How domestic hits were covered abroad

55 years ago, Mary Hopkin’s song “Those Were the Days” topped the British charts, the melody of which was borrowed from the Russian romance “The Long Road” by composer Boris Fomin. Kommersant has compiled a selection of covers of Russian songs by foreign performers.

Soviet and Russian hits are included in the repertoire of many foreign performers. One of the most common options is a full cover with the lyrics translated into another language. The text itself can be changed beyond recognition.

This is exactly how the 1924 romance was covered “The Long Road”, which Welsh pop singer Mary Hopkin recorded not only in English, but also in Spanish, Italian, German and French. All that remains from the original is Boris Fomin’s melody.

The track remained at the top of the UK charts for six weeks. In the US, the English version peaked at number two on the Billboard 100.

Often, foreign performers cover compositions entirely or partially in Russian. For example, the group Massive Attack recorded a version of the hit “Civil Defense” “Everything goes according to plan”.

In addition, melodies of Russian and Soviet musical works can be used as samples and played in the background, for example, readings of rap artists. One of the verses of the song “Design In Malice” by Jedi Mind Tricks uses the melody “Polyushko-field”. In the song “Prince Igor” by The Rapsody, the verse raps on the theme song from “Polovtsian dances” and the chorus is performed in Russian.

Conquerors of Western charts

Covers of domestic songs often find their way into international charts. In 1964, the Swedish folk group Hootenanny Singers, which included future ABBA member Björn Ulvaeus, released one of their main hits, “Gabrielle,” based on a song by Arkady Ostrovsky “May there always be sunshine”.

In June 1990, The Cover Girls’ song “Don’t Stop Now” appeared on the Soviet-American album “Music Speaks Louder Than Words”, the melody of which was borrowed from the song by Viktor Reznikov “Brownie.” The composition reached 8th place on the American dance chart.

In 1998, the group “Hands Up” sold the rights to the track “Song”earning a total of more than $1 million. The Disco Boys’ treatment of the song became “Around the World (La La La)” and became a European hit, and also entered the Billboard 100 at number 28.

European and Korean performers often cover Alla Pugacheva’s song “Million Scarlet roses” and compositions by the Kino group, including “A Star Called the Sun” And “Blood group”

Other Russian rock performers are also popular in Asia. Mighty Heap and Japanese virtual singer Hatsune Miku sang “The Sorcerer’s Doll” from “The King and the Jester”. Koreans Infinity of Sound quail “Dolphins” “Mumiy Troll”.

The American band Brazzaville covered “Green-eyed taxi”, and Swedish rapper Yung Lean covered the Alliance hit “At dawn”.

“Polovtsian Dances” as a jazz standard

The opera “Prince Igor” was written by composer Alexander Borodin in 1887 and became a classic not only of opera, but also of ballet. “Polovtsian dances” are a dance fragment of the second act of the opera, the composition for it is one of the most recognizable Russian works in the West.

In 1953, the musical “Kismet” was released on Broadway, the authors of which completely borrowed the music from the work of Alexander Borodin. The melody of “Polovtsian Dances” was no exception, on the basis of which Robert Wright and George Forrest wrote the song “Stranger in Paradise.”

The musical was very popular at the time, and “Stranger in Paradise” gained cult status and became a jazz standard. Jazzman Tony Bennett was the first to record his own single in 1954, followed by covers from other artists. Sarah Brightman wrote a more lyrical composition, and Isaac Hayes wrote a more danceable one.

However, domestic listeners are most familiar with the song “Prince Igor” by The Rapsody. The composition was released in 1997, became a hit in Russia and Europe and reached sixth place in the pan-European chart. The melody from “Polovtsian Dances” was used as a sample in the verse, and in the chorus, opera singer Sissel Hurhiebef performed the part in Russian.

In the original language

Sometimes foreign performers undertake to sing in Russian themselves, but their accent always reveals them to be foreigners. So, German metallers dArtagnan sang in Russian “Song of the Musketeers” Italians Vanilla Sky made rock covers of “Song about Bears” And “The January blizzard is ringing.” Metal version “No one writes to the Colonel” from “Bi-2” was made by the Italian group Lithio.

Romance is also popular in the West “Black eyes”, which, among others, was covered by Louis Armstrong and Sophie Millman. Frenchwoman Lara Fabian sang in Russian “Love Like a Dream” Alla Pugacheva.

Vocalist and guitarist of Rammstein Till Lindemann and Richard Kruspe in 2003 undertook to cover the song of the Russian rock group “Aria” “Calm” for the collection for the 100th anniversary of Harley-Davidson. “Calm” turned out to be extremely popular in Germany – the composition together with “Aria” was also covered by the group UDO.

Stolen for sample quotes

Often foreign performers use melodies from domestic compositions as samples or make remixes based on Russian songs. Yes, the song “Million Scarlet roses” was reworked into the Peter Power composition “Red Roses”, and Krasa Rosa mixed the already mentioned “May there always be sunshine.”

“Kalinka” is one of the most popular songs to use as samples. For example, its melody is found in the pop track of the Swedish artist Carlito in “Russkij Pusskij”. Hungarian musician Yonderboi made from “Dark Night” Mark Bernes dance DJ mix. Colombian artist Neckbreakerz created a rap track from a song by Valery Obodzinsky “Melody”.

Evgeniy Fedunenko