Stas Namin
Encyclopedia
Stas Namin is a Russian-Armenian
musician, composer, and record producer; artist and photographer; theatre and film director and producer; entrepreneur, promoter, and businessman. As leader of the band Flowers (Tsvety) which was the first top popular rock-band in the USSR and was called “Russian Beatles”, he gained cult figure status as one of the founders of indigenous Russian rock music. From 1970-2000 Namin initiated many innovative projects which brought dramatic changes to the Russian cultural landscape. He established the Stas Namin Centre, an independent producing hub which launched the careers of many well-known Russian performing artists, composers, poets, designers, and other creative talents of the new Russia. He initiated, produced and promoted the first music festivals ever held in Russia, including the International Moscow Music Peace Festival at Lenin Stadium in 1989 considered as “Russian Woodstock”, the series of “One World” festivals, historical “Rock from Kremlin”, and others. A pioneer of the Russian independent entertainment industry, he broke the Government monopoly and founded the country’s first private (non-governmental) concert agency, design studio, record label, radio station, television company, symphony orchestra, and musical theater. Additionally, he has directed the largest independent international festivals of Russian culture in his country and abroad.
Stas was raised by his mother, who impressed on him from an early age the importance of music and literature. Dmitri Shostakovich, Aram Khachaturian, Mstislav Rostropovich, Leonid Kogan, Alfred Shnitke, Giya Kancheli, Georgy Sviridov, and other famous musicians and cultural figures often visited their home. The first music teacher Stas studied under was the composer Arno Babadzhanyan.
In 1957, six year-old Stas entered Moscow elementary school No. 74, and four years later, on his father’s insistence, became a cadet of the Moscow Suvorov Military School. While studying there, he heard for the first time the music of The Beatles and The Rolling Stones, experiences which precipitated a life-long love affair with rock music. Following his passion, young Stas founded the rock bands Magicians (Charodei) in 1964 and Politburo in 1967. After enrolling in the Maurice Thorez Moscow Institute of Foreign Languages in 1969, Stas became the lead guitarist of the band Glimmers (Bliki) which was already quite popular in student circles.
At the end of the ‘60s, Stas became fascinated with the hippie and Flower Children subculture which protested against the existing societal order. In 1969, inspired by the legendary hippie rock festival Woodstock, he created the band Flowers which became the first national super-group, initiating the movement of rock music among the Russian masses. Flowers’ first single, released on a Melodiya label compilation in 1972 together with songs by other amateur student ensembles, unexpectedly sold an unprecedented 7 million copies. In 1973 a second single was issued with just as large a distribution. The Moscow press dubbed Flowers the “Soviet Beatles” in 1974, yet in the very same year the Ministry of Culture of the Soviet Union banned the group, denouncing the band and even its name as “propaganda of the western ideology and idea of hippie.”
There exist, however, a different story of the group's disbandment. According to it, the Namin's official employer, Moscow Oblast Philharmony, reaped enormous profits from the group's concerts, and thus forced an extremely exhausting touring schedule on its members, at times up to three gigs per day, at the same time denying them any royalties and paying only a flat rate. Tired and enraged by this mistreatment and constant conflicts with various bureaucrats, Namin disbanded the group himself, and the ban was more of a face-keeping gesture by the Ministry, embarrassed and enraged by the group's disobedience.
Forced into a two-year hiatus, Namin devoted himself to the completion of his studies at Moscow State University, to which he had transferred in 1972. At that time he mostly associated with progressive poets, artists, and other dissidents, such as Anatoly Zverev, Joseph Kiblitsky, Oleg Tselkov, Alyona Basilova, Henry Sapgir, Yuz Aleshkovsky, and others. Together with them Namin witnessed the historical “Bulldozer Exhibition” and many other of the regime’s acts of repression against the artistic intelligentsia. At that time, under the influence of The Beatles and having developed an appreciation for Indian music and Vedic culture, he became one of the initial supporters of the Movement for Krishna Consciousness in Russia.
At the end of 1976, Namin gathered together the members of Flowers and renewed the band’s career without the prohibited name, now simply The Stas Namin Group. Many doubted that Namin’s band could reach the height of its previous popularity without the superstar name Flowers, but with the release of the band’s first single, millions of fans recognized their idols, and The Stas Namin Group was just as successful as before. Just as Flowers had been officially banned, so too was The Stas Namin Group, and the band was forbidden to appear on television, radio, or in the press.
Ten years into their careers, in the slight “Thaw” of 1979-1980, the members of the band were finally able to release the solo album Hymn to the Sun (Gimn solntsu) and other recordings; to appear in the film Fancying Love (Fantaziya na temu lyubvi); and to broadcast a performance on television. In 1981 however, after their triumphant performance at a Namin-iniciated music festival in Yerevan and enthusiastic articles in Time magazine, The Stas Namin Group again fell into disgrace, becoming a direct target of the KGB.
In response to the repression, Namin refused to compromise any longer. He proposed to the executives at Melodiya his new repertoire: rock songs with harsh lyrics based on actual poems of social commentary. He sampled from such poems as “Nostalgia for the Present” (“Nostalgiya po nastoyaschemu”) by Andrei Voznesensky; “Idol” (“Idol”) and “I Don’t Surrender” (“Ya ne sdayus”) by Evgeny Evtushenko; “Empty Nut” (“Pustoi orekh”) by Yuri Kuznetsov; “Once at Night” (“Odnazhdy nochyu”) by David Samoilov; “Elegy” (“Elegiya”) by Nikolai Rubtsov, and others. These songs did not have the naive romantic texts and lyrical melodies of the ‘70s hits to which the public and the record company were accustomed. Despite the fact that Melodiya had received a huge profit from the millions of Flowers’ records sold (and all without paying royalties to the performers), the record company shut its doors to The Stas Namin Group forever.
In 1983, Namin, at a dead end with his musical career, decided to switch professions. With his friend Alexander Kaidanovsky, he enrolled in graduate courses for screenwriters and movie directors under the tutelage of Goskino of the USSR, where he was taught by Alexander Mitta, Lev Gumilev, and Paola Volkova, among others. During this period Namin shot the first Russian music video to present an openly political subtext, to the song “Old New Year”’ (“Stary Novy God”) with the poetry of Andrei Voznesensky. The video was not broadcast until 1986 on MTV in the U.S.
Even Namin’s unambiguously positive song “We Wish You Happiness” (“My zhelayem schastya vam”), which was written in the beginning of 1982 and marked the end of the band’s romantic period, was prohibited. Today a national classic, the song finally appeared on television in 1985, thanks to the support of the composer Alexandra Pakhmutova.
When Mikhail Gorbachev
came to power in 1986, ushering in the new policy of Perestroika, Stas Namin’s 6-month stand against the USSR Ministry of Culture ended with the realization of the joint Russia-U.S. project “Peace Child” with David Woollcombe (U.S.) In this new era of openness, The Stas Namin Group broke through the Iron Curtain, becoming the first Russian rock band to tour the United States. For several years the band traveled around the world, staging concerts in Japan, Europe, South America, Africa, and Australia.
The Stas Namin Group disbanded in 1990 when Namin became busy with other creative pursuits. It would be ten years before the band reunited, again as The Flowers, but with Namin participating solely in the role of producer.
The Flowers and The Stas Namin Group sold more than 60 million records on the Melodiya label. Namin authored nearly fifty Flowers songs, the majority of which were banned. Among those which were released, “Early to Say Good-Bye” (“Rano proschatsiya”), “Summer Night” (“Letny vecher”), “Jurmala,” “We Wish You Happiness” (“My zhelayem schastya vam”), and others became national hits. More than fifty musicians began their careers in The Flowers, among them Sergei Dyachkov, Alexey Kozlov, Sergei Dyuzhikov, Yuri Fokin, Konstantin Nikolsky, Igor Sarukhanov, Alexander Marshall, Alexander Malinin, Andrei Sapunov, Sergei Voronov, and many others. Some of The Flowers’s band members were the foundation for the famous rock group Gorky Park.
After Gorbachev’s brave pronouncement in 1987 that “what is not forbidden is allowed,” one of Russia’s first non-governmental organizations, the Stas Namin Centre (SNC), opened its doors on the grounds of Gorky Park in Moscow. It was the country’s earliest producing centre for the arts and independent sound recording studio which gathered under its roof young artists, poets, designers, and musicians who had been restricted previously. It laid the groundwork for the development of the bands Brigada S, Moral Code (Moralny Kodeks), Kalinov Bridge (Kalinov Most), Night Avenue (Nochnoi Prospekt), Nicolaus Copernicus (Nikolay Kopernik), Megapolis, Spleen, and many others.
Returning from his first concert tour in the West, in 1987 Namin decided to try his hand as a producer in the worldwide entertainment industry. He put together a rock band aimed at a Western audience and named it after its birthplace – Gorky Park. Namin chose musicians, rehearsed with them for two years in his studio at the Stas Namin Centre, and created a demo recording. With the support of the American rock group Bon Jovi, Namin attracted the attention of PolyGram Records President Dick Asher who came to Moscow to sign a record deal with the new band. Gorky Park was propelled into stardom with its performance in the Namin-produced 1989 historical rock festival against drug abuse held at Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow. The band played on equal footing with worldwide superstars including Bon Jovi, Mötley Crüe, Ozzy Osbourne, Scorpions, and Cinderella. The festival was broadcast to 59 countries and secured popularity for Gorky Park around the world.
By the end of the '80s, the Stas Namin Centre had gained cult status. It had become a place in Moscow where one could meet the most interesting and progressive people of Russia and the world: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Peter Gabriel, U2, Annie Lennox, Pink Floyd, Robert De Niro, and Quincy Jones, among others. The group Scorpions dedicated its hit “Wind of Change” to the Center, and the famous Frank Zappa, Namin’s guest, shot a film about it.
At the beginning of the 1990s, Namin separated his projects into those that were related to art and for all intents and purposes were charitable, and those that were connected to business and commercial activity.
The Stas Namin Centre (SNC) Holding Company became the first de facto Russian independent entertainment corporation, having broken up the government’s monopoly on show business ventures. The activity of the SNC, however, was in actuality non-commercial, since then in Russia there was not only no independent entertainment industry, but also no money. The goal was really to develop innovative projects since nothing similar had existed in the country previously.
The SNC Holding Company comprised the firms which had been created for the development of culture: the sound recording studio SNC Studio, the producing center SNC, the concert agency SNC Concerts, the design studio SNC Design, the modeling agency and fashion show productions SNC Fashion, the restaurant Hard Rock Cafe, the record label SNC Records, the gallery of contemporary arts and applied arts Stanbet Gallery, the radio station Radio SNC, the television company SNC TV, and a glossy magazine. At this same time Namin established the Moscow Symphony Orchestra and the ice show “Moscow on Ice,” both of which put on performances around the world. Particularly memorable was the 1991 joint tour of the English band Electric Light Orchestra-Part II and the Moscow Symphony Orchestra around Great Britain.
In 1989 one of the first Russian-American joint enterprises, Stanbet, was officially launched. Later it was converted into a Russian holding company which had contractual agreements with foreign and Russian partners and business projects that united them.
Projects included in the Stanbet Holding Company which were not related to culture were: Stanbet Sports (sports agency), Stanbet Trading (trade), Stanbet Publishing (publishing house), Stanbet Entertainment (show business), Stanbet Development (development of real estate), Stanbet Energy (energy technology), Stanbet Electronics (Hi-End laboratory).
From 1992 to 1996 Namin spent a lot of time in the U.S. working with his partners Fuller Developments, Atwood Richards, Sachs Associates, and others. He gained valuable experience in fields of business that were new to him while simultaneously managing the activity of his Centre in Moscow.
In this period, Namin fell in love with aeronautics. In 1992 he constructed his first hot air balloon and organized Russia’s original festival of hot air balloons on Red Square in Moscow. He ordered the assembly of the first Russian special-shape hot air balloon – a Yellow Submarine, which was declared one of the most popular balloons of the world at the 1994 Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta in New Mexico (U.S.) and was entered into a catalog of the best hot air balloons in the world.
Since 1987, riding the wave of Perestroika’s possibilities for non-governmental entertainment opportunities, free of bureaucratic censorship, Namin had been pursuing new ventures in the performing arts, keeping his own personal projects on the back burner. In the second half of the ‘90s however, disillusioned with show business, he stopped and froze the majority of the ventures related to independent entertainment in the SNC Holding Company. Those which remained shifted focus from big business to individual, non-mainstream projects with a personal, creative bent.
In 1996, Namin achieved renown as a photographer with the resounding success of his inaugural photo exhibit at the Central Exhibition Hall in Moscow (Bolshoi Manezh). His photos were also showcased as individual exhibits at the Central House of Artists in Moscow and at the Russian Museum in St. Petersburg, where catalogs of his photographs were issued.
During this time Namin recorded several solo albums in different genres – ethnic, rock, and jazz. He dedicated his most famous album Kamasutra to his deceased friend, the famous musician Frank Zappa.
Namin traveled extensively in these same years. While participating in an around-the-world Heyerdahl expedition with Yuri Senkevich and while touring on other frequent trips to Africa and South America, Namin produced several documentary films which ultimately became part of his video series International Geographic.
