This was the only Soviet band to make the U.S. charts

July 11 2023

V/Derevshchikov/Sputnik

It was during the Perestroika that underground rock bands from the USSR began to exit from the shadows and gained the opportunity to play on the big stage, as well as tour abroad.

In 1986, Stas Namin managed to secure a foreign tour for his band Tsvety (‘Flowers’). He was pleased with the experience, which led him to create a new rock band of the special, export variety – Gorky Park.

The band was successful in landing a record deal with PolyGram, recording an eponymous debut album and performing at Mosow’s Luzhniki Stadium alongside Scorpions, Cinderella and Bon Jovi. Sharing the stage with the Western megastars did the trick, as the show was broadcast on MTV, catapulting Gorky Park to #80 on the Billboard 200 charts in 1989. After the success of the album, the band went on tour in the U.S. However, it would be their last tour together – in-fighting led to the group disintegrating.

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