Alexander Shulgin (musician)

Alexander Shulgin (b. August, 25, 1964) is a Russian author and composer. He was born in Irkutsk, Russia, and currently lives in Moscow.

Biography

Career

Shulgin's career began at the age of 19 in Russian rock band The Cruise; the band is regarded as legendary for being the first rock-band of the USSR to tour abroad (1983-1986). The popularity of The Cruise was remarkable as they were known as anti-Soviet, and there was no mention of the band in mass media. With the advent of reorganization of the USSR, in 1985, The Cruise sold 20 million copies of their first album and in 1987 the album was released by WEA (Germany).

After The Cruise, Shulgin began working in Germany, where he created "The Taiga Symphony". This was a combination of Russian classic music with western rock-music with music by Vitally Bondarchuck and lyrics by American composer Richard Niles. The album featured The Moscow Symphony Orchestra conducted by Pavel Kogan and respected Western musicians Alvin Lee, Paul Carrack, Mel Collins, Phil Palmer and JJ Belle. Successful in the USSR, it was the beginning of the career of Valeria who has become one of the most popular singers in Russia.

Shulgin then created "Merry Christmas to the World", another ambitious East-West collaboration between Shulgin and BBC Worldwide. With music by Shulgin and lyrics and production by Richard Niles it expressed the ethos of glasnost. London studio musicians performed with members of the Moscow Symphony and the Soviet Folk Orchestra. Sung by Valeria, the video was directed by Ken Russell who used it in his film "Alice in Russialand" (1998). Shot in Red Square, the clip featured psychic Uri Geller. During a special communication, astronauts from the "Star Township" introduced Valeria while in orbit around the Earth. The clip became the grand finale of the New Year program on the first national TV channel of the Soviet Union.

Alexander Shulgin has written many hits in Russia. His awards for "Song of The Year" include: 1994 – "Aeroplane," 1995 – "Something Common", 1999 – "You Are Somewhere Round There," 2000 – "Snowstorm," 2001 – "Don’t Hurt Me." His song "Flowers" won many prizes including "Montreux 1992," "Anigraf 1992," "Generation 1992."

uccess

Successful Russian artists who have recorded his songs include Valeria, Alexander Buynov, The Band FM, Yulia Mikhalchik, Drugie Pravila and Tatyana Ovsienko. Shulgin’s songs have topped the Russian and Eastern European charts such as Bratislava Lyre '93.

As a producer, Shulgin has had more than 20 hit albums, 5 of which were Number 1. He has also had 10 Number 1 albums as co-producer.

Shulgin is also a composer of music for films and TV, his songs appearing in films by Lukas Moodysson and Ken Russell. He is also the director of the first public TV channel "Spas" and composed all the music for the channel.

As the producer and judge of such popular TV music contests as "Become a Star" (the Russian version of "Pop Star") and "Star Factory" (the Russian version of "Star Academy") Shulgin may be said to be the "Simon Cowell of Russia." He also judges many other Russian and international contests. British singer Sam Brown took part in his popular Russian contest "Morning Star" and Shulgin was also a judge on "Donetsk Olympus" (Ukraine).

Other projects

Alexander Shulgin is the owner and director of the Familia group of companies, which are involved into new media business, publishing and entertainment. In 2006, Shulgin began to write his own column in a new business online newspaper "Vzglyad" focusing on New Media in Russia. Shulgin is also an acclaimed photographer.

Alexander Shulgin is an increasingly famous public figure. He takes part in exhibitions and conferences, advises Russian and foreign companies on New Media, lecturing at exhibitions and conferences all over the world including Beijing, Hong Kong, Berlin and London.

External links

*http://www.shulgin.com