- Included in the Under Appreciated Rock List.
- BLACK RUSSIAN, the first band from the Soviet Union to be signed to a major U.S. record label (Motown Records, believe it or not).
- The Original Facebook Posts about BLACK RUSSIAN are at: Original Facebook Posts / Apr 2015 / BLACK RUSSIAN (Part 1) and Original Facebook Posts / Apr 2015 / BLACK RUSSIAN (Part 2).
Martin Winfree
May 21, 2015
The Under Appreciated Rock Band of the Month for April 2015 is BLACK RUSSIAN, the first band from the Soviet Union to be signed to a major U.S. record label (Motown Records, believe it or not). They are a remarkable R&B band with a slight disco tinge that was promoted fairly heavily but to no avail; one of the musicians who recorded their album with them called them “revolutionary”. Afterward, the female member of the band, Natasha Shneider went in a completely different musical direction and often played keyboards with stoner-rock heroes Queens of the Stone Age. This might be the latest I have been yet with my post, I don’t know; and I had to split this one into two parts again (that’s the third time in the past year alone, and I have been consciously trying to keep these posts shorter). However, it took a lot more time and research and space than I expected to do justice to the incredible legacy of Natasha Shneider, who does have a Wikipedia article. Here is Part 1:
Here is Part 2:
UNDER APPRECIATED ROCK BAND OF THE MONTH FOR APRIL 2015: BLACK RUSSIAN (Part 1)
Speaking broadly, originally playing music and writing music were almost completely separate professions; and this division persisted until well into the 1960’s. For instance, Elvis Presley had no input on the writing of virtually all of his songs; according to Wikipedia, Elvis was actually a co-writer only on “You’ll Be Gone” and “That’s Someone You Never Forget”. If you like to check the fine print on record albums and labels like I do, this might not be immediately apparent, because songwriting credits are funny things – as long as everyone involved is in agreement (more or less), you can put down whomever you want….
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Rachel Wagoner
I miss No Doubt!!!!