In 1999 the Stas Namin Moscow Music and Drama Theatre commenced its first season. The theatre opened with a premiere of the legendary American rock musical Hair (Volosy), the first musical production of its kind to be executed in Russia, which was performed non-stop throughout the first day. Other works in the repertoire of the theatre were – Vladimir Voinovich’s comedy Private Chonkin (Soldat Chonkin); the tragedy Four Stories (Chetyre istorii) adapted from Alexander Pushkin’s Little Tragedies (Malenkiye tragedii); Federico Garcia Lorca’s drama The House of Bernarda Alba (Dom Bernardy Alby); Andrew Lloyd Webber’s rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar - the English language version performed for the first time in Russia; Randy Bowser’s musical Dorian the Remarkable Mister Gray (based on Oscar Wilde’s Picture of Dorian Grey); the children’s musical The Musicians of Bremen (Bremenskiye Muzykanti), and many others. The Moscow Music and Drama Theatre became the first de facto repertory theatre of musicals in the country, producing shows less like Broadway productions and more like chamber music performances assembled around the director first, then the actors’ performances, and finally live music. This model proved to be very popular; all of the musical performances in Namin’s theatre have had long runs, including the musical Hair which has been on stage for ten years now. In 2006 Namin’s production of Hair wowed audiences in Los Angeles and again in 2008 in New York participated in celebration of 40th anniversary of Hair’s Broadway production.
Today the Stas Namin Centre is a non-commercial organization that works to preserve Russian cultural traditions and promote contemporary Russian art in the world. To this end, the Centre organizes intergovernmental and independent international festivals, exhibitions, educating programs, and other cultural events in the spheres of music, film, theatre, arts, and others. One important project in this vein is the largest independent festival of Russian culture “Russian Nights” which has been held in several countries, including the U.S., Korea, China, and Germany. The festival has its own prize, the Tower Award, which is bestowed upon distinguished personalities for their contributions to world culture. Past recipients of the Tower Award are: the writers Ray Bradbury and Gore Vidal; the artist Peter Max; the directors Oliver Stone, Francis Ford Coppola, and William Friedkin; the producers Peter Hoffman and Roger Corman; and the actors Shirley MacLaine, Sharon Stone, Nastassja Kinski, Dustin Hoffman, Leonardo DiCaprio, Harrison Ford, and Ben Kingsley, among others.
In the years since 2000, Namin has seriously indulged in graphic arts. In 2006 at the Bakhrushin Theater Museum he showcased his graphics, paintings, and mixed technique works in which he experimented with computer and other modern technologies. Today his artistic works are displayed in prestigious collections, galleries, and museums in Russia and abroad.
Namin’s musical creations since 2000 are mostly focused on experimentation with ethnic and symphony music. His suite “Fall in Petersburg” (“Osen v Peterburge”) was first heard in 2007 at Moscow’s International House of Music in a performance by the Russian Federal Symphony Orchestra. In the present day, Namin’s symphony suites are staged by various orchestras in Russia and abroad.
Despite the brilliance and importance of his social and creative projects, Namin himself has more or less retired from public life, giving almost no interviews and rarely appearing on television. He focuses exclusively on his own personal creative projects, and his companies – SNC and others – function almost without his direct participation.
The author of music - without designations,
the author of lyrics - is designated as «Lyrics»,
the author of music and lyrics - is designated as «+Lyrics»,
forbidden in the USSR and not published songs - is designated as «-»
(1970–1979)
1. I Love Only Rock’n’Roll (+Lyrics)
2. You And Me (Lyrics)
3. I shall Enter Your World (+Lyrics), in English
4. Ah, Mum (Lyrics)
5. At Night (Lyrics)
6. Early To Say Good-Bye
7. If You Are Not Nearby
8. Leave It As It Is
9. Summer Night
(1979–1982)
1. Hymn to the Sun
2. Where the Wind Lives
3. Just Listen (Lyrics)
4. Tell Me Yes
5. Dedication to the Beatles
6. Morning and Night
7. Jurmala
8. Transparent Wall
9. Our Secret
10. Everything, as Before
11. Roundabout
12. Ah, these Dances
13. But You don't Know
14. I shall Find
15. Let Me Know
16. Circus
17. We are Married by Time
18. White Ice Floes
19. We Wish You Happiness
(1982–1986)
1. Empty Nut (verses by Yury Kuznetsov) -
2. Keep to It (verses by Evgeny Evtushenko) -
3. Nostalgia for the Present (verses by Andrei Voznesensky) -
4. Buzzer (verses by Arseny Tarkovsky) -
5. Ancient Dream (verses by Yury Kuznetsov) -
6. When I Don't Cry (verses by Yury Kuznetsov) -
7. November Snow (verses by Andrei Bitov) -
8. Aimless Way (verses by David Samojlov) -
9. Not Over Yet (verses by Evgeny Evtushenko) -
10. I Don't Surrender (verses by Evgeny Evtushenko) -
11. Old New Year (verses by Andrei Voznesensky) -
12. The Girl from New York (verses by Andrei Voznesensky) -
13. Cocks Crowing by the Sea (verses by Evgeny Evtushenko)-
14. Idol (verses by Evgeny Evtushenko) -
15. Let's Join Hands (verses Bulat Okudzhava) -
16. Nothing They Can Do (verses by Evgeny Evtushenko) -
17. Under Water (verses by Evgeny Evtushenko) -
18. Gramps (verses by Alyona Basilova) -
19. Brick Floating Along the River (verses by Nikolai Rubtsov) -
20. If I’m Famous (verses by Nikolai Rubtsov) –
(the 1990s)
1. Wind of Change (music by Scorpions), In Russian
2. Africa (a remake of a song Jurmala), +Lyrics
3. I shall Enter Your World (remake), +Lyrics, In Russian
Symphony music
(2003–2007)
• Suite for symphony orchestra «Fall in Petersburg»:
«Fall in Petersburg»
«Soundtrack for Non-Existing Movie»
«Dedication»
«Nostalgia»
«Seven Eighths»
«Waltz»
«Ice Floes»
Music for films and theatre
• 1980 – Soundtrack for the feature film «Fancying Love», director – Aida Manasarova
• 1983 – Soundtrack for the feature film “Sandglass”, director – Sergei Vronsky
• 2002 – Soundtrack for the theatre production “The Vigil” by Ernest Bryl
• 2002 – Soundtrack for the theatre production “The House of Bernarda Alba” by Federico G. Lorca
Performer
• 1972-1973 – The Flowers recordings. (Solo-guitar, vocal)
• 1988 – Participation in recording of Keith Richards’ (The Rolling Stones) solo-album “Talk Is Cheap”
• 1991 – Song “The Wind of Change” by Scorpions. (Vocal in Russian version)
• 1997 – Instrumental album “Night Hallucinations” with Nuance band musicians. (Solo guitar)
• 1997 – Instrumental album “Kamasutra” with special guests. (Solo guitar)
• 1998 – Traditional rock’n’roll album “Old Times” with special guests: Noel Redding (Jimi Hendrix Experience), Eric Bell (Thin Lizzy), among others. (Guitar)
• 1998 – Song “Africa”, remake of “Jurmala” with new lyrics, with special guests. (Solo guitar)
• 2005 – Song “Bye-Bye Blues”. Vocal – Marco Mendoza (Whitesnake), guitar – Stas Namin.
• 2006 – Song “We Wish You Happiness”. (Vocal)
• 2008 - «One World Freedom», the album of ethnic improvisations. With special guests. (Solo-guitar, duduk, sitar, keyboards, hornpipe)
Music Projects
• 1964 – The Magicians band. (Founder, musician).
• 1967 – The Politburo band. (Founder, musician)
• 1968 – The Glimmers band. (Musician)
• 1969 – The Flowers band (Founder, musician, producer)
• 1978 – The Jazz Attack band. (Founder, producer)
• 1987 – The Gorky Park band. (Founder, producer)
• 1987–1989 – The Stas Namin producing centre: Brigada S, Nicolaus Copernicus, Nuance, Night Avenue , Kalinov Bridge , Rondo, Moral Code , among others.
• 1989 – The Moscow Symphony Orchestra. (Founder, producer)
• 2001 – The Formula band. (Founder, producer)
• 2003 – The Formula Ethno band. (Founder, producer)
• 2005 – The Five Plus One vocal jazz band. (Founder, producer)
Author & Performer’s Discography
!bgcolor=#CCCCFF width="10%" valign=top|Year of release
!bgcolor=#CCCCFF width="40%" valign=top|Title
!bgcolor=#CCCCFF width="50%" valign=top|Comments
|-
|bgcolor=#f8fcff width="10%" valign=top align=center|1972
|bgcolor=#f8fcff width="40%" valign=top|The Stas Namin Group Flowers single
«Flowers Have Eyes»,
«Asterisk» and others.
|bgcolor=#f8fcff width="50%" valign=top|The flexible paperbacked single released by the “Melodia” record company got a huge popularity, and was re-released on vinyl.
|-
|bgcolor=#f8fcff width="10%" valign=top align=center|1973
|bgcolor=#f8fcff width="40%" valign=top|The Stas Namin Group Flowers single
«Speaking Frankly», «Lullaby» and others.
|bgcolor=#f8fcff width="50%" valign=top|The second single of The Flowers.
|-
|bgcolor=#f8fcff width="10%" valign=top align=center|1976
|bgcolor=#f8fcff width="40%" valign=top|The Stas Namin Group single
«Old Piano» and others.
|bgcolor=#f8fcff width="50%" valign=top|The first single of The Stas Namin Group (after the name The Flowers has been forbidden).
|-
|bgcolor=#f8fcff width="10%" valign=top align=center|1977
|bgcolor=#f8fcff width="40%" valign=top|The Stas Namin Group single
«Early to Say Goodbye» and others.
|bgcolor=#f8fcff width="50%" valign=top|The second single of The Stas Namin Group
|-
|bgcolor=#f8fcff width="10%" valign=top align=center|1979
|bgcolor=#f8fcff width="40%" valign=top|The Stas Namin Group single.
«Summer Night» and others.
|bgcolor=#f8fcff width="50%" valign=top|The third single of The Stas Namin Group.
|-
|bgcolor=#f8fcff width="10%" valign=top align=center|1980
|bgcolor=#f8fcff width="40%" valign=top|The Stas Namin Group album “Hymn to the Sun”.
«The Bogatyrs’(*) Power», «After the Rain», «Dedication to The Beatles», «Rush hour» and others.
(*) Bogatyr – epic character, hero of folk Russian legends, defender of Russia from its enemies.
|bgcolor=#f8fcff width="50%" valign=top|The first solo album of the group. Recorded in 1979-1980.
|-
|bgcolor=#f8fcff width="10%" valign=top align=center|1982
|bgcolor=#f8fcff width="40%" valign=top|The Stas Namin Group single.
«Jurmala» and others.
|bgcolor=#f8fcff width="50%" valign=top|The fourth single of The Stas Namin Group. Recorded in 1981.
|-
|bgcolor=#f8fcff width="10%" valign=top align=center|1982
|bgcolor=#f8fcff width="40%" valign=top|The Stas Namin Group album «Reggie-Disco-Rock» of
«I shall Find», «The Wall», «Roundabout», «But You don't Know» and others.
|bgcolor=#f8fcff width="50%" valign=top|Recorded in 1981.
The dance album, Reggie-disco-rock style.
|-
|bgcolor=#f8fcff width="10%" valign=top align=center|1983
|bgcolor=#f8fcff width="40%" valign=top|The Stas Namin Group album «Surprise for Monsieur Legrand»
|bgcolor=#f8fcff width="50%" valign=top|Recorded in 1981, in French, sympho-jazz style.
|-
|bgcolor=#f8fcff width="10%" valign=top align=center|-----
|bgcolor=#f8fcff width="40%" valign=top|The Stas Namin Group double album «We wish You Happiness»
|bgcolor=#f8fcff width="50%" valign=top|Recorded in 1985, forbidden and never released in the USSR.
|-
|bgcolor=#f8fcff width="10%" valign=top align=center|1987
|bgcolor=#f8fcff width="40%" valign=top|The Stas Namin Group’ single «November Snow»
|bgcolor=#f8fcff width="50%" valign=top|Released by Hotwax Records, in English.
|-
|bgcolor=#f8fcff width="10%" valign=top align=center|1997
|bgcolor=#f8fcff width="40%" valign=top|«KamaSutra» album
|bgcolor=#f8fcff width="50%" valign=top|Instrumental album. Special guests: Pavel & Sergei Titivets (Nuance band), Sergei Voronov (Crossroads), Nikolai Devlet-Kildeev & Alexander Solich (Moral Codex), Alexander Lyubarsky (B-2), and others.
|-
|bgcolor=#f8fcff width="10%" valign=top align=center|1998
|bgcolor=#f8fcff width="40%" valign=top|“Old Times”, traditional rock’n’roll album.
|bgcolor=#f8fcff width="50%" valign=top|With special guests: Noel Redding (Jimi Hendrix’ Experience), and Eric Bell (Thin Lizzy).
|-
|bgcolor=#f8fcff width="10%" valign=top align=center|2001
|bgcolor=#f8fcff width="40%" valign=top|The Flowers double album, on CD & DVD (Live)
|bgcolor=#f8fcff width="50%" valign=top|Audio and video recordings of the jubilee concert, 2001. The best for 30 years as well as unknown songs forbidden in the USSR.
|-
|bgcolor=#f8fcff width="10%" valign=top align=center|2008
|bgcolor=#f8fcff width="40%" valign=top|The Flowers album «Rural Songs»
|bgcolor=#f8fcff width="50%" valign=top|Recorded in Los Angeles in 2003; ethno-rock. Special guest – Sergey Starostin.
|-
|bgcolor=#f8fcff width="10%" valign=top align=center|2008
|bgcolor=#f8fcff width="40%" valign=top|The album «Unknown songs +» (Live)
|bgcolor=#f8fcff width="50%" valign=top|Recorded in 2006 at “The Legends of Russian Rock” festival in SNC theatre. Forbidden and unreleased Namin’s songs are featured.
|-
|bgcolor=#f8fcff width="10%" valign=top align=center|2008
|bgcolor=#f8fcff width="40%" valign=top|The Flowers single
«Summer Night», «Too Early to Say Goodbye», «The Bogatyrs’ Power», «We Wish You Happiness».
|bgcolor=#f8fcff width="50%" valign=top| Remakes recorded in 2006–2007.
|}>
• 1996 – Moscow House of Cinema.
