The nomenklatura (, ) were a category of people within the Soviet Union and other Eastern Bloc countries who held various key administrative positions in all spheres of those countries' activity: government, industry, agriculture, education, etc., whose positions were granted only with approval by the communist party of each country or region.

Virtually all were members of the Communist Party. Some authors who opposed the Soviet regime, such as Milovan Đilas, critically defined them as a new class. Orthodox Trotskyism uses the term ''caste'' rather than ''class'', because they saw the Soviet Union as a degenerated workers' state, not a new class society. Later developments of Trotsky's theories, notably Tony Cliff's theory of State Capitalism, did refer to the nomenklatura as a new ''class''.

Etymology

The Russian term derived from the Latin ''nomenclatura'' meaning a list of names.

The term was popularized by the Soviet dissident Michael Voslenski, who in 1970 wrote a book titled ''Nomenklatura: The Soviet Ruling Class'' ().

Description

The nomenklatura referred to the Communist party's authority to make appointments to key positions throughout the governmental system, as well as throughout the party's own hierarchy. Specifically, the nomenklatura consisted of two separate lists: one was for key positions, appointments to which were made by authorities within the party; the other was for persons who were potential candidates for appointment to those positions. The Politburo, as part of its nomenklatura authority, maintained a list of ministerial and ambassadorial positions that it had the power to fill, as well as a separate list of potential candidates to occupy those positions.

Coextensive with the nomenklatura were patron-client relations. Officials who had the authority to appoint individuals to certain positions cultivated loyalties among those whom they appointed. The patron (the official making the appointment) promoted the interests of clients in return for their support. Powerful patrons, such as the members of the Politburo, had many clients. Moreover, an official could be both a client (in relation to a higher-level patron) and a patron (to other, lower-level officials).

Because a client was beholden to his patron for his position, the client was eager to please his patron by carrying out his policies. The Soviet power structure essentially consisted (according to its critics) of groups of vassals (clients) who had an overlord (the patron). The higher the patron, the more clients the patron had. Patrons protected their clients and tried to promote their careers. In return for the patron's efforts to promote their careers, the clients remained loyal to their patron. Thus, by promoting his clients' careers, the patron could advance his own power.

The Party's appointment authority

The nomenklatura system arose early in Soviet history. Vladimir Lenin wrote that appointments were to take the following criteria into account: reliability, political attitude, qualifications, and administrative ability. Joseph Stalin, who was the first general secretary of the party, also was known as "Comrade File Cabinet" (Tovarishch Kartotekov) for his assiduous attention to the details of the party's appointments. Seeking to make appointments in a more systematic fashion, Stalin built the party's patronage system and used it to distribute his clients throughout the party bureaucracy. Under Stalin's direction in 1922, the party created departments of the Central Committee and other organs at lower levels that were responsible for the registration and appointment of party officials. Known as uchraspredy, these organs supervised appointments to important party posts. According to American sovietologist Seweryn Bialer, after Leonid Brezhnev's accession to power in October 1964, the party considerably expanded its appointment authority. However, in the late 1980s some official statements indicated that the party intended to reduce its appointment authority, particularly in the area of economic management, in line with Mikhail Gorbachev's reform efforts.

At the all-union level, the Party Building and Cadre Work Department supervised party nomenklatura appointments. This department maintained records on party members throughout the country, made appointments to positions on the all-union level, and approved nomenklatura appointments on the lower levels of the hierarchy. The head of this department sometimes was a member of the Secretariat and was often a protégé of the general secretary.

Every party committee and party organizational department—from the all-union level in Moscow to the district and city levels—prepared two lists according to their needs. The basic (osnovnaia) list detailed positions in the political, administrative, economic, military, cultural, and educational bureaucracies that the committee and its department had responsibility for filling. The registered (uchetnaia) list enumerated the persons suitable for these positions.

