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The main problem of domestic music, regardless of the genre, is its secondary nature. Everything that appears with us was already in the West at least a few years ago, and our musicians simply repeated it.
It is because of this that the Russian listener prefers foreign performers, even if they do not understand the language in which they sing.
It is not surprising that our musicians are practically unknown in other countries, and their songs and albums cannot compete with the works of local stars.
However, there are also exceptions to this rule: some still manage to record songs that, although they do not become sales leaders in the West, still manage to get into the charts.
10 Nastya Zadorozhnaya — Budu
The American Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks chart is usually called the younger brother of the Billboard Hot 100, which is considered the main one in the United States.
Russian singer Anastasia Zadorozhnaya in 2007 had every chance to break into the main rating of the country, if not for one thing: the Billboard Hot 100 does not accept songs that are recorded in other countries. Because of this, she had to be content with the 41st line of the “junior” chart with the song “I’ll Be”.
Despite the fact that she “flew” past the main hit parade, she still managed the almost impossible: to conquer the audience with a song in Russian.
9. Valeria – Wild!
Valeria’s husband and producer Iosif Prigozhin tried his best to promote the singer to the West, releasing several English-language singles. The track Wild achieved the greatest success, which debuted at the 48th position of the Billboard Hot Dance Club hit parade, which rotates popular music in nightclubs. Gradually, the composition rose to 25th place and even stayed there for almost 3 months.
8. Алсу — Before You Love Me
In 2000, the singer represented Russia at Eurovision, where she was able to take 2nd place with the song Solo, performing more than worthy.
After that, her producers decided to promote her to the West as the “Slavic Britney Spears”, but it turned out so-so. The most they could reach was number 27 on the UK Singles Chart in 2001.
At this position, the track lasted only 3 weeks, although if we abstract and reason with an open mind, then it was no worse than the songs of foreign pop singers of those years. Apparently, the British listener preferred to listen to the local, rather than exchanging for “stray” stars.
7. tATu
One of the most famous Russian groups abroad has hit the world charts several times with different songs.
So, the single All the Things She Said conquered the top of the British chart, having stayed there for a month. This, by the way, is the only time when a domestic musician managed to get to first place in the UK hit parade.
Other songs, such as Not Gonna Get Us and All About Us, occupied lower places, but also appealed to English music lovers.
As for the USA, they were able to declare themselves there too: the duo’s debut LP hit the 13th line of the Billboard 200.
The tattoos enjoyed the greatest success in Japan: there, their album 200 km / h in the Wrong Lane sold almost 2 million copies, which was a record for a non-Japanese artist.
6. Timati — Welcome to St. Tropez (feat. DJ Antoine)
The track, released in 2009, made a notable noise in several countries at once: Luxembourg, France, Germany and Austria.
The greatest success awaited him in the Billboard Luxembourg Digital Songs, where he easily won the 1st place. He took the second line in the German chart, and even hit the top ten of the global Billboard dance chart.
5. Serebro
Maxim Fadeev, in an interview with Yuri Dudyu, said that he initially created the Serebro group for the Asian market, not planning to announce it in Russia at all. However, due to force majeure, he had to send her to Eurovision, where the girls took 3rd place.
Then they began to record Russian-language singles, which made the band popular with us, but complicated promotion in Asia.
Nevertheless, in Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands and Italy, the pop group is still known: Mama Lover entered the top 50 of the Japanese chart, Mi Mi Mi – in the top 100. “Mama Luba” in English in the Mexican radio chart took 19th place.
4. Julia Kova
Not the most famous performer in Russia in 2008 also managed to take 88th place in the Japan Hot 100, having done this long before Serebro.
Her album This Is Me was such a success that they even wanted to re-release it in English specifically for the local market, but there were disagreements with the recording studio, so the release never happened.
3. Aram Khachaturyan
In the early 70s, the Soviet composer, together with the London Symphony Orchestra, recorded music for the ballet Spartacus, which was later released as a separate album. This record hit the UK national chart in 1972, holding out for more than 3 months at number 16.
Fragments or even entire compositions from the LP have been repeatedly used in major Hollywood films by eminent directors: Khachaturian’s music can be heard in James Cameron’s Aliens, Kubrick’s A Space Odyssey and many others.
2. Boris Grebenshchikov
In the late 80s, the Soviet rocker began to appear on American television, actively promoting his upcoming English-language album Radio Silence, which went on sale in 1989.
BG pinned great hopes on him, planning to perform seriously in America, but the record was a failure. Although she got into the Billboard 200, she debuted only at the 198th position, because of which the musician had to focus on the Russian-speaking audience.
1. Gorky Park
A real legend of Russian rock in the West: in those days in the States there was no our group more famous than Gorky Park.
Their first album stayed on the 80th line of the Billboard 200 for 21 weeks, and in total their records were sold in the United States in the amount of more than 300 copies, which, although not a record, is an impressive figure for a Soviet band.
In Scandinavia, their success was even greater: in Denmark, for example, the album Moscow Calling received platinum status.