Why did the famous “exotic pop duo” break up? The Kar-Man group: why the famous exotic pop duo broke up

The era of perestroika not only brought serious changes in the economy and politics Soviet Union, but also gave the opportunity to young musicians at that time to prove themselves as bright, sometimes even too shocking performers. One of these artists was and is to this day Bogdan Titomir, whose biography will be discussed in detail in this article. His main achievements and contribution to the development of domestic show business will also be discussed.

Brief biographical information

On March 16, 1967, Bogdan Titomir was born in the city of Odessa. The guy’s biography is full of many moves. So, in particular, his family moved to Severodonetsk, and a little later to Kharkov and Sumy. Parents future star the scenes broke up for a reason that is banal for many families - the head of the family abused alcohol too much. IN early age the young man studied music - played the piano and even dreamed of becoming a student music conservatory. However, he was destined to take a slightly different path in life.

Tendency to shock

Bogdan Titomir, whose biography is full of many non-standard actions, has already early years He really liked to shock people around him. For example, in the lower grades of school he was relaxed and in every possible way wanted to make a lasting impression. And all this manifested itself in small things. Consider the fact that Bogdan refused in every possible way to wear a school uniform Brown. His parents made concessions to him and got him in shape of blue color, but he wore it very rarely. Often, a schoolboy went out exclusively in a denim suit, which in the era of the 1980s was a great rarity and an indicator of a certain status. But he didn’t stop there either: he deliberately wore his denim outfit inside out so that the label could be clearly seen, indicating that the clothes were made not just anywhere, but in America.

After graduating from school, Titomir became a student at Gnesinka, but after six months he went to serve in the army. After being transferred to the reserve, the young guy became an arranger, working in the studio of a popular group at that time called “Tender May”.

Creation of the group "Kar-Man"

Bogdan Titomir, whose biography was of interest to a huge number of his fans in the 90s, is one of the creators musical group, whose name was translated from English as “Man-Machine”. Initially, this project was conceived as an exotic popular duet. The group was based on Titomir and Sergei Lemokh. These guys at that time were musicians performing together with Vladimir Maltsev.

“Kar-Man” very quickly gained crazy popularity. The musicians became real popular favorites and strived to work in the style of the Cinema Travelers Club, as evidenced by the title of their first album, “Around the World.” The songs that are still well known today were recorded on this record: “Paris, Paris”, “Chio-Chio-San”, “London, Goodbye”.

Already famous, the artists together created another album - “Kar-mania”. But then their paths finally diverged, and in 1991 the duo broke up. Lemokh remained in the group, while Bogdan devoted himself entirely to his solo career.

Distinctive features

A pronounced exploitation of sexuality, attempts to present sometimes awkward recitative texts as successful creations - this is all that Bogdan Titomir stood out for. The singer’s biography says that a separate report from the world-respected CNN channel was even dedicated to him, and famous TV presenter Parfenov created a documentary project called “Portrait against a Background,” in which the artist was identified as a person who personified the era of the 1990s. By the way, it was in this program that the outrageous singer said catchphrase“People are eating up,” thereby showing that most people listen to low-quality music.

Free swimming

As Bogdan Titomir himself states, biography is a personal secret to some extent. That is why the artist is not too willing to highlight some facts of his life. So, look no further than his addiction to drugs, which he became addicted to during the era of his wild popularity.

At the same time, in three years from 1992 to 1995, the singer recorded three albums, one of which was distinguished by its progressiveness and focus on the techno style.

Fading into the shadows

The second half of the 1990s was marked by musical Olympus Russian stage absence of Bogdan Titomir. Biography, personal life, before for a long time those who were in full view of everyone found themselves behind seven seals.

As it turned out a little later, the artist traveled to the United States of America. He himself later claimed that he did this in order to improve his own qualifications. After living in a foreign land for several years, he was able to obtain a residence permit, but eventually returned to Russia.

2000s period

These days, Titomir's hero is Ernesto Che Guevara. At the same time, the artist had already given up drugs and began to conduct exclusively healthy image life. He also states that he is ready to help everyone who wants to get rid of drug addiction based on my bitter experience.

In the early 2000s, the singer retrained as a DJ, regularly performing at the console at various concerts.

