Joanna Stingray now. Joanna Stingray tells the whole truth about Boris Grebenshchikov, Viktor Tsoi and Artemia Troitsky. Soviet people knew more about the United States than Americans
1983 University of Southern California student Joanna Fields recorded her first record, Beverly Hills Brat, releasing it under the name Joanna. In the image of the singer there is something from the early Cyndi Lauper, in the songs - a little punk. But this is not at all the Joanna that they will learn about in the USSR a few years later, and none of the songs from Beverly Hills Brat will be performed, re-released, or re-recorded, including the song Boys, They're My Toys with elements of a rhyme, in which, probably, various rock personalities of all times and peoples are mentioned. If you want to count their number, do not even try to bend your fingers - you still won't have enough of them.
In 1984, Joanna has the opportunity to visit the USSR as a tourist. Shortly before her, as it will soon turn out, fateful journey, the singer learns from her friends that rock music also exists in the Soviet Union, and at the same time receives the phone of the “real rock star of the Soviet Union” Boris Grebenshchikov. It was then that everything began to spin: acquaintance with the Leningrad rock party, material and moral assistance to the musicians, as well as first love in the person of Kino guitarist Yuri Kasparyan. A kind of summary of this whole story can serve as a video for the song Feeling, in which Joanna is sung by Viktor Tsoi, Yuri Kasparyan, Boris Grebenshchikov, Viktor Sologub (vocalist and bassist of the Strange Games group) and Sergey Kuryokhin. As for the video, you can very well organize a competition based on it, who will recognize the representatives of the Soviet / Russian rock scene more than others.
On the limit
The pseudonym Stingray (which means “electric ramp” in English) Joanna took to herself in those years when she secretly exported recordings of Soviet musicians to the United States. Being the object of surveillance by the KGB and the CIA at the same time, she managed to do the impossible: on June 26, 1986, a double vinyl compilation Red Wave was released on a small American label Big Time Records. It featured the Aquarium, Kino, Alice bands and Strange Games, which replaced the Zoo group at the last moment - each of them was assigned one side of a vinyl record. Despite the fact that music critics on the other side of the Iron Curtain were not too enthusiastic about the collection, the process of legalizing underground music in the USSR was initiated. True, for the release of Red Wave, which was considered a provocation in the official Soviet press, Joanna Stingray was sentenced to consecutive refusal of a Soviet visa for six months:
In 1986, I was refused permission to come to the Soviet Union for my own wedding with Yuri Kasparyan. I waited six months for my visa, and those were the six worst months of my life. It seemed to me then that everything was over, and it was Viktor [Tsoi] who supported me all this time. He wrote me letters with funny pictures in which he repeated: “Joe, don't be sad, you will definitely come back. We are all waiting for you, we are your friends and will not forget you. Please do not cry. Be happy". His letters and phone calls saved my life.
However, life put everything in its place. By the end of 1987, Joanna Stingray is still given permission to stay in the Soviet Union, and the singer soon appears on the program. Music ring. Perhaps it was one of the kindest releases of the program, and how the people in the hall danced to the rehashing of the legendary Back in the USSR by the no less legendary The Beatles (ironically recorded by Joanna in that same six-month period), it is better to see once.
In 1989 at the firm Melody the first Soviet record of the singer is released - the minion Stingray. It includes four songs written by Joanna together with Boris Grebenshchikov and Sergey Kuryokhin, including the aggressive composition Turn Away. By the way, quite famous personalities starred in the video for this song, among which in the future is the well-known Russian TV presenter, the owner of a smile that never leaves his face, Igor Vernik.
Nevertheless, rehashings occupy a significant part of Stingray's repertoire. The melody in them is mostly close to the original, and the words can be either an almost literal translation of the text of the original song, or written from scratch. The former include, for example, Rock'n'Roll is Dead and Ashes (in the original, these are the songs of the Aquarium Rock and roll is dead and Ash), and among the latter - Yerosha (i.e. Witch giving advice group games) and Danger! (in fact sad song Cinema). It is interesting to note that in the video for the last of them, Joanna appears in a not quite traditional way: on her head is a black hair wig, in which the singer can also be seen in an episode from the video for the song Feeling.
