Plotkin pilot. Sergei Sobodov talks about Mikhail Plotkin
two Orders of Lenin, Order of the Red Banner.
Ranks
Positions
assistant squadron commander of the 1st mine-torpedo aviation regiment of the 10th bomber aviation brigade of the air force of the Red Banner Baltic Fleet
Commander of the 3rd Red Banner Squadron of the 1st Mine-Torpedo Aviation Regiment of the Baltic Fleet Air Force
Biography
Mikhail Nikolaevich Plotkin was born on May 2, 1912 in the village of Ardon, now Klintsovsky district, Bryansk region, into the family of an employee. Jew. He graduated from 7th grade and the FZU school. He worked at a Moscow automobile plant.
In the Red Army since 1931. Graduated from the military aviation school for pilots. Member of the CPSU(b) since 1939. Participated in the Soviet-Finnish war of 1939-40. In the battles of the Great Patriotic War from June 1941.
Assistant squadron commander of the 1st mine-torpedo air regiment (10th bomber air brigade, Red Banner Baltic Fleet Air Force) Captain M.N. Plotkin on the night of August 8, 1941, under the leadership of the commander of the air regiment, Colonel Preobrazhensky E.N. participated in the first Soviet air raid on the capital of Nazi Germany, Berlin, and the next day, August 9, 1941, bombed it a second time.
By a decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated August 13, 1941, for the exemplary performance of combat missions of the command and the heroism and courage shown, Captain Mikhail Nikolaevich Plotkin was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union with the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal (No. 522).
After daring raids on the capital of the “Third Reich” and behind enemy lines, the brave pilot carried out tasks to protect the city of Leningrad from the air. On March 7, 1942, while performing a combat mission, Major M.N. Plotkin died. He was buried in the hero city of Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) at the cemetery of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra (Communist site).
Awarded 2nd Order of Lenin, Order of the Red Banner.
Biography provided by Nikolai Vasilievich Ufarkin (1955-2011)
Sources Heroes of the Fiery Years. Book 1. M.: Moscow Worker, 1975 Heroes of the Soviet Union of the Navy. 1937-1945. - M.: Voenizdat, 1977
Award list
For the commander of the 2nd air squadron of the 1st air regiment of the 8-AB Air Force of the KBF Hero
Soviet Union Captain Plotkin Mikhail Nikolaevich. Order
Red flag
Year of birth: 1912
Nationality: Jewish
So. Position and origin - worker of workers
Party affiliation and length of service – member of the All-Russian Commissariat of Bolsheviks (Bolsheviks) since 1932
Since when in the RKKF - since 1931
Participation in the civil war - did not participate
No wounds or concussions
Was it previously awarded and for what – in 1940 for exemplary
carrying out combat missions in the war against the White Finns. In 1941 for
heroism during combat missions against German fascism.
What incentives and awards does it have and for what - Order of Lenin - 1940,
Awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union - 08/13/1941.
Service in the white or other bourgeois armies and being in captivity - B
I did not serve in the White Army and was not captured.
During the war against German fascism, Captain Comrade Plotkin made
56 combat missions. Flew to bomb naval bases; Memel, Shettim,
Königsberg, Abo, Vindava and Kotka. Bombed tanks with bombs
enemy columns near Dvinsk, Pskov, Chudov, ov. Samro, four times
bombed Berlin. For heroism shown during bomb attacks on the city
Berlin Captain Comrade Plotkin was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet on August 13, 1941
Union.
Since August 20, he has flown 14 successful combat missions, of which 6 were
at night. In difficult weather conditions, he carried out a bombing strike on the railway
Pskov station, as a result of a bomb attack, the buildings and railway tracks were destroyed.
Large fires were observed. Bombed Grivochki airfield, bombs
dropped on the north-eastern part of the airfield, after the impact hot spots appeared
fire, the crew was fired upon by strong anti-aircraft artillery. fire.
Bombed Narva and Kingisepp station from a height of 150 meters, destroyed
station building, railway track and part of the train cars standing on
stations. Confirmed by spert. AP reports.
For 14 successful combat missions he deserves
Government award.
Commander of the 1st Air Regiment Hero of the Soviet Union Colonel
(Preobrazhensky)
Military Commissar of the 1st Air Regiment Regimental Commissar (Oganezov)
December 28, 1941.
Worthy of the government award of the Order of the Red Banner.
Commander of the 8th Air Brigade, ladle (Loginov)
Military Commissar of the 8th Aviation Brigade Brigade Commissar (Alexandrov)
December 30, 1941.
25.12.2013 12:04
In the second half of the 60s, words such as “producer”, “impresario”, “manager” were still absent from the domestic lexicon. However, people of these professions have already begun to appear in our country. Mikhail Plotkin was one of the first domestic producers... We began to ask him about his work as a producer in those distant Soviet years, and he began his story with enthusiasm.
Mikhail Vladimirovich, tell me, what was your official name in those distant times?
I was a foreman.
Seriously! And in my work book it was written “worker moving musical instruments.” My salary then was 62 rubles 50 kopecks a month. Plus one ruble and kopecks daily allowance during the tour. That's all! I didn’t have any bonuses then. Later I became the head of the art and production department and then I already received 110 rubles a month, forty percent of the bonus plus a daily allowance of 2 rubles 60 kopecks. When my salary was increased, I excitedly calculated how much I would earn in daily allowance when I went on tour. At that time, such daily allowances were a real treasure for me!.. At that time, there really were no producers, impresarios, or managers. But everything is moving forward. I don’t want to speak badly about my colleagues, but when I see some posters that say “impresario” or “producer,” it makes me sad. After all, a producer is someone who truly invests his money and effort in his artists, promoting them. But not all of us are like that. First of all, I consider Bari Karimovich Alibasov to be a real producer. In the 80s, he and his rock band “Integral” attracted sold-out crowds; the public loved them very much. Later he created the no less popular group “Na-Na”...
How did your career in show business even begin?
