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The following article was published in the latest issue of “The Velvet Collar” (the world’s top Teddy Boy magazine) with the accompanying illustrations.

"Rockin' behind the Iron Curtain"; the old Huey Piano Smith number has come true ! (despite the disappearance of the Curtain itself). Rock'n'roll is alive and kickin' in Russia. Russia and especially Moscow is one of the fastest growing rock 'n' roll scenes in the world. 

The clientele are predominantly young people. Russia has much fewer older rockers going back to the 50s or our UK Revival period of the 70s: The Communist Party and the history of the Soviet Union didn't encourage such capitalist culture. I left the UK to live and work in Russia in August 2004. The contrast that immediately struck me most between the rock'n'roll in the 2 countries was the different generations who follow the great music. Here in Russia young people are joining and staying with it. How Russian rock’n’roll got to this healthy position is linked to Russia’s recent history.

                      THE HISTORY

Here is the History of Russian Rock’n’Roll and the Teddy Boys’ part in it: 

During the 1950s in the USSR some people were playing rock’n’roll records but mainly at home. Then in 1959 the Soviet authorities organized a huge youth festival in Moscow. They invited musicians from the USA to come and play, comprising mainly rockabilly, rock’n’roll and jazz bands. The influence of this festival on some young Russians was immense. It kick-started a significant youth culture movement in Russia, centred on St Petersburg and Moscow.

But some young Russians paid a price for this festival. Some of the young Muscovite women tried to get to know more about this exciting culture by chatting to the American musicians during the festival and the American men and the Russian women exchanged their experiences in their respective countries.  Later the authorities singled out these women and the Militzia (Russian police) arrested them. Their hair was cut and their dresses torn. In other words they were publicly humiliated. It was a clear signal from the Communists that while they were happy to allow a one-off festival, fraternizing with the “class enemy” was still forbidden. 

After this festival some of the youth refused to be intimidated and began a youth culture of their own. Foremost in this Movement from the early 60s was the Stelyagi (based on the Russian word for “style”). They were more or less the first real rock’n’rollers in Russia. They were not Teddy Boys but the nearest thing the USSR had to Teds. Their style was not 100% rock’n’roll - they also listened to and followed other brands of music such as jazz – and this was also reflected in their style of clothing. But it was close enough to establish them as the original Russian youth rebels. 

Teddy Boy Drape jackets were in evidence here as far back as the 1950s and 1960s, centred on Leningrad (now called St Petersburg) and Moscow. Here's the story:

Drape jackets were seen being worn in the 50s but on a very small scale. Then in the early 1960s Russian Leader Nikita Krushchev, even though the "Cold War" against the West was in full flow (this was the time of the Cuban missile crisis), allowed greater relaxation in cultural activities at home including rock'n'roll. Hence a larger number of drape jackets were seen being worn at this time. Later on in the 1960s the new Russian Leader Leonid Brezhnev, while not banning it completely, clamped down more on this "Western decadence".

But a section of the youth from the early 60s onwards refused to give up and continued to rebel by staying with and adapting their own culture. This culture displayed shades of mod, rockabilly, rock’n’roll and other influences. Again it was the Stelyagi, certainly in the 60s, who were in the forefront. This rebellion continued up to and into the period of Perestroika which began in the mid-80s (Perestroika being part of the momentous changes in the Soviet Union under Mikhail Gorbachev). 

And from 1979 a new phenomenon – a group openly calling themselves Teddy Boys ! Based in St Petersburg they were formed from out of the Stelyagi movement. In 1982 they formed their own club “the Leningrad Teddy Boys Club”, based in the centre of the city. Their unofficial “leader” was Anton “Teddy”. He was an icon amongst the youth at that time and a well known figure in cultural circles during the 80s. The Teddy Boys’ Club was very knowledgeable on western youth culture and were instrumental in giving information and advice to the rockabilly rebels of that period, on such things as the correct style of dress, authentic sound of music, etc. 

The Teddy Boy Club lasted up to 1984. Unlike in the UK the youth identities were much more fluid: By the mid-80s these Teds who were still very much part of the Stelyagi culture had adopted other styles such as punk, biker, rockabilly or new wave, etc.

During the 80s, both before and during Perestroika, the violence between these youth groups escalated. There had been trouble before dating from the 60s. But by the beginning of the 80s gangs of Stelyagi, Teds, punks and bikers became more organized and the aggro between them developed into real gang warfare. While  not idealising violence, there is one interesting aspect to this “warfare”. It was a code of honour amongst the gangs that no weaponry such as guns, knives, etc., was permitted. And this code was adhered to ! This was deeply rooted in Russian culture, something along the lines of “you defend yourself by yourself alone” with no unfair advantage. That’s not to say there were no deaths; there were, from beatings and the like.  

From the above one can see the importance of the Stelyagi in the history of Russian youth culture. In the 1980s their numbers markedly increased (as did the numbers generally in this youth “rebellion”). Many movements sprang from them, for example the Teddy Boys in the early 1980s. Teds did re-appear again in the 90s after the fall of the Soviet Union, but the numbers were small and those involved soon gravitated to other styles, similar to the way the members of the Leningrad Teddy Boys Club did in the mid-80s. The Stelyagi had some rockabilly influences - later in the 80s and even more so in the 90s another group established itself, decidedly more hep cat in style. They were more clearly identifiable than other Stelyagi as being rockabilly with regard to their clothes and the music they followed. 