• 1998 – “Together” private art gallery, Moscow.
• 1998 – Central Exhibition Hall Grand Manezh, Moscow.
• 1999 - Central House of Artist, Moscow. Love story, one-man show.
• 2000 – International Art Forum, Perm.
• 2001 – The Russian Museum, St. Petersburg. The World through Stas Namin’s Photo Eye, one-man show.
• 2004 – Pacific Design Centre, Hollywood, Los Angeles.
• 2004 – The International Foundation of Russian and Eastern European Art, Manhattan, New York.
• 2006 - Central House of Artist, Moscow. Veni, Vidi…, one-man show.
• 2001 – Alla Bulyanskaya’s Gallery. Central House of Artist, Moscow.
• 2006 – The Bakhrushin State Theatre Museum, Moscow. The Facets of Talent.
• 2007 - MAR’S Centre for Contemporary Arts. An Unusual Concert Exhibition presented by the Rolling Stone magazine.
• 2007 - New Manezh Exhibit Hall, Moscow. Art Graphic (Khudgraf) Exhibition of Graphic Arts.
• 2007 - Central House of Artist, Moscow. Art Moscow Annual International Art Fair.
• 2007 – The Ministry of Foreign Affaires of the Russian Federation. One-man show.
• 2008 – Belgorod State Art Museum. One-man show (oil painting, graphics, photos).
Musicals
• HAIR by Galt MacDermot/James Rado, Gerome Ragni. Love rock musical, in Russian and English.
• JESUS CHRIST SUPER STAR by Andrew Lloyd Webber/Tim Rice. Rock-opera, in English.
• PRIVATE IVAN CHONKIN based on the novel by Vladimir Voinovich. Archetypal musical comedy.
• FOUR STORIES based on "The Little Tragedies" and poems by Alexander Pushkin. Dramatic suite.
• BUFFOONERY by Alexander Blok. Musical-poetic composition.
Dramatics
• THE VIGIL by Ernest Bryll. Dramatic poem, in Russian.
• THE HOUSE OF BERNARDA ALBA by Federico Garcia Lorca. Drama, in Russian.
• CARDINAL POINTS by Ekaterina Ryzhikova. Psychedelic musical epos with elements of Mysticism and Shamanism.
• AT THE CROSSROAD by Mikhail Barshchevsky. First interactive production.
• FIVE LETTERS by Mikhail Barshchevsky. Anti-comedy.
For Children
• THE BREMEN MUSICIANS by Vasily Livanov, Yury Entin, Gennady Gladkov. Musical.
• THE SNOW QUEEN by Evgeny Shvarts after Hans Christian Andersen. Fairy tale.
• THE XXIst CENTURY PROF by Victor Olshansky. Science fiction play.
• 1982 – “Old New Year” – The Flowers. (Script, director, camera, producer)
• 2001 – Musical “Hair”, fragment. (Script, producer)
• 2002 – “Elegy” - The Flowers. (Script, producer)
• 2002 – “White Ice Floes” - The Flowers. (Script, producer)
Documentary & feature films
• 1991 – “Restless Garden” (co-author, producer)
• 2007 – “ Feeling Deeply as Profession”, featuring Maestro Ogan Durjan’Narc (co-author, producer)
• 2008 – “Rockin' the Kremlin” (co-author, co-producer)
Documentary series «International Geographic»
• 1992 - Jerusalem (director, camera, producer)
• 1993 - Thailand (director, camera, producer)
• 1995 - New York (director, camera, producer)
• 1996 – Albuquerque, Santa Fe, and others - New Mexico (director, camera, producer)
• 1997 - Easter Island (director, camera, producer)
• 1997 - Tahiti & Bora-Bora Islands
• 2002 - 2006 – Tanzania, Namibia, Mozambique, Republic of South Africa, Zambia, Tunisia, and others – Africa (director, camera, producer)
• 2004 - 2007 – Peru, Chile, Argentina, Honduras, and others – South America (director, camera, producer)
• 2007 – Amazon (director, camera, producer)
Films concerts:
• 1989 - Moscow Peace Festival in Luzhniki (co-author, co-producer)
• 1992 - “Rock from the Kremlin” festival (co-author, producer)
• 1990 – “One World” festival, part I (co-author, producer)
• 1995 – “One World” festival, part II (co-author, producer)
• 1997 – “One World” festival, part III (co-author, producer)
• 2007 – “Legends of Russian Rock” festival (co-author, producer)
• 1981- USSR’s first ever and the biggest national pop-rock festival in Yerevan, Armenia (70,000 audience), hailed as The Yerevan Woodstock by Time magazine, featuring: trio Ganelin-Chekasin-Tarasov, Konstantin Orbelian and his big band, Valery Leontiev
, Zhanna Bichevskaya, Guner Grabbs and many others.
• 1987 — A Festival of the SNC’s young outfits at the CSK basketball arena, featuring: Nicolaus Copernicus, Night Prospect, Metal Corrosion and others.
• 1988 — The International “Peace Aid” at the Green Theatre in Gorky Park, featuring: Howard Jones (GB), Melanie (USA), Alexander Nevsky, Metal Corrosion, Grand Prix, Markiza, Monolith, Legion, Stalker, Time-Out and others along with the Flowers and Gorky Park.
• 1988 (October) — The First Moscow International Alternative Festival, featuring: Big Country (GB), Brigade S, Nicolaus Copernicus, Night Prospect, Megapolis, Alliance and others.
• 1989 — USSR’s first ever historic international rock festival at Luzhniki bringing together Bon Jovi, Motley Crew, Scorpions, Ozzy Osbourne, Сinderella and other major rock acts with an estimated 200,000 ecstatic head bangers thronging the stadium. The Moscow Peace Festival became a shining symbol of freedom and heralded the start of a new era in Russian history. The Stas Namin Center contributed one million dollars - the entire gross profit of ticket sales - to a national anti-drug foundation.
• 1990 — The first international pop, rock and ethnic music festival «One World» held in Gorky Park in Moscow featuring, Boy George (GB), Kaoma (Brazil), Telephone (France), Amina (Israel) and many others.
• 1990 — Co-production of the «SOS Rasizm» Festival in Paris, France, featuring SNC’s outfits among others: Auktsyon, Brigade S, Nicolaus Copernicus, Night Prospect, Nuance.
• 1992 — The legendary festival Rock from the Kremlin featuring all previously banned rock outfits: Aquarium, DDT, Alisa, Nautilus, Brigada S, and others. The first privately organized concert held at the Kremlin Palace of Congresses.
• 1995 — The second international pop, rock and ethnic music festival «One World» held in Green Theatre in Moscow, featuring famous theatre, movie, rock and pop stars: Alexander Abdulov, Sergey Soloviev, Liudmila Gurchenko, Vasily Lanovoy, Natalia Andreychenko, Fiodor Bondarchuk, Michael Zhvanetsky, DDT, Alice, Time Machine, Moral Code, Nogu Svelo, Valery Siutkin, Lev Leschenko, Valerie, Boris Grebenshikov, Sergey Zverev show.
• 1997 — The third One World international festival on the Red Square (concert) and Teatralnaya Square (carnival)in Moscow timed for the city’s 850th Anniversary celebrations, featuring ethnic groups from Japan, Scotland, Brazil, India, Britain, Israel, the Palestinian Autonomy, Bulgaria and other countries.
Film Festivals
• 1997 — Together with Sergey Soloviev and Alexander Abdulov production of the 20th Moscow International Film Festival. The Stas Namin Centre invited more than 20 film superstars from around the world to come over, including Gina Lollobrigida, Sophia Loren, Alberto Sordi, Ornella Muti, Brigit Nielsen, Geoffrey Rush and Robert De Niro, musicians Michel Legrand, Chuck Berry and others.
• 2003 — The Russian International Film Festival (RIFF) in Hollywood (California, US) presenting more than 50 feature films, documentaries and cartoons.
• 2003 — The Russian International Film Festival (RIFF) in Frankfurt-on-Maine, Germany (74 films).
• 2004 — Production of the cultural program for the “Spirit of Fire” film festival in Khanty-Mansijsk.
• 2005 — the first festival of American independent cinema “IndieVisual” in Moscow.
• 2006 — Co-production of the first American Film Festival in Moscow.
• 2007 — Co-production of the second American Film Festival in Moscow.
• 2004 — Russian International Film Festival (RIFF) participated in Tribeka Film Festival in New York.
Festivals of Arts & Culture
• 1991 — The Festival of Russian culture in Hong Kong.
• 1992 — The first time in the history days of Moscow’s culture in Jerusalem.
• 1993 — The Festival of Russian and Japanese culture in Russia.
• 2003 — The Year of Russian Culture in Germany as part of a series of Russian-German cultural exchanges.
• 2004 — The Year of German Culture in Russia as part of a series of Russian-German cultural exchanges.
• 2004 — The first annual Festival of Russian culture «Russian Nights» in Los Angeles (USA) and the second – in New York (USA)
• 2005 — The third «Russian Nights» in Los Angeles.
• 2005 — The Festival of Russian culture at the International Book Fair in Hannover (Germany).
• 2005 — The first festival of American contemporary culture «The American autumn in Moscow»
• 2006 — The fourth «Russian Nights» Festival in Los Angeles (USA)
• 2006 — The Year of Russian Culture in China.
• 2006 — The «Russian Nights» Festivals in Seoul (Korea).
• 2007 — The Year of Chinese Culture in Russia.
• 2007 — The Festival of Korean Culture in Russia.
• 2008 — The Year of Russian Culture in Bulgaria.
• 2008 — The Festival of Indian Culture in Russia.
• 2003—2008 — Annual celebrating of Russian Independence Day in Berlin.
• 2008 — Celebrating of Russian Independence Day in Paris.
• 1986 — The Flowers (The Stas Namin Group) tour the US and Canada.
• 1986 — The Flowers’ (The Stas Namin Group) participation in «Japan Aid» festival in Japan.
• 1987 — Concerts of the SNC’s outfits in the Green Theatre of Gorky Park and other venues in Moscow.
• 1988 — Tom Newman theatre (USA) with the rock-ballet “The Toymaker’s Dream” in Moscow.
• 1989 — The first in the history Soviet delegation to Alaska with the concerts of The Flowers (The Stas Namin Group) and Rondo (first Russian rock performers in Alaska).
• 1990 — Concerts of the SNC’s outfits Auktsyon, Nuance, Brigade S in Paris, France.
• 1991 — A series of concerts of symphony, chamber and opera music featuring the Moscow Symphony Orchestra (MSO) at the Grand Hall of Moscow Conservatoire and Tchaikovsky Hall.
• 1991 — The Moscow Symphony Orchestra (MSO) and Electric Light Orchestra Part II joint tour in Great Britain, and their concert at the Wembley Arena.
• 1991 — A concert of the State Chamber Choir with the BBC symphony orchestra at the Royal Albert Hall in London, GB.
• 1991 — The first in Russia concert dedicated to celebration of Jewish holiday Hanuka at the Kremlin Palace of Congresses in Moscow.
• 1992 — “Of blessed memory” – a concert in honour of the 47th Anniversary of the Victory in World War II, at the Kremlin Palace of Congresses broadcasted nation-wide, featuring the renowned Moiseev Dance Company and Kremlin Ballet, Alexandrov’s Red Army Ensemble and Beriozka dance company, and Moscow symphony orchestra.
• 1992 — “Peace for Karabakh” – a charity concert at the Kremlin Palace of Congresses.
• 1993 — «Iron Maiden» concerts at the Olympic Stadium in Moscow.
• 1996 — A legendary 16-city, all-stadium super tour by 20 of Russia’s best-loved pop, rock, theater and film stars billed “For the Future of Free Russia”.
• 1996 — Paul Young and ZZ TOP concerts at the Green Theatre in Gorky Park.