My dad was a musician. He played in various ensembles as a drummer. And when he worked at the Romen Theater, I, a Jewish child, once went on stage with the gypsy children and won the competition. As a result, he ended up in the gypsy theater with a children's role in the play “Mariana Pineda” based on the play by Federico Garcia Lorca. Can you imagine? I was already playing in the same play with Nikolai Alekseevich Slichenko and his wife Tamilla Agamirova! But then my dad died, and I followed in the Jewish footsteps - into trade. At the age of sixteen, my mother got me a job as a salesperson in a store. Yes, yes, I sold shoes. The most interesting thing is that even then my administrative abilities began to manifest themselves. I discovered that in a store on Krasnaya Presnya the same shoes cost three rubles less. And I bought there and sold at home. Understand, I grew up in a poor family. Dad was a musician, he was not a businessman. Mom only worked when she was young, when she was raising three children. When dad died, I left school and started working... From a shoe store I moved to a tool store that was on Kirovskaya. He sold all kinds of files, dies, taps. And then one day in “Evening” I read an announcement that popular coupletists Alexander Shurov and Nikolai Rykunin had announced a competition for their studio at the Variety Theater. And so I, being a salesman, went there. I came out, danced, and Rykunin said to me: “Gypsy, come here.” He really liked my gypsy dance. That's how I ended up with these artists. They took me to their studio, which was located in the Metrostroy cultural center on Kurskaya. And can you imagine? Boris Sichkin himself taught us choreography there! Then Shurov and Rykunin saw something in me and offered to get a job with them. I immediately quit trading and with great joy went to work with them as a worker moving musical instruments for a salary of 62 rubles 50 kopecks. Even then I felt that I had come into my own. Gradually Shurov and Rykunin began to let me onto the stage. I appeared on the same stage with the Accord quartet, the Soviet Song ensemble, and Leonid Garin! Then Shurov and Rykunin went abroad, but no workers were taken there. And the Mosconcert, in which I was then registered, sent me to work for the famous mime Boris Amarantov. Remember, he played some kind of spy in the film “Tailwind, Blue Bird”? He was incredibly popular! People went to large group concerts just for one number by Boris Amarantov “Ke-la-la”... And later Mosconcert transferred me to the singer Emil Gorovets. And also workers who move musical instruments.
At the end of the 60s, a new unique musical genre appeared in the USSR - VIA. You were one of those who stood at its origins.
I worked with Emil Horovets, and one fine day he said to me: “Mishenka, I’m going to leave the country, persecution has begun against me, please think about your future work.” And I was invited to Tamara Golovanova’s choreographic ensemble “Souvenir”, offering very good working conditions - head of the artistic and production department with a salary of 110 rubles. This was also all within the framework of the Mosconcert. In “Souvenir” I launched a vigorous activity. I went to Leningrad, got pointe shoes there, at the Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Theater I found shoes for dancers, with the help of journalist Valentina Aleksandrovna Terskaya I organized a great article about “Souvenir” in the magazine “Variety and Circus,” etc. That is, in fact I was already doing admin work. And in “Souvenir” at that time Tanechka was dancing - at that time the wife of the head of “Jolly Fellows” Pavel Yakovlevich Slobodkin. Moreover, Eduard Nazarov, a former musician of Emil Gorovets, also worked for Slobodkin as a sound engineer. It was from them that Pavel Yakovlevich learned about me and invited me to be his director. My duties included not only the “Merry Fellows” concerts, but also costumes. In general, I provided general technical leadership. And all the music, naturally, was handled by Pavel Yakovlevich Slobodkin. Unlike some of my colleagues, I did not strive to become an author or co-author of songs... I remember how composer Ilya Slovesnik once brought me his songs for the Nadezhda ensemble. And then he offered me to be a co-author of his songs. I am happy that the Lord was with me then and saved me from this temptation. I told the Wordman: “I don’t want someone else’s, what I do is enough for me.” Imagine if I had agreed then. Time would pass, and today the Wordsmith would tell everyone about me: “He’s a goat, that Plotkin. He joined me as a co-author, and now he receives my copyright”... So Slobodkin then invited me to his work. Later, he told me more than once that he learned a lot from me then. Everything that I, in turn, learned from Emil Horovets: how to organize concerts correctly, that artists should be given expensive cars and accommodated in suites. Emil Horovets also constantly taught me: “Don’t ask anyone for anything. Always do what they ask of you.”
How long did you work with “Merry Guys”?
About a couple of years. Then he went to work at Gems.
These ensembles followed different paths. The “Merry Guys” did not flirt with the authorities, never sang civil songs, and played mostly “firm”. “Gems,” on the contrary, often sang about the Komsomol, about BAM, about “my address is the Soviet Union,” etc., thanks to which they became the main official ensemble of the country. Therefore, “Gems,” unlike “Merry Fellows,” were played much more often on radio and television; they released records one after another. Tell me, was this the decision to move from “Merry Guys” to Gems?”
I'll be honest: not because of creativity. I knew the head of “Gems” Yuri Malikov even before Pavel Slobodkin, when he worked as a double bassist for Gorovets. Or maybe even earlier... I don’t remember exactly now, but it seems that because of some quarrel with Slobodkin, I decided to leave him. And Yuri Fedorovich then began to invite me to his place. In general, all these transitions are life, without it it is simply impossible... In general, thanks to Yuri Malikov’s diplomacy, I switched to him without any problems. I want to emphasize that “Gems” were still performing in a half-empty hall of the CDSA summer theater, while “Jolly Fellows” were attracting wild sold-out crowds at Luzhniki. By the way, then, after me, soloist Yuri Peterson also moved from “Merry Fellows” to “Gems”. And at that time all the girls simply went crazy about him! He was a saxophonist, a soloist - not so handsome, but sexy. No, he is not ours, a Jew, he is a Baltic. And then, because of Peterson, a lot of the “Jolly Fellows” audience switched to “Gems.”
Do you remember your very first trip abroad?
On my very first trip abroad, I went with the “Jolly Fellows” to Czechoslovakia. I remember when we arrived there - and it was 1970, that is, just a couple of years after the famous Czechoslovak events of 1968 - someone wrote on our bus: “Get out, Soviet dogs!” And when the “Jolly Fellows” and I worked in Prague in the “Lucerna” hall, the Czechs, due to the then negative attitude towards everything Soviet, were very angry at Pavel Slobodkin for a song on a military theme - about the memory of fallen fathers and grandfathers. The Czechs didn’t even allow “Merry Fellows” to have normal stage lighting. There was a whole scandal. And Pavel Yakovlevich made a stunning move. He sat the lead singer of “Merry Fellows” Leonid Berger at the piano and asked him to check the microphones. And when Lenya began to sing, all the Czechs’ jaws dropped. I remember the Czechs told me: “Mr. manager, not a Soviet singer, but you bought him for a tour of Czechoslovakia.” They couldn’t even imagine that Soviet performers could sing like that! And after that they no longer had any conversations or complaints.
Tell me, did you have to deal with Soviet security agencies?
