Yuri Aizenshpis vs. his wards
This person is called the first music producer of the USSR and Russia. It was he who, on the wave of Perestroika, introduced the audience to the first cult rock group "Kino", and then, again, he was the first to deprive the state of a monopoly on the publication of records and music albums.
Note that his talent as a businessman and organizer manifested itself much earlier, only then such activities of his fell under criminal articles. So in total, the future famous producer Yuri Aizenshpis spent almost 17 years behind bars.
"Golden" farce
Violation of the rules on foreign exchange transactions was on a different occasion. Having entered the institute, Yuri Aizenshpis, driven by his commercial inclinations, decided to turn to his other youthful passion - to sports. Among his friends there were guys who now played football in the Dynamo team, traveled abroad for friendly matches and received checks that could be sold in the USSR in the only Beryozka currency store.
In those days, a dollar on the black market, that is, from hands, cost from 2 to 7.5 rubles. Yuri Aizenshpis, first through his “old friends”, and then through his own well-established channels, bought checks, sold them at Beryozka, and then sold the acquired scarce goods at three dearly.
With the proceeds, through the administrators and waiters of hotels, he bought foreign currency from foreigners, and then checks again. For example, an imported fur coat could be purchased at Beryozka for $50, and sold to a metropolitan movie star for 500 rubles, a dozen Panasonic radios for $35, and sold in Odessa to the same huckster for 4,000 rubles. But this was not enough.
In the late 1960s, Vneshtorgbank began selling gold in Moscow for hard currency. On this wave, Yuri Aizenshpis took up gold fartsovka. Many nomenklatura workers, especially from the Transcaucasian republics, had big and very big money, but it was not easy for them to shine with currency and generally flicker with so much cash in the capital. And Aizenshpis bought gold bars for dollars at the branch of Vneshtorgbank and sold them to Caucasian party workers (officially, 1 kilogram of gold cost $ 1,500).
If he bought dollars on the side at 5 rubles, then a kilogram of gold came out of him at 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.
Navar was mind-blowing, and it really drove many black marketers crazy. Once, a burned-out gold businessman from Armenia, in order to make it easier to take into account, handed over several of his “colleagues” to the employees of the authorities. Then, in the stagnant year of 1970, many criminals who were held under "economic" articles "for 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 the parent's apartment .
From scratch
After 7 years, the former concert director was released on parole. There was no trace left of the old connections, and the "commercial activity" had to be started anew. Together with a certain friend, Yuri Aizenshpis decided to buy 4,000 dollars "from hand" on the Lenin Hills. But the seller brought fakes and the criminal investigation officers had been watching him for a long time. So after 3 months of freedom, the future famous producer was again in the dock. As a result, to 8 years of imprisonment under the “currency article”, he was added another 3 years, which were previously “cut off” for the first term and sent to serve in Mordovia, in the infamous Dubrovlag colony, which had the unofficial name “Meat Grinder”, because each day there for "unknown reasons" killed 3 - 5 people.
Seven years later, he was released on parole. There was no trace of the old connections, so we had to re-organize the "commercial activity". Together with one friend, Yuri Aizenshpis bought $ 4,000 from the Lenin Hills. That's just the seller has long been under the supervision of the criminal investigation department and brought fakes. So after three months of freedom, the future famous producer was again in the dock. As a result, to 8 years of imprisonment under the “currency article”, he was added another 3 years, which were previously knocked off (when he was serving his first term), and sent to Mordovia to the infamous Dubrovlag colony, which had the unofficial name “Meat Grinder”, because every day 3-5 people died there for "unknown reasons".
Under the hood of the KGB
In 1985, Yuri Aizenshpis was again released on parole and returned to Moscow. Now he was being extremely careful. Through a young Muscovite, the wife of an employee of the Arab diplomatic mission, Aizenshpis not only established a safe channel for buying foreign currency, but also imported clothing and electronics, since the Arab was engaged in export-import. But the KGB officers always looked after any foreigner in the USSR, and soon Yuri Aizenshpis was under the hood.
