Zatsepin explained why he stopped communicating with Pugacheva: “There are no common topics”

Famous composer spoke about the fees for hits

The famous composer Alexander Zatsepin will celebrate his 97th birthday this year. Despite his considerable age, Alexander Sergeevich does not relax: he writes music for musicals and performances. But Zatsepin does not want to work with pop singers. About why no new hits appear, and also because of what he does not communicate with Alla Pugacheva, the composer told MK correspondents.

“The most important thing for me today is work,” says Alexander Sergeevich. — I really want interesting projects. I work all the time, I don’t stop. Now there will be a film, then a musical by Nonna Grishaeva. There are two performances in St. Petersburg.

– You look quite cheerful. What is your secret?

– I think that you just need to get enough sleep and do something. Not just sit in a chair, but move. For example, I have 35 minutes of exercise every morning. I also include a few yoga exercises, pretty cool. This is necessary for the joints to work. And if you sit in an armchair and watch TV, then nothing good will come of it.

– Previously, your songs were sung by the whole country. Why are there no new works of yours now?

– Now I don’t have an author of the level of Leni Derbenev. Yes, and quite different music is written. Previously, everything developed: first the Beatles appeared, then Michael Jackson. Now, too, everything is changing, but so far it is at the zero stage. Like a sine wave – we are at the very bottom at the moment.

– Do you really not like any of the performers?

To be honest, I don’t even listen to modern music. I have no time. You have to keep writing – there is a lot of work. I used to write for cinema, but now there is no cinema. And I don’t see any performers. I don’t understand how to promote songs.

– Your compositions once glorified Alla Pugacheva. Are you talking to her now?

– Not. Haven’t talked in a long time.

– Why?

We don’t have any topics of common conversation. Yes, there were hits in her performance. But at the same time there was “The Song of the Bears”, “There is only a moment” – she did not perform them.

How are you doing financially now?

I don’t complain about income. Everything is fine with me. I get copyrights, then television pays. But in Soviet times, of course, the income was much higher. For example, when “A Song About Bears” came out, Lenya Derbenev ran up to me and said: “The other day I received copyright. I bought a car right away! The performance was very good. Now, of course, this is not the case. But cinema worked in the union. Only in Moscow there were 137 cinemas. A person could watch a film for 30 kopecks, but now it is very difficult to do so. Not everyone can pay 500 rubles for going to the cinema, and not every day. If they do, then at best once a month. Then the film was released and it always went for one week in all cinemas of the USSR. And if you had one song, and it caught on, then the whole country sang it at once. There was free advertising. I now unwind very difficult. Television must be paid 50 million to be shown ten times.