I had a very interesting story. At that time I was working with Gems. It was either 1972 or 1973, I don’t even remember. You know, when a person tells everything exactly about himself, consider that he is lying about half of it... So one day I come to the Mosconcert, and they say to me: “Misha, go to the personnel department.” I went in and met some person there. And he says to me: “I would like to meet you.” I arrive at a residential building near the Sokolniki metro station and press the bell button. A woman in an apron opens the door. I walk in, and Comrade Dzerzhinsky is looking at me from the portrait that hangs on the wall! And the person who invited me there says: “Hello. I know that you are going to go to Czechoslovakia with the Gems. You’ve already been there with the “Jolly Fellows,” right?” I say: “It was.” He told me: “We have a big request to ask of you. We'll give you our man's phone number. And about everything you see there that is unworthy of Soviet artists, please call him.” I was very surprised by this proposal... Fortunately, having lived to this age, today I can look all people in the eyes normally. Later they called me more than once and offered to knock, but I firmly stood my ground: “I’m from Maryina Roshcha, a little Jew. I do not know anything. And if I knew, I wouldn’t say it either, but I don’t know anything”... I have known some people in my life who boasted: “They called me too, but I sent them!” So consider that these are absolutely knocking. Because all this is a lie, no one ever shows off there. Not before, not now, not tomorrow. When you come to the authorities, you fall into their hands.
In the mid-70s, the vocal and instrumental ensemble “Leisya, Song” appeared, and on its records your name was already listed as a leader - together with Valery Seleznev. That is, before that you worked under other leaders, and now you yourself have become the head of VIA. How did you come to this?
Valery Seleznev at that time was the lead guitarist of “Gems”. Then he left “Gems” and was invited to join the “Vityazi” ensemble of the Kemerovo Philharmonic, which was later renamed “Leisya, the song”. All the music and arrangements of “Leisya, Songs” were made by Valery. It’s good that I also came there, although, of course, with bad music I couldn’t do anything alone either. After all, first comes creativity, then everything else... I left Malikov first for the musical play “Porgy and Bess.” And I proved that I can successfully work with such a difficult project. After all, VIA is one thing and Porgy and Bess is quite another. Only then did “Leisya, song” come to me, because many people already knew me then. And many thanks to Svetlana Anatolyevna Maslyakova, thanks to whom “Leisya, the song” was immediately shown on television in the program “Serving the Soviet Union” with six songs!
After the release of “Leisya, Song” of several small records, your name soon disappeared from the leaders, only Valery Seleznev remained. What happened then?
Unfortunately, Valery Seleznev and several other very talented guys with him, among whom was soloist Vladislav Andrianov, could not bear the burden of fame. They began to behave a little starry. In addition, they also started drinking. They began to believe that they no longer needed me. They began to behave towards me not very correctly, they say, “we ourselves have a mustache.” Although I not only organized the artistic council that accepted the first record “Leisya, Songs” myself, but also brought it to our base. No one has ever had this before. And I also selected the songs for this record. As if for cover, I took the pro-Soviet song by Roman Mayorov “I Love You, Earth” and the lyrical song with an army theme by Seraphim Tulikov “The Last Letter”. Then I reasoned like this: one song is pro-Soviet, the other is Tulikov’s, which no one would dare object to either. And to these two songs he added a third - “Farewell” by the then unknown composer Vyacheslav Dobrynin. It was she who, with her novelty, was two heads taller than everything that was on our stage. “Farewell” then immediately excited the whole country. And the next record, “Leisya, Songs,” was an EP with songs by David Tukhmanov, whom I met when I was still working for Emil Gorovets. Remember, on that plastic there was the famous “Song about the Shoemaker”?
Then, after leaving Leisya Song, you organized your own VIA Nadezhda. And if we take the above analogy of comparing “Jolly Fellows” with “Gems”, it turns out that “Leisya, the song”, from which you left, gravitated towards “branded” songs, and in the repertoire of your “Nadezhda” many songs from civil topics - about the Komsomol, BAM, etc. Why then did you follow the path of the “Gems”, and not the path of the “Jolly Fellows”?
Because I understood that given the strong competition that existed among vocal-instrumental ensembles at that time, I would not be able to jump out otherwise. By the way, the name “Nadezhda” was invented for us by Chermen Kasaev, head of the pop song departments of the All-Union Radio and Central Television. At the next meeting with the poet Nikolai Dobronravov, he suddenly exclaimed: “Bear, there is a name! "Hope". Then he called me back in the evening and said that he had agreed on everything with Pakhmutova and Dobronravov.
When you had “Hope”, the “Leisya, song” you created continued to exist. Was it interesting for you to follow their work?
No. I was offended by Valera Seleznev and Vlad Andrianov, may they rest in heaven. After all, after I left “Leisya, Song”, something similar to what happened with Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin began to happen to Seleznev. All sorts of crooks began to hang around Valera, and it was very easy for them to control the drunkard. And everyone was happy that I didn’t bother them anymore. Therefore, in fact, “Leisya, the song” was led by everyone who wanted to. They just made money on it - that’s all.
One of the brightest soloists of “Nadezhda” was Igor Ivanov, who from “Leisya, Song” went to you in “Nadezhda”. But then he left Nadezhda for Singing Hearts, then returned to Nadezhda again. Why?
Igor, like many other musicians, tasted fame and went to Singing Hearts. I went abroad with them, which probably prompted him to leave me then. “Singing Hearts” were more traveling than us. And then, when he probably realized that my conditions were more human than theirs, he returned. After returning, I made a bid for Igor not as an artist of VIA, but as a vocalist, which was very difficult at that time. But most importantly, thanks to my connections, I got him permission to work in the whole department.
Are you currently communicating with Igor Ivanov?
Yes, we are friends.
Leaders of vocal and instrumental ensembles poached soloists from each other very often. Tell me, were the leaders at odds with each other because of this?
I think no. Personally, I have never had any disputes with other managers. As one song says, “if the bride leaves for another, then it is not known who is lucky.”
Tell me, have you ever worked with Alla Pugacheva?
I had to. Back in the 60s, when I worked for Emil Gorovets, I was friends with Yuri Pavlovich Belov, a director, teacher, head of the variety and clownery department of the Circus School. And one day he asked to do a tour for his students. We then needed a pianist, and a sweet, charming girl, Alla Pugacheva, came to us. When I found out that she also sings amazingly, I asked Rosconcert to give her a slightly higher rate than the others. And Pugacheva began to receive money not as an accompanist, but as a vocalist: five rubles for a performance and another quarter (25% of the rate - author) for accompaniment. That is six twenty-five per concert.
What is your relationship with her now? Are you friends?
In the early 80s, even before Perestroika, the fashion for VIA began to wane in the USSR. And many leaders of vocal and instrumental ensembles began to create new pop and rock groups on their basis. Victor Vekshtein created “Aria” based on “Singing Hearts”, Matvey Anichkin remade his “Young Voices” into “Cruise”, Igor Granov from “Blue Guitars” created the synthesis troupe “Game”, Sergei Berezin created “Flame” instead of “Flame”. Neskuchny Sad”, etc. Why didn’t you transform your “Nadezhda” into some similar group?
In fact, I also made an attempt to make Virage based on Nadezhda. I even have their photos saved somewhere. But “Virage” worked quite a bit. I don’t remember why it didn’t work out for us. I guess I just didn't have enough strength.
In general, why did “Nadezhda” cease to exist then?
