Stars of the Soviet era. Group "Funny guys": the history of creation and success, the composition of the collective

It is understandable that many admirers of modern music will not be able to tell anything about this collective, as its birth goes back to the far 60s of the last century. What is the group "Merry guys" and who was one of its participants?

How does the song begin?

The Soviet musical ensemble first appeared in 1966. At this time, none of its participants, including the creator of the collective Pavel Slobodkin, could not think that after some decades the glory of "Merry guys" would thunder across the whole country: they would be laureates of many contests and festivals, collect prestigious awards, set a record for Sales of albums and will be transformed into a musical theater. In the meantime, the group has a long way to conquer the peaks of Olympus.

By the way, the genesis of pop genre is associated with the team "Merry guys." The group included novice performers who were awarded laureates for the performance of youth songs, which would later be regarded as an official recognition of new trends in Soviet music. To fix a unique repertoire, which is difficult to compare with something else, the ensemble succeeds with the release of the first collection of 1970. Even then, many compositions for a long time settled in the hearts of listeners: "Dream", "People meet", "Aleshkina love."

Wide embrace of cooperation

Pavel Slobodkin constantly follows the successes and further promotion of the team. Thanks to him, the group "Cheerful guys" (the photo you can see in this article) is replenished with young, but undoubtedly talented authors. Oleg Ivanov, Vyacheslav Dobrynin and Yury Antonov create their first known hits: "Write me a letter," "Swings," "Why?" Many musicians want to join the team. David Tukhmanov and Ilya Reznik give the group a song "How beautiful this world is", "I will not approach you", "It's easy to fall in love", "At that mountain".

The first concerts of the ensemble "Merry guys"

The composition of the group is replenished Gradsky, Barykin, Malezhik, Glyzin, Lerman, Buinov, Dobronravov, Chaika, Dobrynin. The names of these people do not need to be represented. They, like many other members of the team, later become solo performers, but they never forget about the "Kids" in which they began their musical activity.

The performances of the group are held at the highest level, which was problematic in the Soviet years. Concerts are accompanied by sound design, a worthy performance, professional level of mastery of all performers. It develops its own style. In combination with an original repertoire, he turns into a proprietary "chip" of "Merry guys" for many years.

Window to Europe

The formation of the ensemble as a theater of a song that is not well-known in the country is not reflected in popularity. His glory is only gaining momentum and increasing audience acceptance. In 1973, the group "Jolly Fellows" received an invitation to the recording competition held in England. This became a kind of starting point for the recognition of Soviet music in the West. The highest praise is awarded to Pavel Slobodkin, who, as an art director, turns out to be quite strict and principled, which, however, only reinforces the good support of the collective in the music market.

New faces, new success

For more than one decade, the ensemble's composition has been constantly changing. In this, according to Slobodkin, he does not see anything wrong: "Guys" were perceived as a musical platform, on which all the skills of performance were practiced. And because fluidity - it's normal. In 1974, Alla Pugacheva got into the soloists of the group "Cheerful Guys". The young singer is already familiar to the public. Here she records a number of compositions, including "Harlequin", with which she wins at the "Golden Orpheus". Slobodkin personally participated in recording and mixing the hit that brought Pugacheva fame in the country and beyond.

Two years later the collective went to Prague, where the next record competition took place. He was remembered by a joint performance on the same stage with "Abba", "Boni M." And Mireille Mathieu. 1980 will be marked for the ensemble with participation in the Olympic Games.

It's never too late to improve

In 1983, the audience evaluated the new album in the style of an electro-pop, where, in part, the soundtrack to the film "Assa" partially entered. The group "Jolly Fellows" remembers about classical music, devoting individual concerts to it. From this period, a large-scale departure abroad began due to various festivals, in which the collective acquires the status of a guest star. He visits the Czech Republic, Finland, Cuba; Annually participates in the "Blue Light" and "Song of the Year". The 25th anniversary of activity is celebrated with grandiose concerts, which gathered former and current soloists of the group. The event is dedicated to the release of the best hits written during this period.

Modern life of the collective

Faithful to the project, Pavel Slobodkin fundamentally changes the composition of the group. Updated "Funny Guys" appear in public in 2005 and consist of little-known, but talented performers. The concert activity is resumed, the collective performs at the best Moscow venues. Several times the band performed at Avtoradio and again, like many years ago, met on the same stage with the famous stars of the mid-1980s-90s. In recent years, the group "Merry Fellows" participates in the gala performance of "Mosconcert", "Slavic Bazaar", "Legends of VIA".

Worthy heritage

Hardly "Guys" were formed, as Pavel Slobodkin started looking for a studio that could engage in the promotion of their records. The company "Melody" was a worthy label, with which the long-term cooperation is tied up by the group "Merry guys". The discography of the band includes more than twenty albums on plates, among them "People meet", "Love is a huge country", "Write me a letter", "Telegram", etc. Since 1995, there have been more than 15 CDs, including compilations dedicated to hits Vyacheslav Dobrynin, Alla Pugacheva, Yuri Antonov. In 2014, the last album, called Retrospective, was released at the moment.