In 2007, Bogdan Titomir, whose biography and family often became subjects of general discussion, publicly announced that he had decided to return to the stage. And almost immediately released new clip called “Do as I do!” A year later, the artist became the host of the “Striptease Star” program, which he co-hosted with the famous socialite

In 2008, Bogdan created a video for his song “Biksy”, in which the beauty starred, who won a year later All-Russian competition beauty.

In 2009, the artist released another video. This time the song was called "Crisis". By the way, in the same year, the respected print publication Forbes estimated the singer’s fortune at between 6 and 10 million US dollars.

In 2011, the artist created an album called “Very Important Pepper,” which turned out to be joint project musician with the television channel "Peretz".

Facts from personal life

What is Bogdan Titomir like in his personal life? The biography, wife, achievements of the singer - all this has always been analyzed by journalists and the public. At the same time, the musician, despite his advanced age, never created his own family. By his own admission, he does not believe in the institution of marriage and literally revels in his freedom from any personal obligations. He can often be found with various beauties.

But at the dawn of the 2000s, the artist still devoted five years of his life to his only woman. At the same time, he loved her so much that he even wanted children from her. However, when her beloved turned out to be pregnant, her mother literally forcibly took her away from the singer and forced her to have an abortion. As the musician himself recalls, this was the worst period in his already difficult life.

In 2008, Bogdan married a girl, Anna, who performed in the Velvet group. The couple met thanks to the famous Russian rapper Timati, who is a friend of Titomir. The union of Bogdan and Igoshina came as a shock to many, because, according to friends of the girls, she is quite modest for him, despite revealing outfits, and in addition to everything, she herself wrote poems for songs, and also has a strong intellect. Initially, the wedding was postponed for an indefinite period of time, and a little later the lovers broke up completely.

The songs of the group “Kar-man” in its original composition, however, “people hawal” did not last very long - from October 1989 to the end of 1991. Then the artist went solo, recorded several solo dance albums, and became the first popular performer to work in the hip-hop style. His first independent clips, “Do as I do” and “Nonsense,” also appeared on television. “In 1991, I released my own album and sold out entire stadiums. I could easily make money and live luxurious life. But at the peak of my success, I couldn’t stand it and broke down,” Titomir later said. In the second half of the 90s, he simply disappeared - he went to live in the USA for more than three years. By my own admission, to improve my qualifications. He received a residence permit in America, and worked mainly as a producer in New York and Miami. Titomir was considered an authority among artists. As he will later tell you, he admits that they repeatedly tried to remove him because there were problems with the criminal world. Overseas, the singer became interested in Buddhism and Tibetan philosophy, which allowed Bogdan not only to cleanse himself of old habits, but also to seriously improve his health. For example, he completely gave up eating meat, and at the same time, drugs and partially alcohol. “In the mid-90s, I was heavily addicted to drugs, and was even planning to go to a drug treatment clinic. But they dissuaded me then, and I began to overcome my attachment myself. By the way, I also have my own methods, so if anyone is interested, I can act as a doctor,” Bogdan assured. In the early 2000s, the singer began performing not only on stage, but also behind the DJ console, and he also starred in several films. His roles were small, often cameos. Then on the Russian MTV, together with Masha Malinovskaya, the artist hosted the “Striptease Star” program. Titomir's last disc to date was released five years ago. Today he is much more interested in promoting other performers. For example, he conceived the “Guest Worker” project to promote talented newcomers.

“I’m a gourmet in life, I make the most of everything. But this is all only in periods. Sometimes it happens that you go to great lengths, but sometimes you stop, you understand: you’re devastated, all emotions are undermined. So, it’s time to recover, cleanse yourself, so to speak, to remove toxins and get rid of psychosis,” the singer is confident.

Sergei Lemokh and Bogdan Titomir, the lead singers of an “exotic pop duet” called “Car-Man,” once filled stadiums. Then the soloists parted ways. Today their hits are again held in high esteem by the nostalgic public.

