Boris Grebenshchikov is one of the extraordinary and odious figures of Russian show business. An interesting fact is that the musician and his group Aquarium did not strive for mass and did not aspire to universal adoration, and nevertheless, over time, the group turned into a cult, and its leader began to wear the unspoken title of guru of Russian rock. Today this unique person is not only a musician and prose writer, but also the host of the program “Aerostat”. The listener loves Grebenshchikov, his knowledge of world-famous rock musicians and just beginning performers amazes and makes each program informative and unique. Many musicologists consider the program “Aerostat” a good tool for people seeking to learn interesting facts about musical styles, trends, musical slang, classics and musical contemporaries.
Aquarium Group
In 1972, the Aquarium group appeared in the USSR. It was created by a group of like-minded people who love rock and dream of telling about the most important through their texts. The main inspirers were Boris Grebenshchikov and Anatoly Gunitsky. Eight years after its quiet start, the group was officially banned, and Grebenshchikov expelled from the party. The team goes deep underground and acts only for a close circle of fans. Who would have thought that in a few decades the Aquarium band and its soloist would become cult characters in Russian rock music. And the genius of Russian rock himself will decide that he wants to become not only a poet, prose writer, singer, philosopher, but also that he needs his own radio broadcast. Grebenshchikov’s Aerostat program today with enviable regularity comes out on the FM waves of his native country.
Boris Grebenshchikov
The future rock legend of Russia was born in Leningrad in November 1953, in the family of the director of the Baltic Shipping Company and a lawyer. Boris received a good education, but thanks to his passion for rock music, he was expelled from the party and devoted himself completely to his passion.
The texts of Grebenshchikov and the Aquarium group were and remain sharp and topical. The only difference is that in the USSR such attempts to criticize the authorities were stopped in the bud, today this rock and its performer have gone beyond the bounds of underground apartments, have their fans in the circles of the country's leadership and can exist without worrying about tomorrow.
Boris Grebenshchikov is a versatile personality, therefore it is not surprising that, having accumulated certain knowledge and experience, he decided to establish his own radio program and share it with rock culture connoisseurs.
Boris Grebenshchikov: Radio Aerostat
The idea of ​​educating his listener in the musician had been circulating in his head for a long time, but in the Soviet period this was a priori impossible, but already with the beginning of a new era and after turning the “thinking” audience into favorites, the old idea of ​​the father of Russian rock and roll became possible.
In 2005, the channel “Radio Russia” and “Culture” began the author’s broadcast of the leader of the Aquarium group. “Aerostat” Grebenshchikov immediately became a transfer not for everyone. The presentation style of the presenter, and the topics are highly intellectual. The author touches on many non-trivial topics that are not always clear to the general public. Each radio broadcast with Boris is a kind of epic or an excursion into the history of music, which covers topics that are not only relevant to the contemporaries of the Aquarium, and interesting lectures are held on people who shaped the musical styles of different countries. The program is very informative and diluted with good music. Compositions, tastefully selected by the author himself, are the difference between Grebenshchikov's “Aerostat” and many cultural and educational programs.
This year the program celebrated its tenth anniversary, the author and concurrently its presenter continues to attract more new listeners, creating interesting programs. Today, 530 issues of the Aerostat show were released. Grebenshchikov is deservedly called a philosopher and intellectual, because with the scrupulousness of a scientist he takes apart every little thing and detail that interests him.
English, Indian and American music is a separate story in the radio monologist named Grebenshchikov's Aerostat. The author speaks with such love about the world famous performers of jazz and rock, that every indifferent listener spells every word spellbound.
Fan reviews
Anyone who is trying to join the domestic and world musical culture must add the Grebenshchikov Aerostat to the list of required material for familiarization. The leader’s knowledge layer is inexhaustible, it is indisputably interesting to listen to him, but, as usual, there is one “but”. It is necessary to penetrate this music and listen to the author’s monologue. In order to plunge into this culture and understand who Boris Grebenshchikov is, “Aerostat” must be “tasted” necessarily, but you should not listen to its transmission between things and in a hurry.