Среднерусская Возвышенность / Central Russian Upland - simulative rock, avant garde rock, USSR (1986-1988).
"Среднерусская Возвышенность" gave just about a dozen concerts before breaking up. None of the band members actually knew how to play instruments. Well, except for the singer. Who didn't know how to sing. And yet by many Russian rock critics, it is considered one of the most significant bands in the late-Soviet scene.
Technically, it wasn't a band. Or to be precise, it wasn't intended to be. It is a project created by a group of conceptual artists in order to make a satire, a parody of the explosively growing early-Perestroika Russian rock scene. They called their own style a "simulative rock". However, possibly surprisingly to the band, many of their songs, full of acute political satire packed with absurdist lyrics, became instant hits. People did take it for a real band and people loved them. The lead singer with a haircut of two tails, in Russian tarpaulin boots and in a lady's blouse with a gold lurex was doing his best not to be taken seriously, yet their buffoonery managed to stand out even from the giants of the Russian rock.
And the band broke up. Because no matter how hard they tried not to become a real band, they couldn't. "Lip-sync Dip Purpl" was meant to take its well-deserved place in the Russian Rock Hall of Fame. Which wasn't what this project was about, and which is why the band decided to stop.
I'm purposely uploading a concert recording (although they did record an album at some point) as without _not_ trying to hit the notes and without maybe a vague but still audience presence, this band wouldn't be themselves.
