Alexander Kalyanov is well known to lovers of Russian chanson as a performer of pop songs. The hit "Old Cafe" became his calling card. However, he initially gained popularity in show business not as a singer, but as a sound engineer, which was facilitated by musical talent combined with the talent of an engineer.
Childhood and youth. Choice of profession
Alexander Ivanovich Kalyanov was born in the summer of 1947, on August 26, in the small town of Unecha, located in the Bryansk region. At that time, the Unecha railway junction was only four years away from the Nazi occupation, so little Alexander had to experience many difficulties of post-war life. Sasha was the second child in the family - he has an older sister. Parents of the Kalyanovs were famous teachers in the city, they worked in secondary school №2. The father of the future celebrity - Ivan Efimovich Kalyanov - was even awarded the title of Honored Teacher of Russia. For several years he served as the director of school # 2. The son Alexander studied at the same school.
Sasha was a gifted and enthusiastic child: he constantly made something, designed, disassembled and assembled all kinds of radio devices. Another hobby of the teenager was music, but only at an amateur level - mainly performing songs with a guitar. Alexander really wanted to somehow combine his interest in technology and music in his future profession, but he did not yet know how to do this. Having brilliantly graduated from school with a silver medal, Alexander Kalyanov left for Taganrog and entered the Taganrog Radio Engineering Institute (TRTI).
The beginning of sound engineering activity
Having received a higher education and qualification of a radio engineer at TRTI, Alexander Kalyanov came to Bryansk and got a job at an electrical equipment plant, where radio equipment was assembled. For seven years Kalyanov worked at this plant, combining his main work with the invention of various musical radio devices and musical devices. For example, Alexander Kalyanov and Vitaly Kosmetliev (also an engineer, friend and colleague of Kalyanov) disassembled several imported models of amplifiers from abroad, and then made copies of them. These copies turned out to be so high quality that the Bryansk plant launched them into production, thus providing the entire domestic stage with professional musical equipment.
Another famous invention of Alexander Kalyanov is a mixing console called "Electronics". This device is intended for singers who sing along with a phonogram, but sometimes out of tune or "fall short" of the upper sounds. The device "Electronics" at the right moment automatically turned on the phonogram where the singer did not hit the notes.
It is not surprising that the talented engineer and inventor was noticed in musical circles. In 1978, Kalyanov was invited to work in Kazan, in the Elista Philharmonic Society - as a sound engineer for the Six Young group. This group was a real "forge of personnel" - Valery Kipelov, Nikolai Rastorguev, Alexander Rosenbaum and other stars of the domestic show business began their creative activities in it.
Once the famous Vladimir Vysotsky came to Kazan on tour. He got acquainted with the members of the group "Six Young" and offered to perform together, making a general concert program. With this program, the musicians traveled all over the country, giving several concerts every month with a constant sold out. During the tour, Alexander Kalyanov and Vladimir Vysotsky became not only colleagues, but also good friends. Subsequently, after the death of Vysotsky, Kalyanov took a direct part in the anniversary concert in memory of the great bard in the Olimpiysky sports complex: he recorded cover versions of his songs, which were later published on a disc.
Moving to Moscow
An important milestone in the biography of Alexander Ivanovich Kalyanov was the move to Moscow together with several musicians of the Six Young Group. Kalyanov came to conquer the capital in one denim suit, having neither money nor connections. Six musicians settled in one room of the Kievskaya hotel. There were no amenities in the room, the conditions were more than modest, but the friendly atmosphere and the spirit of adventurism helped the young people to cope with temporary everyday inconveniences. Kalyanov, being a light and cheerful person, gradually became the soul of the Moscow musical "get-together", receiving the nickname "Ivanych Hookah". This is how close friends and colleagues call him to this day.
Gradually, Kalyanov settled in Moscow, strengthened his financial position, which allowed him to rent an apartment on Gorbunov Street. Here he lived for a long time, organizing a club for parties for creative youth. In his apartment, people constantly gathered, holidays were arranged or just funny get-togethers. Thanks to friendly communication, the circle of acquaintances of the young sound engineer gradually expanded. In addition to the Six Young Ensemble, Kalyanov began to collaborate with the Leisya Pesnya, Phoenix, Red Poppies, Carnaval by Alexander Barykin and others.
Working with Alla Pugacheva
The key moment of Alexander Kalyanov's activity as a sound engineer is working with Alla Pugacheva, who in the early 1980s invited him to work in her Recital group. The collaboration turned out to be so successful that in 1984 the prima donna invited Kalyanov to create a private recording studio “Ton-Service”, one of the first in Russia, at his rehearsal base at the Olimpiyskiy. The leading Russian and foreign pop artists have recorded and continue to record here: Valery Leontyev, Grigory Leps, Demis Roussos, Kristina Orbakaite, Laima Vaikule, Lev Leshchenko, Lyudmila Zykina, Nadezhda Babkina, Natasha Koroleva, Nikolai Baskov, Philip Kirkorov and many others, as well as groups "Bravo", "Lyceum", "Na-na", "Nautilus Pompilius" and others.
Singer career
Alexander Kalyanov never aspired to become a singer, and even more so to perform on stage - he was complex, hesitated. He often sang with friends, and once Igor Nikolaev uttered: "Sasha, you have an interesting timbre, let's try to record you." At the suggestion of Nikolaev, Kalyanov in 1984 recorded his first album "Fresh Smell of Lindens", the songs for which were written by the same Igor Nikolaev. These soulful songs in the style of chanson fell in love with Russian music lovers, and the album was sold in pirated cassette copies throughout the country. This is how the career of the singer Alexander Kalyanov began.
And in 1988 he made his debut on Russian television. Alla Pugacheva, whom Kalyanov, together with Igor Nikolaev, considers her “stage parents”, invited him to perform at her “Christmas meetings”. Kalyanov sang the song "Old Cafe", which became his main hit, "calling card" and brought the singer popularity and love of the audience. Later, a video clip was shot for her, in the filming of which the prima donna took part, as well as other showbiz stars.
Kalyanov began touring cities in Russia, the CIS and abroad with solo concert programs. Repeatedly he performed in front of a Russian-speaking audience in America, Germany, Israel. In addition, he has recorded over ten albums of songs of his own performance. Among the authors of the compositions are Igor Nikolaev, Alexander Morozov, Igor Krutoy. Several songs were written by Alexander Kalyanov himself. In 2016, the jubilee concert of the performer "Old Cafe" took place, where all his most famous hits were performed.
Among the hits of the performer are "Lyubka-Monogamous", "Wife, Wife …", "Kukushechka", "Taganka", "Angel" and many others. The songs “Come back, friends”, “Old cafe”, “Beautiful woman” were awarded the “Chanson of the Year” award from Radio Chanson. In 2012, Alexander Kalyanov received the title of "Legend of Russian chanson". And more recently, on April 20, 2019, the singer became a laureate of the Chanson of the Year award for the hit Callsigns of Friends.
Personal life
Very little is known about the personal life of Alexander Kalyanov. He got married back in the years when he lived and worked in Bryansk. His wife's name is Alexandra. In those same years, a son was born in the Kalyanov family - and, of course, he was also named Alexander! When the head of the family moved to Moscow, the family remained to live in Bryansk, and only after a while moved to her husband and father. Alexander Kalyanov Jr. chose the same profession as his father: he became a sound engineer and worked at the "Ton" recording studio.
