Igor Vladimirovich Talkov

Who was Igor Vladimirovich Talkov?

Igor Vladimirovich Talkov, was a Russian rock singer-songwriter.

He is often compared to another Russian singer and songwriter of that time, Viktor Tsoi, whom, according to his diaries, Talkov highly appreciated and to whom he even dedicated a song on his death. Talkov's songs also have much in common - particularly from a lyrical perspective - with Russian bard music.

Igor Talkov was born in Gretsovka, Tula Oblast, Soviet Union. Whilst he is mostly remembered for songs about love and fate, most of his work held a clearly political message against the Soviet regime, desperately calling for a change. This is one of the reasons why Talkov was never popular with the Soviet government; even as a performer renowned and loved throughout the whole Soviet Union, he lived in a small two-room apartment with his wife and son, even composing his masterful lyrics and music "on top of the washing machine in the bathroom", according to the rumours. Curiously enough, he was not satisfied with Perestroika, claiming it to be nothing but the same regime under a different guise. In his post-Perestroika songs, he openly mocked the changes, calling them a ruse. Talkov was an avid reader of pre-revolutionary Russian history, which served as the inspiration for many of his songs. He even guaranteed at his last concert that he was willing to "back up" his lyrics with historical facts.