Because she stopped being interesting. And even then I myself began to seriously think about leaving the country.
In what year did you leave the USSR for America?
In 1994. My departure had nothing to do with the situation in the country; like others who left, no one was strangling me then. The reasons were purely personal. My mother - and for me this was always the number one person - felt very bad here. By that time, all of our relatives had already left Russia; my mother really wanted to join her family. And we went to New York. There I met my mother's brother. Then all our relatives gathered in the house. It seemed to me that my mother had finally found happiness, being among her own people. But the happiness, alas, was short-lived. I realized that there were no relatives there and practically no friends there. In Russia it is much stronger. I realized this very quickly and in 1996 I returned back to Russia... By the way, when one day in America I went to the cash office for unemployment benefits, our people stood nearby and nodded at me: “Oh, you know, this is the one who took Pugachev to concerts for the first time. Remember? It was him! And this very “I was” depressed me greatly. And my mother already had her first micro-stroke, and I thought that I had to do everything so that, God forbid, she would not remain lying in that land where no one would come to her at all.
Living in America, if it’s not a secret, what did you do for a living?
First of all, I received benefits. But, of course, I tried myself as a producer there too. I decided to organize concerts of Russian artists for the Russian public. And you know, it was a victory! After all, they had heard about me there too. In short, I reached out to people who subsidized my project. Not even a year has passed since my arrival, and I was already leading tours of Irina Allegrova, Efim Shifrin and Mikhail Shufutinsky in American cities. And then he even came up with the idea of combining these artists in one concert. This show, which took place in one of the leading halls in New York, was called “Three Stars”.
In the second half of the 90s, on a wave of nostalgia, old vocal and instrumental ensembles began to revive again. Didn’t you already have thoughts of reviving “Nadezhda”?
Yuri Malikov was the first to think of doing this with his “Gems”, and I was absolutely envious of him. He was able to do this because, unlike me, he is a tougher and more correct person, he knows his worth. I'm softer than him.
Many of our stars, including Alla Pugacheva, worked in vocal and instrumental ensembles at different times. And I have more than once heard the opinion that those who have become stars today do not need to return to the newly revived VIA. So, it turns out that VIA today are ensembles consisting of losers. Right?
That's probably true. Here, look. Vladimir Kuzmin does not need to return to VIA, Nikolai Noskov does not need to return, and Igor Ivanov does not need to return either. They all know their worth and understand it. It’s more difficult for Elena Presnyakova here... So, most likely, you’re right. Those who know their worth do not need to return to VIA, because they do not have to make ends meet. Losers grab onto vocal and instrumental ensembles. Even if you take me, whether I have “Hope” today or not is not so important to me. Because, thank God, I work as a director, as a producer, and many people know me, so they invite me. And those who today have nothing at all are clutching at these VIAs, like drowning people clutching at a straw, trying to hide behind at least something.
Does the Nadezhda ensemble by Mikhail Plotkin exist today?
Hardly ever. Because, as I understand it, the demand for the repertoire that Nadezhda has is very small. And this despite the fact that when at that time I had a normal group with amazing “pipes,” we sang not only pro-Soviet songs. We also had strong hits by Vyacheslav Dobrynin, David Tukhmanov... In general, I see that today only “Gems” by Yuri Malikov from VIA are truly working. Everyone else is just trying to work.
Since you are a producer, would you like to create your own production center?
Never in my life!
Why?
Unfortunately, today everything is different. Firstly, people who come to producers after singing karaoke for fifteen minutes already consider themselves artists. Recently, one such person let me listen to him sing. I listened and explained that I couldn’t help him. And he started pestering me with his calls... Secondly, you need to invest a lot of your effort and money in each such performer. But I don’t have such financial capabilities, plus I wouldn’t take risks. I already had it when I was scammed. I painfully experienced the betrayal I went through. Well, it would be nice that these people betrayed me seriously, otherwise for pennies.
In your opinion, what is the state of the domestic stage today?
Today I don’t see any stage at all.
Okay, maybe not pop music, but pop music.
Mmm... Either I haven't grown up to it, or I've outgrown it. What I see today does not cause me great and serious interest. Everything is so illiterate and unclean, not even in the message and repertoire, but in the execution. Previously, people went to the stage first to play and sing, and then to receive money. And now - first get the money, and then sing and play, if possible.
What can you say about the current state of the school of Russian producers? Do we even have real producers?
Today everything comes from finance, and I feel a little sorry for those people who are involved in producing. Because many people simply “fall” for money. We often criticize the old Soviet years. But then I could hire singers, musicians, the same “pipes”. I understood that there was a salary, that later it would get better and better. Where to start today? Either you have to give away all your own savings, or you have to be insanely rich so as not to feel much loss. Or I have to ask sponsors for money, but I will never do that. Because then sponsors who don’t understand anything about this matter will start calling the shots. Yes, he who pays calls the tune. But let them dance their mistress without me, I will dance “seven-forty” with our Jews.
How do you think we should solve the problem of normal production and start creating stars on our stage again?
Don't know. Because those who call themselves producers today are not really producers at all. They are businessmen and impudent. They wishful thinking. They lie to themselves, they lie to those around them, they lie to people... I remember that when Nikolai Baskov appeared, his then administrator Rashid Dairabaev told me: “Misha, look, this is a good guy.” And Rashid, with his excellent business qualities, then formed an excellent tandem with Baskov’s sponsor Boris Isaakovich Shpigel. As a result, Basque became established as an artist. And two years ago, Boris Shpigel got a new artist, Dmitry Danilenko. They said that this was the future second Basque. And in that situation, the first Basque had to be destroyed. But where is that boy? What good is Spiegel's money? There is no second Baskov! This is me talking about how important the work of normal administrators and producers is.
The Great Patriotic War is one of the most significant events in Russian history. She showed the whole world what the Soviet people are capable of, their bravery, courage, bravery and strength. The Soviet pilot Mikhail Nikolaevich Plotkin made an impressive contribution to the victory over Nazi Germany.
Mikhail Plotkin (Meer Plotkin) was born in 1912 in the Ardon settlement of the Chernigov province (currently the Klintsovsky district of the Bryansk region) in the family of a Jewish teacher Nison Plotkin. Together with his brother Meer Plotkin studied at their father's cheder. (About the problems of modern Jewry: https://kompromat.wiki/Vyacheslav_Moshe_Kantor:_social_work_and_significant_projects)After the cheder closed in 1922, he went to a seven-year school, and in 1929 he entered the FZU (factory apprenticeship) school at the AMO plant in Moscow, where he studied to become a turner. Mikhail Plotkin was going to become a turner, but a year later he was sent to evening courses for aviation technicians at the Air Force Academy. N. E. Zhukovsky. After completing the courses, Mikhail volunteered for the Red Army, and then entered the military school of naval pilots in Yeisk. After graduation, he went to serve in the naval aviation of the Baltic Fleet. After some time, he became a flight commander, and later a squadron commander.
