Mike Naumenko (Russian: Майк Нау́менко, born Mikhail Vasilyevich Naumenko, 18 April 1955 – 30 August 1991)[1] was a Soviet rock and blues musician, the leader of Zoopark rock group.
Born in Leningrad, in the 1970s he was a member of Akvarium Russian rock-group, and in 1981 he formed Zoopark, which became one of the most outstanding blues rock groups of USSR. Naumenko is considered one of the poets of Russian rock, although drawing on Bob Dylan and sometimes other UK/US songwriters, occasionally retaining the original melody as well. Some of Naumenko's songs are more or less faithful translations or remakes of English language source material (the notions of copyright and plagiarism being hardly established in the Soviet Union, especially as regards works created on the other side of the Iron Curtain). Even though sometimes imitative, Naumenko's input was significant due to his adaptation of the rock tradition to Russian culture.
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Naumenko studied at a "school with deep learning of English language" in Leningrad, where he got his stage name, "Mike".[2]
The first time he got interested in music was at the age of 8 when he had heard The Beatles music playing from the street, standing on his balcony. The first he took an interest in were The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and Jefferson Airplane; besides he collected articles from magazines concerning T. Rex, The Doors and David Bowie. At the age of 15, he started playing guitar and writing his first songs. His song lyrics were in the English language firstly, but in 1972-1973 he switched to Russian under the influence of his friend, Boris Grebenshikov.[2][3]
Naumenko died in Leningrad in August 1991, at the age of 36.[1]