Patron–client relations

An official in the party or government bureaucracy could not advance in the nomenklatura without the assistance of a patron. In return for this assistance in promoting his career, the client carried out the policies of the patron. Patron–client relations thus help to explain the ability of party leaders to generate widespread support for their policies. The presence of patron–client relations between party officials and officials in other bureaucracies also helped to account for the large-scale control the party exercised over the Soviet society. All of the 2 million members of the nomenklatura system understood that they held their positions only as a result of a favor bestowed on them by a superior official in the party, and that they could easily be replaced if they manifested disloyalty to their patron. Self-interest dictated that members of the nomenklatura submit to the control of their patrons in the party.

Clients sometimes could attempt to supplant their patron. For example, Nikita Khrushchev, one of Lazar M. Kaganovich's former protégés, helped to oust the latter in 1957. Seven years later, Leonid Brezhnev, a client of Khrushchev, helped to remove his boss from power. The power of the general secretary was consolidated to the extent that he placed his clients in positions of power and influence. The ideal for the general secretary, writes Soviet émigré observer Michael Voslensky, "is to be overlord of vassals selected by oneself."

Several factors explain the entrenchment of patron–client relations. First, in a centralized government system, promotion in the bureaucratic-political hierarchy was the only path to power. Second, the most important criterion for promotion in this hierarchy was approval from one's supervisors, who evaluated their subordinates on the basis of political criteria and their ability to contribute to the fulfillment of the economic plan. Third, political rivalries were present at all levels of the party and state bureaucracies but were especially prevalent at the top. Power and influence decided the outcomes of these struggles, and the number and positions of one's clients were critical components of that power and influence. Fourth, because fulfillment of the economic plan was decisive, systemic pressures led officials to conspire together and use their ties to achieve that goal.

The faction led by Brezhnev provides a good case study of patron–client relations in the Soviet system. Many members of the Brezhnev faction came from Dnepropetrovsk, where Brezhnev had served as first secretary of the provincial party organization. Andrei P. Kirilenko, a Politburo member and Central Committee secretary under Brezhnev, was first secretary of the regional committee of Dnepropetrovsk. Volodymyr Shcherbyts'kyy, named as first secretary of the Ukrainian apparatus under Brezhnev, succeeded Kirilenko in that position. Nikolai Alexandrovich Tikhonov, appointed by Brezhnev as first deputy chairman of the Soviet Union's Council of Ministers, graduated from the Dnepropetrovsk College of Metallurgy, and presided over the economic council of Dnepropetrovsk Oblast. Finally, Nikolai A. Shchelokov, minister of internal affairs under Brezhnev, was a former chairman of the Dnepropetrovsk soviet.

Patron–client relations had implications for policy making in the party and government bureaucracies. Promotion of trusted subordinates into influential positions facilitated policy formation and policy execution. A network of clients helped to ensure that a patron's policies could be carried out. In addition, patrons relied on their clients to provide an accurate flow of information on events throughout the country. This information assisted policymakers in ensuring that their programs were being implemented.

The New Class

Milovan Djilas, an opponent of the Soviet regime, wrote of the nomenklatura as the new class in his book ''New Class: An Analysis of the Communist System'', and he claimed that it was seen by ordinary citizens as a bureaucratic élite that enjoyed special privileges and had supplanted the earlier wealthy capitalist élites.

See also

Apparatchik

Criticisms of communist party rule

Eastern Bloc politics

Eastern Bloc economies

New Soviet man

New class

Partmaximum

References

-

Further reading

*Russian original was written in 1970, distributed by ''samizdat'', and eventually printed as Восленский М.С., Номенклатура. Господствующий класс Советского Союза. М., 1991.

Category:Soviet phraseology Category:Social groups Category:Russian loanwords Category:Military-industrial complex

bg:Номенклатура cs:Nomenklatura (politika) de:Nomenklatura et:Nomenklatuur (eliit) es:Nomenklatura fr:Nomenklatura hr:Komunistička nomenklatura io:Nomenklatura it:Nomenklatura nl:Nomenklatoera ja:ノーメンクラトゥーラ no:Nomenklatura pl:Nomenklatura (polityka) pt:Nomenklatura ro:Nomenklatura ru:Советская номенклатура fi:Nomenklatuura sv:Nomenklatura uk:Партноменклатура

name	Front 242
background	group_or_band
origin	Belgium
genre	EBM, Industrial, Techno |occupation
years active	1981–present
label	Another Side, Red Rhino Europe, Animalized, Wax Trax!, Epic, XIII Bis Records, Alfa Matrix|
current members	Jean-Luc De MeyerDaniel BressanuttiPatrick CodenysRichard JonckheereTim Kroker
past members	Dirk BergenJean-Marc PaulyPierre PaulyKristin KowalskiEran WestwoodJohn DubsJean-Marc Lederman
notable instruments	}}

