Сигнал/Signal
HISTORY
In 1969 in the Bulgarian rock-stage the music group "Zlatni Struni" appeared. It included: the brothers Boby and Ivan Mishevi- a drummer and a guitarist, Vasil Naidenov (keyboard), Rumen Spasov (bas-guitar), and Yordan Karadgov (vocal). In 1975 Hristo Lambrev replaced Vasil Naidenov. Later followed many concerts of the group, but not only in Bulgaria. One of them was in the festival in Poznan (Poland). In 1976 "Zlatni Stuni" creates the first and only rock-opera called "Legndata na Trakeiskoto sukrovishte" (The legend of the Trakeisko treasure). In 1978 from the group "Zlatni Struni" Yordan Karadgov, Hristo Lambrev, Rumen Spasov separate. But the manager of the group and the drummer George Kokalanov invent the group "Signal" .The group got famous with it's first songs "Love", "Stop", and "Maybe" in no time. The group took the first place in the end of two in a row years in Bulgaria. During the spring in 1979 "Signal" began it's concert acts with a new drummer-Vladimir Zahariev. For sixteen years the group makes two magnificent successes (not only in Bulgaria)- over 4 000 concerts were organised and over 500 000 records were sold of the group. Later followed many concerts and tournaments in USSR, Germany, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Romania, and Cuba. "Signal" was invited to the tournaments in: Omega (Hungary), Magdeburg (Germany), Olympic (Czechoslovakia). This group is the first Bulgarian group that organised a concert-tournament in Italy (the summer in 1989). Later on in 1990 a new guitarist (Aleksander Marinovski) joins the group, but the next year Rumen Spasov leaves the group.
In 1994 "Signal" makes the album "The Best Of Signal". It reminds people of the golden years of the Bulgarian rock music.
The History of SIGNAL according to NIKI KUNCHEV
Every band has it's history - every rock history has it's own background history. Everything began in a different way for the four members of "Signal", but their passion and appreciation for music was the same. They were independent in the 1970s and 1980s, during the socialistic times, when the communists didn't approve of rock music. For the same reason "Signal" went through a lot of trouble, and a good example is the incident in Burgas in 1982. The communist leaders knew very well that rock music was very uncontrolable at influencing and spreading freedom among the souls of the young Bulgarians. That's what happened in practise.
Karajov, Lambrev, and Spasov founded "Signal" like an independent band together with the drummer Georgi Kokalanov in June 1978. The hit "Moje Bi" (Maybe) brought the band at the top of the interests of the journalists, who were just waiting for something like this. The song was written by Toncho Rusev. "Signal", in this case and later, used compositions from other composers e.g. "Da Te Jaduvam" (To Crave You) was written by Georgi Kostov, and "Lotka Li E Lubovta" (Is A Boat Love) belonged to Moris Alanjem. "Signal" didn't take much from the song, and instead transformed it a lot so that it was no longer recognisable. In this way many of the songs of "Signal" became great hits. A good example is "Moje Bi" (Maybe) - Donica Venkova preformed it, but without success, and many people didn't know this fact. Toncho Rusev met "Signal" at the National Radio. There he judged the "New Bulgarian Music" and offered the song to them. Toma Sprostranov wrote it in "Rulse Notes" and that's how the magic of "Signal" began. The song "Moje Bi" has a German version - "Ja Vilaih"- because of it's popularity. Until now 7-8 year old children, who go to concerts of "Signal", know the words of the song by heart and are able to sing it.
Vladimir Zahariev replaced Georgi Kokalanov in the drums. With this crew, it was considered, that this was the first golden formation of "Signal". With these four musicians, the band went through many happy but also many difficult moments involving the artistic career of the group. The organiser and manager of the group was Stefan Shirokov.
The second golden formation of "Signal" began in the 1990s, when the young guitarist Alexander Marinovski replaced Rumen Spasov. So Spasov began to deal with recording bussiness, organising concerts and later worked for "Marco's Music". He will remain a technical genius in the history of the band. Yordan Karajov invented the melodies and the ideas of the future hits and Hristo Lambrev dressed them in harmony and arranged them. In this way they made many hits. For some years until now, Marinovski had also played a major part in the arrangements of these hits, especially in the ecoustic album "Cvetia" (Flowers).
About the incident in Burgas - that was the first discimination of Bulgarian rock - musicians. On 10 February in 1982, during the concert in the famous hall called "Izgrev" in Burgas, the militia began to hit the excited fans, who were closest to the stage. So Karajov grabed the microphone and began to defend the public. The militia got out of control and turned the concert into a pogrom. The musicians got injured as well, and for a punishment they weren't allowed to record albums, preform in concerts - in TV or in Radio or any other ways of broadcast for one year. "Signal" managed to continue preforming after this "black hole".
Prizes of Signal:
- played in the international festival in Drezden (in Poland)
- Signal won a first prize for best preformance from the "Golden Orfei"
- in 1979 Signal won a third prize with the hit "Ne Kazvai Ne" (Don't Say No). The music was written by Hristo Lambrev and the lyrics by Milcho Spasov.
During the 1990s until the beginig of the 21st century, "Signal" continued to preform and to prove it's classic skills. They had been playing in many clubs. They made tours after tours and albums after albums. That is a sign showing the victorious and creative career of the band. The accent is the transformation from the fans of "Signal" - it shouldn't come by force, but instead it should evolve from the fathers (who are fans of "Signal") to their children.
The magic "Signal" continues still. It has created new hits. It has played in over 4000 concerts ( not only in Bulgaria, but also in the Czech Republic, ex-eastern Germany, ex USSR and Cuba). The band made the first double album, which was a great success. In over all "Signal" has made 12 albums, all of which were great success. That is the rock legend "Signal".