• 1997 — Michael Legrand concert in Moscow.
• 1997 — Chuck Berry concert in Moscow.
• 2001 — A 30-year Jubilee of the Stas Namin Group “The Flowers” at the Central Concert Hall “Russia”.
• 2001 — “The Flowers” and “Formula 1” tour in Great Britain, Sweden, Israel and USA.
• 2001 — Russian Circus-on-Ice in Canada.
• 2002 — A series of concerts of the Moscow Symphony Orchestra (MSO) at the Grand Hall of Moscow Conservatoire and Tchaikovsky Concert Hall.
• 2002 — “In Commemoration of Victims of the International terrorism” – Moscow Symphony Orchestra (MSO) concert at the Grand Hall of Moscow Conservatoire.
• 2005 — Moscow Symphony Orchestra (MSO) at the Moscow International Performing Arts Centre.
Special Projects
• 1985 — The Soviet-American joint cultural project “Peace Child”, and its tour in Russia and the USA.
• 1985 — Music TV-bridge Russia-USA.
• 1987 — Hard Rock Café in the Green Theatre in Gorky Park.
• 1989 — The first Soviet official and cultural delegation to Alaska.
• 1989 — Formation of the Moscow Symphony Orchestra (MSO).
• 1990 — Formation of the Moscow-on-Ice show and its world tour.
• 1991 — Peter Max exhibitions at the Academy of Arts in Moscow and at the Hermitage in Saint-Petersburg.
• 1992 — The first hot-air balloons festival “March for Peace” on the Red Square and in Gorky Park, featuring “SNC” hot-air balloon among others.
• 1992 — International rock-motorbike race “Harley Davidson” (Tallinn, Minsk, St.-Petersburg, Moscow).
• 1992 — Arranging the meeting of Scorpions with the President of the USSR Michael Gorbachev.
• 1993 — Russian-Japanese show “Hello Russia” on the Red Square, featuring Kansai Yamomoto’s fashion collection.
• 1994 — Creation of the unique special-shape hot-air balloon “Yellow Submarine” and participation in the Albuquerque balloon festival.
• 1997 — The world-encircling and Easter Island tour with Thor Heyerdahl, Yuri Senkevich, Andrey Makarevich and Leonid Yakubovich.
• 1997 — Co-production of the new issue “Novaya Gazeta”.
• 1998 — The first non-official Russian-American delegation to Cuba (Stas Namin, Sergey Soloviev, Leonardo DiCaprio, Alanis Morriset, Leonid Sarochan and others).
• 1998 — “The Tzar’s hunting” restaurant.
• 1998 — The “Rhythm’n’Blues Café” club and restaurant.
• 1998 — The “Park Club” restaurant.
• 2008 — “The Beatles and India” Festival of ayurvedic culture in Gorky Park.
At different times various celebrities visited the studio. Among them were Arnold Schwarzenegger, Quincy Jones, Don King, Frank Zappa, Bon Jovi, Scorpions, Peter Gabriel, Eurythmics, U2 and Pink Floyd.
The Gorky park, Bridaga C, Kalinov most, Splin, Moralny kodeks and almost all of the groups promoted by the Centre recorded their first compositions in the SNC studio. Such groups as Voskresenie, Zemfira, The Grimm brothers, Band Eros and many others still use the SNC studio.
, Moralny Kodeks, Aliance, Blues League, Megapolis and many others. It was the SNC centre that gave birth to the Gorky Park group.
Such Groups as Centre, Auktsion, Zvuki Mu, Zhanna Agurazova cooperated closely with SNC and participated in the events organized by the Centre.
The Centre provided musical instruments and equipment, a rehearsal room and recording studio for young musicians. The centre promoted them to various festivals and concerts. SNC design studio created logos, posters and album covers.
In the Stas Namin centre young musicians had a chance to meet world famous musicians such as Frank Zappa, Billy Joel, Bon Jovi, Peter Gabriel and many others. In the early 1990s the production centre switched from rock music to symphonic music (Moscow symphony orchestra), ice shows and arranging festivals and other special projects.
In the mid 1990’s SNC Concerts limited itself to activities related to projects and cultural festivals that were promoted by the Stas Namin Centre.
By the end of the 1990s SNC Design dealt only with the projects for the Centre.
For the last few years SNC Holding has not been dealing with the modeling business directly. As the official representative of the Ford modeling agency, the Holding took part in the organization of the international contest “Supermodel of the World” and other international competitions and shows in which Russian models participated.
At the end of the 1990s The Stas Namin Centre ceased this activity.
It was possible to come across not only Grebenschikov, Shevchuk, Pugachyova and other famous musicians in the Café, but also Evgeny Primakov, US senators and other progressives of the Perestroika period.
This was the place where the historic meeting of Alfred Shnitki and Frank Zappa occurred took place. Billy Joel, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Pink Floyd, Robert De Niro, Peter Gabriel, Annie Lennox, U2, Scorpions, Iron Maiden, Thompson Twins were among the many prominent visitors.
In the 1990s the restaurant and club in the Stas Namin Centre closed. A new modern restaurant and club, «Park-club» was opened in 1998 in the Stas Namin Centre. It became one of the most popular places in Moscow. In 2001 the artistic Park - club changed its image and turned into a summer “chill-out” club. The club is located near the forest on the bank of the Moskva River.
In 1998 Stas Namin in partnership with Andrei Makarevitch and Valery Meladze, opened «Rhythm & Blues Café», the first musical restaurant and club in Russia. The front of the building is decorated with portraits of more than forty world-famous rock stars. Among them are the Rolling stones, Ringo Starr, Brian May, Status Qwo, Depeche Mode, Chic Korea, Jean Claude Ponti, Rick Wakeman and others. Most of these celebrities left their autographs on the front of the club. A few photos with unique autographs decorate the interior of the club. One of the club attractions is the bar in an old pink limousine which is on the second floor. Quentin Tarantino gave the idea for this bar to Stas Namin especially for this club. The first floor is decorated with a unique family tree that represents the history of Russian rock music and includes the pictures of all former and current Russian rock-groups. It is the Rhythm & Blues Café where the official launch of the Russian MTV channel, the Maxidrom festival
after party and other significant music events have taken place.
It was the first private company in the history of the USSR. SNC Records shook the long-term monopoly of the state company Melodiya and laid the foundations of free competition and independent show-business. The first vinyl records produced by SNC Records appeared in spring of 1990. These records were “Kaoma” and “Rock in support of Armenia”.
SNC Records was the first company in the record business and in its country that was officially given an award by a foreign company, Castle Communications (Great Britain). The GOLDEN DISK was awarded to the independent record company for issuing the first set of licensed records such as Black Sabbath and others.
In the mid 1990’s SNC Records changed its strategy, withdrew from larger projects and businesses and froze its catalogue. Today SNC Records promotes only its own small projects.
In the early 1990s the Gallery had a permanent exhibition in the Russia House Gallery of the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York.
In the mid-1990s the Gallery stopped its business activities and became a private gallery.
During the August putsch in 1991, Radio SNC and the political radio station, Echo of Moscow, were captured by gunmen and banned by the KGB. Afterwards Radio SNC was the first to start broadcasting live BBC news in addition to music programs. «Radio SNC» broadcast the best of international pop, rock, symphony, opera, jazz and underground.
In 1992 the Ministry of Communications
did not renew the broadcasting license of Radio SNC and the station had to cease its activity.
In the mid 1990’s the SNC television company stopped broadcasting.
• Stanbet Trading
• Stanbet Publishing
• Stanbet Entertainment
• Stanbet Development (Real Estate)
• Stanbet Energy (Energy technologies development)
• Stanbet Electronics (Hi-End Tube technologies)
• 1991 – Socio-ecological movement “One World”.
• 1992 - Speaker at the UNESCO Conference “Tolerance and Society”, Paris, France
• 1993 – Series of lectures on Russian culture in American Universities.
• 1994 – Lecture course on the basis of PR and psychology of mass perception, for the Journalism Department of the Moscow University.
• 1998 - panelist at the forum session on “Mobilizing Resources for Cultural Development” of the UNESCO Intergovernmental Conference on Cultural Policies for Development, Stockholm, Sweden
• 2005 – A series of lectures and seminars on Russian culture, as a part of Russian Nights Festival in USA.
• 2008 – Opening of the Faculty of Culture and Music Arts, as a joint project of the Moscow Humanitarian University and Stas Namin Centre.
Nami Mikoyan, Namin’s mother, was a classical musician educated at the Moscow Conservatory where she became friends with many of Russia’s great performers and composers, including Khachaturian, Schnittke, Shostakovich and Oistrakh, among many others. Later a journalist and writer, she has just published With My Own Eyes, an autobiographical, first-hand glimpse into the four regimes she and her illustrious family lived through.
His grandfather, Anastas Mikoyan (1895–1978), whose tenure in Soviet government is legendary and unmatched in terms of its longevity, was President of the Soviet Union in the 1960s. He was a member of Politburo in the regimes of Lenin, Stalin, Khruschev and Brezhnev, rising to international prominence for his pivotal role in the resolution of the Indonesian missile crisis and Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962. Anastas Mikoyan is one of the Soviet Union’s few elite political figures to have retained a positive image to this day, despite the rigors of archival exposure and scrutiny. TIME Magazine called him “the world’s best crisis manager” putting his portrait on the cover. He was a personal friend of John Kennedy, Fidel Castro, Ernst Hemingway, and Pablo Picasso, and many other world celebrities.
Namin’s great-uncle, Artiom Mikoyan (1905–1970), invented the MIG fighter jet, one of the most lethal weapons in the Soviet arsenal.
Namin's maternal grandmother, Ksenia Priklonskaya (1909–1988), descends from the noble stem, related to the noble families of the Venevitinovs’ and Pushkins’.
Married, has a daughter and two sons.
"The Stas Namin Group double album «We wish You Happiness»
Recorded in 1985, forbidden and never released in the USSR."
This double LP was indeed released in 1985 AND IN THE USSR.
How do I know? A Russian friend living in Moscow sent me
a copy of it which I still have. I listen to it regularly.
My Moscow friend sent it to me in the late 80s.
Armenians
Armenian people or Armenians are a nation and ethnic group native to the Armenian Highland.The largest concentration is in Armenia having a nearly-homogeneous population with 97.9% or 3,145,354 being ethnic Armenian....
musician, composer, and record producer; artist and photographer; theatre and film director and producer; entrepreneur, promoter, and businessman. As leader of the band Flowers (Tsvety) which was the first top popular rock-band in the USSR and was called “Russian Beatles”, he gained cult figure status as one of the founders of indigenous Russian rock music. From 1970-2000 Namin initiated many innovative projects which brought dramatic changes to the Russian cultural landscape. He established the Stas Namin Centre, an independent producing hub which launched the careers of many well-known Russian performing artists, composers, poets, designers, and other creative talents of the new Russia. He initiated, produced and promoted the first music festivals ever held in Russia, including the International Moscow Music Peace Festival at Lenin Stadium in 1989 considered as “Russian Woodstock”, the series of “One World” festivals, historical “Rock from Kremlin”, and others. A pioneer of the Russian independent entertainment industry, he broke the Government monopoly and founded the country’s first private (non-governmental) concert agency, design studio, record label, radio station, television company, symphony orchestra, and musical theater. Additionally, he has directed the largest independent international festivals of Russian culture in his country and abroad.
Biography
Stas Namin was born Anastas Alexeevich Mikoyan in 1951 in Moscow, Russia. He spent his early childhood with his parents, living at military garrisons in the villages and small towns of Ros’, Belarus; Alakurty outside of Murmansk; and Rechlin, East Germany.Stas was raised by his mother, who impressed on him from an early age the importance of music and literature. Dmitri Shostakovich, Aram Khachaturian, Mstislav Rostropovich, Leonid Kogan, Alfred Shnitke, Giya Kancheli, Georgy Sviridov, and other famous musicians and cultural figures often visited their home. The first music teacher Stas studied under was the composer Arno Babadzhanyan.
In 1957, six year-old Stas entered Moscow elementary school No. 74, and four years later, on his father’s insistence, became a cadet of the Moscow Suvorov Military School. While studying there, he heard for the first time the music of The Beatles and The Rolling Stones, experiences which precipitated a life-long love affair with rock music. Following his passion, young Stas founded the rock bands Magicians (Charodei) in 1964 and Politburo in 1967. After enrolling in the Maurice Thorez Moscow Institute of Foreign Languages in 1969, Stas became the lead guitarist of the band Glimmers (Bliki) which was already quite popular in student circles.
At the end of the ‘60s, Stas became fascinated with the hippie and Flower Children subculture which protested against the existing societal order. In 1969, inspired by the legendary hippie rock festival Woodstock, he created the band Flowers which became the first national super-group, initiating the movement of rock music among the Russian masses. Flowers’ first single, released on a Melodiya label compilation in 1972 together with songs by other amateur student ensembles, unexpectedly sold an unprecedented 7 million copies. In 1973 a second single was issued with just as large a distribution. The Moscow press dubbed Flowers the “Soviet Beatles” in 1974, yet in the very same year the Ministry of Culture of the Soviet Union banned the group, denouncing the band and even its name as “propaganda of the western ideology and idea of hippie.”
There exist, however, a different story of the group's disbandment. According to it, the Namin's official employer, Moscow Oblast Philharmony, reaped enormous profits from the group's concerts, and thus forced an extremely exhausting touring schedule on its members, at times up to three gigs per day, at the same time denying them any royalties and paying only a flat rate. Tired and enraged by this mistreatment and constant conflicts with various bureaucrats, Namin disbanded the group himself, and the ban was more of a face-keeping gesture by the Ministry, embarrassed and enraged by the group's disobedience.
Forced into a two-year hiatus, Namin devoted himself to the completion of his studies at Moscow State University, to which he had transferred in 1972. At that time he mostly associated with progressive poets, artists, and other dissidents, such as Anatoly Zverev, Joseph Kiblitsky, Oleg Tselkov, Alyona Basilova, Henry Sapgir, Yuz Aleshkovsky, and others. Together with them Namin witnessed the historical “Bulldozer Exhibition” and many other of the regime’s acts of repression against the artistic intelligentsia. At that time, under the influence of The Beatles and having developed an appreciation for Indian music and Vedic culture, he became one of the initial supporters of the Movement for Krishna Consciousness in Russia.
At the end of 1976, Namin gathered together the members of Flowers and renewed the band’s career without the prohibited name, now simply The Stas Namin Group. Many doubted that Namin’s band could reach the height of its previous popularity without the superstar name Flowers, but with the release of the band’s first single, millions of fans recognized their idols, and The Stas Namin Group was just as successful as before. Just as Flowers had been officially banned, so too was The Stas Namin Group, and the band was forbidden to appear on television, radio, or in the press.
Ten years into their careers, in the slight “Thaw” of 1979-1980, the members of the band were finally able to release the solo album Hymn to the Sun (Gimn solntsu) and other recordings; to appear in the film Fancying Love (Fantaziya na temu lyubvi); and to broadcast a performance on television. In 1981 however, after their triumphant performance at a Namin-iniciated music festival in Yerevan and enthusiastic articles in Time magazine, The Stas Namin Group again fell into disgrace, becoming a direct target of the KGB.
In response to the repression, Namin refused to compromise any longer. He proposed to the executives at Melodiya his new repertoire: rock songs with harsh lyrics based on actual poems of social commentary. He sampled from such poems as “Nostalgia for the Present” (“Nostalgiya po nastoyaschemu”) by Andrei Voznesensky; “Idol” (“Idol”) and “I Don’t Surrender” (“Ya ne sdayus”) by Evgeny Evtushenko; “Empty Nut” (“Pustoi orekh”) by Yuri Kuznetsov; “Once at Night” (“Odnazhdy nochyu”) by David Samoilov; “Elegy” (“Elegiya”) by Nikolai Rubtsov, and others. These songs did not have the naive romantic texts and lyrical melodies of the ‘70s hits to which the public and the record company were accustomed. Despite the fact that Melodiya had received a huge profit from the millions of Flowers’ records sold (and all without paying royalties to the performers), the record company shut its doors to The Stas Namin Group forever.
In 1983, Namin, at a dead end with his musical career, decided to switch professions. With his friend Alexander Kaidanovsky, he enrolled in graduate courses for screenwriters and movie directors under the tutelage of Goskino of the USSR, where he was taught by Alexander Mitta, Lev Gumilev, and Paola Volkova, among others. During this period Namin shot the first Russian music video to present an openly political subtext, to the song “Old New Year”’ (“Stary Novy God”) with the poetry of Andrei Voznesensky. The video was not broadcast until 1986 on MTV in the U.S.
Even Namin’s unambiguously positive song “We Wish You Happiness” (“My zhelayem schastya vam”), which was written in the beginning of 1982 and marked the end of the band’s romantic period, was prohibited. Today a national classic, the song finally appeared on television in 1985, thanks to the support of the composer Alexandra Pakhmutova.
When Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev is a former Soviet statesman, having served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991, and as the last head of state of the USSR, having served from 1988 until its dissolution in 1991...
came to power in 1986, ushering in the new policy of Perestroika, Stas Namin’s 6-month stand against the USSR Ministry of Culture ended with the realization of the joint Russia-U.S. project “Peace Child” with David Woollcombe (U.S.) In this new era of openness, The Stas Namin Group broke through the Iron Curtain, becoming the first Russian rock band to tour the United States. For several years the band traveled around the world, staging concerts in Japan, Europe, South America, Africa, and Australia.
The Stas Namin Group disbanded in 1990 when Namin became busy with other creative pursuits. It would be ten years before the band reunited, again as The Flowers, but with Namin participating solely in the role of producer.
The Flowers and The Stas Namin Group sold more than 60 million records on the Melodiya label. Namin authored nearly fifty Flowers songs, the majority of which were banned. Among those which were released, “Early to Say Good-Bye” (“Rano proschatsiya”), “Summer Night” (“Letny vecher”), “Jurmala,” “We Wish You Happiness” (“My zhelayem schastya vam”), and others became national hits. More than fifty musicians began their careers in The Flowers, among them Sergei Dyachkov, Alexey Kozlov, Sergei Dyuzhikov, Yuri Fokin, Konstantin Nikolsky, Igor Sarukhanov, Alexander Marshall, Alexander Malinin, Andrei Sapunov, Sergei Voronov, and many others. Some of The Flowers’s band members were the foundation for the famous rock group Gorky Park.
After Gorbachev’s brave pronouncement in 1987 that “what is not forbidden is allowed,” one of Russia’s first non-governmental organizations, the Stas Namin Centre (SNC), opened its doors on the grounds of Gorky Park in Moscow. It was the country’s earliest producing centre for the arts and independent sound recording studio which gathered under its roof young artists, poets, designers, and musicians who had been restricted previously. It laid the groundwork for the development of the bands Brigada S, Moral Code (Moralny Kodeks), Kalinov Bridge (Kalinov Most), Night Avenue (Nochnoi Prospekt), Nicolaus Copernicus (Nikolay Kopernik), Megapolis, Spleen, and many others.
Returning from his first concert tour in the West, in 1987 Namin decided to try his hand as a producer in the worldwide entertainment industry. He put together a rock band aimed at a Western audience and named it after its birthplace – Gorky Park. Namin chose musicians, rehearsed with them for two years in his studio at the Stas Namin Centre, and created a demo recording. With the support of the American rock group Bon Jovi, Namin attracted the attention of PolyGram Records President Dick Asher who came to Moscow to sign a record deal with the new band. Gorky Park was propelled into stardom with its performance in the Namin-produced 1989 historical rock festival against drug abuse held at Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow. The band played on equal footing with worldwide superstars including Bon Jovi, Mötley Crüe, Ozzy Osbourne, Scorpions, and Cinderella. The festival was broadcast to 59 countries and secured popularity for Gorky Park around the world.
By the end of the '80s, the Stas Namin Centre had gained cult status. It had become a place in Moscow where one could meet the most interesting and progressive people of Russia and the world: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Peter Gabriel, U2, Annie Lennox, Pink Floyd, Robert De Niro, and Quincy Jones, among others. The group Scorpions dedicated its hit “Wind of Change” to the Center, and the famous Frank Zappa, Namin’s guest, shot a film about it.
At the beginning of the 1990s, Namin separated his projects into those that were related to art and for all intents and purposes were charitable, and those that were connected to business and commercial activity.
The Stas Namin Centre (SNC) Holding Company became the first de facto Russian independent entertainment corporation, having broken up the government’s monopoly on show business ventures. The activity of the SNC, however, was in actuality non-commercial, since then in Russia there was not only no independent entertainment industry, but also no money. The goal was really to develop innovative projects since nothing similar had existed in the country previously.
The SNC Holding Company comprised the firms which had been created for the development of culture: the sound recording studio SNC Studio, the producing center SNC, the concert agency SNC Concerts, the design studio SNC Design, the modeling agency and fashion show productions SNC Fashion, the restaurant Hard Rock Cafe, the record label SNC Records, the gallery of contemporary arts and applied arts Stanbet Gallery, the radio station Radio SNC, the television company SNC TV, and a glossy magazine. At this same time Namin established the Moscow Symphony Orchestra and the ice show “Moscow on Ice,” both of which put on performances around the world. Particularly memorable was the 1991 joint tour of the English band Electric Light Orchestra-Part II and the Moscow Symphony Orchestra around Great Britain.
In 1989 one of the first Russian-American joint enterprises, Stanbet, was officially launched. Later it was converted into a Russian holding company which had contractual agreements with foreign and Russian partners and business projects that united them.
Projects included in the Stanbet Holding Company which were not related to culture were: Stanbet Sports (sports agency), Stanbet Trading (trade), Stanbet Publishing (publishing house), Stanbet Entertainment (show business), Stanbet Development (development of real estate), Stanbet Energy (energy technology), Stanbet Electronics (Hi-End laboratory).
From 1992 to 1996 Namin spent a lot of time in the U.S. working with his partners Fuller Developments, Atwood Richards, Sachs Associates, and others. He gained valuable experience in fields of business that were new to him while simultaneously managing the activity of his Centre in Moscow.
In this period, Namin fell in love with aeronautics. In 1992 he constructed his first hot air balloon and organized Russia’s original festival of hot air balloons on Red Square in Moscow. He ordered the assembly of the first Russian special-shape hot air balloon – a Yellow Submarine, which was declared one of the most popular balloons of the world at the 1994 Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta in New Mexico (U.S.) and was entered into a catalog of the best hot air balloons in the world.
Since 1987, riding the wave of Perestroika’s possibilities for non-governmental entertainment opportunities, free of bureaucratic censorship, Namin had been pursuing new ventures in the performing arts, keeping his own personal projects on the back burner. In the second half of the ‘90s however, disillusioned with show business, he stopped and froze the majority of the ventures related to independent entertainment in the SNC Holding Company. Those which remained shifted focus from big business to individual, non-mainstream projects with a personal, creative bent.
In 1996, Namin achieved renown as a photographer with the resounding success of his inaugural photo exhibit at the Central Exhibition Hall in Moscow (Bolshoi Manezh). His photos were also showcased as individual exhibits at the Central House of Artists in Moscow and at the Russian Museum in St. Petersburg, where catalogs of his photographs were issued.
During this time Namin recorded several solo albums in different genres – ethnic, rock, and jazz. He dedicated his most famous album Kamasutra to his deceased friend, the famous musician Frank Zappa.
Namin traveled extensively in these same years. While participating in an around-the-world Heyerdahl expedition with Yuri Senkevich and while touring on other frequent trips to Africa and South America, Namin produced several documentary films which ultimately became part of his video series International Geographic.
In 1999 the Stas Namin Moscow Music and Drama Theatre commenced its first season. The theatre opened with a premiere of the legendary American rock musical Hair (Volosy), the first musical production of its kind to be executed in Russia, which was performed non-stop throughout the first day. Other works in the repertoire of the theatre were – Vladimir Voinovich’s comedy Private Chonkin (Soldat Chonkin); the tragedy Four Stories (Chetyre istorii) adapted from Alexander Pushkin’s Little Tragedies (Malenkiye tragedii); Federico Garcia Lorca’s drama The House of Bernarda Alba (Dom Bernardy Alby); Andrew Lloyd Webber’s rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar - the English language version performed for the first time in Russia; Randy Bowser’s musical Dorian the Remarkable Mister Gray (based on Oscar Wilde’s Picture of Dorian Grey); the children’s musical The Musicians of Bremen (Bremenskiye Muzykanti), and many others. The Moscow Music and Drama Theatre became the first de facto repertory theatre of musicals in the country, producing shows less like Broadway productions and more like chamber music performances assembled around the director first, then the actors’ performances, and finally live music. This model proved to be very popular; all of the musical performances in Namin’s theatre have had long runs, including the musical Hair which has been on stage for ten years now. In 2006 Namin’s production of Hair wowed audiences in Los Angeles and again in 2008 in New York participated in celebration of 40th anniversary of Hair’s Broadway production.
Today the Stas Namin Centre is a non-commercial organization that works to preserve Russian cultural traditions and promote contemporary Russian art in the world. To this end, the Centre organizes intergovernmental and independent international festivals, exhibitions, educating programs, and other cultural events in the spheres of music, film, theatre, arts, and others. One important project in this vein is the largest independent festival of Russian culture “Russian Nights” which has been held in several countries, including the U.S., Korea, China, and Germany. The festival has its own prize, the Tower Award, which is bestowed upon distinguished personalities for their contributions to world culture. Past recipients of the Tower Award are: the writers Ray Bradbury and Gore Vidal; the artist Peter Max; the directors Oliver Stone, Francis Ford Coppola, and William Friedkin; the producers Peter Hoffman and Roger Corman; and the actors Shirley MacLaine, Sharon Stone, Nastassja Kinski, Dustin Hoffman, Leonardo DiCaprio, Harrison Ford, and Ben Kingsley, among others.
In the years since 2000, Namin has seriously indulged in graphic arts. In 2006 at the Bakhrushin Theater Museum he showcased his graphics, paintings, and mixed technique works in which he experimented with computer and other modern technologies. Today his artistic works are displayed in prestigious collections, galleries, and museums in Russia and abroad.
