Yuri Fedorovich Malikov - creator and leader of one of the most famous ensembles in the Soviet Union - VIA "Gems". People’s Artist of Russia, performing on stage for several decades, producer and musician, he continues his creative activity today.
More than one generation remembers and loves songs performed by VIA "Gems", whose permanent leader is Yuri Malikov. In the mid-seventies, the songs of the ensemble were heard in almost every house, at concerts and dance floors. Family traditions were continued by the musician’s children. Inna and Dmitry Malikov are well known by the modern public.
The childhood and youth of the musician
The future famous musician was born in the middle of the war, in 1943, on July 6, in the Rostov region (Chebotovka farm).
The creative biography of Yuri began in his youth. The boy’s father was seriously injured during the fighting, was demobilized and returned from the front to his family. From early childhood, he taught his son to play the harmonica, although the boy did not show a special love for music. But the lessons that his father gave him did not go in vain and later helped Yuri master the accordion. Living in the village until the age of 11, he spent more time on the street, playing with his peers.
In 1954, the family moved to the suburbs of Moscow, where Yura went to study at school and began to take an active part in amateur performances and all musical events of the class. He gathers a few friends and they begin to play accordion at school evenings.
After school, Yuri does not give up music. Entering a technical school in Podolsk, he begins to play in a brass band and again participates in all the musical events of the technical school. After watching the film “Serenade of the Sun Valley” popular in those years, Malikov decides to learn how to play the double bass, which captivated the young man with his sound. To do this, he enters a music school and begins to get involved in jazz compositions. There was no double bass in the orchestra of the technical school where Malikov studied, and for almost a year he persuaded the direction to buy it. As a result, his dream came true, and by the time the college graduated, Yuri was already playing several instruments, and his passion for playing the double bass helped him to make the final choice - he firmly decided to devote himself to music. But his creative career did not begin immediately.
After graduating from technical school, Malikov enters the Automechanical Institute and at the same time continues to make music, speaking on an open concert veranda in the central park of the city. It was there that he was noticed by the famous double bass player Vladimir Mikhalev, who arrived in the city with concerts as part of a symphony orchestra. He liked the play of the young musician, and he invited Yuri to Moscow so that he could continue his musical education. So the young musician enters the capital, leaving the institute, and enters first at the Ippolitov-Ivanov Music College, and then at the State Conservatory. From this moment begins his professional career in music.
Music and creativity
Yuri began his career in music with performances in the ensemble, the soloist of which was Emil Gorovets, the famous performer of pop songs in those years.
Malikov graduated from the conservatory in 1969, for a long time his work was associated with the Moskontsert. During this period, vocal and instrumental ensembles began to appear, in which the vocalists themselves played the instruments. Having heard the first performances of VIA, Malikov decides to organize his own team in a completely new format. He managed to do this only a year later, after a trip to Japan, where Yuri managed to earn enough money and buy new equipment for the future team.
Listening to the new ensemble was announced immediately after Malikov returned to Moscow. The group was formed, and already in early 1971 about the VIA "Gems", so called his team Yuri, the whole country started talking. The first VIA performance was on the radio, in the program "Good morning!" Their songs immediately became hits and sounded from TV screens and on the air of the All-Union Radio. Already in 1972, VIA was invited to the song festival held in Dresden.
"Gems" very quickly became popular throughout the country. Kind, uncomplicated verses penetrated the hearts of the audience, and the melody could be sung constantly.
The composition of the ensemble was selected only by Malikov. He found young and talented musicians and performers in music schools, amateur groups and in the cities where he toured. Many famous performers began their creative career as part of Gems: A. Glyzin, V. Dobrynin, V. Kuzmin, V. Vinokur.
The musicians' creativity attracts many well-known songwriters and composers who begin to write new poems and music for them. Among them were: R. Rozhdestvensky, L. Derbenov, M. Plyatsky, E. Hanok, V. Shainsky, D. Tukhmanov, M. Fradkin and many others.
VIA tours take place throughout the Soviet Union, gathering huge halls and stadiums. All performances are accompanied by a full house, and "My address is the Soviet Union" becomes a favorite song, with which musicians begin and end their performances. They recognized their melodies right away, and the songs “I Will Take You to the Tundra”, “Good Signs”, “Never Repeat This, ” “Do Not Be Sorrowful” became hits for many years.
Choosing young performers for his ensemble, Yuri Malikov drew attention to a blond-haired young man with an open Russian face and excellent vocal abilities. It was Valentin Dyakonov, who later became the leading soloist of Gems.
Malikov was not mistaken in his choice. The whole country fell in love with the singer, he had hundreds of fans, and the success of the team was largely due to this musician. But in 1975, there was a conflict between Malikov and Dyakonov, which led to the departure of most of its staff from the collective. The musicians announced a kind of boycott to the leader, hoping that he would return them to the ensemble after an apology. But Malikov decided differently. He gathered the new composition of the group, inviting to become soloists of Vladimir and Elena Presnyakov.
In the early 1990s, new bands, a new musical format and new public idols appeared on the stage. "Gems" are no longer in demand and are taking less and less part in various concert performances.
In 1992, Malikov decides to dissolve the collective. The group came together again only in 1996, on its anniversary. Having renewed the repertoire and made new arrangements of the songs beloved by the public, "Gems" again began to perform at concert venues. The leader of the team today is Yuri Malikov.