Front 242 is a pioneering Belgian electronic music group that came into prominence during the 1980s. During their most active period (effectively ending in 1993 with the albums 06:21:03:11 Up Evil and 05:22:09:12 Off) they influenced many electro-industrial and electronic artists.

History

Formation

When industrial music developed in England in the mid-1970s with Cabaret Voltaire and Throbbing Gristle, these groups used electronic instruments, percussion with found objects, and looped samples of "found" soundbites, elements later taken up by Front 242. These techniques can be seen as an extension of the use of electronic sources of sound as musical instruments and percussion with found objects by composer Edgard Varèse.

Front 242 was created in 1981 in Aarschot, near Brussels, Belgium, by Daniel Bressanutti and Dirk Bergen, who wanted to create music and graphic design using emerging electronic tools. The first single, "Principles", was released in 1981. The ''front'' part of the name comes from the idea of an organized popular uprising. Patrick Codenys and Jean-Luc De Meyer had separately formed a group called ''Under Viewer'' at about the same time, and the two duos joined together in 1982. Bressanutti, Codenys and De Meyer took turns on vocals at first, until they settled on De Meyer as the lead vocalist (early recordings with Bressanutti on vocals have recently been released). De Meyer came to write most of the lyrics and Valerie Jane Steele also wrote several tracks including "Don't Crash". They decided not to use the regular waveform settings on their synthesizers, arguing that creating the waveform for each note was part of the creative process.

Their next single, "U-Men", was released in 1982, followed by the band's first album ''Geography'' that same year. These first releases were cited as influential to other artists in the genre; however, they were not strong and hard-hitting as the group's later efforts. In 1983, Dirk Bergen left the band to pursue graphic design, and Richard Jonckheere, referred to as Richard 23, joined as vocalist.

Rising Popularity

Front 242 became a popular musical group in Belgium. Their next album, ''No Comment'', released in 1984, was the first to introduce the term "Electronic Body Music" in association with their sound. Front 242 signed with the Wax Trax! label in 1984, and started their first tour in the United States with Ministry. This tour led to the creation of Revolting Cocks by Richard 23, Luc Van Acker, Alain Jourgensen of Ministry and others.

In 1987, Front 242 signed with Wax Trax! Records in the U.S. and Red Rhino in Europe, and released ''Backcatalogue'' and ''Official Version'',.

In 1988, ''Front by Front'' was released, and in December of that same year, "Headhunter" (with a video by Anton Corbijn), became the band's first club hit, reaching #13 on the Billboard Dance/Club Play Songs chart.

1990s

''Tyranny >For You<'', released in 1991, became the band's highest charting album of all time, reaching #95 on the Billboard 200. ''Tyranny'' was the first album they released under contract with a major corporate label, Sony/Epic, after the widespread popularity of ''Front by Front''. Sony/Epic also acquired the rights to the band's back catalog from Wax Trax! and issued re-released versions of the albums with new cover art and bonus tracks taken from singles and EPs.

A broader public was exposed to Front 242's music in 1992 in the film ''Single White Female'', starring Bridget Fonda and Jennifer Jason Leigh. In the film, obsessed roommate Leigh ties Fonda to a chair but leaves her with the television remote control. In order to attract attention, Fonda tunes in to a music video channel and turns up the volume. The video playing at the time is Front 242's "Rhythm Of Time", from the album ''Tyranny >For You<''. Also in 1992, the television commercials for the film ''K2'' were set to the Front 242 song "Moldavia", from the same album.

