Medvedev rocks to the sounds of DEEP PURPLE

[Alexandra Smith]

Dear colleagues,

Some of you might be interested to know about Putin's predecessor's  
taste ...There was a curious article in today The Independent  
suggesting that he is a huge fan of Deep Purple....

All best,
Alexandra


------
Independent.co.uk
Putin's heir rocks to sound of Deep Purple
By Shaun Walker in Moscow and Jerome Taylor?Friday, 8 February 2008
Now, the man who is almost guaranteed to be the next leader of Russia  
has gone one better. For Dimitry Medvedev doesn't just love Deep  
Purple, he loves them so much he's going to fly them to Moscow to play  
at his own private gig. Besides being the current First Deputy Prime  
Minister of Russia and chairman of the state-controlled gas giant  
Gazprom, the heavy metal-loving Mr Medvedev is also President Vladimir  
Putin's anointed successor ? and thus the clear frontrunner in next  
month's presidential elections. At a party to be held next Monday in  
the Kremlin, officially to celebrate the 15th anniversary of Gazprom  
but also being touted as a tribute to Mr Medvedev, guests will be  
entertained by his favourite group. Mr Medvedev has on more than one  
occasion outlined his love for heavy metal bands including Deep Purple  
and Black Sabbath, and says he owns every Deep Purple album. Russian  
news agencies reported yesterday that Tina Turner would also appear at  
the gig. A spokesman for Gazprom said he could not confirm the line-up  
and that the event would be an "internal corporate party" and closed  
to the press. Although Russian media have hinted that Mr Putin will  
attend, his spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said it was not yet in his  
diary.  President Putin is known to have more conservative musical  
tastes. When asked if Mr Putin also liked Deep Purple, Mr Peskov said:  
"I haven't heard anything about that. From what I know, he likes  
classical music more." Bringing in Western superstars to play is  
nothing new for the top layer of Russian society. George Michael,  
Christina Aguilera and Beyoncé are just three of the stars reported to  
have been whisked into Moscow for behind-closed-doors gigs. Last year  
a juice magnate flew in Paris Hilton to entertain his 15-year-old  
daughter. On Deep Purple's Russian fan website, Deep-Purple.ru,  
reaction to the impending visit was mixed. "I'm pleased that our  
high-ranking officials have good musical taste," wrote one fan. "But  
they are not spending their own money on the concert." Others hoped  
that bootleg recordings would be made available, while some posts  
raised suspicions that Mr Medvedev himself was using the forum under a  
false name.
Deep Purple formed in Hertfordshire in 1968, and - with Led Zeppelin  
and Black Sabbath - went on to become one of the pioneers of heavy  
metal. The band was successful in the US before poaching the singer  
Ian Gillan from Episode Six and making it back in the UK. The group -  
which once was the loudest in the world according to the Guiness Book  
of Records - split in the 1970s before later reforming with Steve  
Morse. The band has given 24 concerts in Russia since 1996. In 2004,  
the deputy mayor of Moscow, Mikhail Men, hired band members Glenn  
Hughes and Joe Lynn Turner to re-record some songs he had written in  
the 1980s. Turner was in Moscow last June to sing at a private party  
attended by Mr Medvedev. He told The Moscow Times he was paid "very  
well" for the concert.



=========================================
Alexandra Smith (PhD, University of London)
Lecturer in Russian
School of European Languages and Cultures
The University of Edinburgh
David Hume Tower
George Square
Edinburgh EX8 9JX
UK

tel. +44-(0)131-6511381
fax: +44- (0)131- 650-3604
e-mail: Alexandra.Smith at ed.ac.uk





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The University of Edinburgh is a charitable body, registered in
Scotland, with registration number SC005336.

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