As quoted in the blog What Fresh Hell is This (overall the best source on information on Black Russian that I was able to find on the Internet), People magazine said of the group in their October 16, 1980 issue: "The Kapustins were members of Sovremennik, a state-run pop orchestra, with Natasha [Kapustin] on vocals and piano and Serge [Kapustin] on guitar and percussion. Vladimir [Shneider] produced and played piano for the Singing Hearts, which was one of Russia's hottest groups in the mid-'70s. But, as Vladimir notes, they were pumping out more agitprop than pop. 'We'd sing 37 songs about how good the Communist Party is, and at the end — if we were lucky — we were allowed to play a mellow song like 'Killing Me Softly' or 'Ain't No Sunshine'. But never rock."
What Fresh Hell is This quotes this item in the June 14. 1980 issue of Billboard Magazine about Black Russian: "Actually from the U.S.S.R., Black Russian is a pop trio which makes crystalline pop/r&b that comes across as a more r&b-oriented ABBA. Natasha Kapustin has an excellent soaring voice. 'Leave Me Now' really gives her room to show off her vocal strength. The production is exceptionally clean with Vladimir Shneider's keyboard and the synthesizers of Serge [Kapustin] and Natasha Kapustin lending a cushy sheen. The album is evenly divided between uptempo dance cuts and moody ballads. Best cuts: 'Mystified', 'Leave Me Now', 'Emptiness', 'New York City', 'Love's Enough'."
(April 2015/1)