In the summer of 1986, when he was driving around the capital in new Zhiguli, he was stopped by policemen. During the inspection of the car, it turned out that there were several imported audio tape recorders and one super scarce video tape recorder with video cassettes in the trunk. So, at the suggestion of the KGB officers, Yuri Aizenshpis ended up in a pre-trial detention center. However, the case did not reach the court, 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 broke out. After serving almost 1.5 years in a pre-trial detention center, Yuri Aizenshpis was released and never returned to jail.
Yuri Shmilevich Aizenshpis was born a month after the end of the Great Patriotic War in Chelyabinsk. At that time, the producer's mother was evacuated there. Yuri Shmilevich comes from an unusual family. The father's ancestors lived in Spain, but at the same time, Poland is indicated in Shmil Moiseevich's passport as the country of birth. Already in adulthood, the man fled to the USSR, fearing the reprisals of the Nazis.
Interestingly, the real name of Yuri's father is Shmul. An employee of the NKVD, filling out a passport, mixed it up. So it turned out Shmil Aizenshpis. The man went through the Second World War, visited Berlin. In this case, the soldier was never wounded. The mother of Yuri Shmilyevich's biography is no less interesting. Maria Mikhailovna was born in Belarus.
After the death of her parents, she was transferred to the upbringing of distant relatives. Due to the outbreak of the war, she did not have time to get a diploma in journalism. Maria Mikhailovna joined the partisan detachment, several times she almost fell into the hands of the Germans. In the post-war years, she was awarded medals and orders.
The acquaintance of Yuri's parents took place at the Belorussky railway station in 1944. After the end of the war, Maria Mikhailovna and Shmil Moiseevich ended up in the Main Directorate of Airfield Construction. At that time, the Aizenshpis family lived well. They had a TV and a gramophone with a large collection of records in their house.
Until 1961, the producer's family lived in a wooden barracks, but then moved to an apartment located in the Moscow Sokol district. Yuri Shmilevich was a sports child, he attended a sports school. The producer was a fan of handball, volleyball and athletics. I had to retire from professional sports due to a leg injury.
Yuri took his first steps as an administrator already in his youth. In 1965, the man began to collaborate with the rock group Sokol. Despite the obvious craving for show business, Aizenshpis received an economic education at the Moscow Institute of Economics and Statistics.
Music and production
Producer career for Yuri Shmilevich began while studying at the institute. Collaboration with a rock band did not help to reach the desired heights. Then Aizenshpis went to jail for conducting illegal currency transactions. After leaving prison, the producer ended up in the perestroika world, which became the starting point for developing a career in show business.
Acquaintance with Alexander Lipnitsky allowed Aizenshpis to become the head of the Intershans festival. Gradually, the man studied the basics of backstage life, identified methods of influencing musicians, and later moved on to producing.
“Promoting an artist is the functional responsibility of a producer. And here any means are good. Through diplomacy, bribery, threats or blackmail,” Yuri Shmilyevich said.
This approach has been successful. From an ordinary producer, Aizenshpis quickly rose to the rank of show business shark. Yuri began to help performers who wanted to be on the big stage. Not everyone suited Aizenshpis. The producer, lighting the stars, chose artists who could "hook" the viewer. A prerequisite was the presence of a repertoire. To promote musicians, Yuri Shmilyevich used the media and television.
In 1988, the Kino group fell into the hands of Aizenshpis. By this time, the musicians had already reached a certain level on their own, but a professional approach to promotion was required. The cooperation of two talented people - Yuri Shmilyevich and - has borne fruit.
The fame of the producer and musician soared to unprecedented heights. Two years later, Viktor Tsoi dies. Aizenshpis takes a loan of 5 million rubles and releases the posthumous album of the musician "Black Album". The circulation of the disc exceeded 1 million copies. On this project, the producer earned 24 million.
Musicians of the Kino group, Yevgeny Dodolev and Yuri Aizenshpis at the presentation of the Black Album Yuri Shmilevich's career developed rapidly. After Kino, another team followed - Technology. In fact, Aizenshpis promoted the group from scratch. Young musicians became popular. For some unknown reason, after a year of joint work, the paths of the producer and the wards diverge.
