The Real Deal (History of Margovya)

The Real Deal is a Margovyan rock band that was formed in 1994 as an independent band before getting signed in to Tidzhomov Music Records in 1998 following vocalist finishing as first runner-up in the 1998 season of . The band is currently composed of 1994 Svolochy Showdown Top 9 contestant, his brother , and former  bassist , with touring members consisting of actor-singers  and.

During their entire career as a band, The Real Deal has released a total of eighteen albums, which include one independent album, The Raging Fire (1997), nine studio albums, five live albums, and three compilation albums.

Formation and The Raging Fire (1994-1998)
Shortly after getting eliminated from the 1994 season of the Margovyan singing contest Svolochy Showdown, Top 6 contestant formed the band with his best friend, 18 year old, along with Vizinski's fellow contestant in Svolochy Showdown, , who finished at Top 9, and his younger brother. They started as an independent band, going on gigs at bars and covering, , and songs. Slowly getting noticed on the streets of Svelovsk, Ikanua, the band started writing their own original songs, most of them written by Vizinsky himself.

In 1997, the band recorded one independent album, The Raging Fire, which sold as much as 3,800 copies throughout the province of Ikanua, and on some of its neighboring provinces.

The Real Deal and transition to mainstream (1998-1999)
Due to the lack of positive response from record labels despite the success of their independent album, The Real Deal decided to have Vizinsky audition for Svolochy Showdown for the second time. Despite only finishing second to pop icon Anya Janduva, Vizinsky and The Real Deal were signed in to Tidzhomov Music Records in May 1998. Their eponymous first studio album was released on December 12, 1998, with Vizinsky's winner's single from Svolochy Showdown, "Road's End," released as the band's first single on November 28, 1998.

The Real Deal's eponymous first album consisted of three songs from their independent album, ten songs co-written by the members of the band, and a cover of 's. The release of their second single from the album, "Burning House" in January 8, 1999 marked a huge turning point in their career, as the album reached platinum status shortly after, selling a total of 9.6 million copies by March 15, and all the succeeding singles for the album topped the Margovyan Top 100.

Twenty oh-oh (1999-2000)
Shortly after the released of "Lost in the Sea," the fourth and final single from The Real Deal on March 2, 1999, Vizinsky started writing songs for their next album, which was to coincide with Tidzhomov's New Millenium Special for the turn of the millenium. They decided to name the album "," which is, according to Vizinsky, "either an artistic or a pretentious way of pronouncing the year 2000." He also added that they were also trying to break out of their comfort zone, incorporating into their artistic voice and style what other people might see as pretentious.

On May 1999, the band started recording songs for Twenty oh-oh, the first one being "25," which is about a young man living what it's like to be 25, partying all night, and ending up in his own home with a different woman every morning. The single was released on September 2, 1999, Vizinsky's 25th birthday. Two more singles from Twenty oh-oh were released before the album's release on January 1, 2000, namely "Poser" and "Livin' Like a Douche" on November and December 1999, respectively. The fourth single, "Year-end Jam," debuted at the top of the Margovyan Top 50 a week after its release on January 27, 2000. The band also recorded "Party Like It's 1999" for the soundtrack of the, which was also released as the fifth single for Twenty oh-oh on March 29, 2000, one week after the release of the movie.

Scream and Shout (2000-2002)
After their worldwide "Party Like It's 1999" tour following the success of Twenty oh-oh, the band announced that they were already in the making of a third studio album, which was entitled "," from the title of which came to be the first single of the album, and eventually the band's biggest hit in their career. The band started recording songs for the album on June 2000, and released the first single, "" on December 20, 2000, which achieved massive international commercial success as early as five days after its release.

The album was released on March 15, 2001, which sold 10.6 million copies worldwide. According to music critics, both Scream and Shout and Twenty oh-oh contained amazing hits that defined the Margovyan and South American hardcore and metal rock music of the early 2000's. The song "Scream and Shout" and the album got The Real Deal the Grammy Award for "Song of the Year" and "Album of the Year," respectively, on February 2002.

Shortly after the release of the album's fifth single "Kiss" on June 27, 2001, The Real Deal announced their worldwide "Scream and Shout" tour, where actor-singer will be going on tour with them.

Vizinsky's Death and hiatus (2002-2003)
Shortly after the success of the "Scream and Shout" tour, the band started writing and recording their supposed fourth studio album, "Solar Eclipse." They recorded one song, "Have You Ever," which eventually made it as the first single of the album, on December 2001. However, Andrey Vizinsky's death in a car accident on January 24, 2002 had the production of the band's current album completely halted. The remaining members tried completing the album on their own, but couldn't make it work.

