One of the Soviet Union’s most prolific musicians and a Beatle’s present to his Soviet fans make up tonight’s Historama.
Father of Russian pop music
Popular Soviet and Russian composer David Tukhmanov was born on this day in 1940.
He was one of the most prolific musicians in the Soviet pop scene, and was the man behind dozens of catchy melodies from the 1970s.
In 1975, he released an album called “On the Wave of My Memories,” which was hailed as a revolution in Soviet pop.
Tukhmanov translated poems by the likes of Baudelaire, Goethe and Sappho and turned them into rock ’n roll songs.
The album remains one of the all-time bestsellers in Russia, having now sold 2.5 million copies.
The Beatles pay respect to Soviet fans
On this day in 1987, Paul McCartney started working on his album called “Back in the USSR.”
The songs were all covers of rock ’n roll oldies.
The recording process took only a couple of days, and the album was released a year later, at first exclusively in the Soviet Union.
The ex-Beatle claimed he wanted to pay respects to his Soviet fans. Before that, they normally were the last to get their hands on his albums.