Tsoi Song, like Danger!, was included in Joanna's album Walking Through Windows (1991), which she dedicated to the memory of Viktor Tsoi, who died earlier in a car accident. On the back cover of the record, the singer left him a coded message: "YWNBFILYVMFUI". She continued this practice with respect to the Rock Me But Don't Disrupt My Mind compilation (which included songs recorded by Stingray between 1983 and 1987), placing another message there: "VT-ILUVVMAFURRRR". No less mysterious is the video for Tsoi Song, which in its style resembles the video clip of The Smiths The Queen is Dead.
steel wheels
The theme of Tsoi surfaced in Stingray's creative biography more than once: Joanna participated in a concert in memory of Viktor Tsoi, which took place on June 20, 1992 at Luzhniki, and in 1996 a documentary was released Sunny days, made by the singer from archival videos together with the former bassist of the Sounds of Mu Alexander Lipnitsky ... Have you noticed that a name has appeared that is already associated with the Moscow rock party? And the leader of the Brigade C and the Untouchables, Garik Sukachev, was noted even earlier, starring in two Stingray videos, namely for the song Dancing in the Sky and a version of the Beatles' Come Together, performed together with Boris Grebenshchikov.
At the end of the previous video, the inscription Greenpeace, familiar to many, is clearly visible, and it appeared for a reason: Joanna Stingray, in addition to music, is actively involved in conservation issues. The singer participated in a concert in support of Greenpeace and tried to teach Russian people not to litter with the help of social videos that were not devoid of a certain amount of humor (which is especially noticeable in the episode with Konstantin Kinchev).
Another interesting page in the biography of Joanna Stingray is her first and only film work. It happened in 1993, and the film in which Joanna played one of the main roles was called Freak. To some extent, the film justifies its name, since it turned out to be, to put it mildly, very eccentric. Stingray subsequently recalled her participation in the film as follows:
As for the movie Freak, it was made absolutely without my control. I like to have a little bit of my control in what I do - that I'm a producer too ... And in this film, I just did the job. It was very difficult. Although it is interesting - I looked from the inside, how movies are made. It's like a video clip, but very large.
The film itself was not officially released on cassette or DVD, but it can be easily found on the Web. However, like the video clip for the song Baby Baby Bala Bala, which was based on excerpts from Freak. It's a pity that the episodes with the dancing KGB colonel, the image of which was embodied by Alexei Zolotnitsky, and the epic "I love you, idiot!" performed by Joanna Stingray, otherwise it would have been a great promotional video for the film.
From Joanna's television appearances, in addition to appearing on Music ring, we also received a live recording from the St. Petersburg channel Fresh Wind during the transmission Live with Max. Unfortunately, only two songs from the TV concert were found on the Internet: Lost Souls and Demons Dancing. At the same time, it is known for sure that the full recording of Stingray's performance in the program Live with Max exists, - we are waiting, but for now you can listen, for example, to the composition Lost Souls in a live version and compare it with its album version from the studio album For a Moment (1994).
Dancing in heaven
Stingray's next studio album Shades of Yellow will be released only in 1998 - at that time the singer will already be living in the USA with her second husband Alexander Vasiliev (who is the drummer of the Center, and not the leader of the Spleen group) and raise their common daughter Madison. At the same time, Joanna will not forget about her connection with Russia: in 2004 she will come with concerts, and three years later she will record another studio album May There Always Be Sunshine, the title track from which is nothing more than an English version of a Soviet children's song May there always be sunshine which Joanna performed with her daughter.
In an interview, Joanna Stingray once admitted that she wants to write a book:
I have material for two photo album books - about Viktor Tsoi and about the Red Wave. There will be very few words. But maybe after some time I will write the real story of the "Red Wave" - after all, people still do not know in detail about this record. I feel like I'll be able to write about it soon.
That would be great, but Joanna's life as a whole is worthy of a book. Why are there books - a whole adaptation. The extraordinary adventures of an aspiring American rock singer in the Soviet Union, full of both joyful and sad moments, covering all social levels from the Soviet underground to the powers that be - in general, all this is rock and roll!
