.

In 1988, the band played its first concert in Russia at the Rok-Artel festival. The concert was taped and released as Pershyy koncert v Moskvi.

In 1989, the band recorded a session at the Faberge Hall of Culture in Kiev, and released it as Tantsi. That same year, they appeared on the French compilation De Lenine a Lennon, the soundtrack to a French documentary on Soviet rock.

In 1990, they released the album Hey, O.K on Kobza International and appeared on the Canadian compilation This Ain't No Polka (a recording of the 1989 Chervona Ruta) with the song "Tantsi". The following year, they played at the Eurockeennes festival in France, and the recording was released as Abo abo on BSA Records a year later.

In 1992, they entered Komora Studio in Kiev to begin recording what would become their debut album, Kraina Mriy, released two years later.

In 1996, the band, by then consisting only of Skripka and Pipa, who had just returned from France (having lived there since 1990), began recording the album Muzika, released in 1997. A single was released in 1996 with 4 tracks from the album. Skripka sang, programmed the drums and played accordion, traditional Ukrainian folk instruments and some guitar, while Pipa played bass. Zdorenko played guitar on the track "Gei, liubo!". On the album, "Gei! Liubo!" is crossfaded with "Bogi", but on the single, it wasn't crossfaded and its natural ending rang out, however on recent compilations, it just cuts off at the part of the end where "Bogi" is expected to begin.

In 1997, Sakhno rejoined the band and Evgeny Rogachevski joined as guitarist. With this new lineup, they began recording their third album, Khvyli Amura, released in 2000. Around that time, Skripka became interested in Indian music, and the album reflects that, particularly in the song "Den narodjennya".

In 2000, the band contributed tracks to tribute albums to Grazhdanskaya Oborona ("Pops") and Kino ("Pachka sigaret" and "Solnechnye dni"), and appeared on the Sprite Driver 2 compilation in 2001 with the song "Osen". The latter three songs were translated into Ukrainian and appeared as B-sides to the single "Mamay" that year. In 2002, the album Fayno was finally released, featuring "Solnechnye dni" (by then renamed "Sonyachni dni"), "Osen" (by then renamed "Zoryana osin"), a remixed version of "Mamay", a partially re-recorded version of "Pachka sigaret" (by then renamed "Pachka tsyharok") and a censored version of "Pops". The original presses on Lavina Music and Misteria Zvuka contained three bonus tracks: the original Russian version of "Osen", "The Pack of Cigarettes" (an English version of "Pachka sigaret") and "Les jours de soleil" (a French version of "Solnechnie dni"), demonstrating Oleg Skripka's multilingualism.

In 2006, Aleksandar Pipa left the band and was replaced by Aleksei Melchenko. They then recorded the album Buly denky, a compilation of old songs from the late 80s and early 90s which had never got the studio treatment before, but which had been played live. That year, they played the first "Rok-Sich" festival, a festival started by Skripka with the intent to foster local talent. The rules for the Rock Sich are that any genre other than pop is acceptable and that all bands must sing in Ukrainian, however VV broke their own rule and played "Pops" at the concert in the original Russian and with the original uncensored lyrics. The performance was released on CD in 2008, DVD in 2011 and double LP in 2012. The standard one-CD version of the Rock Sich album had two tracks cut due to space constraints, but a two-CD version was available with the missing tracks restored.

They released the singles "Lado" and "Chio San" in 2009 and "Vidpustka" (a reworking of a track from 1987) in 2010.

The band is still active. Their next album, "Chudovy svit", was released on 18 October 2013. "Lado", "Chio San" and "Vidpustka" were included on the album.

Members

Current members

• Oleg Skripka - lead vocals, accordion, guitars
• Aleksei Melchenko - bass
• Yevgeniy Rogachevsky - guitar, vocals
• Sergei Sakhno - drums, vocals

Former members

• Yuri Zdorenko - guitar, vocals (1986-1991)
• Aleksandr Pipa - bass (1986-2006)

Discography

• 1992 - Abo abo
• 1994 - Kraina Mriy
• 1997 - Muzika
• 2000 - Hvyli Amura
• 2002 - Fayno
• 2006 - Buly Denky
• 2008 - VV na sceni festivalju "ROK-SICH"
• 2013 - Chudovy svit

References

1. ↑ "КРАЇНА МРІЙ: міжнародний фестиваль & музичне видавництво". Krainamriy.com. 1997-07-26. Retrieved 2012-08-29. 

External links

• Official VV website
• Official YouTube channel
• Official Facebook page
• Official Twitter feed