Already in 1992, Yuri Aizenshpis was recognized as the best producer in the country. A year after official recognition, he meets Svetlana Geiman, known under the pseudonym. They worked for several months, after which he took up the promotion of the singer.
For 6 years, Yuri Shmilevich collaborated with a famous singer in the 90s. Collaboration led to the recording of 5 albums. Aizenshpis increased Vlad's popularity and recognition at times. The musician was invited to major concerts and events in Russia and the USA.
The track record of Yuri Aizenshpis includes such stars as Nikita, the Dynamite group. The main achievement in the work of the producer was. Under the leadership of Yuri Shmilevich, they learned about the artist in Russia.
Aizenshpis described the bright moments of life and work in books. The producer published "Lighting the Stars. Notes and advice from a show business pioneer”, “From a black marketer to a producer. Business people in the USSR” and “Viktor Tsoi and others. How the stars light up. In memory of the producer, a program was broadcast on the TVC channel called Wild Money.
Personal life
Rumors constantly circulated around Aizenshpis. In show business, they said that the producer brought the so-called "blue lobby" to the work. Previously, women were brought to a man for promotion, later lovers of politicians and businessmen began to appear. More than once, Yuri Shmilyevich and the wards of the producer were called gays, but no official confirmation of the men's orientation was found.
“A term in prison could have influenced Aizenshpis’s orientation,” the ex-husband suggested.
Numerous rumors did not prevent Yuri Shmilyevich from living in a civil marriage with Elena Lvovna Kovrigina.
After the death of Aizenshpis, she quickly arranged her personal life by marrying director Leonid Goiningen-Hühne. Yuri and Elena had a son, Mikhail. In 2014, a young man came to the police in connection with the use of drugs. During the search, 1.5 grams of cocaine were found on Mikhail.
Death
Imprisonment had a negative impact on the health of the producer. For a long time, Yuri Aizenshpis hid the fact that he had serious problems. Officially, the cause of death is myocardial infarction, but a number of diagnoses led to this, including cirrhosis of the liver, gastrointestinal bleeding, hepatitis B and C. The information that Yuri Shmilyevich had AIDS, which led to death, is not documented.
Three days before his death, Aizenshpis felt unwell. The doctors decided to hospitalize the producer. After the manipulations, the condition improved, so Yuri Shmilevich persuaded the doctors to let him out of the hospital. The producer wanted to see Dima Bilan receive the prestigious MTV-2005 music award.
Before the ceremony, the producer did not live two days. Aizenshpis's life was cut short in the 61st year. The funeral took place at the Domodedovo cemetery. The farewell ceremony was attended by artists, composers and other show business figures. Numerous photos of the mourning Dima Bilan have circled the Internet. The grave of the producer is located next to the parent.
Jewish TV. Discrimination against Russians on television. Collection of articles and notes. Compiled by Anatoly Glazunov and others.
"Shark of show business" Yuri Aizenshpis - Zhidovin
Tens of thousands of Russian fans of famous "pop stars" did not know and do not know about this Jew, but this Jew lit several famous stars. It was the Zhidovin Aizenshpis who introduced the concept of "producer" into the everyday life of Russian show business, was one of the first producers in Russia, and "convincingly proved that anyone can be made a pop star."
Yuri Shmilevich Aizenshpis was born in 1945 in Chelyabinsk, where his mother, Muscovite Maria Mikhailovna Aizenshpis (1922-1991), was evacuated. By nationality - a Jew. Father - Shmil Moiseevich Aizenshpis (1916-1989) - Polish Jew. He fled from Poland to the USSR, fleeing the Germans, was at the front. Parents after the war returned to Moscow. Worked in GUAS (Main Directorate of Airfield Construction).
