Songs for fat people : affect, emotion, and celebrity in the Russian popular song, 1900-1955 / David MacFadyen.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

MacFadyen, David, 1964-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Popular music--Soviet Union--History and criticism.

Popular music.

Popular music--Social aspects--Soviet Union.

Singers--Soviet Union--Biography.

Singers.

Physical Description:

vii, 354 p. : ports.

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Montreal ; Ithaca : McGill-Queen's University Press, c2002.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

The author traces the careers of early singers such as Izabella Iur'eva, Tamara Tsereteli, and others who struggled to continue to perform as they fled the dangers of a Soviet society that had little patience for café-culture. MacFadyen follows their trail through Eastern Europe to Paris and London, then across to New York and San Francisco, and back into Russia through the smoky, émigré bars of colourful Chinese towns. He pays particular attention to the notion of "mass" songs inside the Soviet Union and explores the relationship of official and public approval. By looking at how these performers used success at home and abroad to become recording stars, film stars, and eventually television personalities, MacFadyen avoids the conventional dichotomies about the East Block to show the complexity of Soviet culture.

Contents:

Front Matter

Contents

Songs for Fat People

Introduction: A Quick Comment Before we Begin in Earnest

In Practice: Eleven Famous Performers, Loved by Tens of Millions

Grace Under Friendly Fire: The Gypsy Romances of Izabella Iur’Eva and Tamara Tsereteli

The Romance in Exile: Iurii Morfessi and Petr Leshchenko

Internal(Ized) Exile: The Mystery of Vadim Kozin

Exit Stage Left: Aleksandr Vertinskii and Cabaret

Affectation and Buffoonery: Leonid Utesov and Odessa Jazz

Klavdiia Shul’zhenko: “Let’s Have a Smoke, Comrade!”

Mark Bernes: Hushed Songs from the Silver Screen

Prison and Prestige: The Folk Songs of Lidiia Ruslanova and Liudmila Zykina

In Theory: Soviet Entertainment Seen From Today’s Perspectives

Time to Speculate and Take Stock: 1 January 2000 in Russian Light Entertainment

Conclusion and Unsolicited Encore

Notes

Audio-Visual Sources

Index

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references, filmography, discography and index.

ISBN:

1-282-86077-1

9786612860775

0-7735-7062-4

OCLC:

929120581