It should be noted that Soviet naval aviation was first widely used in the Soviet-Finnish war (1939 - 1940). It was then that Soviet bombers carried out a raid on Helsinki, which was accompanied by a large number of civilian casualties and, as a result, caused outrage in the West. Therefore, Soviet historians preferred to remain silent about the Helsinki raid, in which Senior Lieutenant Mikhail Plotkin, squadron commander of the 1st Mine Torpedo Aviation Regiment (MTAP) of the Baltic Fleet (BF) took part. In that war, Plotkin gained experience in flying skills, as well as bombing, mine laying and torpedo attacks, and was awarded the Order of Lenin for his courage and bravery.
When the Great Patriotic War began, Baltic pilots began to fly over sea and land, as the Nazis reached the distant approaches to Leningrad. Mikhail Plotkin's squadron took part in torpedoing Nazi ships, mining communications, bombing tank columns in the area of Libau, Dvinsk, Pskov, Tallinn, Riga, and at crossings near Luga. But German troops continued to advance deeper into the USSR.
At the end of July 1941, the Nazi Air Force carried out the first massive raids on Moscow, which had not only military but also political significance: soon propaganda messages appeared in the German media that as a result of massive raids by Nazi bombers on Moscow, Soviet strike aircraft were destroyed. German propaganda assured that there was no need to fear a Soviet bomber raid on Berlin.
German propaganda was wrong. Soviet aviation was alive. The problem was that the Soviet DB-3 and DB-3F bombers were unable to carry out a raid on Berlin from Leningrad and return back: there would not be enough fuel. However, a few days after the raids on Moscow, it was decided to bomb military targets in Berlin. According to calculations, the island of Ezel (Saarema), legally belonging to the USSR, but actually located behind Nazi lines in the territory of occupied Estonia, was an ideal location for Soviet bombers.
On August 1, 1941, 15 DB-3 aircraft flew towards the island of Ezel. Among them was the plane of the commander of the 3rd Red Banner Squadron of the 1st MTAP of the Baltic Fleet Air Force, Mikhail Plotkin, who established himself as one of the best pilots trained to fly in night conditions. In the upcoming operation, he was appointed commander of the air group control flight.
When the planes arrived at Ezel, preparations began for the combat operation, which lasted several days: flight options were clarified, bomb loads were calculated, fuel reserves were determined, maps of Berlin were received, the first “rehearsal” was carried out - a bomb attack on the city and port of Swinemünde (Poland), A reconnaissance flight was carried out in the Berlin area. As a result of discussions, it was decided to fly before dark, since the nights in the Baltic in August are much shorter than the 7–8 hours that were necessary for the flight.
On the night of August 7-8, the combat operation began - long-range DB-3 bombers took to the skies. The weather was not favorable to them: visibility was poor. However, when the planes flew near the city of Stettin, the clouds cleared and they were noticed by the Nazis. But Hitler’s propaganda played a cruel joke on its creators: at an airfield near Stettin, the runway lights were turned on - Soviet pilots were invited to land. The Nazis believed that strategic Soviet aviation did not exist and mistook Soviet bombers for German ones.
But the planes continued further towards Berlin. And on the night of August 8, Soviet bombers attacked strategic targets in Berlin. Among these bombers was the crew of Mikhail Plotkin, who performed their part of the operation perfectly. Along with the bombs, leaflets and Soviet newspapers rained down on the city - Berlin should have known that Soviet aviation existed. After the successful completion of the combat operation, the entire group returned back to the airfield of Ezel Island.
The Soviet air raid on Berlin took the Nazi military and political leadership by surprise. In order to further enhance the moral and political effect of the bombing attacks of Soviet aviation on the capital of Nazi Germany, the Soviet command, after the air group returned to the base, decided to carry out another raid on the capital of the Third Reich the following night. Mikhail Plotkin also took part in it.
In total, from August 8 to September 4, 1941, the Soviet air group carried out 10 raids on Germany, five of which involved Mikhail Plotkin. On August 13, 1941, for his excellent bombing operations against Berlin, Mikhail Plotkin received the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
The heroic exploits of Mikhail Plotkin did not end there. After the bombing of Berlin, he took part in operations over Ladoga, bombing enemy aircraft, railway trains and airfields. After these battles, he was awarded another award - the Order of the Red Banner.
In March 1942, Mikhail Plotkin, an unrivaled aerial mining master, was given the order to mine the fairway in front of the port of Helsinki. An interesting fact is that in open publications of the Soviet period the name of the port was not mentioned for political reasons (the Soviet leadership and Soviet historians kept silent about it, remembering the terrible raid on Helsinki in 1939, which brought many civilian casualties).
This was the last task of Mikhail Plotkin. On the night of March 7, he quietly flew up to Helsinki Airport, mined the fairway and set off on a return course. However, when there were only twenty minutes left before Mikhail Plotkin’s bomber landed, the plane fell to Earth.
What happened in the air that night? The answer to this question did not appear immediately - only more than forty years after the crash of Mikhail Plotkin’s bomber did it become known what happened that night.
On the night of the operation to mine the fairway of the port of Helsinki, there was a thick haze in the sky, which significantly limited visibility. Several crews flew to the target with a time interval of 10 minutes. However, one of the crews was unable to maintain the specified time interval and, not far from the landing airfield near the city of Sestroetsk, with limited visibility, crashed into Mikhail Plotkin’s plane. Both planes fell to the ground.
But why were they silent about this? There are several reasons for this. Firstly, for the same political reasons - the military and political leadership of the USSR did not want it to become known about Mikhail Plotkin’s secret operation: mining the fairway of the port of Helsinki. Secondly, very few people in the USSR knew about the collision of Soviet planes. This was not reported.
This loss turned out to be irreparable. According to his comrades, Mikhail Plotkin was an excellent squadron commander and an excellent pilot. During his short flying life, he managed to make more than 50 combat flights, bombing Berlin, Koeningsberg, Danzig, Stettin and Memel. He could support both in heaven and on earth. Mikhail was an open, sensitive person, a brave and cold-blooded fighter.
Mikhail Plotkin was buried in Leningrad in the Alexander Nevsky Lavra. In memory of his exploits, at the moment when the coffin was lowered into the grave, warships, guns from forts and coastal batteries struck enemy positions.
In memory of the hero, streets in Klintsy and the Leningrad region were later named after Mikhail Plotkin, and his bomber, on which he heroically bombed Berlin, was placed in the Museum of the Defense of Leningrad.
2012 marked the 100th anniversary of the birth of the brave pilot and the 70th anniversary of his death.
Mikhail Plotkin died heroically, having lived a short but bright life. Despite the fact that he died long before the end of the Great Patriotic War, his contribution to the victory is undeniable, and his name went down both in the history of Soviet military aviation and in the history of the Great Patriotic War.