Money changer Aizenshpis
Producer of Dima Bilan and Viktor Tsoi served more than 17 years in Soviet camps
Rock underground manager
A graduate of the Moscow Institute of Economics and Statistics, Aizenshpis did not like his boring profession. Since childhood, he was drawn to sports and music. At the age of sixteen, he arranged 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' monthly income reached 1,500 rubles (Soviet ministers then received only a thousand).
In 1968, the 23-year-old Aizenshpis quit the Philharmonic and went to work as a junior researcher at the Central Statistical Office of the USSR with a salary of 115 rubles. But at the workplace, the "major", smelling of French perfume, was rarely shown. Using his connections with store managers, he was able to get nearly two hundred scarce grocery orders for his colleagues. Therefore, his constant absences looked through the fingers. Such a free regime helped Aizenshpis lead a second, parallel life, which brought him completely different incomes.
Underground millionaire at 25
Aizenshpis's guide to the world of currency fraud was Eduard Borovikov, nicknamed Vasya, who played in the football team of Dynamo masters. “I bought foreign currency or checks,” Aizenshpis said, “I used them in the Beryozka store to buy scarce goods and then sold them through intermediaries on the black markets. In those days, the dollar cost on the black market from two to seven and a half For example, a synthetic fur coat could be bought at Beryozka for $50 and sold for 500 rubles.
His career developed according to the knurled scheme: henchman - junior partner - shareholder. Then Aizenshpis ventured to work alone. His first major independent business was the purchase of Panasonic radios in the Beryozka currency store. These were elegant four-range products of two models - $33 and $50 each. Aizenshpis decided to take 25 Panasonics to Odessa, where they were still rare and cost much more than in Moscow. And he did not lose - the receivers went flying.
In 1969, two outwardly inconspicuous, but very remarkable events took place in Moscow. A certain Mammadov, the first secretary of the Oktyabrsky district party committee of the city of Baku, opened a passbook in the capital in the name of his wife and put 195 thousand rubles on it - the then earnings of an ordinary worker for 108 years. In the same year, a commercial office of Vneshtorgbank was opened on Pushkinskaya Street, where gold of the highest standard was sold in bars weighing from 10 grams to one kilogram. Gold could be purchased by any citizen, but only for currency.
What do these events have to do with Aizenshpis? The most direct. The USSR was already decaying, the shadow economy and corruption flourished in the southern republics. In the same Azerbaijan, for example, positions were sold almost openly: the director of the theater - 10 thousand rubles, the secretary of the district party committee - 200 thousand, the minister of trade - a quarter of a million. "Buyers" to justify their costs engaged in extortion and embezzlement. The money received had to be invested somewhere. Best of all in "imperishable" - currency, diamonds and gold.
At the service of these people in Moscow there were about a hundred people who dealt in currency and gold on a large scale. Aizenshpis also managed to find his "theme". A kilogram of gold in the very office of Vneshtorgbank was sold for one and a half thousand dollars. Even if you buy dollars for 5 rubles, it cost 7.5 thousand. Plus, one ruble per gram was paid to foreign students who bought gold. As a result - 8500 rubles per kilogram ingot. And it was sold for 20 thousand rubles. 11,500 rubles profit - a giant profit, if you remember that the nurse then received 60 rubles a month.
Trade in precious metal was brisk. Aizenshpis had to buy almost every day from one and a half to three thousand dollars at the rate of 2 - 3 rubles per dollar. Every evening he was in 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," Aizenshpis said, "reached a million dollars."
The underground millionaire was then only 25 years old. ]
Ten years with confiscation
At the end of 1969, a prominent money changer Henrikh Karakhanyan, nicknamed the Crow, was arrested in Moscow, and in January 1970 Aizenshpis's turn came. At the time of his arrest, he had 18 thousand rubles in his pocket, that is, a salary for about ten years of work in his native research institute. The main accusatory articles in the Aizenshpis case were the 154th, part 2 (“Speculation on an especially large scale”), and the 88th, part 2 (“violation of foreign exchange transactions”). According to their totality, in the case of the first term, they were given, as a rule, no more than 5 - 8 years. But Aizenshpis got a ten. And the enhanced mode. By a court verdict, not only currency, gold, mohair were confiscated from him (the list took seven pages), but also a collection of vinyl records of 5 thousand discs, and most importantly, a room of 26 square meters in the apartment where he lived with his parents and why - I made a separate personal account.
After serving time in Krasnoyarsk, Tula and Pechora, Aizenshpis was released - on parole - in May 1977. But Yuri Shmilevich breathed the air of freedom for only three months. Already in August, having bought 4 thousand dollars from foreigners, he and his companion were arrested on the Lenin Hills. A former athlete, Aizenshpis rushed to run. On the way, he managed to throw away all the dollars, rubles and even the keys to the apartment.
It didn't help... This time they gave him eight years. Plus the fact that he did not sit through on parole. In total - again "ten". He served his second term in Mordovia, in the infamous Dubrovlag. The zone was called the "Meat Grinder" because three to five people were killed there every day.
Under the hood of the KGB
In August 1985, Aizenshpis was released again on parole - the term for good behavior was thrown off for a year and eight months. Returning to the capital, he met a woman in a restaurant who was married to an Arab who often traveled abroad. A new friend suggested that Yuri Shmilevich update his wardrobe. The offered items were of higher quality than in the notorious "Beryozka". First, Aizenshpis dressed himself, then dressed his friends, and then turned the resale of fashionable clothes into a craft. His monthly salary was several thousand rubles. It is incomparable with what he had in gold, but still 5-6 times more than the ministers and secretaries of the Central Committee.
Trouble began when the resourceful Arab fell under the hood of the KGB. Tracking all his connections, the security officers came to Aizenshpis. In October 1986, Aizenshpis arrived at the next meeting near the Mossovet Theater on the newly purchased "Zhiguli" of the sixth model. Here he was detained by police officers. In the trunk, they found several Grundig cassette recorders, a couple of super scarce video recorders and video cassettes.
Aizenshpis was incredibly lucky that his Arab accomplice managed to escape abroad in time. Without the main defendant, the criminal case, through the efforts of lawyers, successfully fell apart. Yury Shmilevich left the prison bunk in April 1988, after serving seventeen months in the pre-trial detention center. This was his last posting.
Karabas-Barabas and his puppets
Once free, Aizenshpis fell into the thick of perestroika. Soon, a friend Alexander Lipnitsky (stepson of Vadim Sukhodrev, Brezhnev's personal translator) introduced him to the then rock party. At first, Aizenshpis headed the directorate of the Intershans festival, slowly studying the backstage and hidden springs of home-grown show business, and soon undertook to produce the pop group Technology. Yuri Shmilyevich stated his credo with the utmost frankness: "Promoting" an artist is the functional duty of a producer. And here any means are good. Through diplomacy, bribery, threats or blackmail." That's exactly how he acted, earning the nickname "sharks of show business." But even the commercial success of his wards - the groups "Technology", "Dynamite", "Kino", singer Linda, Vlad Stashevsky and Dima Bilan - brought him disproportionately, less money than he earned in his own stellar peak in gold and foreign exchange transactions.
http://www.rospres.com/showbiz/7620/
So, he got out of prison in 1988 after serving 18 years in prison.
Works in the creative association "Gallery" under the city committee of the Komsomol, organizing concerts of young performers. In early 1989, Aizenshpis produced the Kino group and was one of the first to violate the state monopoly on the publication of records. In 1990, having borrowed 5,000,000 rubles, he released the last work of the Kino group.
From 1991 to 1992, he collaborated with the Technology group.
From 1992 to 1993 he produced the Moral Code and Young Guns groups. In 1994, he makes a star out of Vlad Stashevsky - a guy with very dubious vocal abilities, but a bright appearance. In 1993, he noticed Linda, a jazz college graduate, and helped her take her first steps. In 1997 he produced the singers Inga Drozdova and Katya Lel, and from 1998 to 2001 - the singer Nikita, and in 1999-2000 the singer Sasha. In the book of Evgeny Dodolev “Vlad Listyev. Biased Requiem ”it is mentioned that the Jew Aizenshpis was helped by the criminal authority Alexander Makushenko, known as “Sasha Gypsy”, in the promotion of some artists.
“We don’t have courts,” said the cool Jew Aizenshpis. - And "promoting" the artist is the functional responsibility of the producer, and for him there are no concepts of "good" or "bad". The main thing is the goal. At any cost. Through diplomacy, bribery, threats or blackmail. In the end, it's just emotions. But at the moment of moving towards the goal, you must act like a tank.
Since 2000, he has been managing the affairs of the Dynamite group. Since 2001 - General Director of Media Star. He died in September 2005 from a myocardial infarction.
Shortly before his death, he wrote the book Lighting the Stars.
Aizenshpis wrote in this book: “I am a Jew. My mother is Jewish and my father is of the same nationality. And what from this? Absolutely nothing ... I do not honor Judaism, I do not know its traditions and I am not interested in its history. I do not consider the Jews to be either the most intelligent, or the most persecuted, or in general some kind of exceptional people. They say that Jews in Russia have always been oppressed. I don't know, I'm not sure. In any case, just as Stalin's repressions bypassed my family, anti-Semitism did not affect me at all. Neither at school nor later in life did I hear offensive words like "Jew" or "Jew's muzzle" thrown in the face or in the back.
“Many people talk about anti-Semitism, about Zionism. These political phenomena somehow passed me by. I didn’t feel anything like that either at school or at the institute. And I didn’t feel it in prison.”
“The late Yuri Shmilevich Aizenshpis was also known for not only having all his pop fosterlings himself, but also supplying them to homosexuals from among our new elite. All his fop stars went through this conveyor ... "
Producer Yuri Aizenshpis was one of the first in our country to start professionally "promoting" pop and pop stars. There were legends about this man, and his every step was shrouded in the most incredible rumors. But in spite of everything, all the projects that Yuri Aizenshpis undertook turned out to be successful.
Contrary to the general trend, the performers who left him never slandered him in the press and never entered into litigation.
Yuri Aizenshpis: biography. Childhood and youth
Aizenshpis was born in Chelyabinsk in 1945. His mother, Maria Mikhailovna Aizenshpis, a native Muscovite, was sent to this city for evacuation. Shmil Moiseevich Aizenshpis (father of Yuri) is a Polish Jew who was forced to leave his homeland to escape the Nazis. He fought in the ranks of the Soviet army and was a veteran of the Second World War.
After the end of the war, the family returned to Moscow. Until 1961, she lived in a dilapidated wooden hut, and then received a wonderful apartment in a prestigious area of the capital. At that time they had a gramophone with a large collection of 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 training. In addition to sports, the young man in those days was interested in jazz. He had a tape recorder, which the young man bought with his savings.
The first recordings were jazz compositions by famous musicians of the 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 direction of rhythm and blues.
The circle of lovers and connoisseurs of this music was quite small in those days, everyone knew each other. When one of the like-minded people got 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 sellers simply confiscated the discs. And in spite of everything, records entered the country from abroad on a regular basis, overcoming the powerful barriers of customs rules and laws. Under the ban were some performers - Elvis Presley, the sisters of Bury.
Education
After graduating from school, Yury Shmilevich Aizenshpis entered MESI and graduated in 1968 with a diploma in engineering and economics. But it should be noted that he entered the institute and successfully graduated only in order 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 with a group of like-minded musicians created the first rock band in our country. Since all members of the group lived near the Sokol metro station, they didn’t get too smart with the name of the group and they also called it Sokol. Today this group has taken its rightful place in the history of the Russian rock movement.
At first, the musicians performed the songs of the legendary Beatles in English. At that time, it was believed that rock music could only exist in English. Friends have long noted the activity of Yuri and his organizational talent, so they appointed him as someone like an impresario.
Some time later, the team was admitted to the staff of the Tula Philharmonic. The group toured a lot, and Aizenshpis' monthly income sometimes reached an astronomical amount of 1,500 rubles at that time. For comparison: the salary of the ministers of the Soviet Union was no more than a thousand rubles.
