This man is called the first music producer of the USSR and Russia. It was he who, in the wake of Perestroika, introduced the audience to the first cult rock band “Kino”, and then, again, he was the first to deprive the state of its monopoly on the publication of records and music albums.
Note that his talent as a businessman and organizer manifested itself much earlier, only then did such activities fall under criminal charges. So in total, the future famous producer Yuri Aizenshpis spent almost 17 years behind bars.
Concert director
In 1961, Yuri Aizenshpis, like many young people, was interested in sports and music. His parents, who had been hanging around Moscow barracks all their lives, finally got an apartment on Sokol. In this metropolitan area future producer and met the members of his first musical group. The young guys named their team “Falcon”. In a roundabout way, they obtained records with recordings of “imported stars” - Elvis Presley, Bill Haley, the Beatles, learned their compositions, and then performed them themselves.
At first, “Falcon” performed only in the nearest cafe, occasionally in the area’s House of Culture and on dance floors. But 20-year-old Yuri Aizenshpis, who decided to become the director of the group, already understood that you can earn big money only if you become legal.
"Golden" black marketeer
Violation of the rules on foreign exchange transactions was in another case. Having entered the institute, Yuri Aizenshpis, driven by his commercial inclinations, decided to turn to his other youthful hobby - sports. Among his friends were the guys who now played football in the Dynamo team, went abroad to friendly matches and received checks that in the USSR could be sold at the only currency store, Beryozka.
In those days, a dollar on the black market, that is, from hand, cost from 2 to 7.5 rubles. Yuri Aizenshpis, first through “old friends” and then through his own well-established channels, bought checks, purchased them at Beryozka, and then sold the purchased scarce goods at three times the price.
Using the proceeds from rubles, he bought currency from foreigners through hotel administrators and waiters, and then again checks. For example, an imported fur coat could be purchased at Beryozka for $50, and sold to a capital movie star for 500 rubles, purchased a dozen Panasonic radios for $35, and in Odessa sold the entire batch to the same huckster for 4,000 rubles. But this was not enough.
In the late 1960s, Vneshtorgbank began selling gold in Moscow for foreign currency. On this wave, Yuri Aizenshpis took up gold trading. Many nomenklatura workers, especially from the Transcaucasian republics, had large and very large money, but they could not afford to flash currency and generally flash with so much cash in the capital. And Aizenshpis bought gold bars with dollars at the Vneshtorgbank branch and sold them to Caucasian party workers (officially, 1 kilogram of gold cost $1,500).
If he purchased dollars on the side for 5 rubles, then a kilogram of gold cost him 7,500 rubles. Another thousand had to be paid to a foreign student, who had the right to legally conduct transactions with currency, because an ordinary citizen of the USSR should not have had it. But Aizenshpis sold 1 kilogram of gold to a Republican party leader for 20,000 rubles.
The gain was mind-blowing, and it really drove many black marketeers crazy. Once, a burnt-out gold businessman from Armenia, in order to facilitate his accounting, handed over several of his “colleagues” to the authorities. Then, in the stagnant year of 1970, many criminals convicted on “economic” charges “the first time” received 5-8 years in prison, but Yuri Aizenshpis was sentenced to 10 years of strict regime, and besides, with the confiscation of all property, even his parents’ apartment .
From scratch
After 7 years, the former concert director was released on parole. There was no trace left of the old connections; we had to start “commercial activities” anew. Together with a certain friend, Yuri Aizenshpis decided to buy $4,000 “from hand” on the Lenin Hills. But the seller brought counterfeits and he had been under surveillance for a long time by criminal investigation officers. So after 3 months of freedom, the future famous producer again found himself in the dock. As a result, to the 8 years of imprisonment under the “currency article”, he was added another 3 years, which had previously been “knocked off” for the first term and sent to serve in Mordovia, in the notorious Dubrovlag colony, which had the unofficial name “Meat Grinder”, because every Every day, for “unknown reasons,” 3 to 5 people died there.
