Ukrainians

The Ukrainians are a British band, which plays traditional Ukrainian music, heavily influenced by western post-punk. The Ukrainians were formed in 1990 by Wedding Present guitarist Peter Solowka, with singer/violinist Len Liggins and mandolin player Roman Remeynes, after all three had played on the Wedding Present's Ukrainian John Peel Sessions recordings (Ukrayinski Vystupy v Johna Peela, released 1989). Following the success of that release, the trio began composing and recording in Ukrainian as a separate band. In 1991, their first EP, Oi Divchino, was awarded Single of the Week by British music weekly, NME. Notably, the video for this release was filmed in pre-revolution Kiev making them the first western band to produce a video entirely in Eastern Europe. In the same year, Solowka left the Wedding Present, later claiming that he had been kicked out, the success of the Ukrainian project making him the scapegoat for the band's lack of mainstream success. Since 1991, the band have released five studio albums as well as various live albums and EPs, all without chart success in the UK. They continue to tour regularly, especially in Poland and England. and celebrated 20 years of their first release in 2011 with a tour of British Ukrainian clubs.

Links To Peel
Between 1986 and 1989, the Wedding Present (labelled incorrectly by the British press as heir apparent to the Smiths) periodically went into the BBC studio of John Peel and recorded traditional Ukrainian folk songs. Eventually, three members of the Wedding Present would branch off to form the Ukrainians in 1990. The Ukrainians only did two sessions for Peel's show in 1991 and 1993. However Peel seemed to have lost interest in the band after the mid 90's, as he rarely played any of their later material.

Sessions
1. Recorded: 1991-09-24. Broadcast: 16 November 1991. Repeated: 21 December 1991 2. Recorded: 1993-01-19. Broadcast: 20 February 1993. Repeated: 19 June 1993
 * Rospryahaite (Harness Up Your Horses) / Ti Moyi Radoshchi (You Are My Joy You Are) / Dity Plachut (The Children Are Crying) / Teper Hovorymo (Now We're Talking) (Inst)


 * Zillya Zelenenke (The Little Green Herb) / Durak (Madman) / The Leeds Waltz / Vona Moya (Ça Plane Pour Moi)

Other Shows Played
(The following list was compiled only from the database of this site and Lorcan's Tracklistings Archive and is certainly incomplete. Please add further details if known.)

1991 1992 1993 1994
 * 27 July 1991: 'Oi Divchino' (12" EP) Cooking Vinyl
 * 04 August 1991: 'Zavtra (12"-The Ukrainians)' (Cooking Vinyl)
 * Best Of 1991 Vol 1: “Harness Up Your Horses” (session)
 * Best Of 1991 Vol 1: “You Are My Joy You Are My Grief (A Heartbroken Young Man Reminisces About His Lost Love)” (session)
 * Best Of 1991 Vol 3: Oi Divchino (12" EP) Cooking Vinyl
 * Best Of 1991 Vol 4: Hopak
 * Best Of 1991 Vol 5: "A Song Asking God To Free Ukraine From The Hand Of The Devil"
 * Best Of 1991 Vol 5: Unknown instrumental (session)
 * 01 November 1992 (Ö3): 'Batyar (Bigmouth Strikes Again) (CDS-Pisni Iz The Smiths)' (Cooking Vinyl)
 * 19 December 1992: (JP: 'And now, episode two, in which the Ukrainians have a good idea.') 'Batyar (Bigmouth Strikes Again) (EP-Pizni Iz The Smiths)' (Cooking Vinyl)
 * Mainly Peel December 1992: Batyar (Bigmouth Strikes Again) (EP - Pizni Iz The Smiths) Cooking Vinyl
 * Best Of 1992 Vol 5: Rospryahaite (Peel Session)
 * Best Of 1992 Vol 5: Dity Plachut (The Children Are Crying) (session)
 * 01 January 1993: 'Batyar (Bigmouth Strikes Again) (CD-Pisni Iz The Smiths)' (Cooking Vinyl) (JP: 'If any of the Ukrainians are listening, my 1993 New Year's challenge to you is to translate some Mark E. Smith lyrics into Ukrainian, come into the studios and record them in session. I should like to hear that.')
 * 10 January 1993 (BFBS): Batyar (EP - Pisni Is The Smiths) Cooking Vinyl
 * 15 January 1993: 'Venus In Furs' (LP 'Vorony') Cooking Vinyl
 * 17 January 1993 (BFBS): Batyar (Bigmouth Strikes Again) (EP - Pisni Iz The Smiths) Cooking Vinyl
 * 17 January 1993 (BFBS): Vorony (album - Vorony) Cooking Vinyl
 * 22 January 1993: Na Skriptsi Hrayu (CD - Vorony) Cooking Vinyl
 * 31 January 1993 (BFBS): Chekannya (Venus In Furs) (album - Vorony) Cooking Vinyl
 * 31 January 1993 (BFBS): Na Skriptsi Hrayu (album - Vorony) Cooking Vinyl
 * 07 February 1993 (BFBS): Unknown track (album - Vorony) Cooking Vinyl
 * 05 March 1993: 'Teper Mi Hovorymo (CD-Vorony)' (Cooking Vinyl)
 * 12 March 1993: 'Rospryahaite (CD-Vorony)' (Cooking Vinyl)
 * 21 March 1993 (BFBS): Teper Mi Hovorymo (album - Vorony) Cooking Vinyl
 * Peel Out In The States (Program 01): 'Batyar (Bigmouth Strikes Again) (CDS-Pisni Iz The Smiths)' (Cooking Vinyl)
 * Peel Out In The States (Program 03): 'Chekannya (Venus In Furs) (CD-Vorony)' (Cooking Vinyl)
 * 15 January 1994: ‘The Queen Is Dead’ (12 inch promo – Live In Germany) (Blue)
 * 30 July 1994 (BFBS): unknown track (10" album - Live In Germany) Blue