Namin’s musical creations since 2000 are mostly focused on experimentation with ethnic and symphony music. His suite “Fall in Petersburg” (“Osen v Peterburge”) was first heard in 2007 at Moscow’s International House of Music in a performance by the Russian Federal Symphony Orchestra. In the present day, Namin’s symphony suites are staged by various orchestras in Russia and abroad.
Despite the brilliance and importance of his social and creative projects, Namin himself has more or less retired from public life, giving almost no interviews and rarely appearing on television. He focuses exclusively on his own personal creative projects, and his companies – SNC and others – function almost without his direct participation.
Music
Symbols:The author of music - without designations,
the author of lyrics - is designated as «Lyrics»,
the author of music and lyrics - is designated as «+Lyrics»,
forbidden in the USSR and not published songs - is designated as «-»
(1970–1979)
1. I Love Only Rock’n’Roll (+Lyrics)
2. You And Me (Lyrics)
3. I shall Enter Your World (+Lyrics), in English
4. Ah, Mum (Lyrics)
5. At Night (Lyrics)
6. Early To Say Good-Bye
7. If You Are Not Nearby
8. Leave It As It Is
9. Summer Night
(1979–1982)
1. Hymn to the Sun
2. Where the Wind Lives
3. Just Listen (Lyrics)
4. Tell Me Yes
5. Dedication to the Beatles
6. Morning and Night
7. Jurmala
8. Transparent Wall
9. Our Secret
10. Everything, as Before
11. Roundabout
12. Ah, these Dances
13. But You don't Know
14. I shall Find
15. Let Me Know
16. Circus
17. We are Married by Time
18. White Ice Floes
19. We Wish You Happiness
(1982–1986)
1. Empty Nut (verses by Yury Kuznetsov) -
2. Keep to It (verses by Evgeny Evtushenko) -
3. Nostalgia for the Present (verses by Andrei Voznesensky) -
4. Buzzer (verses by Arseny Tarkovsky) -
5. Ancient Dream (verses by Yury Kuznetsov) -
6. When I Don't Cry (verses by Yury Kuznetsov) -
7. November Snow (verses by Andrei Bitov) -
8. Aimless Way (verses by David Samojlov) -
9. Not Over Yet (verses by Evgeny Evtushenko) -
10. I Don't Surrender (verses by Evgeny Evtushenko) -
11. Old New Year (verses by Andrei Voznesensky) -
12. The Girl from New York (verses by Andrei Voznesensky) -
13. Cocks Crowing by the Sea (verses by Evgeny Evtushenko)-
14. Idol (verses by Evgeny Evtushenko) -
15. Let's Join Hands (verses Bulat Okudzhava) -
16. Nothing They Can Do (verses by Evgeny Evtushenko) -
17. Under Water (verses by Evgeny Evtushenko) -
18. Gramps (verses by Alyona Basilova) -
19. Brick Floating Along the River (verses by Nikolai Rubtsov) -
20. If I’m Famous (verses by Nikolai Rubtsov) –
(the 1990s)
1. Wind of Change (music by Scorpions), In Russian
2. Africa (a remake of a song Jurmala), +Lyrics
3. I shall Enter Your World (remake), +Lyrics, In Russian
Symphony music
(2003–2007)
• Suite for symphony orchestra «Fall in Petersburg»:
«Fall in Petersburg»
«Soundtrack for Non-Existing Movie»
«Dedication»
«Nostalgia»
«Seven Eighths»
«Waltz»
«Ice Floes»
Music for films and theatre
• 1980 – Soundtrack for the feature film «Fancying Love», director – Aida Manasarova
• 1983 – Soundtrack for the feature film “Sandglass”, director – Sergei Vronsky
• 2002 – Soundtrack for the theatre production “The Vigil” by Ernest Bryl
• 2002 – Soundtrack for the theatre production “The House of Bernarda Alba” by Federico G. Lorca
Performer
• 1972-1973 – The Flowers recordings. (Solo-guitar, vocal)
• 1988 – Participation in recording of Keith Richards’ (The Rolling Stones) solo-album “Talk Is Cheap”
• 1991 – Song “The Wind of Change” by Scorpions. (Vocal in Russian version)
• 1997 – Instrumental album “Night Hallucinations” with Nuance band musicians. (Solo guitar)
• 1997 – Instrumental album “Kamasutra” with special guests. (Solo guitar)
• 1998 – Traditional rock’n’roll album “Old Times” with special guests: Noel Redding (Jimi Hendrix Experience), Eric Bell (Thin Lizzy), among others. (Guitar)
• 1998 – Song “Africa”, remake of “Jurmala” with new lyrics, with special guests. (Solo guitar)
• 2005 – Song “Bye-Bye Blues”. Vocal – Marco Mendoza (Whitesnake), guitar – Stas Namin.
• 2006 – Song “We Wish You Happiness”. (Vocal)
• 2008 - «One World Freedom», the album of ethnic improvisations. With special guests. (Solo-guitar, duduk, sitar, keyboards, hornpipe)
Music Projects
• 1964 – The Magicians
• 1967 – The Politburo band. (Founder, musician)
• 1968 – The Glimmers
• 1969 – The Flowers
• 1978 – The Jazz Attack band. (Founder, producer)
• 1987 – The Gorky Park band. (Founder, producer)
• 1987–1989 – The Stas Namin producing centre: Brigada S, Nicolaus Copernicus
• 1989 – The Moscow Symphony Orchestra. (Founder, producer)
• 2001 – The Formula band. (Founder, producer)
• 2003 – The Formula Ethno band. (Founder, producer)
• 2005 – The Five Plus One vocal jazz band. (Founder, producer)
Author & Performer’s Discography
!bgcolor=#CCCCFF width="40%" valign=top|Title
!bgcolor=#CCCCFF width="50%" valign=top|Comments
|-
|bgcolor=#f8fcff width="10%" valign=top align=center|1972
|bgcolor=#f8fcff width="40%" valign=top|The Stas Namin Group Flowers single
«Flowers Have Eyes»,
«Asterisk» and others.
|bgcolor=#f8fcff width="50%" valign=top|The flexible paperbacked single released by the “Melodia” record company got a huge popularity, and was re-released on vinyl.
|-
|bgcolor=#f8fcff width="10%" valign=top align=center|1973
|bgcolor=#f8fcff width="40%" valign=top|The Stas Namin Group Flowers single
«Speaking Frankly», «Lullaby» and others.
|bgcolor=#f8fcff width="50%" valign=top|The second single of The Flowers.
|-
|bgcolor=#f8fcff width="10%" valign=top align=center|1976
|bgcolor=#f8fcff width="40%" valign=top|The Stas Namin Group single
«Old Piano» and others.
|bgcolor=#f8fcff width="50%" valign=top|The first single of The Stas Namin Group (after the name The Flowers has been forbidden).
|-
|bgcolor=#f8fcff width="10%" valign=top align=center|1977
|bgcolor=#f8fcff width="40%" valign=top|The Stas Namin Group single
«Early to Say Goodbye» and others.
|bgcolor=#f8fcff width="50%" valign=top|The second single of The Stas Namin Group
|-
|bgcolor=#f8fcff width="10%" valign=top align=center|1979
|bgcolor=#f8fcff width="40%" valign=top|The Stas Namin Group single.
«Summer Night» and others.
|bgcolor=#f8fcff width="50%" valign=top|The third single of The Stas Namin Group.
|-
|bgcolor=#f8fcff width="10%" valign=top align=center|1980
|bgcolor=#f8fcff width="40%" valign=top|The Stas Namin Group album “Hymn to the Sun”.
«The Bogatyrs’(*) Power», «After the Rain», «Dedication to The Beatles», «Rush hour» and others.
(*) Bogatyr – epic character, hero of folk Russian legends, defender of Russia from its enemies.
|bgcolor=#f8fcff width="50%" valign=top|The first solo album of the group. Recorded in 1979-1980.
|-
|bgcolor=#f8fcff width="10%" valign=top align=center|1982
|bgcolor=#f8fcff width="40%" valign=top|The Stas Namin Group single.
«Jurmala» and others.
|bgcolor=#f8fcff width="50%" valign=top|The fourth single of The Stas Namin Group. Recorded in 1981.
|-
|bgcolor=#f8fcff width="10%" valign=top align=center|1982
|bgcolor=#f8fcff width="40%" valign=top|The Stas Namin Group album «Reggie-Disco-Rock» of
«I shall Find», «The Wall», «Roundabout», «But You don't Know» and others.
|bgcolor=#f8fcff width="50%" valign=top|Recorded in 1981.
The dance album, Reggie-disco-rock style.
|-
|bgcolor=#f8fcff width="10%" valign=top align=center|1983
|bgcolor=#f8fcff width="40%" valign=top|The Stas Namin Group album «Surprise for Monsieur Legrand»
|bgcolor=#f8fcff width="50%" valign=top|Recorded in 1981, in French, sympho-jazz style.
|-
|bgcolor=#f8fcff width="10%" valign=top align=center|-----
|bgcolor=#f8fcff width="40%" valign=top|The Stas Namin Group double album «We wish You Happiness»
|bgcolor=#f8fcff width="50%" valign=top|Recorded in 1985, forbidden and never released in the USSR.
|-
|bgcolor=#f8fcff width="10%" valign=top align=center|1987
|bgcolor=#f8fcff width="40%" valign=top|The Stas Namin Group’ single «November Snow»
|bgcolor=#f8fcff width="50%" valign=top|Released by Hotwax Records, in English.
|-
|bgcolor=#f8fcff width="10%" valign=top align=center|1997
|bgcolor=#f8fcff width="40%" valign=top|«KamaSutra» album
|bgcolor=#f8fcff width="50%" valign=top|Instrumental album. Special guests: Pavel & Sergei Titivets (Nuance band), Sergei Voronov (Crossroads), Nikolai Devlet-Kildeev & Alexander Solich (Moral Codex), Alexander Lyubarsky (B-2), and others.
|-
|bgcolor=#f8fcff width="10%" valign=top align=center|1998
|bgcolor=#f8fcff width="40%" valign=top|“Old Times”, traditional rock’n’roll album.
|bgcolor=#f8fcff width="50%" valign=top|With special guests: Noel Redding (Jimi Hendrix’ Experience), and Eric Bell (Thin Lizzy).
|-
|bgcolor=#f8fcff width="10%" valign=top align=center|2001
|bgcolor=#f8fcff width="40%" valign=top|The Flowers double album, on CD & DVD (Live)
|bgcolor=#f8fcff width="50%" valign=top|Audio and video recordings of the jubilee concert, 2001. The best for 30 years as well as unknown songs forbidden in the USSR.
|-
|bgcolor=#f8fcff width="10%" valign=top align=center|2008
|bgcolor=#f8fcff width="40%" valign=top|The Flowers album «Rural Songs»
|bgcolor=#f8fcff width="50%" valign=top|Recorded in Los Angeles in 2003; ethno-rock. Special guest – Sergey Starostin.
|-
|bgcolor=#f8fcff width="10%" valign=top align=center|2008
|bgcolor=#f8fcff width="40%" valign=top|The album «Unknown songs +» (Live)
|bgcolor=#f8fcff width="50%" valign=top|Recorded in 2006 at “The Legends of Russian Rock” festival in SNC theatre. Forbidden and unreleased Namin’s songs are featured.
|-
|bgcolor=#f8fcff width="10%" valign=top align=center|2008
|bgcolor=#f8fcff width="40%" valign=top|The Flowers single
«Summer Night», «Too Early to Say Goodbye», «The Bogatyrs’ Power», «We Wish You Happiness».
|bgcolor=#f8fcff width="50%" valign=top| Remakes recorded in 2006–2007.
|}>
Art & Foto
Ehibitions• 1996 – Moscow House of Cinema.
• 1998 – “Together” private art gallery, Moscow.
• 1998 – Central Exhibition Hall Grand Manezh, Moscow.
• 1999 - Central House of Artist, Moscow. Love story, one-man show.
• 2000 – International Art Forum, Perm.
• 2001 – The Russian Museum, St. Petersburg. The World through Stas Namin’s Photo Eye, one-man show.
• 2004 – Pacific Design Centre, Hollywood, Los Angeles.
• 2004 – The International Foundation of Russian and Eastern European Art, Manhattan, New York.
• 2006 - Central House of Artist, Moscow. Veni, Vidi…, one-man show.
• 2001 – Alla Bulyanskaya’s Gallery. Central House of Artist, Moscow.
• 2006 – The Bakhrushin State Theatre Museum, Moscow. The Facets of Talent.
• 2007 - MAR’S Centre for Contemporary Arts. An Unusual Concert Exhibition presented by the Rolling Stone magazine.
• 2007 - New Manezh Exhibit Hall, Moscow. Art Graphic (Khudgraf) Exhibition of Graphic Arts.
• 2007 - Central House of Artist, Moscow. Art Moscow Annual International Art Fair.
• 2007 – The Ministry of Foreign Affaires of the Russian Federation. One-man show.
• 2008 – Belgorod State Art Museum. One-man show (oil painting, graphics, photos).