Seven years later he was released on parole. There was no trace left of the old connections; we had to organize “commercial activities” anew. Together with one friend, Yuri Aizenshpis bought $4,000 from his own hands on the Lenin Hills. But the seller had long been under the surveillance of criminal investigation officers and brought counterfeits. So, after three months of freedom, the future famous producer again found himself in the dock. As a result, to the 8 years of imprisonment under the “currency article”, he was added another 3 years, which had previously been knocked off (when he was serving his first sentence), and he was sent to Mordovia to the notorious Dubrovlag colony, which had the unofficial name “Meat Grinder”, because every day there, for “unknown reasons,” 3-5 people died.
Under the hood of the KGB
In 1985, Yuri Aizenshpis was again released on parole and returned to Moscow. Now he acted extremely carefully. Through a young Muscovite, the wife of an employee of the Arab diplomatic mission, Aizenshpis not only established a safe channel for the purchase of foreign currency, but also imported clothing and electronics, since the Arab was engaged in export-import. But the KGB always kept an eye on any foreigner in the USSR, and soon Yuri Aizenshpis found himself under surveillance.
In the summer of 1986, when he was driving around the capital in a new Zhiguli, he was stopped by police. When inspecting the car, it turned out that in the trunk there were several imported audio recorders and one super-scarce video recorder with video cassettes. So, at the instigation of KGB officers, Yuri Aizenshpis ended up in a pre-trial detention center. However, the case did not come to trial, since the Arab managed to leave the USSR in time, and without the main defendant, the “high-profile” speculative case soon fell apart. And then Perestroika struck. After serving almost 1.5 years in a pre-trial detention center, Yuri Aizenshpis was released and never returned to prison.
One of the most famous producers Russian show business Yuri Shmilevich Aizenshpis was born on July 15, 1945 in Moscow.
In 1968, he graduated from the Moscow Economic and Statistical Institute with a degree in economic engineering. After graduating from the institute, Aizenshpis worked for some time at the Central Statistical Office (CSO).
I am one of the independent producers and build my work independently of anyone else. However, I always have to face the problems of this very corporatism.
Aizenshpis Yuri Shmilevich
While still a student, Yuri Aizenshpis devoted all his free time to his passion - music, so it so happened that he began his professional career in 1965, collaborating as an administrator with the rock group "Falcon".
By 1969, the Sokol group became famous thanks to the organizational skills of Aizenshpis, who purchased musical equipment and instruments from foreign touring performers, or rather, from their technical staff. They had to pay in currency, any transactions with which in the USSR were illegal and cruelly punished by justice.
In January 1970, Yuri Aizenshpis was arrested and convicted under Article 88 of the USSR Criminal Code (“Illegal transactions with currency on an especially large scale”). He spent ten years in prison in Mordovia, Krasnoyarsk, and Komi.
After a short period of freedom, he was again sentenced and was jailed for seven years and eight months.
The experience of Western gentlemen was unknown to me. Everything came from my own ideas and initiative
Aizenshpis Yuri Shmilevich
In total, Yuri Aizenshpis served 17 years in prison, finally being released only on April 23, 1988.
The first time after his release, he worked in the creative youth association "Gallery" under the city committee of the Komsomol, organizing concerts of young performers.
In 1988, he met Viktor Tsoi, who had just released the album “A Star Called the Sun.” Soon their collaboration began.
From 1988 to 1990, Aizenshpis was the director of the Kino group, he organized tours and television broadcasts for the group. With the advent of Aizenshpis, the group, which by that time was already quite well known in the country, acquired cult status.
Yuri Aizenshpis himself wrote about this: “Of course, Tsoi and the Kino group were famous even before our meeting, but they were known among fans of Leningrad basement rock. And I decided to fashion a rock star out of him. And it was a success.”
Aizenshpis was one of the first to break the state monopoly on the release of records, releasing the “Black Album” of the Kino group in 1990 using money borrowed from credit. This was the group's last album.
From 1991 to 1992, he collaborated with the group "Technology", which he assisted in the release of their debut album "Everything You Want". From 1992 to 1993, he worked as a producer with the Moral Code and Young Guns groups. Since the summer of 1994, he collaborated with singer Vlad Stashevsky, whose debut album was released under the Aisenshpis Records label. In 1997, while continuing to work with Vlad Stashevsky, he simultaneously collaborated with the aspiring singer Inga Drozdova.