“This is San Francisco”, “London, goodbye”, “Ciao bambino!”, “A guy from Africa” - remember how we rocked out to these catchy hits at discos? They were performed by the “exotic pop duet” of Sergei Lemokh and Bogdan Titomir under the somewhat strange name “Kar-man”. “We bought fashionable boots, leather jackets - and off we went. It was my idea, but Lemokh was constantly pushing towards heavy metal,” Bogdan later recalled. After Titomir left the project, he and his team partner parted ways. “Lemokh is stuck on pseudo-rap songs. In general, I’m not interested in this,” he later explained in an interview.
The fact that Titomir himself is a unique phenomenon on our stage can be judged at least by the fact that the CNN channel dedicated a large report from Moscow to Bogdan, and Leonid Parfenov made a special issue about the musician of the documentary project “Portrait in the Background”, in in which the author identified the singer as a person personifying the 90s. It was there that the phrase “People eats” sounded from Titomir’s lips, which later became popular.
The songs of the group “Kar-man” in its original composition, however, “people hawal” did not last very long - from October 1989 to the end of 1991. Then the artist went solo, recorded several solo dance albums, and became the first popular performer to work in the hip-hop style. His first independent clips, “Do as I do” and “Nonsense,” also appeared on television. “In 1991, I released my own album and sold out entire stadiums. He could easily make money and live a luxurious life. But at the peak of my success, I couldn’t stand it and broke down,” Titomir later said.
In the second half of the 90s, he simply disappeared - he went to live in the USA for more than three years. By his own admission, to improve his qualifications. He received a residence permit in America, and worked mainly as a producer in New York and Miami. Titomir was considered an authority among artists. As he will later tell you, he admits that they tried to remove him several times because there were problems with the criminal world.
Overseas, the singer became interested in Buddhism and Tibetan philosophy, which allowed Bogdan not only to cleanse himself of old habits, but also to seriously improve his health. For example, he completely gave up eating meat, and at the same time, drugs and partially alcohol. “In the mid-90s, I was heavily addicted to drugs, and was even planning to go to a drug treatment clinic. But then they dissuaded me, and I began to overcome attachment myself. By the way, I also have my own methods, so if anyone is interested, I can act as a doctor,” Bogdan assured.
In the 2000s, the singer began performing not only on stage, but also behind the DJ console; he also starred in several films. The roles, however, were small, often cameos. Then on the Russian MTV, together with Masha Malinovskaya, the artist hosted the “Striptease Star” program. Titomir's last disc to date was released five years ago. Today he is much more interested in promoting other performers. For example, he conceived the “Guest Worker” project to promote talented newcomers.

“I’m a gourmet in life, I make the most of everything. But this is all only for periods. Sometimes it happens that you go all out, but sometimes you stop, you understand: you’re devastated, all your emotions are undermined. This means it’s time to recover, cleanse yourself, so to speak, remove toxins and get rid of psychosis,” the singer is confident.

Established in 1989 group "Carmen" gained popularity at such a pace that within a few months the whole country knew the name. This was the first male duet in the USSR who performed their own songs, and prepared for each of them choreographic performance. Sergei Lemokh and Bogdan Titomir became idols of hundreds of thousands of listeners, but already in the spring of 1991 the duo broke up, and each of the performers took up solo career. There were several versions about the reasons for the disagreement.

Sergei Lemokh and Bogdan Titomir

Sergei Lemokh and Bogdan Titomir in the late 1980s. worked as a backup dancer for singer Vladimir Maltsev. It was he who first performed the song “Paris, Paris” written by Lemokh, which soon became business card group "Carmen". The “exotic pop duo” began their performances with this name, and in 1990 they changed it to “Car-Man” (“Man-Machine”) - in this way they “meeted the wishes of the listeners, obscuring the original reminder of the insidious Spanish rival of today's young temptresses."

Bogdan Titomir and Sergei Lemokh

The performers themselves interpreted the name of the group as “driver” or “traveler,” which corresponded to the concept of the project: the first album was called “Around the World,” and each song was dedicated to a specific country or city. Later, Sergei Lemokh said about the motives for choosing such a name: “I don’t know what kind of legends there could be here, our team is named after a truck driver, a “man of roads,” and “CarMan” is an American slang name for a truck driver.”

Cover of the band's first album

Some of the most popular artists 1990s

Their popularity was gaining incredible momentum; just six months after the group was founded, it was filling stadiums all over the country; cassettes with pirated recordings were selling out like hot cakes, and then re-recorded on home tape recorders. In 1990, the Moskovsky Komsomolets newspaper conducted a survey, according to the results of which the Kar-Man group became the winner in two categories: “Discovery of the Year” and “Group of the Year”. In the same year, the group received the “Shlager-90” award, and in 1991 they earned several more awards: “50x50”, “Starry Rain” and “Ovation”.

