Zodiac (Latvian band)

Zodiac
Zodiac
Also known as	Zodiaks
Origin	Riga, Latvian SSR
Genres	Electronic music; Space disco;
Years active	1980–1992

Zodiac (Russian: Зодиак, Latvian: Zodiaks) was a Latvian space disco band active in the Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic between 1980 and 1992. The band was extremely popular in the Soviet Union and has been credited by critics as the Soviet answer to the French band Space who were popular at the time.

Biography

Zodiac was formed by Jānis Lūsēns, then studying composition at the Latvian State Conservatory in Riga (now Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music). The other four members of the group were also students of various faculties of the same conservatory.

Zodiac's first vinyl record Disco Alliance (Russian: Диско альянс, Latvian: Disko alianse) was released in 1980 on the monopolist Melodiya label, during the band members' studentship. The album was produced by Aleksandrs Grīva, the father of band member Zane Grīva. The music featured a lot of then-unusual synthesized sounds and effects together with more conventional euro disco elements.

The second album Music in the Universe (Russian: Музыка во Вселенной) released two years later was much inspired by a meeting with cosmonauts in the Star City, Moscow and their tales about space flights. The music of the second album was much more rock-influenced than the first.

During that time the band also performed the music of Viktor Vlasov for the films Женские радости и печали (Woman's Joys and Sorrows, 1982) and Экипаж машины боевой (The Tank Crew, 1983), the soundtracks for both films were released on a vinyl record Music from the Films (Russian: Музыка из кинофильмов) in 1985. The music of the group was also used in the documentary film about the cosmonaut artist Alexei Leonov Звёздная палитра (Star Palette, 1982).

The album In memoriam was composed and produced by Jānis Lūsēns alone and released in 1989. The album was dedicated to the ancient and modern cultural and natural heritage of Latvia. The sounding of the album turned from disco to light techno/synthpop while gaining a lot of classical music influences as well as the influence of Jean Michel Jarre's ambient works.

The last album Clouds was released in 1991 by RiTonis (former Melodiya). It contains a hit song of the early 1990s in Latvia "My favourite flowers".

Disco Alliance and Music in the Universe were released together on compact disc by Mikrofona Ieraksti (which represents EMI in the Baltic states).

In the early 2000s, the Russian electronic duo PPK recorded a remix of Zodiac's composition "Zodiac" from the Disco Alliance album. This remix, titled "Reload", entered the charts in a number of territories.

In 2016, the band appeared on New Year's Eve show on Russian Channel One, performing "Pacific".^[1]

Discography

All the albums are equally known under their Russian and English titles and had both spellings on their original covers.

Disco Alliance (1980)

Zodiac
Pacific
Provincial Disco
Polo
Mirage
Rock on the Ice
Alliance

Music in the Universe (1982)

The Mysterious Galaxy
Laser Illumination
Silver Dream
Photo Finish
The Other Side of Heaven
In the Light of Saturn
Flight Over El Dorado

Music from the films (Музыка из kинофильмов, Muzyka iz kinofilmov) (1985)^[2] (Russian only)

Из к/ф "Экипаж машины боевой" (From the film "The Tank Crew")
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Пришельцы (Strangers)"	2:57
2.	"В таинственном квадратe (In a Mysterious Square)"	3:08
3.	"Зеленые Чудовища (Green Monsters)"	4:45
4.	"Поединок (Duel)"	3:35
5.	"Мирное небо (Peaceful Sky)"	3:21

Из к/ф "Женские радости и печали" (From the film "Woman's Joys and Sorrows")
No.	Title	Length
6.	"Огненные дороги (Fiery Roads)"	2:45
7.	"Девичьи грезы (Maiden's Dreams)"	4:30
8.	"Волшебная ночь (Magic Night)"	3:14
9.	"Идущие впереди (Going in Advance)"	5:18
10.	"Сердце стучит (The Heart's Beating)"	3:17