IN different times Aizennshpis produced singer Sasha (from 1999 to 2000), raised singer Nikita to the heights of popularity (produced him from 1998 to 2001).
In recent years, Yuri Shmilevich has been closely involved in the career of singer Dima Bilan and the Dynamite group.
Aizenshpis participated in the organization of the international festival "Sunny Adjara" (1994), as well as in the establishment of the "Star" music award.
Since 2001, he held the position of General Director of the Media Star company.
In 2005, he starred in a small role in the film "Night Watch 2".
Yuri Aizenshpis was twice winner of the National Russian Music Award "Ovation" in the category "Best Producer" (1992, 1995).
He was buried in Moscow at the Domodedovo cemetery.
Yuri Aizenshpis was divorced and left behind a son, Mikhail.
Yuri Shmilevich Aizenshpis - quotes
I am one of the independent producers and build my work independently of anyone. However, I always have to face the problems of this very corporatism. 
The experience of Western gentlemen was unknown to me. Everything came from my own ideas and initiative
Producer Yuri Aizenshpis was one of the first in our country to begin professionally “promoting” pop and pop stars. There were legends about this man, and his every step was shrouded in the most incredible rumors. But despite everything, all the projects that Yuri Aizenshpis took on turned out to be successful.
Contrary to the general trend, the performers who left him never threw mud at him in the press and never entered into legal battles.
Yuri Aizenshpis: biography. Childhood and adolescence
Aizenshpis was born in Chelyabinsk in 1945. His mother, Maria Mikhailovna Aizenshpis, a native Muscovite, was sent to evacuate to this city. Shmil Moiseevich Aizenshpis (Yuri's father) is a Polish Jew who was forced to leave his homeland to escape the Nazis. He fought in the ranks Soviet army and was a WWII veteran.
After the end of the war, the family returned to Moscow. Until 1961, she lived in a dilapidated wooden barracks, and then received a wonderful apartment in prestigious area capitals. At that time they had a gramophone with a large collection of gramophone records and a KVN-49 TV.
As Yuri Shmilevich Aizenshpis himself recalled, in his youth he was seriously involved in sports: handball, athletics, volleyball, but due to a leg injury he had to stop playing. In addition to sports, the young man at that time was interested in jazz. He had a tape recorder, which the young man bought with his savings.
The first recordings were jazz compositions famous musicians world - Woody Herman, John Coltrane, Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald. Yuri Aizenshpis, whose photo you can see in our article, was well versed in various directions- jazz-rock, avant-garde and popular jazz. After some time, he became interested in the origins of rock music, the founders of the rhythm and blues movement.
The circle of lovers and connoisseurs of this music in those days was very small; everyone knew each other. When one of the like-minded people had a new record, Yuri Aizenshpis rewrote it. At that time, “black markets” were widespread in our country, which the police constantly dispersed. Exchange, purchase and sale were prohibited. The disks were simply confiscated from the sellers. And despite everything, records entered the country from abroad regularly, overcoming the powerful barriers of customs rules and laws. Some performers were banned - Elvis Presley, the Bary sisters.
Education
After graduating from school, Aizenshpis Yuri Shmilevich entered MESI and graduated in 1968 with a diploma in economics. But it should be noted that he entered the institute and successfully graduated only so as not to upset his parents.
First musical project
Yes, a graduate of the Faculty of Economics, Yuri Aizenshpis, did not like his specialty at all. His soul was drawn to music. While still studying at the institute, twenty-year-old Yuri began his creative activity, showing courage and business acumen.
In the mid-seventies, Beatlemania swept the world. At this time, Yuri and a group of like-minded musicians created the first rock band in our country. Since all the members of the group lived near the Sokol metro station, they didn’t go too far with the name of the group and they also called it “Falcon”. Today this group has taken its rightful place in the history of the Russian rock movement.
