The Red Elvises (also known as ''Igor and Red Elvises'', after founding member and bandleader Igor Yuzov) are an American cult band that performs

funk rock Funk rock is a fusion genre that mixes elements of funk and Rock music, rock. James Brown and others declared that Little Richard and his mid-1950s road band, The Upsetters (American band), the Upsetters, were the first to put the funk in the ...

, surf,

rockabilly Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the Southern United States, South. As a genre, it blends the sound of Western music (North America), Western musi ...

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica during the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its Jamaican diaspora, diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, "Do the Reggay", was the first ...

folk rock Folk rock is a fusion genre of rock music with heavy influences from pop, English and American folk music. It arose in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s. In the U.S., folk rock emerged from the folk music re ...

disco Disco is a music genre, genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the late 1960s from the United States' urban nightclub, nightlife, particularly in African Americans, African-American, Italian-Americans, Italian-American, LGBTQ ...

and traditional

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

n styles of music. They were founded in

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

in the mid-1990s and are based in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

Early history

The Red Elvises were founded in 1995 by Igor Yuzov, Oleg Bernov, Zhenya Rock. Igor and Oleg met during a Russian-American

peace walk A peace walk or peace march, sometimes referred to as a peace pilgrimage, is a form of nonviolent action where a person or group marches a set distance to raise awareness for particular issues important to the walkers. 350 km Long Peace Walk Ne ...

and subsequently played together in a Russian folk-rock band called

Limpopo Limpopo () is the northernmost Provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa. It is named after the Limpopo River, which forms the province's western and northern borders. The term Limpopo is derived from Rivombo (Livombo/Lebombo), a ...

. The band's third original member, guitarist Zhenya Rock (a.k.a. Kolykhanov), had also emigrated to America and had been the lead guitarist of the Red Elvises until 2004. For the first few months Andrey Baranov was the band's drummer, but within that year, the first American in the band, drummer Avi Sills from

Austin, Texas Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...

, was added to the lineup. The band first began as an LA street act at

Santa Monica Santa Monica (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast (California), South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 United Sta ...

's 3rd Street Promenade.

1995–2001

When they weren't playing on the road they were busy recording and self-producing their own CDs. '' Grooving To The Moscow Beat'' was the band's first release in 1996, followed by '' Surfing In Siberia'' in 1997. In 1998, the band released their breakthrough CD, '' I Wanna See You Bellydance''. Their music filled the soundtrack of

Lance Mungia Lance Mungia (born 1972) is an American screenwriter and film director of the film '' Six String Samurai'' and co-writer/director of '' The Crow: Wicked Prayer'' for Dimension Films. Mungia grew up in Central California, where his family operate ...

's independent film released in 1998, ''

Six-String Samurai ''Six-String Samurai'' is a 1998 American post-apocalyptic action comedy film directed by Lance Mungia and starring Jeffrey Falcon and Justin McGuire. Brian Tyler composed the score for this film along with Red Elvises, the latter providing t ...

'' soundtrack and episode acting. With Mungia directing, the band also produced two music videos of songs from the ''

'' soundtrack, "Lovepipe" and "Boogie on the Beach", that year. A full-length concert video, ''Live on the Pacific Ocean'', was also released, showcasing their appearance at the

Santa Monica Pier The Santa Monica Pier is a large pier at the foot of Colorado Avenue in Santa Monica, California, United States. It contains a small amusement park, concession stands, and areas for views and fishing. The pier is part of the greater Santa Monic ...

's Twilight Summer Concert Series. The TV also beckoned with television show appearances, resulting in Red Elvises' guest spot in an episode of

Fox Foxes are small-to-medium-sized omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull; upright, triangular ears; a pointed, slightly upturned snout; and a long, bushy tail ("brush"). Twelve species ...

television series ''

Melrose Place ''Melrose Place'' is an American prime-time television soap opera that aired on Fox from July 8, 1992, to May 24, 1999, for seven seasons. The show follows the lives of a group of young adults living in an apartment complex in West Hollywood, ...

'' (Episode #206, "Suspicion") which aired on November 9, 1998. Near the end of that year, they appeared on FX's '' Penn & Teller's Sin City Spectacular'' accompanied by

Penn & Teller Penn & Teller, Penn Jillette and Teller, are American magicians, entertainers, and scientific skeptics who have performed together since 1975. They are noted for their ongoing act that combines elements of comedy with magic. The duo has bee ...

