“AGATHA CHRISTIE”
When the popularity of rock music in the country was at its peak, and everywhere the songs of the groups “Cinema”, “Aquarium”, “Time Machine”, “Nautilus Pompilius” and other equally popular were heard, loomed on the horizon, and then took its rightful place in this cohort of favorites is the Agatha Christie band. It was very easy to get lost in such a mass of rock bands. But the musicians from Agatha Christie managed not only to swim on this wave of rock movement, but also to remain on the crest for the whole decade, although many colleagues on the shop had gone down by that time. So, something in their work was so extraordinary that even now (even after the breakup of the group) it impresses thousands of music lovers.
Explosive mix of directions
Symphonic rock, classical rock and roll, post-punk, and art rock merged into the music of this group. In the 1990s, the band’s songs were thoroughly saturated with the ideas of decadence, and in the new century, “Agatha Christie” tried Agatha Christie’s electronic guitar sound and hurricane-expressive manner of performance.
For all the years the group has existed in its work, not only the directions of rock music, but also the composition of the collective have changed, although the Samoilov brothers have always remained the backbone. A certain mysticism, even doom, a clearly depressing atmosphere and mystery lyrics saturated with mystery became the hallmark of Agatha Christie, and compositions like Like in War, Opium for Nobody, Carpet-Helicopter, Fairy-tale Taiga, and Tantrum and Black Moon turned out to be hits.
From ensemble to group
Vadim Samoilov studied in the same class with Peter May in the city of Asbest, Sverdlovsk Region. The guys listened to the music of Pink Floyd and Deep Purple together, and then organized a school ensemble in 1978. The team had a bassist job, and a guy from another class, Alexander Kozlov, found out about it. So there were already three of them. Vadim Samoilov played ionics, but he had to switch places with Alexander, Agatha Kristiposkolk was better able to compose songs, playing the keyboard.
Having received certificates, the guys did not abandon the music and did not run away. They entered the Ural Polytechnic Institute, where they founded the VIA RTF UPI, named after the native radio engineering faculty. After some time, the younger brother of Vadim Samoilov, Gleb, also joined them. The guys played between the performances of the institute team KVN “Ural wipers”. And later they even managed to record three records “If”, “Voice” and “Light”, after which the collective received a new name – “Agatha Christie”. This was not connected with the work of the famous writer, just her initials coincided with the initials of Alexander Kozlov, so he proposed this option. Other names included Jacques-Yves Cousteau and Jules Verne. But the phrase “Agatha Christie” was liked by the musicians more than others, because, as it seemed to them, it more accurately reflected the elaborated style of the group – eccentric and mysterious.
Second Front of Agatha Christie
Nevertheless, the official birthday of the band is considered the date of the first concert – February 20, 1988, and the first real album – “The Second Front”. He was able to record it in the additional room of one of the audience of the institute, which the musicians used as a studio. After the appearance of the second album, entitled “Cunning and Love”, the group was noticed and invited Agatha Christie to the Sverdlovsk Rock Club festival, where budding rockers met Vyacheslav Butusov and Andrei Makarevich.
At this time, Peter May decided to leave the group. His place in Agatha Christie was taken by Albert Potapkin, and Lev Shutylev became the second keyboard player. The updated composition of the musicians rewrote the album “Cunning and Love”, changed the list of compositions that were performed at the capital’s festivals “Syrok”, “Step to Parnassus” and “Interchance”. The group was even shown on central television, and the song “Viva Kalman!” Appeared on the clip.
Becoming
By the time of recording the next album (“Decadence”), which was released in 1991, Albert Potapkin was replaced by Andrei Kotov. It was he who became the permanent drummer of “Agatha Christie” almost until the band disintegrated. With the arrival of this musician, the golden line-up of the rock group was formed – Agatha Christie Vadim and Gleb Samoilov, Alexander Kozlov and Andrey Kotov. This collection clearly traced the transition from a storm of emotions and enchantment to meditation and calm. But after the appearance of this album, the group found itself in a long creative stagnation, because the interest of the people sharply switched to pop and phonogram, and the group’s popularity was still not so great. Alexander Kozlov faced a difficult choice: career as a cardiologist or participation in a team. But, despite the conservative views of his parents, he still chose music. Participation in prefabricated charity concerts along with “Time Machine”, “Brigade S”, “Chayf”, “Crematorium” and “Moral Code” did not go in vain for “Agatha Christie”. In 1991, the musicians won the Grand Prix of the festival of young European groups in France.