Theatre
RepertoireMusicals
• HAIR by Galt MacDermot/James Rado, Gerome Ragni. Love rock musical, in Russian and English.
• JESUS CHRIST SUPER STAR by Andrew Lloyd Webber/Tim Rice. Rock-opera, in English.
• PRIVATE IVAN CHONKIN based on the novel by Vladimir Voinovich. Archetypal musical comedy.
• FOUR STORIES based on "The Little Tragedies" and poems by Alexander Pushkin. Dramatic suite.
• BUFFOONERY by Alexander Blok. Musical-poetic composition.
Dramatics
• THE VIGIL by Ernest Bryll. Dramatic poem, in Russian.
• THE HOUSE OF BERNARDA ALBA by Federico Garcia Lorca. Drama, in Russian.
• CARDINAL POINTS by Ekaterina Ryzhikova. Psychedelic musical epos with elements of Mysticism and Shamanism.
• AT THE CROSSROAD by Mikhail Barshchevsky. First interactive production.
• FIVE LETTERS by Mikhail Barshchevsky. Anti-comedy.
For Children
• THE BREMEN MUSICIANS by Vasily Livanov, Yury Entin, Gennady Gladkov. Musical.
• THE SNOW QUEEN by Evgeny Shvarts after Hans Christian Andersen. Fairy tale.
• THE XXIst CENTURY PROF by Victor Olshansky. Science fiction play.
Films
Music videos• 1982 – “Old New Year” – The Flowers. (Script, director, camera, producer)
• 2001 – Musical “Hair”, fragment. (Script, producer)
• 2002 – “Elegy” - The Flowers. (Script, producer)
• 2002 – “White Ice Floes” - The Flowers. (Script, producer)
Documentary & feature films
• 1991 – “Restless Garden” (co-author, producer)
• 2007 – “ Feeling Deeply as Profession”, featuring Maestro Ogan Durjan’Narc (co-author, producer)
• 2008 – “Rockin' the Kremlin” (co-author, co-producer)
Documentary series «International Geographic»
• 1992 - Jerusalem (director, camera, producer)
• 1993 - Thailand (director, camera, producer)
• 1995 - New York (director, camera, producer)
• 1996 – Albuquerque, Santa Fe, and others - New Mexico (director, camera, producer)
• 1997 - Easter Island (director, camera, producer)
• 1997 - Tahiti & Bora-Bora Islands
• 2002 - 2006 – Tanzania, Namibia, Mozambique, Republic of South Africa, Zambia, Tunisia, and others – Africa (director, camera, producer)
• 2004 - 2007 – Peru, Chile, Argentina, Honduras, and others – South America (director, camera, producer)
• 2007 – Amazon (director, camera, producer)
Films concerts:
• 1989 - Moscow Peace Festival in Luzhniki (co-author, co-producer)
• 1992 - “Rock from the Kremlin” festival (co-author, producer)
• 1990 – “One World” festival, part I (co-author, producer)
• 1995 – “One World” festival, part II (co-author, producer)
• 1997 – “One World” festival, part III (co-author, producer)
• 2007 – “Legends of Russian Rock” festival (co-author, producer)
Festivals
Music Festival• 1981- USSR’s first ever and the biggest national pop-rock festival in Yerevan, Armenia (70,000 audience), hailed as The Yerevan Woodstock by Time magazine, featuring: trio Ganelin-Chekasin-Tarasov, Konstantin Orbelian and his big band, Valery Leontiev
Valery Leontiev
Valery Yakovlevich Leontiev is a Soviet and Russian pop singer whose popularity peaked in the early 1980s. He was titled a People's Artist of Russia in 1996...
, Zhanna Bichevskaya, Guner Grabbs and many others.
• 1987 — A Festival of the SNC’s young outfits at the CSK basketball arena, featuring: Nicolaus Copernicus, Night Prospect, Metal Corrosion and others.
• 1988 — The International “Peace Aid” at the Green Theatre in Gorky Park, featuring: Howard Jones (GB), Melanie (USA), Alexander Nevsky, Metal Corrosion, Grand Prix, Markiza, Monolith, Legion, Stalker, Time-Out and others along with the Flowers and Gorky Park.
• 1988 (October) — The First Moscow International Alternative Festival, featuring: Big Country (GB), Brigade S, Nicolaus Copernicus, Night Prospect, Megapolis, Alliance and others.
• 1989 — USSR’s first ever historic international rock festival at Luzhniki bringing together Bon Jovi, Motley Crew, Scorpions, Ozzy Osbourne, Сinderella and other major rock acts with an estimated 200,000 ecstatic head bangers thronging the stadium. The Moscow Peace Festival became a shining symbol of freedom and heralded the start of a new era in Russian history. The Stas Namin Center contributed one million dollars - the entire gross profit of ticket sales - to a national anti-drug foundation.
• 1990 — The first international pop, rock and ethnic music festival «One World» held in Gorky Park in Moscow featuring, Boy George (GB), Kaoma (Brazil), Telephone (France), Amina (Israel) and many others.
• 1990 — Co-production of the «SOS Rasizm» Festival in Paris, France, featuring SNC’s outfits among others: Auktsyon, Brigade S, Nicolaus Copernicus, Night Prospect, Nuance.
• 1992 — The legendary festival Rock from the Kremlin featuring all previously banned rock outfits: Aquarium, DDT, Alisa, Nautilus, Brigada S, and others. The first privately organized concert held at the Kremlin Palace of Congresses.
• 1995 — The second international pop, rock and ethnic music festival «One World» held in Green Theatre in Moscow, featuring famous theatre, movie, rock and pop stars: Alexander Abdulov, Sergey Soloviev, Liudmila Gurchenko, Vasily Lanovoy, Natalia Andreychenko, Fiodor Bondarchuk, Michael Zhvanetsky, DDT, Alice, Time Machine, Moral Code, Nogu Svelo, Valery Siutkin, Lev Leschenko, Valerie, Boris Grebenshikov, Sergey Zverev show.
• 1997 — The third One World international festival on the Red Square (concert) and Teatralnaya Square (carnival)in Moscow timed for the city’s 850th Anniversary celebrations, featuring ethnic groups from Japan, Scotland, Brazil, India, Britain, Israel, the Palestinian Autonomy, Bulgaria and other countries.
Film Festivals
• 1997 — Together with Sergey Soloviev and Alexander Abdulov production of the 20th Moscow International Film Festival. The Stas Namin Centre invited more than 20 film superstars from around the world to come over, including Gina Lollobrigida, Sophia Loren, Alberto Sordi, Ornella Muti, Brigit Nielsen, Geoffrey Rush and Robert De Niro, musicians Michel Legrand, Chuck Berry and others.
• 2003 — The Russian International Film Festival (RIFF) in Hollywood (California, US) presenting more than 50 feature films, documentaries and cartoons.
• 2003 — The Russian International Film Festival (RIFF) in Frankfurt-on-Maine, Germany (74 films).
• 2004 — Production of the cultural program for the “Spirit of Fire” film festival in Khanty-Mansijsk.
• 2005 — the first festival of American independent cinema “IndieVisual” in Moscow.
• 2006 — Co-production of the first American Film Festival in Moscow.
• 2007 — Co-production of the second American Film Festival in Moscow.
• 2004 — Russian International Film Festival (RIFF) participated in Tribeka Film Festival in New York.
Festivals of Arts & Culture
• 1991 — The Festival of Russian culture in Hong Kong.
• 1992 — The first time in the history days of Moscow’s culture in Jerusalem.
• 1993 — The Festival of Russian and Japanese culture in Russia.
• 2003 — The Year of Russian Culture in Germany as part of a series of Russian-German cultural exchanges.
• 2004 — The Year of German Culture in Russia as part of a series of Russian-German cultural exchanges.
• 2004 — The first annual Festival of Russian culture «Russian Nights» in Los Angeles (USA) and the second – in New York (USA)
• 2005 — The third «Russian Nights» in Los Angeles.
• 2005 — The Festival of Russian culture at the International Book Fair in Hannover (Germany).
• 2005 — The first festival of American contemporary culture «The American autumn in Moscow»
• 2006 — The fourth «Russian Nights» Festival in Los Angeles (USA)
• 2006 — The Year of Russian Culture in China.
• 2006 — The «Russian Nights» Festivals in Seoul (Korea).
• 2007 — The Year of Chinese Culture in Russia.
• 2007 — The Festival of Korean Culture in Russia.
• 2008 — The Year of Russian Culture in Bulgaria.
• 2008 — The Festival of Indian Culture in Russia.
• 2003—2008 — Annual celebrating of Russian Independence Day in Berlin.
• 2008 — Celebrating of Russian Independence Day in Paris.
Concerts and Special Projects
Concerts• 1986 — The Flowers (The Stas Namin Group) tour the US and Canada.
• 1986 — The Flowers’ (The Stas Namin Group) participation in «Japan Aid» festival in Japan.
• 1987 — Concerts of the SNC’s outfits in the Green Theatre of Gorky Park and other venues in Moscow.
• 1988 — Tom Newman theatre (USA) with the rock-ballet “The Toymaker’s Dream” in Moscow.
• 1989 — The first in the history Soviet delegation to Alaska with the concerts of The Flowers (The Stas Namin Group) and Rondo (first Russian rock performers in Alaska).
• 1990 — Concerts of the SNC’s outfits Auktsyon, Nuance, Brigade S in Paris, France.
• 1991 — A series of concerts of symphony, chamber and opera music featuring the Moscow Symphony Orchestra (MSO) at the Grand Hall of Moscow Conservatoire and Tchaikovsky Hall.
• 1991 — The Moscow Symphony Orchestra (MSO) and Electric Light Orchestra Part II joint tour in Great Britain, and their concert at the Wembley Arena.
• 1991 — A concert of the State Chamber Choir with the BBC symphony orchestra at the Royal Albert Hall in London, GB.
• 1991 — The first in Russia concert dedicated to celebration of Jewish holiday Hanuka at the Kremlin Palace of Congresses in Moscow.
• 1992 — “Of blessed memory” – a concert in honour of the 47th Anniversary of the Victory in World War II, at the Kremlin Palace of Congresses broadcasted nation-wide, featuring the renowned Moiseev Dance Company and Kremlin Ballet, Alexandrov’s Red Army Ensemble and Beriozka dance company, and Moscow symphony orchestra.
• 1992 — “Peace for Karabakh” – a charity concert at the Kremlin Palace of Congresses.
• 1993 — «Iron Maiden» concerts at the Olympic Stadium in Moscow.
• 1996 — A legendary 16-city, all-stadium super tour by 20 of Russia’s best-loved pop, rock, theater and film stars billed “For the Future of Free Russia”.
• 1996 — Paul Young and ZZ TOP concerts at the Green Theatre in Gorky Park.
• 1997 — Michael Legrand concert in Moscow.
• 1997 — Chuck Berry concert in Moscow.
• 2001 — A 30-year Jubilee of the Stas Namin Group “The Flowers” at the Central Concert Hall “Russia”.
• 2001 — “The Flowers” and “Formula 1” tour in Great Britain, Sweden, Israel and USA.
• 2001 — Russian Circus-on-Ice in Canada.
• 2002 — A series of concerts of the Moscow Symphony Orchestra (MSO) at the Grand Hall of Moscow Conservatoire and Tchaikovsky Concert Hall.
• 2002 — “In Commemoration of Victims of the International terrorism” – Moscow Symphony Orchestra (MSO) concert at the Grand Hall of Moscow Conservatoire.
• 2005 — Moscow Symphony Orchestra (MSO) at the Moscow International Performing Arts Centre.
Special Projects
• 1985 — The Soviet-American joint cultural project “Peace Child”, and its tour in Russia and the USA.
• 1985 — Music TV-bridge Russia-USA.
• 1987 — Hard Rock Café in the Green Theatre in Gorky Park.
• 1989 — The first Soviet official and cultural delegation to Alaska.
• 1989 — Formation of the Moscow Symphony Orchestra (MSO).
• 1990 — Formation of the Moscow-on-Ice show and its world tour.
• 1991 — Peter Max exhibitions at the Academy of Arts in Moscow and at the Hermitage in Saint-Petersburg.
• 1992 — The first hot-air balloons festival “March for Peace” on the Red Square and in Gorky Park, featuring “SNC” hot-air balloon among others.
• 1992 — International rock-motorbike race “Harley Davidson” (Tallinn, Minsk, St.-Petersburg, Moscow).
• 1992 — Arranging the meeting of Scorpions with the President of the USSR Michael Gorbachev.
• 1993 — Russian-Japanese show “Hello Russia” on the Red Square, featuring Kansai Yamomoto’s fashion collection.
• 1994 — Creation of the unique special-shape hot-air balloon “Yellow Submarine” and participation in the Albuquerque balloon festival.
• 1997 — The world-encircling and Easter Island tour with Thor Heyerdahl, Yuri Senkevich, Andrey Makarevich and Leonid Yakubovich.
• 1997 — Co-production of the new issue “Novaya Gazeta”.
• 1998 — The first non-official Russian-American delegation to Cuba (Stas Namin, Sergey Soloviev, Leonardo DiCaprio, Alanis Morriset, Leonid Sarochan and others).
