Strange Games, who will perform a revival concert this Saturday, had some strange beginnings on stage.
In the beginning they performed without their famous shades, and when they put them on, it changed everything. "It all happened by chance," says Victor Sologoub, Strange Games' bass player and singer. "We were leaving for Moscow for the first time -- to perform at some students' hostel. We had nothing to wear."
"Somebody lent me a leather jacket, then Grisha (the band's guitar player and Victor's brother) was given dark glasses, so somehow the visual image was formed."
"After that we performed at the Palace of Youth and we all came in black leather and shades. As a result, we were branded "fascists" and the organisers stopped us from playing.
"And at the next day's concert all the people in the hall wore shades. So we saw it worked." Now, about 12 years later, Sologoub claims that Strange Games were fun and positive.
But many conservative elements in the cultural establishment felt that darker sentiments lurked within their creativity.
At Rock Club conferences they were criticized for being "pessimistic," and they were attacked in the press for their supposedly negative approach.
No doubt one of the six or so best Russian bands of the early 1980s, they were influenced by British ska bands The Specials and Selector, as well as the Sex Pistols' punk rock.
What made them different from their British counterparts was that they used French poetry as their lyrics.
Even though Strange Games existed for only about three years, they are still remembered and loved, by both old fans and musicians, who often quote them as an influence. The Sologoub brothers will be joined this Saturday by the other original members -- Nikolai Gusev on keyboards and Alexei Rakhov on sax.
Igry and Prepinaki's drummer Igor Cheridnik will play for Alexander Kondrashkin, who cannot perform for health reasons.
Music by other bands from the "Golden Age" of Russian rock, a photo exhibition and video and film footage will recreate the lively underground atmosphere of the early 1980s.
In contrast, the recently-opened CD Club have organized the determinedly now Rocking for the Harvest '95 festival.
The festival, which is sub-titled "Best Live Music," will start at midnight and is the brainchild of 26-year-old Sergei Zaitsev, lead vocalist of the "uncommercial funk" band Zogebay.
"I visited the new club and liked how it was made -- the interior, equipment and all the rest," he says. "And I felt it was a pity that so few musicians and concert-goers know about it."
The festival acts do not belong to any particular musical direction or style -- the choice was made purely on the grounds of professionalism. "We deliberately arranged it so that very different bands would play at the one concert," says Zaitsev. "Thus the public will be able to comprehend the breadth of the city's musical life and musicians will be able to mix with each other."
The festival's name -- "Rocking for the Harvest'95" -- is an obvious parody of old communist slogans, but the club's program director, Vadim Tverdyukov, 26, sees a serious meaning. "I wanted to reflect the strength and potential of this festival -- when all these bands come together and play, it could bring some really good results for the local music scene," he says. Tverdyukov claims that the bands, which will take part in the event, are undoubtedly the best on the local club circuit.