In the 90s in true youth culture tradition the Stelyagi and the Rockabillies had serious feuds and fights against each other ! This included many criminal arrests mainly in St Petersburg. Russian friends who lived through those times tell me this violence was inspired mainly by what the 2 groups had learned about British rock history e.g. 50s Teddy Boys’ aggression, Mods vs. Rockers, Teds / Rockabillies vs. Punks / Skinheads, etc.  In other words they felt this was what they were expected to do. So this was another famous British export !

These Russian pioneers of youth culture deserve praise. Supporting rock’n’roll (and even more so in the period before Perestroika) at that time carried dangers with the authorities so they were real rock’n’roll revolutionaries. In Russia today there are only a few Stelyagi left but quite a few rockabilly hep cats (old and new). 

The early 1990s witnessed something else. At that time the antics of what can only be described as real gangsters were much more prevalent than they were before or since. Here are some facts:

Some members of bands were killed by gangsters in shoot outs; one was even killed on stage ! This lawlessness was not confined to the music business but was part of society generally for that brief period. And unlike the “code of honour” mentioned above, these gangsters were bereft of honour and used guns, knives, the lot. Things settled down and now such outrages are a thing of the past (with very few exceptions). But those who lived through these times understandably haven’t forgotten. Thank goodness for Vladimir Putin and law and order !

In the 1990s with the end of the Soviet Union and greater freedom, local rock'n'roll bands attracted huge crowds especially in Moscow and St Petersburg. Unfortunately the quality of the Russian bands then was not particularly good (with some fine exceptions). But then something strange happened. By the turn of the millennium the rock'n'roll crowds had got smaller but the quality of the bands had drastically improved ! The huge crowds had partly been a reflection of Perestroika and Glasnost and the "opening up" culturally of the country after decades of Communism. After a while many simply gravitated to other things as more and more choices became available. And the crowd that stayed with the music tended to gravitate towards rockabilly rather than standard rock'n'roll. Another phenomenon was the strong support for psychobilly. 
The history of the old Soviet Union meant that most members of the bands never grew up with the authentic r'n'r sound like we did in the UK i.e. listening to it on the radio, TV, or other mass media outlets. So what they did was play and re-play vinyls of the original r'n'r recordings when they became more available from the 1980s onwards (that’s not to say they were completely forbidden in the old Soviet Union, but they were hard to come by). After countless hours of such "homework" the musicians finally acquired the authentic sound, adding on their own individual styles. And the results were impressive.
As you can see the Teddy Boy movement did play a part in the history of Russian youth culture. Today you see the odd drape jacket being worn in the clubs now but no real Teds (apart from the ex-pat writing this article). But the rockers here are genuinely interested in the Teds. As this article testifies Teddy Boys are part of the history of Russian rock’n’roll and youth culture. 

Thanks to my Russian friends who lived through the times above before I came to live in Moscow in 2004, who helped me with the contents of this article. Special thanks to Sergey Kuteynikov and Mikhail “Mike Buster”.

ROCK’N’ROLL IN RUSSIA NOW 

Here’s some info on the scene now here in the East ………

First of all Russian entry prices to the clubs are much lower than in the UK. For example at the Rock'n'Roll Pub, the premier venue for rock'n'roll in Moscow, entry to see most of the local bands is free (which means expenses are re-couped from the takings at the bar). If a big name band is playing or a band from out of town is performing, the entry varies from 100 / 150 / 200 rubles i.e. 2, 3 or 4 pounds. And the quality of the groups here is excellent. See what I mean by checking out the following great Russian Bands on www.youtube.com (in the youtube search engine box add "Moscow" after each band's name):
DENIS MAZHUKOV AND OFFBEAT - DIAMOND HAND - STRESSOR - GREAT PRETENDERS - BEAT DEVILS - ALLIGATORS - CORAL REEFS

Global economies like China, India and Russia are growing and those in the West are stagnating (albeit all economies have been blasted by the recent global crisis) - as a result we'll see a change in the future regarding which countries call the shots in the world. Similarly in our rock'n'roll world the same thing may well be happening. Bit like England's national football team - we gave the game to the world and look what a mess we're in (although credit to Capello, things are getting better) ! 

Those of you who go to the Rockabilly Rave back in the UK, don't be fooled re. the quality of Russian rockabilly by the last Russian band that performed there, the Neva River Rockets from St Petersburg. Nothing personal, I spoke to them at a gig when they were last in Moscow and they're nice guys. But compared to the best Russian bands they're strictly non-league. I could quote you over half a dozen Russian bands who are premier league material who were NOT invited to the Rave.
The best bands here in Russia are not just cheap imitations of the Western sound - they have their own style and stand up in comparison with all but the elite bands in the West. If Moscow and St Petersburg were closer geographically to the UK these bands would be touring and you'd see what I mean.

More info about Russian rock’n’roll can be found on my web-site at www.coopjive.co.uk (head for the feedback page).

“You can be sure, you can be certain, they’re rockin’ behind that old Iron Curtain” ……………

Richard Hume