Viktor Tsoi is known primarily as the leader of the cult musical group "Cinema", which gained immense popularity in the USSR in the late 1980s. And a couple of decades later, fans still leave the inscription "Choi is alive" wherever possible, and not only in the post-Soviet space. What is its phenomenon?
The Kino group appeared in 1981 when the trio Garin and Hyperboloids was renamed. The trio then became a duet, which included Viktor Tsoi and Alexei Rybin. Their debut took place on the stage of the Leningrad Rock Club. Soon, the group recorded the album Forty Five.
In 1984, the group included already four people: bassist Alexander Titov, drummer Georgy Guryanov and guitarist Yuri Kasparyan, who replaced Rybin, joined. With their new program at the 11th Leningrad rock festival "Cinema" they became a sensation, a discovery. The composition of the group finally took shape in the same 1984, when bass player Igor Tikhomirov replaced Titov.
The real popularity of the group and Viktor Tsoi came in 1988 after the release of the album "Blood Type". In those years, rock music was still new for the USSR, and the new one tends to attract attention. People liked to feel that they belonged to the so-called “underground” and the spirit of protest. Music has not been so commercially oriented. To young people, Choi seemed "his boyfriend" because of external modesty and simplicity, sincerity.
Listeners note that the songs "Cinema" were relevant for that time and in many respects remain relevant after years. The texts written by Tsoi were both romantic and realistic, melodic. People recognized themselves in them.
The personality of Tsoi himself played an important role in the popularity of the team. In an interview, he revealed to his listeners his position. For example, he said that the main thing is internal freedom and internal comfort, and not external. This could impress people, given the not always simple living conditions. The lyrics of his songs also raised complex issues, including social and political.
So, at the 1984 festival, the song “I declare my home a nuclear-free zone" became the best anti-war. The political significance of the band’s music is evidenced by the fact that the KGB included Kino in the list of the most ideologically harmful groups. At the same time, Choi did not agitate for anything and did not actively call for anything, but only talked about raising the level of consciousness. He believed that a person wears the solution of his problems primarily in himself. And to change the world, you first need to make changes in yourself. According to the famous musician Igor Talkov, Tsoi had the ability to put all the necessary meaning into one line.
Some critics note that the group did not have any high level of performance, and Victor was not a brilliant vocalist. The Cinema group is an example of how the semantic content of music combined with the simplicity of lyrics, the general energy of songs and the charisma of musicians bring popularity.
Over his life, the leader of "Cinema" also managed to star in several films. The film "Needle" even ended up in second place at the box office of Soviet films. Thus, through this sphere of culture, Tsoi spread his influence.
In 1990, Victor's life ended in a car accident. The fact that the musician died young, as often happens, made him even more popular. In the minds of fans of old and new, his ideal image remains.
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