In 1969, as a student of Foreign Languages University, Stas Namin formed the band Flowers, inspired by the Woodstock Festival and hippie movement, Flower Children and Flower Power. According to the media, Flowers ‘started the whole Russian musical non-format’, they were called ‘the Russian Beatles’, and several generations grew up on their songs. In the first 10 years, Melodiya record label sold over 60 million of the band’s records, earning huge profits without paying the musicians for sales. The Flowers is one of few bands that has been around for over 55 years, and its songs are known and loved by millions of Russian speaking people all over the world.
The Flowers became famous in the USSR when Melodiya record label released their first single in 1973, selling 7 million copies. The band immediately gained immense popularity despite being banned by central media and not recognised by the authorities. In 1974, the band began tour professionally, but soon the authorities banned even the name “Flowers” as hippie propaganda. When Namin revived the band in 1977, he was forced to change the name to Stas Namin Group.
In 1981, after participating in a rock festival in Armenia, Time magazine wrote about The Flowers, and oppression of the band intensified in the USSR.
With Mikhail Gorbachev coming to power in 1986, The Flowers obtained freedom, were permitted to travel abroad for the first time, and went on a 45-day tour of the United States and Canada. In New York, Yoko Ono attended a press conference before their concert on John Lennon’s birthday. After that, she invited Stas to her home in Dakota and introduced him to famous New York musicians. In December of the same year, at the invitation of Peter Gabriel, The Flowers participated in the Japan Aid festival.
Over the next three years, the band went on a big world tour, playing in more than fifty countries on every continent. In 1988, musicians from The Flowers (Namin and Voronov) were invited by Keith Richards to participate in recording his solo album Talk is Cheap.
In 1987, some musicians of The Flowers joined the band Gorky Park, formed by Stas Namin, which released an album at the Polygram Records, entered the Billboard charts and gained worldwide fame. Gorky Park also participated in the Peace Festival organised by Stas Namin and Doc McGee in Moscow in 1989.
After a world tour (1986-1990), the Flowers took a break for several years and stopped touring and recording.
In 1999, the band reunited, and participated in the creation of the Russian version of rock musical Hair and rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar. The band played an anniversary concert, The Flowers — 30 Years, and continued to tour the world.
At the request of Scorpions, Stas Namin wrote Russian lyrics for their song Wind of Change, which was created at The Flowers’ recording studio in Gorky park. Mikhail Gorbachev, who loved The Flowers, was moved to tears, when he heard the song at one of the band’s concerts.
In 2009, their 40th anniversary year, The Flowers recorded two albums at Abbey Road Studios: Back to the USSR, featuring their greatest hits from the 1970s, and Window to Freedom, featuring banned songs from the 1980s that could not be released under Soviet censorship. The Society of Sound, founded by Peter Gabriel, recognised this album as the most interesting work of 2011 and included it in its catalogue.
Over the few years, the band released the concert albums Homo Sapience and Flower Power, and a 50th anniversary concert album in 2019.
The anti-war theme has always been one of the main themes in Tsvetov’s work. In recent years, the band has made a cover of John Lennon’s song ‘Give Peace a Chance’ in Russian, English and Ukrainian.
Yoko Ono commented on this performance, saying that ‘John would have been happy to be on stage with you’. The song Window to Freedom performed by The Flowers was included in the American documentary Free to Rock.
The guests of the Stas Namin’s producing centre SNC and the Flowers were Pink Floyd, Anna Lennox, Billy Joel, Scorpions, Ozzy Osbourne, Iron Maiden, Bon Jovi, U2, Peter Gabriel, Quincy Jones, Rolling Stones and other famous musicians. Frank Zappa, a friend of Stas, visited him in Moscow several times and made a film about The Flowers and the producing centre.
The Flowers was born in a Moscow basement. After becoming popular, they toured stadiums throughout the USSR. After gaining freedom, they went on a big world tour, performing for large audiences. And on their 55th anniversary, they returned again to the basement to perform at the legendary Cavern Club, where their idols, The Beatles, had started out.
Stas Namin, Kenny Aronoff & The FLOWERS – Homo Sapiens, 2013