's show dancers, which aired in January 1999. They released three new recordings in 1999, two studio-produced and one live. The band's fourth and fifth studio albums, '' Better Than Sex'' and '' Russian Bellydance'', a Russian-language version of their smash album ''I Wanna See You Bellydance'' from the previous year, were both released in March 1999. Later in that same month, Red Elvises' performance in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

was released as the band's first live double album, ''

Live at the Great American Music Hall Your Favorite Band Live is a live album by Russian-American band Red Elvises. Track listing Credits Recorded live on March 26, 1999 at the Great American Music Hall, San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San ...

''. In the summer of 1999, the FX television channel hired Red Elvises to play in Malibu on the beach for their ''

Beverly Hills, 90210 ''Beverly Hills, 90210'' (often referred to as ''90210'') is an American teen drama television series created by Darren Star and produced by Aaron Spelling via his production company Spelling Television. The series ran for 10 seasons on Fo ...

'' Swimsuit Beach Party highlighting a marathon airing of syndicated episodes of the hit series. FX held a contest and flew the winners and ten of their friends to the beach party to appear on TV and dance to the band's music. Later, they provided the theme, score, and songs for the

Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (CN) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the Cartoon Network, Inc., a sub-division of the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks division of Warner Bros. Discovery. It launched on ...

animated series ''

Mike, Lu & Og ''Mike, Lu & Og'' is an animated television series created by Mikhail Shindel, Mikhail Aldashin, and Charles Swenson for Cartoon Network, and the 7th of the network's Cartoon Cartoons. The series follows a foreign exchange student from Manhattan ...

''. February 2000 heralded a brief change in musical direction for the band with the release of their seventh CD, '' Shake Your Pelvis'', a more electronic techno/disco style CD that greatly differed from their earlier releases. December 2000 also saw an end to Avi Sills' association with the band with his decision to move on to other musical opportunities.

2001–2008

In 2001 the band worked as a trio with Oleg Bernov on drums, Igor Yuzov on electric bass guitar and Zhenya Rock as lead guitarist. In March 2001 two studio CDs were released, '' Welcome to the Freakshow'', written entirely by Yuzov, and Bedroom Boogie, written entirely by Zhenya Rock. The group continued to tour America throughout the year and was also invited to tour Russia. In 2002, Rokenrol was recorded entirely in Russian, with the exception of two songs (Juliet by I.Yuzov and Sunshine by Z.Rock) in English. Zhenya Rock began a side project, Zeerok, going in a completely different musical direction, and, by the end of the year, decided to commit to his new band full-time, announcing his departure from Red Elvises. The band kept busy during the summer months with a tour through Russia that included some filming for the film , a romantic action comedy starring

Danny Aiello Daniel Louis Aiello Jr. () (June 20, 1933 – December 12, 2019) was an American actor. He appeared in numerous motion pictures, including ''The Godfather Part II'' (1974), ''The Front'' (1976), ''Once Upon a Time in America'' (1984), ''Hide in ...

Vincent Pastore Vincent Pastore (; born July 14, 1946) is an Italian American actor. Often cast as a mafioso, he is best known for his portrayal of Salvatore "Big Pussy" Bonpensiero on the HBO series ''The Sopranos''. He also made notable appearances in the HBO ...

, Ivana Milocevich, and Robert Capelli, Jr., returning home in August to record the soundtrack. The band also returned to television with an appearance playing themselves in an episode of the Fox action series '' Fastlane'' (Episode #3 "Gone Native"). In 2003, Yuzov switched back to guitar, this time on lead, and Bernov returned to the large bass

balalaika The balalaika (, ) is a Russian string instrument, stringed musical instrument with a characteristic triangular wooden, hollow body, fretted neck, and three strings. Two strings are usually tuned to the same note and the third string is a perf ...

. Completing the new lineup was another Russian, Oleg "Schramm" Gorbunov on keyboards and accordion and new American drummer

Adam Gust Adam is the name given in Genesis 1–5 to the first human. Adam is the first human-being aware of God, and features as such in various belief systems (including Judaism, Christianity, Gnosticism and Islam). According to Christianity, Adam sin ...

