Gorky Park

Gorky Park achieved only fleeting recognition in America, yet their place in history remains tied to developments unfolding in the Cold War’s closing years. Chernenko assumed power in the U.S.S.R. in 1980, a conservative figure whose tenure coincided with heightened tensions after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and the U.S. boycott of the Moscow Olympics that year. Reagan entered office in 1981 and launched an extensive military expansion. Seeking to counter the growing influence of American culture that circulated via black-market channels and CIA radio transmissions, Chernenko imposed a prohibition on performing and listening to rock & roll, declaring that “Rock music, along with other elements of Western culture, is part of an arsenal of subversive weapons aimed at undermining the commitment of young Russians to Communist ideology.” As had occurred in the United States during the 1950s, official denunciation only amplified the genre’s appeal among youth. Members of what would become Gorky Park began performing in various Moscow rock groups during this period.

Once Mikhail Gorbachev took power, many of the earlier restrictions on music were removed. The introduction of glasnost and perestroika allowed Moscow’s underground rock scene to expand rapidly. In 1987 guitarist Alexie Belov, vocalist Nikolai Noskov, bassist “Big” Sasha Minkov, guitarist Jan Ianenkov, and drummer Sasha Lvov formed Gorky Park. Reduced travel barriers enabled the band to travel to America later that year in pursuit of a recording contract, an endeavor many viewed as improbable given prevailing assumptions that Russian rock was an inherent contradiction.

In the United States the musicians quickly established key industry contacts. Guitar legend Frank Zappa was among the first to express interest. Jon Bon Jovi and Ritchie Sambora soon took notice as well, assisting the group in obtaining a contract with Mercury Records.

Gorky Park issued its self-titled debut album in 1989, a moment when the Iron Curtain was beginning to crumble and the Berlin Wall fell in November. Amid the resulting thaw in East-West relations, the band came to symbolize an unexpected form of American-Russian unity. Its initial video, “Bang,” gained substantial MTV exposure. Follow-up singles “Try to Find Me” and the Bon Jovi collaboration “Peace in Our Time” received extensive mainstream radio airplay. The group appeared at that year’s Moscow Music Peace Festival alongside Bon Jovi, Mötley Crüe, Ozzy Osbourne, and the Scorpions. Success continued into 1990 with a tour alongside Bon Jovi and a performance at the opening ceremony of the Goodwill Games.

Shifting musical preferences and the Cold War’s definitive conclusion quickly diminished the band’s American visibility. Nevertheless, Gorky Park received an enduring, if ironic, nod on an episode of Saturday Night Live in the “Wayne’s World” sketch, where Wayne and Garth placed the group on their list of the top ten negative consequences of the Soviet Union’s collapse, remarking that the event meant “No more cheesy behind-the-iron-curtain metal bands like Gorky Park.”

Though no longer prominent in the United States, the band sustained its popularity elsewhere. Nikolai Noskov departed in 1990, yet the remaining members continued and issued several albums throughout the 1990s. Moscow Calling, released in 1993, sold 500,000 copies outside America. Stare followed in 1996, appearing solely in Russia and supported by an extensive tour across former U.S.S.R. territories. Protivofazza came out in 1998. While still recognized in Russia, Gorky Park endures in American memory, for those who recall them, as the first Russian glam rock act to reach MTV.