In 1992, Bressanutti returned to combining graphic arts with music, taking his lithographs on tour to three U.S. galleries. Bressanutti also composed a solo half-hour atmospheric recording called ''Art and Strategy'' (or The Art Corporation) to play during viewings of the lithographs, and released it in a limited edition of 1,000 CDs.

Front 242's style shifted abruptly with each of their next two albums, released in rapid succession in 1993 on Epic's sub-label RRE (originally planned as a double-CD): ''06:21:03:11 UP EVIL'' and ''05:22:09:12 OFF'' (the numbers correspond to letters, spelling "FUCK UP EVIL" and "EVIL OFF"). The band describes the two albums as "based on the duality of good and evil." However, strains were emerging, with the band members apparently having different artistic views. Despite these tensions, they performed on the main stage of the 1993 Lollapalooza tour.

Neither of these albums had significant input from Richard 23, and ''05:22:09:12 OFF'' only included their lead vocalist, Jean-Luc De Meyer, on a remixed track originally from ''Up Evil''. On the other hand, a variety of new contributors were listed as members of Front 242 on these albums: Jean-Marc Pauly and Pierre Pauly (of the Belgian electronic group Parade Ground) on ''Up Evil'', and 99 Kowalski and Eran Westwood on ''Off''.

99 Kowalski is the stage name of Kristin Kowalski, making a tradition out of Richard 23's idea of number-as-name. Kowalski and Westwood were originally members of a New York City band called Spill who Bressanutti and Codenys had brought to Belgium to produce their debut album. After the recording sessions fell apart, they contributed to Front 242 on the ''Off'' release.

After the release of ''06:21:03:11 Up Evil'' and ''05:22:09:12 Off'', there was no new material from Front 242 under any lineup. Instead, the band released a stream of live recordings and remixes. However, this period also saw a proliferation of side projects, an inordinate number of which involved De Meyer.

Earlier, Richard 23 played in the Revolting Cocks, and De Meyer had a side project doing vocals for Bigod 20 for their single, "The Bog" in 1990. In 1995, De Meyer met Marc Heal of Cubanate at a Front Line Assembly concert, and the two of them collaborated along with Ged Denton and Jonathan Sharp, to record as Cyber-Tec Project for the new (and short-lived) Cyber-Tec record label.

After the departure of Sharp and the demise of the Cyber-Tec label, the remaining group continued working under the name C-Tec. De Meyer also took over as vocalist for Birmingham 6 for their 1996 album ''Error of Judgment''. 1996 also saw the debut album ''Elemental'' from Cobalt 60, which De Meyer formed with Dominique Lallement and Frederic Sebastien of Reims, France, members of Kriegbereit. This was the start of a number of releases from Cobalt 60, which also did the soundtrack for the video game ''Wing Commander V''. Meanwhile, Richard 23 recorded with the groups Holy Gang, and later, LaTchak.

The four core members of Front 242 regrouped in 1998 to compose radically reworked versions of many of their songs, which they then performed on their first tour in five years, appropriately called the Re:Boot tour. They acknowledged the influence of The Prodigy and their ''Fat of the Land'' album in crafting the new, more techno style of Re:Boot.

The new tour material was the subject of Front 242's new recording contract in the U.S. with Metropolis Records. Front 242 also indicated at this time that they were recording new material. However, they had little activity after 1998, making occasional appearances in Europe and Mexico, while Codenys recorded under the name Gaiden with Steve Stoll in 2001.

2000s

2002 saw the beginning of a wave of new material from Bresanutti and Codenys, and then from Front 242. In August 2002 a DVD/CD two-disc set called ''Speed Tribe'' was released by Dance.com. The DVD was a collaboration with experimental documentary filmmakers Rod Chong and Sharon Matarazzo, who filmed the 2001 24 Hour Le Mans. In the video, the racecars, clouds, rain and spectators form an impressionistic visual backdrop for the music.

Several months later, the first release from Male or Female, also known as Morf, a new project for Bresanutti and Codenys along with vocalist Elko Blijweert. In 2002 and 2003, Morf released an album, an E.P., a double album, and a DVD/CD two-disc combo, on the Belgian record label Alfa Matrix, and went on tour through the U.S.