On March 27, 2002, Marvik Rondayev announced that the band is going on indefinite hiatus, as they will have to find time to recreate their music and make up for what turned out to be a huge loss in the band as a whole. Eventually, the band returned to performing gigs on bars, while trying their best to make the band work with just the three of them. Eventually, they decided to hire a new vocalist for The Real Deal. On September 2002, the band initiated a worldwide audition for the a new lead vocalist. It took them almost six months before they finally settled on actor-singer, who was also featured on a song in the band's second studio album.

On April 1, 2003, Rondayev announced that The Real Deal is back, introducing Talnaev as their new lead vocalist. The band also agreed on a new arrangement: Marvik Rondayev took the lead guitar, which was previously Vizinsky's, while Talnaev will play rhythm guitar. Pyotr Shevchenko will no longer play back-up vocals, and will just focus on playing the bass guitar.

The Real Deal's return and Solar Eclipse (2003-2005)
After going on a tour with their current lineup, the band decided to continue with the production of their fourth studio album, with one song up and ready to release, and an incomplete song which was reworked using other recordings of Vizinsky's singing voice from other songs, and unused sound clips.

For to introduce Hafimwahlid Talnaev as the band's new lead vocalist, The Real Deal recorded a version of "Have You Ever" with Talnaev and released it as the first single of the album on September 2, 2004. The track contained Talnaev's version, and the original version recorded with Vizinsky in 2001. It debuted at the top of the Margovyan Top 50, and won the band a Grammy Award for Song of the Year in 2005. The band released another single, their cover version of the 1981 Frisbee hit "Mockery," on November 10, 2004.

The album, keeping the title , was released on December 4, 2004, and reached platinum status by January 6, 2005, with the third single, "Never Again," released shortly after, on February 12, 2005. Another single, "Heaven," was released on April 18, 2005. The titular song, "Solar Eclipse," which featured of Admit One, was released on August 6, 2005.

Due to the success of the album, the band announced the worldwide "Victory, My Name is Vizinsky" tour on February 10, 2005, two days before the release of "Never Again." Pp singers and, who recorded one song (each) with the band for Solar Eclipse, are coming on the tour with them, along with permanent touring member.

Greatest Hits, Chapter One and Shevchenko's departure (2005-2007)
While they were on their "Victory, My Name is Vizinsky" tour celebrating their return to the industry, the band decided to release a greatest hits album, which will contain the most successful and most promising hits from their early years of their career. The album contained a total of sixteen songs: three from The Real Deal, three from Twenty oh-oh, five from Scream and Shout, three from Solar Eclipse, and two previously unreleased songs.

Shortly after the release of the album, which they chose to call , on January 12, 2006, the studio started releasing the three songs that were added to the album, the first one being "Go" in March 13, 2006, which prompted the band to conduct another tour, "The Great All Around the World Tour," while their four-year-long "Victory, My Name is Vizinsky" tour was still on-going.

However, on May 15, 2006, only three days after the release of the second single from the compilation album, "Save Me," bassist and now primary lyricist Pyotr Shevchenko announced leaving the band for personal and family purposes. He officially bid farewell to the fans in their May 21, 2006 "Victory, My Name is Vizinsky" concert in Svolochyville, Opula. However, not one year later, Shevchenko released his eponymous first studio album as a solo artist, under Black Box records.

Both the "Victory, My Name is Vizinsky" and the "Great All Around the World" tours were paused after Shevchenko's departure. During an interview with Svetlana Lanuva on June 20, 2006, Marvik Rondayev said that the band was on the verge of splitting up.

Members

 * Current members
 * &mdash; back-up vocals (1994-present); rhythm guitar (1994-2002); lead vocals (2002-2003); lead guitar (2002-present)
 * &mdash; drums (1994-present)
 * &mdash; bass (2006-present)


 * Touring members
 * &mdash; back-up vocals (2000-present)
 * &mdash; back-up vocals, percussion (2016-present)
 * &mdash; back-up vocals, percussion (2005-2009)
 * &mdash; back-up vocals, synthesizer, keyboards (2005-2009)


 * Past members
 * &mdash; lead vocals, lead guitar (1994-2002; deceased)
 * &mdash; bass, back-up vocals (1994-2006)
 * Hafimwahlid Talnaev &mdash; lead vocals (2003-2016)

Studio albums

 * The Raging Fire (independent) (1997)
 *  (1998)
 *  (2000)
 *  (2001)
 *  (2004)
 * Two Steps to Paradise (2008)
 * Clutch (2010)
 * 27 (2012)
 * Underneath My Balls (2013)
 * The Cover Up (2015)

