Gaykino

One of Russia's most widespread rock bands, Kino came to prominence during the Gorbachev era of glasnost and perestroika, and struck a nerve with many Soviet youths longing for a brighter, freer future. The group's legend was tragically cemented when frontman Victor Tsoi (sometimes Tsoy) was killed in a car crash in , sparking a massive outpouring of grief rivaling that of icons like Kurt Cobain or John Lennon. Tsoi had formed the first version of Kino in his hometown of St. Petersburg (then Leningrad) in , along with Alexei Ribin and Oleg Valinsky; the group played the same venues as Boris Grebenshikov's Aquarium. This lineup debuted with 's 45, after which they moved to Moscow and splintered; Ribin left in , leaving Tsoi to complete their second album, In , Tsoi formed a new version of Kino with guitarist Yuri Kasparyan, bassist Alexander Titov, and drummer Georgi Guriyanov; they debuted on that year's Nachal'nik Kamchatki (The Manager of Kamchatka). A performance at St. Petersburg's second annual rock festival heralded their return, and their next two albums, 's Eto Nye Lyubov (This Is Not Love) and 's Noch (The Night), saw their reputation steadily growing; their sound was comm