Off Beat - Leningrad Cowboys

This week's "off beat" feature takes a bit of a different twist focusing on a group, not so much a song. A buddy of mine got me interested in The Leningrad Cowboys several years ago and I've been a big fan ever since.

The group was born as a fictional band in the 1989 film Leningrad Cowboys Go America. Who knew they would catch on? But they did and they've been going strong for 20 years.

Funnily enough, the Leningrad Cowboys aren't from Russia. They're from Helsinki Finland. But their Russian stage shtick, their unicorn pompadours and their half-metre sharp, pointy shoes have helped make them the cult favourites that they are.

In 1993, the Cowboys performed a concert with the full 160-member Russian Alexandrov ensemble in Helsinki, Finland. A film of the concert, Total Balalaika Show, was released the following year. One of the songs from the film was Knockin On Heaven's Door...