Joanna Stingray arrived in St. Petersburg, the American muse of the Leningrad Rock Club, who is credited not only with popularizing the music of Tsoi, Grebenshchikov and Kuryokhin abroad, but also with creating the style of rock performers. Sobaka.ru fashion editor Alina Malyutina asked Joanna about what was not in her - who she considered the main Russian fashionista, what gifts Kino brought from Andy Warhol, and who is really responsible for the cult images of the group.
You first came to Russia in 1984. How did you see the style of the locals?
Preparing for the trip with my sister Judy, who was sent to the USSR from the university, I, like all Americans, thought that life here was sad, cold, hungry. This is how Moscow seemed to me: frowning and indifferent people who wore only black and dark blue clothes, maneuvered between buildings with a gloomy and featureless facade. But Leningrad turned out to be completely different: it fascinated, shone, resembled Northern Venice - I finally saw what had been hiding behind the Iron Curtain for a long time! And when I was introduced to rock musicians, I realized that I didn’t want to leave here at all!
Which of them made the biggest impression on you?
Of course, this is Boris [Grebenshchikov]. One of my American friends knew him, who gave him his number and asked me to contact him upon his arrival in Russia. At first glance, he was indistinguishable from any Russian: in the same fur hat and long tweed coat. But at the same time, Boris had a lean rocker body and exquisite long hair. The way he took a cigarette, the way he smoked, the way he talked, made me melt. He was so smart, wise, deep, and I was a young naive girl!
The way Boris took a cigarette, the way he smoked, the way he talked, made me melt. He was so smart, wise, deep, and I was a young naive girl!
Sounds like the beginning of a romantic story...
No, no, nothing like that! (laughs) I was also struck by the guys from the Kino group - incredibly stylish! Then I didn’t understand this, but now I know that part of the thoughtful visual appearance of the musicians - from long black coats to whipped hair - came from Georgy Guryanov (drummer, arranger, author of some bass parts and backing vocalist of the Kino group - Note. ed.) I even have a video made before my wedding with Yuri [Kasparyan], in which Guryanov fluffs my hair the way they had it.
That is, your signature hairstyle has already appeared in Russia?
I've always wanted blonde hair, but in America, blondes were considered silly. I was not one, so I dyed my hair white, adding black strands (laughs) And the "whipped" hairstyle - I call it "poof" - appeared already here, in the rocker crowd.
Viktor Tsoi at the wedding of Joanna Stingray and Yuri Kasparyan (guitarist and one of the founders of the Kino group), 1987.
I always knew it was better to be one of the guys than to be with one of the guys. Yes, I had two Russian husbands and a couple of fleeting affairs with my Russian friends, but all twelve years of my almost non-stop stay in Russia - from the beginning of 1984 to 1996 - I remained “my boyfriend”. Coming from Los Angeles, a city that literally stands on inflexible stereotypes (including ideas about gender roles), I passionately began to imitate these men - smart, beautiful, talented. I merged with them in harmony - instead of preparing dinners for them; broke bottles with them instead of breaking hearts. I plunged into an atmosphere of euphoria in the company of young gods.
Artist Timur Novikov (left), Stingray and Kino drummer artist Georgy "Gustav" Guryanov. 1985.
It is generally accepted that if a woman rotates in a society of men for a long time, she inevitably acquires masculine features, becomes overly masculine. I, on the other hand, have never felt more feminine in my life. Our communication consisted of endless hugs, kisses, exchange of frivolous but sweet jokes. I had no relationship with any of them, there were no emotional barriers, so I felt incredible freedom: there was no need to hide my tenderness and you could just giggle stupidly and not think about the consequences. None of them tried to impress me and did nothing in front of me; in the same way I behaved freely and uninhibitedly with them. Our relationship was clean, there was no tension between us, and not once have I been disappointed in them.
Men are at their best when they don't risk disappointing you.
Since childhood, I was told: "Think before you speak." I have always been concerned about the opinions of others. With these guys, I thought a lot less and did a lot more and just lived. Our actions were instinctive, largely dictated by the body, not the mind - obeying a sudden impulse, we smeared paint on the canvas, pulled the guitar strings or began to bang on the keys.