Vsevolozhsk, corner of st. Plotkin and Vsevolozhsky Ave., memorial sign to M. N. Plotkin, Hero of the Soviet Union Hero of the Soviet Union (08/13/41). Awarded two Orders of Lenin and the Order of the Red Banner.
Born into the family of an employee. Jew. He graduated from a seven-year school and a factory apprenticeship school. Worked at the Moscow Automobile Plant.
In the Red Army since 1931. Graduated from the School of Naval Pilots and Letnabs named after. Stalin in Yeisk.
Member of the CPSU(b) since 1939
Participated in the Soviet-Finnish war. He was a flight commander of the 3rd squadron of the 1st mine-torpedo air regiment of the Baltic Fleet Air Force. Awarded the Order of Lenin.
On November 30, 1939, he took part in the bombing of Helsinki as part of a squadron under the command of Captain Tokarev.
In total he made more than 50 combat missions.
In 1940, he was appointed commander of the 3rd Red Banner Squadron of the 1st MTAP.
He took part in the Great Patriotic War from June 1941. He was the commander of the 3rd Red Banner Squadron of the 1st Mine and Torpedo Aviation Regiment of the Baltic Fleet Air Force.
On June 30, 1941, he participated in the destruction of the German crossing of the Daugava.
On July 29, 1941, by order of the Supreme Command Headquarters, a special-purpose air group consisting of twenty crews was created on the basis of the 1st MTAP of the Baltic Fleet Air Force. The main task of the air group was to carry out a bomb attack on the capital of Nazi Germany.
Captain Plotkin was appointed commander of the air group control flight.
On the night of 7–8 August 1941, he took part in the first raid on Berlin.
On August 13, 1941, Captain Mikhail Nikolaevich Plotkin was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union.
On August 20, 1941, Captain Plotkin almost died.
Writer Vinogradov says: “He felt slightly unwell in the morning, but did not tell the doctor about it during the medical examination. His plane was ready to take off, and he couldn't even think about having someone else drive his car. He felt dizzy and hot, even though it was 32 degrees below zero in the cabin. The oxygen mask was in the way, and I just wanted to throw it off my hot face. But you can’t, you’ll suffocate, the altitude is more than 6000 meters, and it’s impossible to go lower - there are cumulus clouds above the sea. The most reasonable thing would be to return to Cahul, having previously dropped a bomb load on a reserve target. But what will his friends think of him? No, you must definitely reach Berlin, and on the way back you can hand over control to the navigator, Lieutenant Rysenko, and rest a little yourself.
The half-hour flight in flames from Stettin to Berlin required extreme stress from the pilots. Don't yawn here, otherwise they'll shoot you down. Plotkin also remembered this. The dizziness stopped, although it was still hot. All attention is on the devices. Nerves are stretched like strings: at any moment a German fighter can meet, and you have to maneuver to instantly escape its tentacles-headlights.
Berlin is below us! - Rysenko reported.
The ring of fire was behind us; no anti-aircraft guns were firing over the city. Only fighter-interceptors were on the prowl, but in the darkness it was very difficult for them to spot the Soviet bombers.
The tension subsided. And strangely, my head began to spin again, numerous arrows on the dashboard began to spin before my eyes, and the divisions on the compass card merged. There was not enough air; under the mask, sweat covered my entire face. Oh, how I wanted to throw it off and take in full lungs of air!
Rysenko introduced an amendment to the combat course. His voice seemed distant and alien to Plotkin. And yet he instinctively made a turn to the right, although he could no longer distinguish the divisions on the compass.
Target! - the navigator said loudly.
“We got there after all,” Plotkin thought with relief, starting to turn back. He didn’t remember anything after that, as if he had fallen into a deep hole...
Rysenko at first did not understand why suddenly the DB-3, tumbling from wing to wing, began to fall randomly onto the darkened city. It is clear that the car has lost control. But why? The anti-aircraft guns did not fire, there were no night fighters nearby.
Commander, commander, we are falling! - he shouted into the microphone. There was no answer.
Commander, what's wrong with you? You are alive?! Command-i-ir!
No answer. And the plane was falling, the engines were working muffled, at low speeds. The car could have gone into a tailspin, and then it would be the end, it would be impossible to get it out.
Commander! - Rysenko shouted again, suggesting that Plotkin had apparently been killed. We need to take control. The lieutenant grabbed the controls, trying to pull the plane out of the fall. Unsuccessfully. He rushed faster and faster towards the ground. Rysenko was exhausted, but the plane did not obey him. The altimeter needle has dropped to 4500. They have already dropped by almost two kilometers!..
Plotkin woke up from a blunt blow to the head. He instantly realized that after the bombs were dropped, he lost consciousness and the uncontrollable plane began to fall to the ground.
We must immediately get the car out of the fall. He threw off his oxygen mask and grabbed the steering wheel. Speed! There is salvation in her. Full throttle. The engines roared and worked normally. It's good that none of them managed to stall. Height 3000 meters. There are barrage balloons somewhere nearby. Don't run into them.
The fall stopped, the plane again became obedient to the hands of an experienced pilot, and the machine went into horizontal flight. Now you should quickly gain altitude in order to leave the zone of the barrage balloons.
Navigator, heading for Cahul! - asked Plotkin.
Commander, are you alive?! - the delighted Rysenko was surprised. “And I... I thought...
During the entire return flight along the route, Plotkin’s painful condition did not leave him. He held on through an effort of will, realizing that the lives of the crew members depended on him.”
In August - September 1941, Captain Plotkin bombed Berlin five times.
On September 6, 1941, the three surviving aircraft of the air group returned to the Bezabotnoe airfield.
The 1st Mine-Torpedo Aviation Regiment joined in the combat work to defend Leningrad.
The flight crews attacked enemy artillery batteries shelling the city, destroyed enemy personnel and equipment on the front line, sank warships and transports in the Gulf of Finland and the Baltic Sea, and laid mines on sea fairways.
Aviation Lieutenant General Khokhlov recalls: “The situation in 1942 required us to intensify in every possible way the mining of water channels, which the enemy used for their own purposes, and to lay mines primarily on the approaches to naval bases and ports. For from the Finnish skerries there was a threat to the ships and transports of the Red Banner Baltic Fleet throughout the entire Gulf of Finland.
Laying mines from the air is neither simple nor easy. It requires flight crews to be highly trained, dexterous, and coordinated in their actions. A special role here belongs to the navigator staff.
It is necessary, first of all, to divert the enemy’s attention from the places where the mines fell on the water. To do this, several crews from high and medium altitudes carry out bomb attacks on mining targets and areas. These strikes are distracting. Meanwhile, destroyer aircraft are operating. They fly gliding, with their engines muffled, and drop mines at given coordinates from a low altitude.
