Lubeh
Encyclopedia
Lubeh is a Russian rock
band from Lubertsy, a suburb of Moscow
. The band consists of Nikolay Rastorguyev (vocals), Vitaliy Loktev (keyboards, accordion), Aleksandr Erokhin (drums), Anatoliy Kuleshov (backing vocals, choral master), Aleksey Khokhlov (guitar), Pavel Usanov (bass guitar), Aleksey Tarasov (backing vocals), and Yuriy Rymanov (guitar). The band's producer
and main songwriter
has been Igor Matvienko.
, traditional Russian folk music
and military bard music
. Starting in 1989, they have released 16 albums.
Lubeh is one of the few rock and roll groups whose audience garners a wide listening audience. Fans and concert-goers are from a wide range of ages, including seniors, teenagers, children and parents. At least one of their concerts has been attended by former Russian president Vladimir Putin
who happens to be a big fan.
Their name comes from that of the Moscow
suburb of Lyubertsy
, which during the late 1980s and early 1990s was a center of luber culture, whose values are in part reflected in Lubeh's songs.
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
band from Lubertsy, a suburb of Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
. The band consists of Nikolay Rastorguyev (vocals), Vitaliy Loktev (keyboards, accordion), Aleksandr Erokhin (drums), Anatoliy Kuleshov (backing vocals, choral master), Aleksey Khokhlov (guitar), Pavel Usanov (bass guitar), Aleksey Tarasov (backing vocals), and Yuriy Rymanov (guitar). The band's producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
and main songwriter
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
has been Igor Matvienko.
Musical style
Lubeh's music combines elements of Western rock and rollRock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
, traditional Russian folk music
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
and military bard music
Bard (Soviet Union)
The term bard came to be used in the Soviet Union in the early 1960s, and continues to be used in Russia today, to refer to singer-songwriters who wrote songs outside the Soviet establishment, similarly to beatnik folk singers of the United States...
. Starting in 1989, they have released 16 albums.
The group
The band has six members, led by the singer Nikolay Rastorguyev, one of the People's Artists of Russia. In the mid-1990s, the band surprisingly released an album of Beatles covers. The album Rasseya, released in 2004, includes a remake of one of their older songs and a rock rendition of the Hymn of the Russian Federation. Lubeh has only produced one song in English, called No More Barricades, which deals with Russian democracy.Lubeh is one of the few rock and roll groups whose audience garners a wide listening audience. Fans and concert-goers are from a wide range of ages, including seniors, teenagers, children and parents. At least one of their concerts has been attended by former Russian president Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin served as the second President of the Russian Federation and is the current Prime Minister of Russia, as well as chairman of United Russia and Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Union of Russia and Belarus. He became acting President on 31 December 1999, when...
who happens to be a big fan.
Their name comes from that of the Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
suburb of Lyubertsy
Lyubertsy
Lyubertsy is a city and the administrative center of Lyuberetsky District of Moscow Oblast, Russia. Population: Lyubertsy was founded in 1623, and it became a city in 1925.-Notable people:*Sergei Abeltsev, LDPR politician...
, which during the late 1980s and early 1990s was a center of luber culture, whose values are in part reflected in Lubeh's songs.
Notable songs
- "Atas!" - inspired by the 1979 Soviet TV-miniseries The Meeting Place Cannot Be ChangedThe Meeting Place Cannot Be ChangedThe Meeting Place Cannot Be Changed is a 1979 Soviet 5-part television miniseries directed by Stanislav Govorukhin. It achieved the status of a cult film in the USSR, and along with Seventeen Moments of Spring it became a part of popular culture with several generations of russophone TV viewers...
about criminals in post World War II Moscow, which became a hit and made the band famous in 1991 - "Bat'ka Mahno" - a song on the anarchist Nestor MakhnoNestor MakhnoNestor Ivanovych Makhno or simply Daddy Makhno was a Ukrainian anarcho-communist guerrilla leader turned army commander who led an independent anarchist army in Ukraine during the Russian Civil War....
was made twice, put in three albums - "Ne valyai duraka, Amerika!" - a humorous song about AlaskaAlaskaAlaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
's purchase by the U.S.United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district... - "Kombat" - A tribute to World War II veterans. Commonly mistaken for "one of many songs inspired by Lyube's experiences in ChechnyaChechnyaThe Chechen Republic , commonly referred to as Chechnya , also spelled Chechnia or Chechenia, sometimes referred to as Ichkeria , is a federal subject of Russia . It is located in the southeastern part of Europe in the Northern Caucasus mountains. The capital of the republic is the city of Grozny...
, where they performed on many occasions, in order to boost the morale of the Russian army". The Russian word "Kombat" does not mean "combat", but is the standard military abbreviation for "BATtalion COMmander". - "Soldat" - similar to "Kombat".
- "Stantsiya Taganskaya" - a song inspired by the Moscow Metro station of the same name.
- "Ty nesi menya reka..." - the most popular of Lubeh's many themes to Russian TV series
- "Beryozy" - a theme from the 2003 TV series Uchastok, used on two albums
- "Davay za" - theme from the television miniseries SpetsnazSpetsnaz (miniseries)-Overview:The series is set mostly in Russia and follows the adventures of four members of the GRU spetsnaz...
Discography
- Атас (Atas, slang for "alert" — 1989)
- Кто сказал, что мы плохо жили..? (Kto skazal, chto my plokho zhili...?, "who said that we lived badly?" — 1992)
- Зона Любэ (Zona lyube, "Lyube zone" — 1993)
- Комбат (Kombat, "battalion commander" — 1996)
- Собрание сочинений (Sobranie sochineniy, "collected works" — 1996)
- Песни о людях (Pesni o ludyakh, "songs about people" — 1997)
- Песни из концертной программы "Песни о людях" (Iz kontsertnoy programmy "Pesni o ludyakh" ("From the concert programs of 'Songs about people'", two-disc concert recording — 1998)
- Полустаночки (Polustanochki, "substations" — 2000)
- Собрание сочинений. Том 2 (Sobranie sochineniy, Tom 2, "collected works, volume 2" — 2001)
- Давай за… (Davay za..., "let's do it for..." — 2002)
- Юбилей. Лучшие песни (Yubilej. Luchshiye Pesni, "anniversary, best of", two-disc concert recording — 2002)
- Ребята нашего полка (Rebyata nashego polka, "the guys in our regiment" — 2004)
- Рассея (Rasseya, "Russia" with a typically patriotic spelling variation — 2005)
- В России (V Rossiyi, "in Russia" — 2007)
- Собрание сочинений. Том 3 (Sobranie sochinenyi. Tom 3, "collected works volume 3" — 2008)
- Свои (Svoi, "ours" — 2009)