Kenny Ball - Midnight In Moscow - 1962 |
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"Moscow Nights" or "Midnight in Moscow" is a Russian song, and one of those best known outside its homeland. The song was originally created as "Leningradskie Vechera" ("Leningrad Nights") composer Vasily Solovyov-Sedoy and poet Mikhail Matusovsky in 1955 (when both had well-established careers), but at the request from the Soviet Ministry of Culture, the version "Подмосковные вечера" (transliterated as "Podmoskovnye Vechera"; more or less "Evenings at Moscow Riverside") was prepared, with corresponding changes to the lyrics. Podmoskovnye Vechera was recorded by Vladimir Troshin, a young actor of the Moscow Art Theatre, for documentary about the athletic competition Spartakiad of the Peoples of the RSFSR, for a scene where the participants rest in the Podmoskovye, or the Moscow suburbs. It found little notice in the context of the film, but gained a significant popularity after radio broadcasts. In 1957, the song won both the international song contest and the first prize at the World Festival of Youth and Students held in Moscow, quite to the surprise of its creators. The song spread around the world, achieving particular popularity in mainland China; Van Cliburn's 1958 piano performance of the tune contributed to this international spread. In the Soviet Union, the tune has been the time call sounded every 30 minutes on the Mayak music and news radio station since 1964. The shortwave radio station Radio Moscow's English-language service has played an instrumental version of "Moscow Nights", between informing listeners of frequency changes and the hourly newscast. The British jazz group, Kenny Ball and his Jazzmen, had a hit with the song in 1961 under the title "Midnight in Moscow", and film exists which shows them playing it at a concert in Moscow. This version peaked at #2 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart in early 1962; it also spent three weeks at #1 on the American "Easy Listening" (now Adult Contemporary) chart. [1]
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