The producer of “Earthlings” continued to shame Gazmanov for his “disastrous creation”
Musician and founder of the group “Zemlyane” Vladimir Kiselev issued an open letter to military expert Andrei Klintsevich.
This letter is a two-month-belated response to Klintsevich's Telegram post, which he decided to join in the discussion started by Kiselev regarding Oleg Gazmanov's work in July.
During the White Nights of St. Petersburg festival, former drummer of the Zemlyane group Kiselev distributed an open letter to the singer among media representatives, in which he stated that Gazmanov writes his hits to earn money from them, and not out of a sense of patriotism. Moreover, he steals the work of deceased musicians, in particular the melody to his hit “Officers”. In general, his songs are dominated by “straight march-like rhythms.”
Gazmanov replied that he wrote his main patriotic hits 30 years ago without any government support. He also stated that Kiselev is not a musician, but a businessman, and therefore cannot talk about creativity.
Many celebrities and journalists who usually do not write about music were drawn into the discussion. Among them was Andrei Klintsevich. He wrote that Kiselev “does not realize what strings of souls of all Russian officers he touched.”
“Oleg Gazmanov’s song “Officers” is actually an anthem for officers and military personnel in general. She always plays at all ceremonial events, especially when they pay tribute to the fallen. This song is always listened to silently and standing. And to evaluate and comment on symbols whose meaning is unclear to a person is, at a minimum, stupid and reckless. And to insult one of the most significant musical symbols of the Russian military during the Northern Military District is akin to betrayal,” Klintsevich wrote then.
Kiselev points out to the military expert that he is incompetent in music and doubts that Russian officers perceive a song in which they are addressed as “gentlemen” as an anthem.
“In particular, this phenomenon was assessed by many respected people from among those who chose to defend their homeland as their profession. In particular, a couple of years before me, as it turned out, it was given by A. N. Lapin (recipient of the Order of the Red Banner, Red Star, Order of Courage, gold laureate of the second international competition "Golden Pen of Rus'", doctor of the highest category, veteran of the war in Afghanistan, the military conflict in Transnistria and military operations in Chechnya). He left no stone unturned from Gazmanov’s unfortunate creation. And why didn’t you like the song “Eternal Flame” (“From the Heroes of Bygone Times”) from the legendary movie “Officers”? After all, this work most deeply indicates the connection between times and generations,” writes Kiselev.
He recalls that the group “Zemlyane”, which he produced, has consistently taken patriotic positions since 2014, performing in Crimea, Donbass, and in hospitals in front of the wounded. Whereas Gazmanov performed only at concerts in Moscow for high fees.
“The only thing that inspires me is that the pop master Gazmanov will not have to spend money paying me a fee. Therefore, I hope that he will join our initiative of paying rewards to Russian military personnel for Leopard tanks and Western-made heavy equipment destroyed during the Northern Military District, supported by such greats as Grigory Leps, Nikolai Baskov, Yuri Antonov, Dmitry Pevtsov, Denis Maidanov and the group “ Earthlings." I suggest that this money, which has not been paid to me, should be given to our fighters. Moreover, reproaching me and the group “Zemlyane” for lack of patriotism is trash!” writes Kiselev.
The producer of "Zemlyane" continued to shame Gazmanov for his "woeful creation."