Then, 2002 and 2003 also saw the release of the new material from Front 242 in a decade: the E.P. ''Still and Raw'' and the album ''Pulse'', released on XIIIBis Records in Europe and Metropolis in the U.S. These represented another iteration of Front 242's explicitly stated goal of reinventing itself. The style of the two new releases is more mellow than some of their past work, using more "glitchy" and "bleepy" sounds. As well, it uses the manipulated voice as a musical instrument. The new releases have a much more emotional style from De Meyer, which was presaged in his later recordings with C-Tec and particularly Cobalt 60 on its album ''Twelve''.

Front 242 promised a new U.S. tour to perform new material from these releases. They have made occasional appearances in Latin America and Europe, even being rejoined by Dirk Bergen for a reunion concert in Aarschot (De Klinker club) in 2004 under the original lineup of Bresanutti, Bergen, Codenys and De Meyer. This performance was kept secret until two days before the show but when the scene magazine Side-Line and the band's label Alfa Matrix launched the news, tickets were quickly sold out.

The band has now also set itself to re-release its entire back catalogue both as a normal CD and as a limited edition consisting of a 2CD set holding previously unreleased material. For this the band is working together with the Belgian label Alfa Matrix that already took care of releasing the albums of the Front 242 side-project Male Or Female. The first re-release is their debut album ''Geography'', this time newly remastered personally by Bresanutti to surprisingly powerful effect and including 3 extra tracks (two hidden ones) on the normal CD format.

Meanwhile their enthusiasm for side projects has continued, as Patrick Codenys started appearing with a new group called Red Sniper, Bresanutti started recording with a new group called Troissoeur, and Codenys and Richard 23 formed a quasi-DJ project called Coder23 which toured in late 2004 and early 2005 as the opening act for VNV Nation. Jean-Luc De Meyer contributed vocals on two studio tracks for the Glis album ''Nemesis'' in 2005. The lyrical content of the two songs ("The Irreparable" and "La Béatrice") were based on the poems of Charles Baudelaire.

Front 242 toured through twenty venues in North America in November 2005, their first tour as a full band since 2000. The band performed at the Roskilde Festival in 2006. The band's sold out two day performance at the Ancienne Belgique in Brussels has been recorded for a future release via Alfa Matrix.

In December 2006, Front 242 announced from their MySpace page that they were writing music for a video game called ''Cipher Complex'' and provided a link to a teaser trailer with a short sample of one of their scores.

In 2007 Jean-Luc Demeyer announced a new project: 32CRASH via the Alfa Matrix label. The band is preparing for an album release in October 2007 after the release of the EP ''Humanity''. Early audio previews show that the project is very much electro(clash) minded.

In August 2008, Front 242 played live at the Infest Festival in Bradford, UK.

In October 2008 Front 242 performed for the first time ever in Finland, at the Alternative Party 2008 media arts festival.

Moments

On June 1, 2008, the Alfa Matrix label announced that Front 242 would make an ultimate statement towards abusive audio compression by releasing the free two-track download, ''First Moment''. By June 15 the same year, the tracks were made available for free on Alfa Matrix's site in medium and high bit-rate MP3s, WAV, FLAC, and M4A formats. Contrary to what fans and some media speculated, the two-track download was not new studio material. Instead, ''First Moments'' consisted of two previously unreleased live tracks, "U-Men" and "Im Rhythmus Bleiben", in rather stunning sound quality. It is rumored that over 20,000 people downloaded the tracks within hours of being made available. The label later confirmed that over 25,000 people downloaded the free tracks.

On June 4, 2008, Alfa Matrix announced the imminent release of ''Moments...'' The album was a live recording encompassing the very best of Front 242's compositions. The album was shipped in several formats including limited CD box sets, vinyl in different colors including 300-copy limited editions, and as a one-disc CD release.