Ticket selling
At the very beginning of his activity, more precisely during his collaboration with the Sokol group, Yuri developed an unusual ticket sales scheme. Having previously agreed with the director of some house of culture or club, Aizenshpis bought all the tickets for the last screening of the film, and then sold them at a higher price to the group's concert.
As a rule, there were much more people who wanted to listen to music than there were seats in the hall. At times things got out of control. It is 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 bought foreign currency, with which he purchased high-quality musical instruments and high-quality sound equipment for the stage from foreigners. Since in the USSR at that time all foreign exchange transactions were illegal, he always took a big risk when making transactions.
Work in the Central Statistical Bureau of the USSR
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, buying up and further selling gold. He made transactions, the volume of which exceeded a million dollars a month. At that time, the underground millionaire was only 25 years old.
Arrest
But such a life did not last long. In early January 1970, Aizenshpis was arrested. During a search in his apartment, 7,675 dollars and 15,585 rubles were found. He was convicted under Article 88 ("Currency transactions"). Even in places of detention, the entrepreneurial vein of Aizenshpis was manifested. In the Krasnoyarsk-27 zone, the future producer launched a brisk trade in tea, vodka and sugar. Then he began to be appointed to senior positions at local construction sites.
When he was transferred to a colony-settlement, Yuri fled from there to Pechory and settled with a local intellectual, whom he charmed with his charm and talk about the capital. However, he was soon exposed by a guest at home - a police colonel. And again, the amazing luck of Aizenshpis, 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 rationer.
Yuri Aizenshpis spent almost 18 years in prison for what any citizen is now allowed to do. But something else is important: for such a long period of time, Aizenshpis did not become embittered, did not become a criminal, did not lose his human appearance.
Life after release
Once free in 1988, Aizenshpis saw Russia unfamiliar to him during perestroika. Alexander Lipnitsky introduced him to the rock scene. At first, he was entrusted to head the directorate of the Intershans festival. Gradually, step by step, he studied the backstage life and the basics of show business, and soon the aspiring producer began working with domestic musical performers.
Yuri Shmilevich formulated his mission quite frankly - to promote the artist using any means: diplomacy, bribery, threats or blackmail. This is exactly how he acted, for which he was called the "shark of show business."
There were plenty of unknown young performers who dreamed of breaking into 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, through television, he presented them to the general public, 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" with funds taken on credit.
It should be noted: by the beginning of cooperation with the producer, Kino was already a fairly well-known group. At that time, the most successful, legendary album "Blood Type" had already been recorded. According to critics, after him Choi 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 credibility in his craft.
"Technology"
If "Kino" at the beginning of work with the producer already had some success, then the "Technology" group was molded almost from scratch by Yuri Aizenshpis. "Lighting 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 managed to prove that he can take guys with an average level of talent and "sculpt" stars out of them.
Among the numerous ensembles that existed at that time on the stage was the Bioconstructor group, which eventually 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 well-known producer liked. As time has shown, Aizenshpis was not mistaken and was able to create a really popular group, which was called "Technology".
Linda
In 1993, Aizenshpis drew attention to the young performer Svetlana Geiman in Jurmala. Very soon, the name of the singer Linda became known to both the audience and music critics. Soon the songs I want your sex, "Non-stop" and the famous hit "Playing with Fire" appeared. Linda's joint work 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 of the beautiful 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 Shmilyevich heard Vlad playing an out-of-tune piano backstage and humming songs from the repertoire of Mikhail Shufutinsky and Willy Tokarev. After this meeting, nothing foreshadowed a long cooperation, although Aizenshpis left his business card to an unknown artist.
A few days later he called Vlad and they arranged a meeting, during which Aizenshpis introduced Vlad to Vladimir Matetsky, who took part in the audition. The first performance of Stashevsky took place at the end of August 1993 in Adjara, at a song festival.