At first, the musicians performed songs of the legendary band “The Beatles” on English. At that time, it was believed that rock music could only exist in English. Friends had long noted Yuri’s activity and organizational talent, so they appointed him as something of an impresario.
After some time, the team was accepted into the staff of the Tula Philharmonic. The group toured a lot, and Aizenshpis’s monthly income sometimes reached the astronomical sum of 1,500 rubles at that time. For comparison: the salary of ministers of the Soviet Union was no more than a thousand rubles.
Ticket sales
At the very beginning of his activities, more precisely during his collaboration with the Sokol group, Yuri developed an unusual ticket sales scheme. Having previously agreed with the director of some cultural center or club, Aizenshpis bought all the tickets for the last showing of the film, and then sold them at a higher price for the group’s concert.
As a rule, there were significantly more people wanting to listen to music than there were seats in the hall. At times the situation got out of control. It was for this reason that Aizenshpis was the first to hire security guards in the seventies to ensure order at concerts.
With the money received from the sale of tickets, he purchased foreign currency, with which he purchased quality goods from foreigners. musical instruments and high-end stage sound equipment. Since in the USSR at that time all foreign exchange transactions were illegal, he always took great risks when making transactions.
Work at the USSR Central Statistical Office
In 1968, Aizenshpis joined the Central Statistical Office as a junior researcher with a salary of 115 rubles. However, he rarely visited his workplace. His main income continued to be foreign exchange transactions, purchase and further sale of gold. He made transactions whose volume exceeded a million dollars a month. At that time, the underground millionaire was only 25 years old.
Arrest
But this life did not last long. At the beginning of January 1970, Aizenshpis was arrested. During a search, $7,675 and 15,585 rubles were found in his apartment. He was convicted under Article 88 (“Currency transactions”). Even in places of detention, Aizenshpis’s entrepreneurial spirit was evident. In the Krasnoyarsk-27 zone, the future producer launched a brisk trade in tea, vodka and sugar. Then he began to be appointed to management positions at local construction sites.
When he was transferred to a settlement colony, Yuri fled from there to Pechory and settled with a local intellectual, whom he charmed with his charm and conversations about the capital. However, he was soon exposed by a guest at home - a police colonel. And again, Aizenshpis’s amazing luck, as well as his knowledge of the basics of psychology, came to the rescue. He was transferred to another colony to an excellent position as a normalizer.
Yuri Aizenshpis served almost 18 years in prison for something that any citizen is now allowed to do. But something else is important: over such a long period of time, Aizenshpis did not become embittered, did not become a criminal, and did not lose his human appearance.
Life after release
Finding himself free in 1988, Aizenshpis saw an unfamiliar Russia during perestroika. Alexander Lipnitsky introduced him to the rock scene. Initially, he was entrusted with heading the directorate of the Interchance festival. Gradually, step by step, he studied behind the scenes life and the basics of show business, and soon the aspiring producer began working with domestic music performers.
Yuri Shmilevich formulated his purpose quite frankly - to promote the artist using any means: diplomacy, bribery, threats or blackmail. This is exactly how he acted, for which they began to call him “the shark of show business.”
There were plenty of unknown young performers who dreamed of making it to the big stage. Yuri Aizenshpis chose among them those who could hook the viewer, who had at least a more or less interesting repertoire. At first, he introduced them to the general public through television, and then organized tours.
Group "Kino"
From December 1989 until the tragic death of Viktor Tsoi (1990), Aizenshpis was the producer and director of the Kino group. He was the first to break the state monopoly on the release of records. Already in 1990, he released the “Black Album” using funds taken on credit.
It should be noted: by the beginning of cooperation with the producer, Kino already had enough famous group. At that time, the most successful, legendary album “Blood Type” had already been recorded. According to critics, after him Tsoi could not write a single line for two or three years. Therefore, cooperation with Kino brought Aizenshpis to a new stellar level of activity, which allowed him to earn authority in his craft.
"Technology"
If “Kino” already had some success at the beginning of working with the producer, then the “Technology” group was fashioned almost from scratch by Yuri Aizenshpis. “Lighting up the stars” - this is how the producer began to be called more and more often after his second successful project. Using the example of “Technology”, he was able to prove that he could take guys with an average level of talent and “fashion” them into stars.