The mine deployments that we carried out were divided into demonstrative and covert. The first pursued the goal of convincing the enemy that this particular area was being mined. But in fact, another section of the waterway was subject to secret mining.
Demonstrative mine laying was carried out, as a rule, during daylight hours, and for this purpose old models of aircraft mines - anchor and parachute mines - were used. They also created a certain threat for the enemy and took a lot of time and money from him to clear mines, and most importantly, diverted his attention from the sites of covert mining. And the latter was intended to disrupt the enemy’s sea communications in skerry areas, to make it difficult for his ships to leave naval bases and ports in the Gulf of Finland. This kind of mining was carried out mainly at night, in small groups, and even by single aircraft. Non-parachute bottom mines were dropped from a height of 50–150 meters, and parachute mines were dropped from 500 meters and above.
The flight crew had to have high skill in aircraft navigation and piloting. Having the coordinates where the mine should be placed, the crew calculated, depending on the altitude and flight speed, the starting point for planning. Having entered it, the pilot turned down the engines and went on a combat course while gliding. At the calculated location, the navigator dropped the mine, and then the pilot gave full throttle to the engines, quickly moving the plane away from the deployment area. At the same time, the enemy was not able to even approximately determine the location of the mine landing...
The commander of the 3rd squadron, Captain Mikhail Nikolaevich Plotkin, was an unsurpassed master in mining raids of German and Finnish naval bases in the Red Banner Baltic Fleet. Unnoticed at night, he launched his DB-3 directly at the enemy port, at an extremely low altitude, dropped floating sea mines onto the fairways and managed to leave before the searchlights began to strip the sky and the anti-aircraft guns began to fire.
At the end of February 1942, Plotkin, who had already become a major, carried out another task to mine one of the remote ports of Finland, in the roadstead of which many German warships had accumulated.
The crew took off on a dark winter night, laid sea mines in the port waters and turned back. Guiding stations behind enemy lines used a special code to inform the command post about the return of the long-range bomber. At five o'clock in the morning, DB-3 crossed the front line. There were less than twenty minutes of flight left before the airfield, when the radio operator on duty at the command post heard on the air the excited voice of gunner-radio operator Sergeant Kudryashov: “Farewell, fellow guardsmen! We did everything we could..."
A group of crews successfully carried out mining near an enemy naval base. The planes were returning to the airfield. Gunner-radio operator in the crew of Captain M.A. Babushkina was Guard Senior Sergeant V.A. Archers...
There was only a short distance left to the airfield when the radio operator began calling the airfield. Alas, the radio is out of order... In a cramped compartment, it is awkward for the radio operator to tinker with the radio equipment when there is a parachute on his chest. And Luchnikov unfastened him. He immediately found a problem with the radio. Eliminated her. He glanced at the dashboard. The altimeter needle, he noticed, fluctuates at 1200 meters. The clock shows 5 am.
And at this moment, a terrible blow shakes the plane. It is crumbling, falling apart.
Before he could figure out what had happened, Luchnikov found himself in open airspace. Out of habit, he sharply jerked his hand to his chest to grab the parachute pilot ring, and only then remembered: he doesn’t have a parachute on him.
Luchnikov was found in deep snow on the slope of a ravine almost a day after the disaster. Found with barely perceptible signs of life. Doctors diagnosed a double fracture of the right hip, frostbite of the upper and lower extremities. The arms and legs had to be amputated immediately...
Two DB-ZF aircraft collided in the air. At the same time, Captain Babushkin managed to jump out with a parachute and remained unharmed. The navigator, senior lieutenant Nadhe, died... The disaster... became fatal for our second crew. It is entirely headed by Hero of the Soviet Union M.N. Plotkin, died...
This loss was especially difficult and irreparable for the regiment. Mikhail Nikolaevich Plotkin was rightfully not only an outstanding pilot and an excellent squadron commander, but also an extremely sensitive, sincere person. He was called the “extra-pilot” in the regiment; they looked up to him as an example of composure and courage. All these qualities manifested themselves in Mikhail Nikolaevich back in the days of hostilities against the White Finns. Then he was awarded the Order of Lenin for his heroic deeds. And for flights to Berlin in August - September 1941 he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. Where have Plotkin and his brave crew visited! He bombed Koenigsberg, Danzig, Stettin, Memel... Defending Leningrad, he launched torpedo and bomb attacks on enemy ships and transports at sea, destroyed fascist artillery batteries, and mined enemy waterways with great skill.
Together with Plotkin, Lieutenant V.P. acted just as skillfully, courageously and harmoniously. Rysenko, who established himself as one of the best navigators in the regiment, and gunner-radio operator Sergeant Major M.M. Kudryashov - both awarded the Order of Lenin and the Red Banner.”
He was buried in St. Petersburg at the cemetery of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra.
Hello, friends! Thank you for your kind comments about my latest materials in the “Author's Column” and your sensitive attention to what I do. This is very pleasant and important to me. This time I want to tell you about a man (fortunately there is a great occasion!), who is revered and loved among pop bohemians, but, unfortunately, little known outside of it. And to be honest, it’s time to write books about him long ago.
In fact, today it is customary to indiscriminately criticize show business - what the once strong and prolific Soviet stage has degenerated into! After all, “there were people in our time” - not like the present seed! The heroes are not you! There are no others, and those are far away...
But it’s true: if the stars light up, does that mean someone needs it? But how often does this “someone” turn out to be a puppeteer hidden from view, a behind-the-scenes invisible man (or a good wizard!), and you really want to reveal his face, name him, and bring him, as they say, into the light of day! We are talking about producers, managers, directors, or, as this position was called in Soviet times, artist administrators. After all, if it weren’t for them, all our pop luminaries and vocal-instrumental groups of the past and present would not exist. Who unites singers and musicians into a single team, selects the repertoire, finds a rehearsal base, negotiates with philharmonic societies and other organizations about holding concerts, paying the artists, their accommodation and meals on tour, collecting various documentation to submit it to certain government agencies and offices?.. That's right: they. Add to this all sorts of “unforeseen” difficulties in the form of stage setters who got drunk in the next Kryzhopole (or, worse, the artists themselves!), a touring car that broke down on the famous Russian potholes, tickets that “disappeared” somewhere before the concert, etc., - and it will become clear that only ascetics could manage (or more precisely: manage) concert affairs in our country.