Awards, further creative activity
In 1992, Aizenshpis was awarded the Ovation Award as the best producer in Russia. Until 1993, Yuri Shmilevich produced the Young Guns, Moral Code, singer Linda groups. In 1997, he began to study the singers Inga Drozdova and Katya Lel, a year later the singer Nikita became his protege, and since 2000, cooperation with the Dynamite group began.
During this period, Yuri Aizenshpis became especially famous as a very successful producer. The man who lit the stars on the Russian stage, since 2001, has taken over as CEO 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 Shmilyevich. In September 2005, Dima Bilan was recognized as the best performer of 2004 according to MTV, and much later became the winner of Eurovision 2008.
Other roles
In 2005, Yuri Shmilevich played a cameo role in the 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 Intershans-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 - the son of Misha. But gradually the feelings lost their former sharpness, and the couple broke up.
Yuri Shmilevich spoiled his son Aizenshpis, however, the educational process was completely shifted to Elena's shoulders. Mikhail often visited his father's office, went to concerts with him. Yuri Shmilevich bequeathed to his son and ex-wife two huge apartments in Moscow. After the death of the producer, Elena married the editor of the TNT channel, Leonid Gyune.
Yuri Aizenshpis: cause of death
On September 20, 2005, this talented person, a recognized and successful Russian producer, passed away. At about eight o'clock in the evening, Yuri Aizenshpis died in the Moscow City Hospital No. 20. Death was due to a massive myocardial infarction. Yuri Shmilevich was buried at the Domodedovo cemetery near Moscow.
One of the most famous producers of Russian show business, Yuri Shmilevich Aizenshpis, was born on July 15, 1945 in Moscow.
In 1968 he graduated from the Moscow Institute of Economics and Statistics with a degree in engineer-economist. After graduating from the institute, Aizenshpis worked for some time at the Central Statistical Office (CSO).
I am an independent producer and build my work independently of anyone. However, I always have to deal with 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, working as an administrator with the Sokol rock group.
By 1969, the Sokol group became famous thanks to the organizational skills of Aizenshpis, who purchased musical equipment and instruments from foreign guest performers, or rather, from their technical staff. They had to pay with currency, any transactions with which in the USSR were illegal and severely punished by justice.
In January 1970, Yuri Aizenshpis was arrested and convicted under Article 88 of the USSR Criminal Code (“Illegal currency transactions on an especially large scale”). He spent ten years in prison in Mordovia, Krasnoyarsk, Komi.
After a short period of freedom, he again received a sentence and was imprisoned for seven years and eight months.
The experience of Western gentlemen was unknown to me. Everything came from my own ideas and initiatives.
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 joint work 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, by that time already quite well known in the country, acquired the status of a cult.
Yuri Aizenshpis himself wrote about this: “Of course, Tsoi and the Kino group were known even before our meeting, but they are known among fans of Leningrad basement rock. And I decided to fashion a rock star out of it. And I succeeded.”
Aizenshpis was one of the first to break the state monopoly on the release of records, releasing in 1990 the Black Album of the Kino group with money borrowed. This was the band's last album.
From 1991 to 1992, he collaborated with the Technology group, which he assisted in releasing their debut album, Everything You Want. In the period from 1992 to 1993 he worked as a producer with the groups "Moral Code" and "Young Guns". 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 collaborated in parallel with the aspiring singer Inga Drozdova.
At various times, Aizennshpis produced the singer Sasha (from 1999 to 2000), raised the singer Nikita to the heights of popularity (produced him from 1998 to 2001).
In recent years, Yuri Shmilevich has been closely engaged in the career of the 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 has served as General Director of Media Star.
In 2005, he starred in a small role in the film Night Watch 2.
Yuri Aizenshpis was twice the winner of the National Russian Music Award "Ovation" in the nomination "Best Producer" (1992, 1995).
He was buried in Moscow at the Domodedovo cemetery.
Yuri Aizenshpis was divorced, he had a son, Mikhail.
Yuri Shmilevich Aizenshpis - quotes
I am an independent producer and build my work independently of anyone. However, I always have to deal with the problems of this very corporatism. 
The experience of Western gentlemen was unknown to me. Everything came from my own ideas and initiatives.
