Laskovyi Mai

Laskovyi Mai
Background information
Also known as	Laskovyi Mai
Origin	Moscow, Soviet Union (now Russia)
Genres	Pop, rock, disco
Years active	1986–1992 2009–present
Members	Andrei Razin Sergey Serkov Andrei Kucherov Sergei Lenyuk
Past members	Sergei Kuznetsov Yuri Shatunov Vladimir Shurochkin

Laskavyi Mai (may also be spelled as 'Laskavyy May', 'Laskavy May', 'Laskavy Mai', 'Laskaviy May'; Russian: Ласковый май, lit. 'Tender May') is a Soviet boy band from Moscow founded by Russian songwriter, composer and musician Sergei Kuznetsov. The group's best-known member was Yuri Shatunov, who has subsequently gone on to some solo success. The group disbanded in 1992. Laskavyi Mai once had been called "the legends of the 80–90s".

The band has made a comeback since 2009 as a new Russian band under some changed membership of Andrei Razin, Sergey Serkov, Andrei Kucherov, and Sergei Lenyuk.

Career

Laskavyi Mai was formed in the middle of the 1980s when Sergei Kuznetsov decided to create a group of musicians with orphan children from an orphanage in Orenburg. The group's first album became legendary in the history of the Soviet pop. The style of the group is a mix of Western disco pop music made on the synthesizer with plain lyrics and sung with a jazzy voice. The group Vesyolye Rebyata was a big rival, with their hit "Rozovye Rozy" (Pink Roses) being nearly as popular as Laskaviy May's "Belye Rozy" (White Roses).

Members

(Russian names in parenthesis)

1986–1992 period

Vocalists

• Yuri Shatunov (Юрий Шатунов) (died 2022)
• Andrei Razin (Андрей Разин)
• Andrey Gurov (Андрей Гуров)
• Anton Tokarev (Антон Токарев)
• Viktor Kulikov (Виктор Куликов)
• Vlada Moscovskaya (Влада Московская) (died 2006)
• Oleg Krestovsky (Олег Крестовский)
• Konstantin Pakhomov (Константин Пахомов)
• Vladimir Shurochkin (Владимир Шурочкин)
• Rafael Isangulov (Рафаэль Исангулов) – also keyboardist
• Yuri Barabash (Юрий Барабаш) (died 1996)
• Yuri Gurov (Юрий Гуров) (died 2012)
• ANNA DORENKO(АННА ДОРЕНКО) (died 2017)

Key staff

• Sergei Kuznetsov (Сергей Кузнецов) — founder, lyricist, composer, arranger, keyboardist
• Vladimir Boyko (Владимир Бойко) – musical director, composer
• Alla Goltseva (Алла Гольцева) – lyricist (for Razin, Shatunov, Krestovskiy and other soloists)
• Rashid Dayrabaev (Рашид Дайрабаев) – band's first director (died 2013)
• Arkady Kudryashov (Аркадий Кудряшов) – band administrator
• Anatoly Meshaev (Анатолий Мешаев) composer, arranger
• Natalia Grozovskii (Наталья Грозовская) – vocal group "Белые розы" "Belye Rozi" (meaning "White Roses") – after a famous song by the band
• Eugene Zakulaev (Евгений Закулаев) – deputy general director of the orphanage

Musicians

• Igor Anisimov (Игорь Анисимов) – main keyboardist of the first band (1986–1991)
• Alexei Burda (Алексей Бурда) – keyboards
• Alexander Priko (Александр Прико) – keyboards (died 2020)
• Evgeny Bychkov (Евгений Бычков) – keyboards
• Sergei Kulagin (Сергей Кулагин) – keyboards
• Arvid Yurgaytis (Арвид Юргайтис) – keyboards (died 2004)
• Mikhail Sukhomlinov (Михаил Сухомлинов) – keyboards (died 1993)
• Vyacheslav Ponomarev (Вячеслав Пономарёв) – bass guitar
• Igor Safiullin (Игорь Сафиуллин) – saxophone
• Igor Igoshin (Игорь Игошин) – drums, percussion engineer (died 1992)
• Sergei Lenyuk (Сергей Ленюк)- drums

Technicians

• Oleg Andreev (Олег Андреев) – sound engineer
• Alexander Egunov (Александр Егунов) – sound engineer
• Vladimir Hozyaenko (Владимир Хозяенко) – sound engineer
• Pavel Tomov (Павел Томов) – sound engineer

2009 reformed band members

• Andrei Razin (Андрей Разин)
• Sergei Serkov (Сергей Серков)
• Andrei Kucherov (Андрей Кучеров)
• Sergei Lenyuk (Сергей Ленюк)

Discography

• White Roses/Tender May - 1 (Russian: Белые розы/Ласковый май — 1) (1988)
• Autumn is slowly leaving/Tender May - 2 (Russian: Медленно уходит осень/Ласковый май — 2) (1988)
• A little about myself/Old Forest (Russian: Немного о себе/Старый лес) (1988)
• Broken Love (Russian: Разбитая любовь) (1988)
• March 8 (Russian: 8 марта) (1989)
• Pink Evening (Russian: Розовый вечер) (1989)
• On the roof (Russian: На крыше) (1989)
• Goodbye Baby (Russian: Гудбай, беби) (1989)
• Tender Summer (Russian: Ласковое лето) (1989)
• Fairy Shore (Russian: Сказочный берег) (1989)
• October Album (Russian: Октябрьский альбом) (1989)
• Stupid snowflakes (Russian: Глупые снежинки) (1990)
• Matryoshka Masha (Russian: Машка-матрёшка) (1990)
• Naughty girl (Russian: Озорная девочка) (1990)
• Come back (Russian: Возвращайся) (1990)
• Island for two (Russian: Остров на двоих) (1990)
• Close the door on me (Russian: Закрой за мной дверь) (1991)
• Chance Encounter/Younger Sister (Russian: Случайная встреча/Младшая сестрёнка) (1992)
• The Best (Russian: Лучшее) (1996)
• CPR (Russian: Искусственное дыхание) (1996)
• Legends #1 (Russian: Легенды #1) (2000)
• Legends #2 (Russian: Легенды #2) (2000)
• Legends #3 (Russian: Легенды #3) (2000)
• Star (Russian: Звезда) (2007)
• All hits (Russian: Все хиты) (2008)
• New songs (Russian: Новые песни) (2016)

Feature film

In 2009, Russian film director Vladimir Vinogradov released his film titled Laskovyi Mai, a biographical drama film about this band's career.

Cast

(in alphabetical order)

• Vyacheslav Manucharov as Andrei Razin
• Vasiliy Belokopytov as Nach. Okhrany
• Dmitriy Blokhin as Chairman of the Kolkhoz
• Danila Chvanov
• Ekaterina Fedulova as Lilya
• Raisa Konyukhova as Mariya Gorbacheva
• Maksim Kostromykin as Maksim
• Maksim Litovchenko as Sergei Kuznetsov
• Viktoriya Matveyeva as Mother of Viti
• Aleksandr Nekhoroshikh
• Marina Oryol as Katenka
• Sergei Romanovich
• Raisa Ryazanova as Direktrisa Detdoma
• Petr Skvortsov as Kolya
• Nikita Slepchenkov
• Vladimir Steklov
• Inga Strelkova-Oboldina
• Viktor Verzhbitsky
• Lyudmila Zaytseva as Grandmother Andrei Razin

External links

• IMDb.com: Laskoviy Mai film page
• Laskovyi Mai at IMDb
• Laskovyi Mai discography at Discogs