Among the numerous ensembles existing on the stage at that time was the Bioconstructor group, which over time split into two subgroups. One was called “Bio”, and the second was just thinking about its name and musical concept. They could show only two or three songs, which the already famous producer liked. As time has shown, Aizenshpis was not mistaken and was able to create a truly popular group, which was called “Technology”.
Linda
In 1993, Aizenshpis drew attention to the young performer Svetlana Gaiman in Jurmala. Very soon the name of singer Linda became known to both viewers and music critics. Soon the compositions “I want your sex”, “Non-stop” and the famous hit “Playing with Fire” appeared. Linda's collaboration with the producer lasted less than a year, after which they parted ways.
Vlad Stashevsky
This project was more long-term - it lasted six years (1993-1999). The favorite half of Russian viewers, the sex symbol of the mid-nineties, was Vlad Stashevsky, who, in collaboration with Aizenshpis, released five albums.
The producer met Stashevsky at the Master nightclub. Yuri Shmilevich heard Vlad playing behind the scenes on an out-of-tune piano and singing songs from the repertoire of Mikhail Shufutinsky and Willy Tokarev. After this meeting, nothing foreshadowed long-term cooperation, although Aizenshpis left his business card for the unknown performer.
A few days later he called Vlad and they agreed on a meeting, during which Aizenshpis introduced Vlad to Vladimir Matetsky, who took part in the audition. Stashevsky's first performance took place at the end of August 1993 in Adjara, at a song festival.
Awards, further creative activities
In 1992, Aizenshpis was awarded the Ovation Prize as the best producer in Russia. Until 1993, Yuri Shmilevich produced the groups “Young Guns”, “Moral Code”, and the singer Linda. In 1997, he began to work with singers Inga Drozdova and Katya Lel, a year later singer Nikita became his protégé, and in 2000 he began collaborating with the Dynamite group.
During this period, Yuri Aizenshpis became especially famous as a very successful producer. The man who lit the stars on Russian stage, since 2001 he took the post of general director of the Media Star company.
Dima Bilan
Yuri Aizenshpis and Dima Bilan met in 2003. According to music critics, the last project of the famous producer, which he worked on for the last three years of his life, became one of the most successful in the work of Yuri Shmilevich. In September 2005, Dima Bilan was recognized best performer 2004 according to MTV, and much later became the winner of Eurovision 2008.
Other roles
In 2005, Yuri Shmilevich played cameo role in popular Russian film « Night watch" In addition, he became the author of the book “Lighting the Stars.”
Family life
Aizenshpis did not like to talk about his personal life. At the Interchance-89 festival, he met a very pretty assistant director, Elena. The couple did not formalize the relationship. In 1993, a baby appeared in the family - son Misha. But gradually the feelings lost their former severity, and the couple broke up.
Yuri Shmilevich spoiled his son Aizenshpis, however, the educational process was completely transferred to Elena’s shoulders. Mikhail often visited his father’s office and went with him to concerts. Yuri Shmilevich bequeathed two huge apartments in Moscow to his son and ex-wife. After the death of the producer, Elena married the editor of the TNT channel Leonid Gune.
Yuri Aizenshpis: cause of death
On September 20, 2005 this was gone talented person, a recognized and successful Russian producer. At about eight o'clock in the evening, Yuri Aizenshpis died in Moscow City Hospital No. 20. Death was due to extensive myocardial infarction. Yuri Shmilevich was buried at the Domodedovo cemetery near Moscow.
June 26, 2015, 01:00Yuri Shmilevich became famous during his work with legendary rock band"Movie". Thanks to Aizenshpis, Russians became acquainted with the work of many talented people, which to this day release hits and pack audiences. He was called " godfather» Russian show business.
1. Aizenshpis’s parents are Jews. Maria Mikhailovna is a native Muscovite. Father, Shmil Moiseevich Aizenshpis, a Polish Jew, fled from Poland to the USSR, fleeing the Nazis, a veteran of the Great Patriotic War.