STAR RAFTS BY MICHAEL PLOTKIN
One of them (the first Soviet art managers and producers, although these words were not mentioned then) became in the 60s Mikhail PLOTKIN. Today this name is almost a legend, a myth, but then Mikhail Vladimirovich was officially a kind of support staff for the artists, about whom it was not customary to talk or write much, but in fact he was a real fighter of the invisible tour and concert front. By the way, he is not only a virtuoso administrator and organizer, but also an excellent director of variety programs, artistic director, brilliant entertainer and eccentric showman. When he unexpectedly jumps onto the stage in the middle of some dance number and whirlwinds out a few gypsy or lezginka steps, the audience literally groans with pleasure. The other day, this amazing man (who, by the way, has an extremely subtle sense of humor - sometimes exquisitely obscene, but never vulgar!) celebrated his 66th birthday, and at the state theater "Moscow Operetta" a 5-hour (longer only at Kobzon’s) a creative evening of the master, which brought together a whole constellation of names that were once lit up not without the help of his magic hand: Vyacheslav Dobrynin, Renat Ibragimov, Igor Ivanov, Boris Moiseev, Tatyana Ruzavina and Sergei Tayushev, Felix Tsarikati, Valery Syutkin, rock bard Konstantin Nikolsky, Igor Demarin, Irina Shvedova, Alexander Peskov, “Singing Hearts”, “New Gems”, “Scarlet Poppies”, “Nadezhda”... Such luminaries of the stage as Alexandra Pakhmutova, Nikolai Dobronravov, Biser Kirov and ... the same Joseph Kobzon, who, despite any illness, very soulfully and purely performed two songs - about his mother (in Yiddish) and “My Way” from the repertoire of Frank Sinatra. The musical marathon was completed by the sparkling Valery Leontyev: he presented several songs, one of which – the long-standing “You Don’t Forget Me” – was sung live at the request of the beneficiary. Alas, the concert block dedicated to the memory of departed artists and friends of Plotkin did not work out: for some reason it was not possible to install photographs of Arno Babajanyan, Makhmud Esambaev, Muslim Magomayev, Valentina Tolkunova on the screen... Misha was very upset.
But they remembered the first steps on the stage... Allochka Pugacheva. By the way, it was Plotkin who, in the summer of 1969, organized one of the first big tours of the then little-known red-haired artist in the Russian outback. She then traveled with a circus troupe (and her first husband Mykolas Orbakas) as... an accompanist-taper. Well, at the same time she sang several of her songs to the piano (and if there was no piano, then to the accordion, the bellows of which were stretched by circus actors hidden behind the curtain). By the way, in the same program, only as a “red line” star, Nikolai Slichenko, the famous artist of the Romany theater “Romen”, worked. An archival photograph from those years when everyone was still young and together made the mature part of the public nostalgic for the good old days...
SONG
The main artist of Plotkin-administrator was the most popular singer in the 60s, Emil Gorovets, the first performer of the songs “Sevastopol Waltz” and “Buchenwald Alarm”. Horovets assembled stadiums and sports palaces all over the country, and one can imagine the colossal work that fell on the shoulders of Mikhail Vladimirovich - sending out tickets, accounting for finances, transport, hotels, high-quality sound (the word “phonogram” did not exist at that time in principle).
By the way, Plotkin himself began his journey on the Moscow stage in 1964 as... a stagehand for the popular humorous duo Shurov and Rykunin. “Can you imagine? The little Jew is carrying the decorations. This is hilarious!” - Misha is touched by himself. He also worked for Boris Amarantov, was the head. production part (and then director) in the famous dance ensemble “Souvenir”: he took out ballet slippers, pointe shoes, settled creative conflicts, organized articles in the press...
Somewhere in the early 70s, after Emil Horovets left for Israel, Plotkin joined the “Jolly Fellows” group. They gave 60 - 70 concerts a month. True, the record was set then by “Gems”: 124 (!) solo performances. The musicians' monthly fee sometimes reached... 1,000 rubles, which at that time was simply a fantastic amount. “Misha, whom we invited as our administrator, was a kind genius for us,” recalls the permanent director of Samotsvetov, Yuri Malikov. “He was one of the first in our country to understand that an ordinary pop concert should be turned into a show. If there was bad equipment in some hall, he tried to get it replaced with good equipment. Always cheerful and in good shape, Plotkin knows how to be funny sober and lifts everyone’s spirits with his juicy jokes.”
In 1974, having gained experience, the producer began to create his own groups. The first of them was the legendary “Leisya, Song”, co-directed by the talented guitarist Valery Seleznev along with Plotkin. The latter, however, had a serious drawback - he loved to have a good drink, which is why disagreements arose in the team and at the end of 1975 he split into two camps. Some of the musicians then left with Plotkin, including singers Igor Ivanov (who became famous a year later with David Tukhmanov’s hit “From the Vagants”) and Lyudmila Barykina. It was decided to name the ensemble “Nadezhda”, especially since its repertoire was based mainly on the work of Alexandra Pakhmutova and Nikolai Dobronravov (by the way, their song “Five minutes left before the train departs” later became the band’s calling card).
The debut of the ensemble took place in the spring of 1976 at the Variety Theater. Many talented musicians worked at Nadezhda at different times: guitarist Alexey Belov, Vladimir Kuzmin (who was just beginning his creative career in the mid-70s), composers and arrangers Alexander Klevitsky and Oleg Kaledin, singers Alexey Kondakov and Nikolai Noskov performed as soloists , Igor Braslavsky, Tatyana Ruzavina and Sergei Tayushev (who also played bass guitar), Nina Matveeva, Valentin Burshtein, Alexander Muraev, Nadezhda Kusakina and others.
THE "ASSHOLE" WAS NOT GIVEN, BUT HOPE NEVER DIES
In 1988, the ensemble ceased to exist and was revived only in the middle of the first decade of the new century. Moreover, for the ownership of his brand - “Nadezhda” - Plotkin even had to... sue former members of the team, who managed to bypass their artistic director to register this name with RAO as a trademark, and also threw mud at Misha in every possible way. Oh times, oh morals!
However, they were no better before. Despite all of Plotkin’s tremendous achievements in the field of pop music, the authorities stubbornly tried to “ignore” him. In the early 80s, he was not allowed to give concerts in Afghanistan (and he wanted to support the spirit of our soldiers), he was denied the Moscow Komsomol Prize and was not given any titles at all (they weren’t even given a lousy, non-binding “asshole” - honor. worker culture).
In 1994, tired and offended, Plotkin, together with his sick mother and brother, the famous choreographer David Plotkin, emigrated to the USA, where he attended concerts of Russian artists - both local and visiting. He organized, in particular, the American tours of Irina Allegrova and Efim Shifrin, the anniversary tour of his former “client” Emil Horovets and even... a broadcast on a Russian-language TV channel. However, America did not become a tasty morsel for the tossing “Jew with a Russian soul”: Misha and his mother (his brother soon died) returned to Russia.
“I’m happy and I don’t complain about anything,” the birthday boy smiles a little sadly. – I have a favorite job, friends, many unfulfilled intentions and the strength - I hope - to realize them. And then, I decided that I definitely had to find out what the milestone of 69 years is?! And then we’ll see.”
SERGEY SOSEDOV