Live Albums

 * The Real Deal: Live! (1999)
 * The Great Continental Album (2000)
 * Mic Test: The Live Shows (2004)
 * Live With the Stars (2009)
 * Drinking Sessions (2013)

Compilation Albums

 *  (2006)
 * Greatest Hits, Chapter Two (2014)
 * The Essential Real Deal (2016)

Extended plays

 * Mic Test (2003)
 * Suit Up! (2014)

Tours

 * The Raging Fire Tour (1998)
 * The Real Deal Tour (1998-1999)
 * Party Like It's 1999 Tour (2000)
 * Scream and Shout Tour (2001)
 * Mic Test Tour (2003-2004)
 * Victory, My Name is Vizinsky Tour (2005-2009)
 * The Great All Around the World Tour (2006-2008)
 * The Summer Paradise Tour (2008-2009)
 * Clutch Tour (2010-2011)
 * The 27 Club Tour (2011-2013)
 * Rock On! Tour (2013-2014)
 * The Cover Up Tour (2016-present)

Controversy
During an interview on Svetlana Lanuva Late at Night in September 2000, Andrey Vizinsky revealed one of the real reasons why he decided to re-audition for Svolochy Showdown in 1998; the release of their independent album got a negative response from Wagner Brothers Studios. Vizinsky quoted the label's exact response: "Sorry, but if some sh*t of a street band is going to leave a poor excuse of an album on our doorstep, you guys might as well kill themselves, or show up on the label, so we can do the honors." The interview inadvertently initiated a boycott against Wagner Brothers Studios and all of its talents. On November 2000, Wagner Brothers Studios filed a libel case against Vizinsky, but eventually, things were settled out of court.

However, in March 2001, Vizinsky did make a public apology to Wagner Brothers Studios, its talents, and the fans of those talents, saying that it was very personal, and that he shouldn't have revealed the name of the label, and that he shouldn't have said their exact words. He also added that causing a great downfall to the careers of the talents of the said label wasn't in any way his intention, and that he wasn't trying to get revenge as well; he just "stated what the Margovyan public had to know about them, their career, and the challenges that made them stronger as a band."

Awards

 * 1997 - Margovyan Music Festival Awards for Best Indie Rock Album (The Raging Fire)
 * 1998 - Grammy Awards for Best New Artist
 * 1998 - Margovyan Music Festival Awards for Best Album (The Real Deal)
 * 1998 - Margovyan Music Festival Awards for Best Song ("Road's End")
 * 1998 - Sergei Eisenstein Performing Arts Awards for Best Cover ("Semi-Charmed Life")
 * 1999 - MNBN Awards for Best Artist
 * 1999 - Margovyan Music Festival Awards for Best Band
 * 2000 - Hardcore Underground Music Awards for Best Album (Twenty oh-oh)
 * 2000 - Hardcore Underground Music Awards for Best Rock Song ("25")
 * 2000 - Margovyan Music Festival Awards for Best Album (Twenty oh-oh)
 * 2001 - Academy Awards for Best Original Song ("Party Like It's 1999")
 * 2001 - Margovyan People's Choice Awards for Best Artist
 * 2001 - Margovyan Music Festival Awards for Best Band
 * 2001 - Margovyan Music Festival Awards for Best Collaboration ("Kiss" feat. )
 * 2001 - Margovyan Music Awards for Best Album (Scream and Shout)
 * 2001 - Margovyan Music Awards for Best Song ("Scream and Shout")
 * 2001 - Hardcore Underground Music Awards for Best Album (Scream and Shout)
 * 2001 - Hardcore Underground Music Awards for Best Hardcore Metal Song ("Scream and Shout")
 * 2001 - Hardcore Underground Music Awards for Best Artist
 * 2001 - Sergei Eisenstein Performaing Arts Awards for Best Artist
 * 2002 - Grammy Awards for Album of the Year (Scream and Shout)
 * 2002 - Grammy Awards for Song of the Year ("Scream and Shout")
 * 2002 - Margovyan Music Awards for Best Band
 * 2002 - Sergei Eisenstein Performing Arts Awards for Best Artist
 * 2002 - Hardcore Underground Music Awards for Best Artist
 * 2005 - Hardcore Underground Music Awards for Best Comeback Album (Solar Eclipse)
 * 2005 - Grammy Awards for Song of the Year ("Have You Ever")
 * 2006 - Margovyan Music Festival Awards for Best Compilation Album (Greatest Hits, Chapter One)
 * 2006 - Hardcore Underground Music Awards for Best Compilation Album (Greatest Hits, Chapter One)