With Konstantin Kinchev ("Alice)" on the set of the video "All this is rock and roll", 1992.
Let's be honest, who wouldn't be proud to meet Boris Grebenshchikov, the Kino group, Sergei Kuryokhin, Kostya Kinchev and many of my other friends - Russian rockers, artists and poets? Yes, I had many opportunities. Another in my place would fall at the feet of Boris, deifying him, until she lost touch with reality and with the “godfather of Russian rock” himself. How many women I have seen fawning over him, who did not realize that the higher they put him on a pedestal, the more they move away from him. And while they reverently prayed for his skyward appearance, I easily slipped into Boris's room and imperceptibly took him away.
With musician Sergei Kuryokhin in the Leningrad apartment of a Swedish diplomat, 1986.
With my Russian friends, I developed a unity that I liked to call "a society of mutual admiration" or simply "a holiday of love." I liked their strength, confidence and style; they liked my passion and defiance. Nobody took anything seriously, which is probably why we ended up taking each other seriously.
Today, the gulf separating men and women is wider than ever before. We look at each other as enemies, strangers, as a means to an end, or as something unknown and terrible, like a shadow flashing through the doorway. Recent events have given rise to fear that distorts and distorts our understanding of the human and does not allow us to communicate calmly and comfortably with the opposite sex. The time that I spent in Russia, and the relationships that I developed there, constantly remind me how each of us is able to give another inspiration and friendship.
With Boris Grebenshchikov in the bathroom of the Moscow hotel "Cosmos" on the set of the video I Got You Babe.
Boris remains a guiding star for me, a pure and bright poet. When we met, he was a soulful hippie with long blond hair and piercing blue eyes that could light up an entire city.
Viktor Tsoi had great charisma. It had magnetism. When he smiled, his kindness embraced me with its warmth.
He was always cheerful, it was easy with him, he was a stranger to artificiality, but he had sensuality and alluring eroticism. In other words, he was sexy. We could chat for hours, laugh, dance, and his soul was always on fire.
Sergey Kuryokhin - thick dark hair and perky puppy eyes - had a youthful seductiveness that easily turned into otherworldly genius. We loved to sit on the couch with our arms and legs crossed like tree roots greedily sucking up water. He was a rat-catcher, whose voice everyone obediently followed. He was bold and fearless.
From left to right: musician Viktor Sologub, Boris Grebenshchikov, Joanna Stingray, Viktor Tsoi, Konstantin Kinchev - still from the photo shoot for the Red Wave album in Mikhailovsky Garden, 1985.
Yuri Kasparyan (one of Joanna's husbands. - GQ note) can only be called Adonis - and not only because of the divine perfection of his face and body, but also because of the musicality of his soul. He was made of magic - calm, bright and strong.
Kostya Kinchev is a black panther with dark thoughtful eyes, whose gaze deeply pierces the soul. He was able to climb into the very depths of your consciousness in five minutes, but at the same time he was ready to offer himself in return. Mesmerizing, hypnotic and deep, it could be at the same time insane and devilishly frightening. Fyodor Bondarchuk is a magician of directing. He exuded strength, but the artistic vision never outweighed the human attitude towards the actors. Today, unfortunately, this balance is almost forgotten.
With Vyacheslav Butusov (Nautilus Pompilius), 1991.
Gustav Guryanov is an artist to the core. Every street of St. Petersburg, where he stepped foot, he transformed into New York's Madison Avenue. The geometry of perfection was read in his face, he was brave and playful.
Artyom Troitsky said what he thought without smoothing his thoughts. Witty and casual in his snobbish coolness. His knowledge of the West was encyclopedic, far greater than mine, and like an ancient storyteller, he shared it in stories and tales, like a fashionable New York journalist.
Yes, there were vicious, dark and destructive men in our midst. Yes, there are downsides to being a woman among men all the time. But there is also beauty and charm. A woman does not need to be afraid to become "her boyfriend". All my Russian friends are beautiful, regardless of shoulder span, chest width or sexual power. These are people who gave me love and support simply because I was there. And, I tell you, existence without such people loses its meaning.