Bogdan Titomir and Sergei Lemokh

In 1991, Bogdan Titomir unexpectedly left the project and began solo activities. As it turned out, the recording company Gala Records offered the Kar-Man group a contract with serious obligations for 10 years in advance, which Lemokh signed, but Titomir refused to sign. The second album, entitled “Kar-Mania”, was released without Titomir’s participation.

Sergey Lemokh

Titomir later admitted that in the last months of the group’s existence he did not communicate with Lemokh at all, they even came to concerts in different cars, and then decided to stop altogether joint activities. Titomir believes that this happened due to different views on music: Lemokh wanted to make the second album similar to the first, and he was already writing other songs, which he soon presented in solo performance - “Do as I do,” “High” and “ Nonsense". Sergei Minaev said: “Lemokh was much more interesting and musical, but Bogdan had a better sense of fashion and the whole market situation.” They also said that the reason for the breakup was that both performers were real leaders, and each of them in the team wanted to be in the lead roles. For the last 20 years, Bogdan Titomir and Sergei Lemokh have not seen each other or communicated.

Lemokh explains that the group “Kar-Man” still packs the halls with its music that is not losing its relevance: “A mixed audience comes to us: adults who remember the 1990s, and young people who know what we do in electro "; as well as his own image: “A pop artist must take care of himself, because the stage and pop music, in particular, sells sex. For a man this is regular classes in gym, physical exercise, healthy sleep, healthy lifestyle, I won’t reveal anything new to you. People in Russia after 40 for some reason stop taking care of themselves, in vain, but the West Lately has a very beneficial effect on us in this regard.”

In the early 90s, the group Carmen (a male exotic pop duo) made a splash by appearing on big TV with the song London Goodbye. Watch Video The guys released the album Around the World, melodic and romantic, it became a fresh spirit of distant countries, love and romance. Each song was dedicated to a city or country.

At that time there was nothing like this in Russian popular music

The Berlin Wall fell and ended cold war and now the borders were open. And they sang about distant lands and romantic relationships. Their songs were played from every car and every stall. They guessed what people needed.

Musical style. Carmen's music can be attributed to the disco style; it is danceable and lightly catchy.

Famous video clip of Carmen - London Goodbye

(watch online)

Technology, Depeche Mode, Lada Dance, Vikor Tsoi and Carmen defined the music of the 90s. Along with Western 2Unlimited, Dr. Alban, Ace of Base. Cassettes with pirated recordings sold out like hot cakes and were re-recorded on home tape recorders, and the guys traveled around the union making money on their popularity. They entertained, not burdened, giving joy during the difficult times of the collapse of the Union.

These were ultra fashionable guys, fashionable music.

Sergey Lemokh

Clip Carmen - Ciao, bombina, signorina is crying

Today Sergei is 47 years old, he is a family man, takes care of his health, and gives concerts with old and new songs. Although his former all-Union glory is gone, he is still in demand and enjoys it. Fit, fashionably cut Sergei from Karmen is a strong-willed, strong-willed leader. In his opinion, the reason for the collapse legendary group- exactly this - there cannot be two leaders in a group. And each of them saw the development of the team in their own way.

Bogdan Titomir

After leaving the Carmen group, Bogdan created the musical movement High Energy (High Energy) and released it in a solo album.

His songs High, Nonsense, Girl in Red are still interesting to listen to. Then under New Year, remember, there was a drug addict song about Hedgehogs - And I love hedgehogs, I get hung up on hedgehogs

Clip by Bogdan Titomir - Do as I do!

However, the sexual revolution and complete freedom of popularity, proclaimed at that time and supported by Bogdan, played a cruel joke on him, for which he paid with his fate. He is also 47, but he is still alone, not married and plays the same games as 20 years ago - picks up chicks and sings bullshit. It seems that a person is frozen in his youth and does not come to his senses.

Titomir and the bachelor party group became symbols of their time, namely freedom and, as a consequence of the sex revolution, promiscuity. After the rise in popularity both in the group and even more solo, there were drugs, women... a trip to the States. Bogdan returned, the girls there were not to his taste.

Today he no longer indulges in the potion, but leads the same bohemian lifestyle.

The relationship between colleagues in the Karman group is strained. They don’t communicate and don’t want to do something together (watch the video)