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VIA (Russian:ВИА) is an abbreviation forVocal and Instrumental Ensemble (Вокально-инструментальный ансамбль,Vokalno-instrumentalny ansambl). It is the general name used for popular music (pop, rock, folk, etc.) bands that were formally recognized by theSoviet government from the 1960s to the 1980s.
In Soviet times, the termVIA generally meant'band', but it is now used in Russia to refer specifically topop,rock, andfolk groups active during the Soviet period.
With thedissolution of the Soviet Union the term gradually went out of use.
InYugoslavia, the abbreviationVIS (Serbo-Croatian Cyrillic:ВИС), meaningvokalno-instrumentalni sastav (вокално-инструментални састав), was used in the same context.
The termVIA appeared in the Soviet Union in the 1960s and represented a model under which the Soviet government was willing to permit domestic rock and pop music acts to develop. To break through to the state-owned Soviet media, a band needed to become an officially recognized VIA. Each VIA had an artistic director (художественный руководитель) who served as manager, producer, and state-appointed censor. In some bands (such asPesniary) the artistic director was the band's leading member and songwriter, while in others he played the role of impresario.
Soviet VIAs played a specific style of pop music. They performed youth-oriented (but officially approved) radio-friendly music, which combined contemporary Western and Soviet trends. Folk instruments were often used, and occasionally akeytar (a keyboard held like a guitar). Songs varied from pop ballads, dance-beat disco and new wave to mainstream rock. Many VIAs had up to ten members (including a number of vocalists and multi-instrumentalists), who were in frequent rotation.
Due to state censorship, the lyrics of VIAs were family-friendly; typical topics were universal emotions like love, joy, and nostalgia, or idealized vignettes from daily life. Many bands also encouraged national culture and patriotism, (especially those of national minorities from the smaller Soviet republics) such asYalla fromUzbekistan, Labyrinth fromGeorgia andChervona Ruta fromUkraine. Folk-based VIAs such as Pesniary (later they mixed folk rock and progressive rock styles), Siabry andVerasy were especially popular in Belarus.[1] Russian bands from Moscow and Leningrad (such asZemlyane andTsvety) were more oriented towards Western pop and rock music.
Many VIAs were created by musicians that played together in local choruses or musical theatrical productions. The earliest VIAs included Avangard (Avantgarde) in 1964,Poyushchiye Gitary (The Singing Guitars) in 1966,Vesyolye Rebyata (Jolly Fellows) in 1968, andDobry Molodtsy [ru][a] in 1969.
Notable Soviet VIAs include: