"DDT": discography, theme of songs and history of the group

In the summer of 1980, an unnamed band formed in Ufa, which rehearsed in a local recreation center and played songs of Western bands such as The Rolling Stones and Beatles. With the arrival of his only permanent member Yuri Shevchuk, the group began to play and even tried to record their own compositions.

Briefly about the DDT group: discography, history, subject

The DDT group is one of the most popular and influential Russian rock bands. The group has repeatedly undergone both small and completely dramatic changes, which led to the fact that only the author of words and music, the main vocalist and ideological inspirer, Yuri Shevchuk, remained from the original participants in DDT. The group currently has 20 albums.

Fans love the work of musicians for their loyalty to their ideals, deep lyrics and a variety of themes in the songs of "DDT". The group’s discography for the most part consists of compositions on political and social themes, but such lyrical compositions as “That's All”, “Autumn”, “Snowstorm” and “Last Autumn” have long been loved by the public.

Soviet period

Ufa was far from Leningrad, where at the time of the formation of the DDT group there was the most lively rock party, so young Ufa rockers did not dare to record their own compositions for a long time, discussing the possibility of the existence of rock music in Russian. In the 82nd, two years after the formation of the ensemble under the direction of Gennady Rodin, the musicians recorded eight compositions of their own composition. In the same year, the group participated in the contest "Golden Tuning Fork", which won with the song "Do not shoot." After the victory, the participants decided to get a more memorable name and chose the familiar three letters - "DDT". The discography of young rockers at that time consisted of seven songs recorded on poor quality film at home.

The main prize of the competition was the recording of the ensemble at the Soviet recording studio "Melody". However, having arrived in Leningrad for recording, Shevchuk found out that the condition of the contract was the performance not of his songs, but of those that were approved by the "party". The musician refused, and the DDT group went underground, where they spent the entire Soviet period of their history.

During this time, the composition of the team has completely changed: the group first moved to Moscow, and then to Leningrad, where only Shevchuk remained of all the team members. During this period, the recordings of the first albums of DDT were broken several times, however, the social themes of the songs, their poetry, melody and sincerity ensured the collective popularity among lovers of the underground scene. The all-union fame of “DDT” was received during the time of publicity, when their performance was first shown on the central television channel.

Russian period

At the time of the collapse of the USSR, DDT was one of the country's most popular rock bands . The team’s discography by 1991 consisted of seven albums, the first of which was never released. In the nineties, the team underwent the most significant changes in the entire history of the existence of "DDT". The underground group suddenly entered the mainstream, the theme of the songs changed, turning from a purely social and acutely political to philosophical and lyrical, while the composition of the group remained more or less stable. Also in the nineties, DDT was actively involved in social concerts and other projects. In fact, the perestroika period made DDT the way the whole country knows and loves them today.

However, the group turned out to be unprepared for the lifestyle of rock stars and the working scheme of the still young Russian music industry. Already in the late 90s, when not only Russian, but also foreign music became widely available, DDT again went into the so-called underground. The subject of the songs changed again, becoming more acute, the themes of war and faith were added. However, DDT still does not cease to participate in social projects, and not only musical ones.

Theme of songs

The band’s rich history and places is reflected in the music of DDT. Songs of musicians, at least the majority, reveal the main themes of the work of Yuri Shevchuk, among which:

• Political: "Counter-Revolution", "Perestroika", etc.
• Social: "Homeland", "Premonition of a civil war", "Truth for truth."
• Philosophical: “Wind”, “Crows in the Sky”, “That's All”, “Freedom”.
• Lyrical: “Actress Spring”, “Evening”, “Rain”, “Autumn”.
• Love: "Love", "Blizzard", "Far, Far", "Tell me how you loved."
• Military: “Alive”, “Do Not Shoot”, “Whistled”, “Conversation at War”.
• Religious: "Christmas", "Temple".

Also, the author of the texts “DDT” often touches upon his favorite city of St. Petersburg, which he considers to be his family, an attitude that can be clearly seen in the music of “DDT”. The songs “Peter”, “Leningrad”, “What Autumn Is” and the entire album “Black Dog Petersburg” are dedicated to the city, which became the group’s home in the mid-80s.

Music

Music is always associated with freedom and truth, says Yuri Shevchuk, the permanent songwriter for DDT. The discography of the group is direct evidence of this. DDT is a group that, in twenty of its albums, promotes free-thinking, peace and justice even now, when against the backdrop of global pop culture, these words seem beaten, empty and meaningless.

Such social and political events as the fall of the Berlin Wall, the collapse of the USSR, the war in Chechnya, the bombing of Yugoslavia and many others were reflected in the music of DDT. Albums of the group are released to this day and are extremely popular not only among old fans, but also among young people. Critics evaluate DDT 's work as the music of those few people who care.