Little Yura with his parents
2. In his youth, Yuri Shmilevich was seriously interested in sports - volleyball, handball and athletics. However, at the age of 16, he suffered a serious leg injury and was forced to quit the sport.
3. At the age of 16, he already organized semi-underground concerts of the first Soviet rockers, and then became the administrator of the Sokol group, with which he even got a job at the Tula Philharmonic. Since the musicians toured a lot, Aizenshpis’s monthly income reached 1,500 rubles (Soviet ministers then received only a thousand).
4. Yuri Aizenshpis has no music education. In 1968, he graduated from the Moscow Institute of Economics and Statistics with a degree in economic engineering.
5. In 1968, 23-year-old Aizenshpis resigned from the Philharmonic and went to work as a junior researcher at the USSR Central Statistical Office with a salary of 115 rubles. But the “major”, who smelled of French perfume, rarely showed up at the workplace. His main income was currency fraud, as well as the purchase and sale of gold. Every evening he came into contact with a large number of people - taxi drivers, prostitutes, waiters and even diplomats (for example, the son of the Indian ambassador). “The volume of transactions that I made,” said Aizenshpis, “reached up to a million dollars.” The underground millionaire was then only 25 years old.
The trial of currency traders in the USSR
6. In 1970, Aizenshpis was arrested for money fraud and spent a total of almost 18 years in “places not so remote.” Some of them are in the settlement. During all the years of imprisonment, he did not get a single tattoo.
Photo from the book “Lighting the Stars. Notes and advice from a show business pioneer"
7. In the “Krasnoyarsk-27” zone, there was brisk speculation in tea, sugar and vodka. Then he began to occupy leadership positions at local “construction sites of the century.” Once in a colony-settlement, he escaped from there to Pechory and, having charmed a local intellectual, began to live with her. He was exposed by a guest at home - a police colonel, but amazing luck and knowledge of psychology helped Aizenshpis out. He was transferred to another colony to a cushy job as a normalizer. And during his second imprisonment, Aizenshpis received a number of patents and even a letter from the Minister of Internal Affairs of Mordovia for his rationalization proposals.
8. From December 1989 until the death of Viktor Tsoi in 1990, he was the director and producer of the Kino group. He was one of the first to break the state monopoly on the release of records, releasing the “Black Album” in 1990 using money taken on credit.
Musicians of the group "Kino" and Aizenshpis at the presentation of the "Black Album". Source: wikimedia.org / by New Look Media Team
Viktor Tsoi and Yuri Aizenshpis
9. Yuri Shmilevich was the producer of such famous musical groups like "Technology", "Moral Code" and "Dynamite". Thanks to him, Russians recognized Linda, Vlad Stashevsky, Katya Lel, Nikita and pop singer Sasha.
Yuri Aizenshpis with members of the Dynamite group
Vlad Stashevsky and Yuri Aizenshpis
10. It is believed that it was Aizenshpis who brought the “blue lobby” into Russian show business. Allegedly, at first the cool guys brought their mistresses to the producer to promote them, and then they started bringing lovers too. “Spending time in prison could have influenced Aizenshpis’s orientation,” says Alexander Stefanovich, ex-husband Alla Pugacheva.
11. Singer Dima Bilan, who conquered Eurovision, is the latest and probably the most successful project of producer Aizenshpis.
With Dima Bilan
12. Was in a civil marriage with Elena Kovrigina. In 1993, the couple had a son, Mikhail. After the death of Yuri, Elena married the editor of a television program on the TNT channel, Leonid Gune.
With his wife Lena and son Misha
Yuri Shmilevich with his son Misha
13. Aizenshpis spoke rather disparagingly about his own income, saying that he earned exactly enough to provide for his family and pay for telephone calls. True, in exchange for the stolen Volvo, he nevertheless acquired two other cars - a Pontiac Bonneville and a Ford Explorer.
14. Yuri Aizenshpis died on September 20, 2005 from a myocardial infarction. He was buried near Moscow next to his parents at the Domodedovo cemetery.
