Save Tsoi

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the tragic death of the legendary musician who made “demand change” resonate across the entire post-Soviet space. After Viktor’s death at the age of 28, a real cult of Tsoi emerged in Russia. The most vivid proof is the wall dedicated to the musician on Old Arbat in Moscow, where new inscriptions from grateful fans appear constantly. And now, in the internet age—when absolutely anyone can become a star—it’s important to remember who earned the people’s love not through hype and outrageousness, but solely through talent and ideas that were ahead of their time. This is what Tsoi was—who we love and remember: a true hero of the musical Olympus and of his generation as a whole. Alexander Dolgov’s new book is a tribute and a love letter to the charismatic leader of the band “Kino.” Danger, doubts, a collision with the inevitable, and legendary Russian rock are all interwoven here to revive in the reader’s memory a real cultural phenomenon. Dolgov’s mastery of literary “painting” will take you back to the days when the Leningrad rock club drove everyone crazy and “change” seemed tangible—like a photograph signed by Tsoi.