. In 2005, they were asked to perform in the Moscow

Live8 Live 8 was a string of benefit concerts that took place on 2 July 2005, in the G8 states and South Africa. They were timed to precede the G8 conference and summit held at the Gleneagles Hotel in Auchterarder, Scotland, from 6–8 July 2005 ...

concert, along with the

Pet Shop Boys Pet Shop Boys are an English synth-pop duo formed in London in 1981. Consisting of vocalist Neil Tennant and keyboardist Chris Lowe, they have sold more than 100 million records worldwide and were listed as the most successful duo in UK music h ...

and a number of local performers. In 2006, Elena Shemankova from Moscow, the first female to ever play with Red Elvises, joined the band on keyboards and was very well received. The next year they were joined by female guitarist Beth Garner from

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, who was with them for two American tours that year.

2009 to present

In early 2009, the Red Elvises announced that longtime member and bassist Bernov had decided to leave the band. Subsequent postings on their website announced either that he was on a "friendly break" or had gone on to start his own group. In February 2009, Bernov announced that he had joined the star-up project of the now world-famous show '' Slava's Snowshow'' staged by Russian performance artist

Slava Polunin Vyacheslav Ivanovich “Slava” Polunin PARBacon Bacon is a type of Curing (food preservation), salt-cured pork made from various cuts of meat, cuts, typically the pork belly, belly or less fatty parts of the back. It is eaten as a side dish (particularly in breakfasts), used as a central in ...

. This would be the first non-live album released under the new name "Igor and Red Elvises". In December 2014, Bernov again departed the band and continued his solo career.

Success and tours in Russia

Since 2002, the group annually goes on tour to Russia, where they usually spend two summer months, playing in clubs in major cities such as

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

and

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

, as well as in their hometown of Yuzov in

Odesa Odesa, also spelled Odessa, is the third most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern ...

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

Discography

Studio albums

*''Grooving to the Moscow Beat'' (1996) *'' Surfing In Siberia'' (1997) *'' I Wanna See You Bellydance'' (1998) *'' Russian Bellydance'' (1999) *'' Better Than Sex'' (1999) *'' Shake Your Pelvis'' (2000) *'' Bedroom Boogie'' (2001) *'' Welcome to the Freakshow'' (2001) *''Rokenrol'' (2002) *'' Lunatics and Poets'' (2004) *'' Drinking with Jesus'' (2009) *''

Bacon Bacon is a type of Curing (food preservation), salt-cured pork made from various cuts of meat, cuts, typically the pork belly, belly or less fatty parts of the back. It is eaten as a side dish (particularly in breakfasts), used as a central in ...

'' (2014) *'' She Works for KGB'' (2017)

Others

*" Crazy Russian Folk And Roll" (as

) (1992) *'' Give Us a Break'' (as

) (1995) *''

'' soundtrack (1998) *'' Your Favorite Band Live'' (live album) (2000) *Elvis Has Not Left the Building (Live In Moscow 2004) /The Best Of Kick-Ass *'' 30 Greatest Hits'' (greatest hits compilation) (2007) *Made In Santa Monica (Russian compilation) (2008) *Igor & Red Elvises - '' Live in Montana'' (live album) (2012)

Videography

*'' Live On The Pacific Ocean'' (1997, VHS) *'' Live In Moscow'' (2006, DVD)

Film and television appearances

Founding members

* Igor Yuzov *

Oleg Bernov Igor & The Red Elvises (formerly known as Limpopo) are an American cult band that performs funk rock, surf, rockabilly, reggae, folk rock, disco and traditional Russian styles of music. They were founded in California in 1995 and are based in Lo ...

* Zhenya Rock (Kolykhanov)

Touring members

2019 Moscow tour

* Pavel Voyskov (drums) * Timur Popovkin (bass) *Elena Shemankova (keyboard) * Yury Krivoshein (guitar)

Current US touring band

Tim Hakala (Drums) * Igor Yuzov (guitar) * Crazy Tomes (guitar, vocals, keyboard)

References

External links

The official Red Elvises website
* {{Authority control Rock music groups from California Russian rock music groups 1995 establishments in California Musical groups established in 1995 Musical groups from Los Angeles Russian-language musical groups from the United States