• 1998 — “The Tzar’s hunting” restaurant.
• 1998 — The “Rhythm’n’Blues Café” club and restaurant.
• 1998 — The “Park Club” restaurant.
• 2008 — “The Beatles and India” Festival of ayurvedic culture in Gorky Park.
Recording Studio
In 1986 Stas Namin established the first private (independent) recording studio «SNC Studios» in the USSR. The studio provided young musicians with an opportunity to record their compositions free of charge and without censorship. To make the recording possible, Namin used the rehearsal facilities of his own rock-group. The facilities consisted of two small rooms and were located in the storeroom of Green Theatre at Gorky Park. One room was used for storing the musical instruments of the group which had been there since 1986 and the other was turned into a homemade recording studio.At different times various celebrities visited the studio. Among them were Arnold Schwarzenegger, Quincy Jones, Don King, Frank Zappa, Bon Jovi, Scorpions, Peter Gabriel, Eurythmics, U2 and Pink Floyd.
The Gorky park, Bridaga C, Kalinov most, Splin, Moralny kodeks and almost all of the groups promoted by the Centre recorded their first compositions in the SNC studio. Such groups as Voskresenie, Zemfira, The Grimm brothers, Band Eros and many others still use the SNC studio.
Producing Centre
In 1986 Namin established a private production centre «SNC» in Green Theatre at Gorky Park. The Centre united about 30 young music groups which were officially banned by the authorities. They included Brigada C, Nikolai Kopernik, Nuance, Nochnoi Prospeckt, Kalinov Most, Rondo, Corrosia MetallaCorrosia Metalla
Corrosia Metalla is a Russian thrash metal band. It is notorious for its provocative black humour lyrics and public performances...
, Moralny Kodeks, Aliance, Blues League, Megapolis and many others. It was the SNC centre that gave birth to the Gorky Park group.
Such Groups as Centre, Auktsion, Zvuki Mu, Zhanna Agurazova cooperated closely with SNC and participated in the events organized by the Centre.
The Centre provided musical instruments and equipment, a rehearsal room and recording studio for young musicians. The centre promoted them to various festivals and concerts. SNC design studio created logos, posters and album covers.
In the Stas Namin centre young musicians had a chance to meet world famous musicians such as Frank Zappa, Billy Joel, Bon Jovi, Peter Gabriel and many others. In the early 1990s the production centre switched from rock music to symphonic music (Moscow symphony orchestra), ice shows and arranging festivals and other special projects.
Concert Agency
Stas Namin established the first private concert agency «SNC Concerts» in 1987. SNC Concerts shook the long-term monopoly of the state-owned companies such as Moskontsert, Roskontsert and Goskontsert. A number of historical shows were arranged during the life of the Centre. The agency arranged concerts, festivals and performance tours for foreign artistes in the USSR (Howard Jones, Melanie, Big Country, Iron Maiden, ZZ Top and many others) for soviet artistes abroad (The Flowers, Brigada C, Gorky Park, Rondo, Nochnoi Prospeckt, The Moscow Symphony Orchestra).In the mid 1990’s SNC Concerts limited itself to activities related to projects and cultural festivals that were promoted by the Stas Namin Centre.
Design Studio
«SNC Design» was created in 1987 almost simultaneously with the music production centre in Green Theatre at Gorky Park. This was the first USSR private design studio that created logos, posters, CD covers and images of young groups and festivals promoted by the Stas Namin Centre. In the 1990s SNC Design developed book designs for the Stanbet publishing house.By the end of the 1990s SNC Design dealt only with the projects for the Centre.
Model Agency & Fashion Theatre
The Modeling agency «SNC Fashion» was established by the Stas Namin Centre in 1988. The modeling agency included not only models early in their careers, but also young designers who debuted their first collections at Fashion theatre which was run by Viktor Solovyov. This was the starting point for Yulia Dalakyan, famous supermodel Tatiana Sorokko and other Russian supermodels whose careers were launched by a partner of the Stas Namin Centre; the Ford modeling agency in the USA.For the last few years SNC Holding has not been dealing with the modeling business directly. As the official representative of the Ford modeling agency, the Holding took part in the organization of the international contest “Supermodel of the World” and other international competitions and shows in which Russian models participated.
At the end of the 1990s The Stas Namin Centre ceased this activity.
Art Clubs & Restaurants
In 1987 the first artists club and Restaurant «Art Rock Café» was opened at Stas Namin Centre in Gorky Park. In fact, it was the first private restaurant in Moscow. It was a 24 hour Restaurant and club. Only people who referred to themselves as the “New Wave” generation visited that club. The restaurant appeared to be an iconic place as was the Stas Namin Centre itself. In 1989 during the rock festival in Luzhniki stadium, the Moscow Hard Rock Café Victoria hosted the London Hard Rock Café.It was possible to come across not only Grebenschikov, Shevchuk, Pugachyova and other famous musicians in the Café, but also Evgeny Primakov, US senators and other progressives of the Perestroika period.
This was the place where the historic meeting of Alfred Shnitki and Frank Zappa occurred took place. Billy Joel, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Pink Floyd, Robert De Niro, Peter Gabriel, Annie Lennox, U2, Scorpions, Iron Maiden, Thompson Twins were among the many prominent visitors.
In the 1990s the restaurant and club in the Stas Namin Centre closed. A new modern restaurant and club, «Park-club» was opened in 1998 in the Stas Namin Centre. It became one of the most popular places in Moscow. In 2001 the artistic Park - club changed its image and turned into a summer “chill-out” club. The club is located near the forest on the bank of the Moskva River.
In 1998 Stas Namin in partnership with Andrei Makarevitch and Valery Meladze, opened «Rhythm & Blues Café», the first musical restaurant and club in Russia. The front of the building is decorated with portraits of more than forty world-famous rock stars. Among them are the Rolling stones, Ringo Starr, Brian May, Status Qwo, Depeche Mode, Chic Korea, Jean Claude Ponti, Rick Wakeman and others. Most of these celebrities left their autographs on the front of the club. A few photos with unique autographs decorate the interior of the club. One of the club attractions is the bar in an old pink limousine which is on the second floor. Quentin Tarantino gave the idea for this bar to Stas Namin especially for this club. The first floor is decorated with a unique family tree that represents the history of Russian rock music and includes the pictures of all former and current Russian rock-groups. It is the Rhythm & Blues Café where the official launch of the Russian MTV channel, the Maxidrom festival
Maxidrom
Maxidrom is an annual international musical festival organized by Radio Maximum station.-History:...
after party and other significant music events have taken place.
Record Company
«SNC records» was established by Stas Namin in spring of 1990 and immediately swept the Soviet market. SNC records was the only competitor to the Melodiya company. The company catalogue includes records of almost all of the rock stars of Soviet times.It was the first private company in the history of the USSR. SNC Records shook the long-term monopoly of the state company Melodiya and laid the foundations of free competition and independent show-business. The first vinyl records produced by SNC Records appeared in spring of 1990. These records were “Kaoma” and “Rock in support of Armenia”.
SNC Records was the first company in the record business and in its country that was officially given an award by a foreign company, Castle Communications (Great Britain). The GOLDEN DISK was awarded to the independent record company for issuing the first set of licensed records such as Black Sabbath and others.
In the mid 1990’s SNC Records changed its strategy, withdrew from larger projects and businesses and froze its catalogue. Today SNC Records promotes only its own small projects.
Art Gallery
Modern and applied arts in «Stanbet Gallery» was founded by Stas Namin in 1991 and was the first private gallery of the post-perestroika period. The gallery owns one of the largest collections of modern art paintings (more than 500 canvases). The Gallery represents a wide range of painters of different techniques from CIS art schools, arranges exhibitions of Soviet and foreign artists and takes part in Moscow shows such as Art-Manezh, etc.In the early 1990s the Gallery had a permanent exhibition in the Russia House Gallery of the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York.
In the mid-1990s the Gallery stopped its business activities and became a private gallery.
Radio
This independent radio station broadcast from January 4, 1991 to September 30, 1992, at a frequency of 1260 kHz in Moscow and St.Petersburg. It was the first radio station that broadcast live and without censorship. The founder was Namin. He was also the sponsor of radio SNC. At that time there were no private radio stations in the USSR. There were only two radio stations, Echo of Moscow and Europe Plus, both partially owned by the State. So the idea of establishing a private radio station was not commercial, but social and innovative.During the August putsch in 1991, Radio SNC and the political radio station, Echo of Moscow, were captured by gunmen and banned by the KGB. Afterwards Radio SNC was the first to start broadcasting live BBC news in addition to music programs. «Radio SNC» broadcast the best of international pop, rock, symphony, opera, jazz and underground.
In 1992 the Ministry of Communications
Ministry of Communications (Soviet Union)
The Ministry of Communications of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was the central state administration body on communications in the Soviet Union from 1946 to 1991...
did not renew the broadcasting license of Radio SNC and the station had to cease its activity.
TV Production Company
The first private television company «SNC TV» started broadcasting in September 1992 on the Russian channel. Anatoly Lycenko, the former director of the Russian channel, made a bold decision to grant broadcast time to the Namin private company. Later SNC programs appeared on the “2 х 2” channel. The company launched a number of entertaining programs: Yellow submarine, Hollywood Classics, All Stars, and SNC Night Club.In the mid 1990’s the SNC television company stopped broadcasting.
Glossy Zine (Magazine)
«Stas» glossy magazine appeared in 1995. The magazine represented the unique and innovative concepts of Stas Namin. The concept for the magazine was unlike all other magazines in the world. The magazine had become one of the most popular publications within Russia of its kind within a short period of time. It was regarded as a reliable, analytical publication in the field of art. The magazine was built upon a clear, almost mathematical basis, which consisted of independent ratings. The magazine revealed the key leaders and promising upcoming representatives of pop, rock, jazz and classical music, movies, theatre, literature, fashion, mass media (television, radio), art and other fields of life. The magazine wrapped up its activities in 1997.Stanbet Business Holding
• Stanbet Sport Agency• Stanbet Trading
• Stanbet Publishing
• Stanbet Entertainment
• Stanbet Development (Real Estate)
• Stanbet Energy (Energy technologies development)
• Stanbet Electronics (Hi-End Tube technologies)
Educational Projects
• 1990 - the Stas Namin Scholarship established at the Vanderbilt University, Nashville, USA• 1991 – Socio-ecological movement “One World”.
• 1992 - Speaker at the UNESCO Conference “Tolerance and Society”, Paris, France
• 1993 – Series of lectures on Russian culture in American Universities.
• 1994 – Lecture course on the basis of PR and psychology of mass perception, for the Journalism Department of the Moscow University.
• 1998 - panelist at the forum session on “Mobilizing Resources for Cultural Development” of the UNESCO Intergovernmental Conference on Cultural Policies for Development, Stockholm, Sweden
• 2005 – A series of lectures and seminars on Russian culture, as a part of Russian Nights Festival in USA.
• 2008 – Opening of the Faculty of Culture and Music Arts, as a joint project of the Moscow Humanitarian University and Stas Namin Centre.
Family
Namin’s father, Alexei Mikoyan (1925–1986), was a World War II military pilot. He was entrusted to lead the show of fighter squadron during the Victory Parades on the Red Square. Wounded in the War and awarded a hero’s status, he flew the MIGs designed by Namin’s great-uncle and remained in the military for the duration of his life.Nami Mikoyan, Namin’s mother, was a classical musician educated at the Moscow Conservatory where she became friends with many of Russia’s great performers and composers, including Khachaturian, Schnittke, Shostakovich and Oistrakh, among many others. Later a journalist and writer, she has just published With My Own Eyes, an autobiographical, first-hand glimpse into the four regimes she and her illustrious family lived through.
His grandfather, Anastas Mikoyan (1895–1978), whose tenure in Soviet government is legendary and unmatched in terms of its longevity, was President of the Soviet Union in the 1960s. He was a member of Politburo in the regimes of Lenin, Stalin, Khruschev and Brezhnev, rising to international prominence for his pivotal role in the resolution of the Indonesian missile crisis and Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962. Anastas Mikoyan is one of the Soviet Union’s few elite political figures to have retained a positive image to this day, despite the rigors of archival exposure and scrutiny. TIME Magazine called him “the world’s best crisis manager” putting his portrait on the cover. He was a personal friend of John Kennedy, Fidel Castro, Ernst Hemingway, and Pablo Picasso, and many other world celebrities.
Namin’s great-uncle, Artiom Mikoyan (1905–1970), invented the MIG fighter jet, one of the most lethal weapons in the Soviet arsenal.
Namin's maternal grandmother, Ksenia Priklonskaya (1909–1988), descends from the noble stem, related to the noble families of the Venevitinovs’ and Pushkins’.
Married, has a daughter and two sons.
External links
Reference this entry:"The Stas Namin Group double album «We wish You Happiness»
Recorded in 1985, forbidden and never released in the USSR."
This double LP was indeed released in 1985 AND IN THE USSR.
How do I know? A Russian friend living in Moscow sent me
a copy of it which I still have. I listen to it regularly.
My Moscow friend sent it to me in the late 80s.