Band members

Jean-Luc De Meyer - vocals

Daniel Bressanutti - keyboards, programming, live mixing

Patrick Codenys - keyboards, programming, samplers

Richard Jonckheere, often credited as "Richard 23" - percussion, vocals

Tim Kroker - electronic drums

Occasional Band Members / Collaborators

Dirk Bergen - credited as keyboardist on Geography

Jean-Marc Pauly - credited for writing and composing vocals on 06:21:03:11 Up Evil

Pierre Pauly - credited for writing and composing vocals on 06:21:03:11 Up Evil

Kristin Kowalski - credited as writer, composer and vocalist on 05:22:09:12 Off, Animal, and Angels Versus Animals

Eran Westwood - credited as writer, composer and vocalist on 05:22:09:12 Off, Animal, and Angels Versus Animals

John Dubs - credited as writer and composer on Animal and Angels Versus Animals

Jean-Marc Lederman - credited as remixer on Angels Versus Animals.

Discography

''Geography'' (1982)

''No Comment'' (1984)

''Back Catalogue'' (1987)

''Official Version'' (1987)

''Front by Front'' (1988)

''Tyranny (For You)'' (1991)

''Live Target'' (1992)

''06:21:03:11 Up Evil'' (1993)

''05:22:09:12 Off'' (1993)

''Angels Versus Animals'' (1993)

''Live Code'' (1994)

''Mut@ge.Mix@ge'' (1995)

''Re-Boot: Live '98'' (1998)

''Pulse'' (2003)

''Moments ...'' (2008)

Charts

Albums

U.S. Billboard 200

!Title	!Peak	!Peak Date	!# of Weeks
''Tyranny For You''		February 23, 1991
''06:21:03:11 Up Evil''		June 12, 1993

Singles

Year	Title	!width="70"	!width="70"	!width="70"
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Side Projects and Guest Appearances

32Crash - Jean-Luc De Meyer

The Art Corporation - Daniel Bressanutti

Art & Strategy - Daniel Bressanutti, Patrick Codenys. Single-track CD included with book 'Art & Strategy 92'

Bigod 20 - Jean-Luc De Meyer, on track "The Bog"

Birmingham 6 - Jean-Luc De Meyer

Cobalt 60 - Jean-Luc De Meyer

Coder 23 - Patrick Codenys, Richard 23

Cyber-Tec Project/C-Tec - Jean-Luc De Meyer

Front Line Assembly - Jean-Luc De Meyer - Guest Vocals on track "Future Fail", ''Artificial Soldier'' Album

Gaiden - Patrick Codenys

Glis - Jean-Luc De Meyer - Guest Vocals on "The Irreparable" and "La Béatrice" ("Nemesis" Album)

Grisha Zeme - Daniel Bressanutti, Patrick Codenys

Holy Gang - Richard 23

Implant - Jean-Luc de Meyer, on track "The Creature"

thefucKINGFUCKS - Patrick Codenys

LaTchak - Richard 23

Male Or Female - Daniel Bressanutti, Patrick Codenys

Ministry - Richard 23, background vocals on track "The Nature Of Love"

Modern Cubism - Jean-Luc De Meyer

Parade Ground - Patrick Codenys on Album "Rosary"

Prothese - Daniel Bressanutti, Dirk Bergen

Punish Yourself - Jean-Luc de Meyer, on Track "Voodoo Virus"

Red Sniper - Patrick Codenys

Revolting Cocks - Richard 23

Speed Tribe - Daniel Bressanutti, Patrick Codenys

Troissoeur - Daniel Bressanutti, as Remixer

Under Viewer - Patrick Codenys, Jean-Luc De Meyer

References

External links

FRONT 242 official website

Front 242 FAQ

/ FRONT 242 remixes by the producer Ivo Draganac

Hellelujah - an audiovisual coproduction between Front 242 and Design Is Dead

Cipher Complex teaser with Front 242 score

SHOUT! Online interview with Patrick Codenys (Front 242) (March 2005)

Category:Belgian electronic music groups Category:Industrial rock musical groups Category:Techno music groups Category:Electronic body music Category:Ableton Live users Category:Musical groups established in 1981

ca:Front 242 cs:Front 242 de:Front 242 es:Front 242 fr:Front 242 it:Front 242 nl:Front 242 pl:Front 242 pt:Front 242 ru:Front 242 sl:Front 242 fi:Front 242 sv:Front 242