Mike Naumenko

On April 18, Mikhail “Mike” Naumenko, the leader of the Zoo group, would have turned 60, whose name, unfortunately, is now remembered much less than it deserves. It's hard to imagine Russian musician"the golden period of domestic rock", which does not recognize Mike's influence. The Zoo group has not existed since 1991, since Mike's death, but dozens of groups still cover his songs, although the public often does not know their author.

St. Petersburg's front doors and courtyards, city romantics and, alas, gopniks have not gone anywhere. Suburban blues, kitchen and country gatherings have not lost their relevance. But their brilliant descriptions by Mike, unfortunately, went into storage. Maybe this is natural. Still, Mike and “Zoo”, who worked in the range from American “garage rock” to rhythm and blues, were related to Russian rock only due to their Russian-speaking nature.

Mike Naumenko and the Zoo group

Now, when interest in rock's original sources as opposed to the faceless modern leaders of the charts has intensified, it's time to remember about "Zoo", and maybe get to know it better. We asked the initiator of the crowdfunding project - Mike's son - Evgeniy Naumenko to talk about the "Songs" project common man", and musicians - to comment on their participation in it.

Evgeniy Naumenko

Official tributes to Mike Naumenko have already been released, plus there is huge amount unofficial records of this kind. Did you like any of them?

A total of seven official tributes were released. The very first one appeared in 1991 only on vinyl. Since, unfortunately, I do not yet own a turntable, I was able to listen to it quite recently - they sent me a digital copy of the source. In general, I really love covers and tributes. For me, this is an independent genre: making something completely new out of someone else’s hit, with your own twist. Therefore, of course, there were covers that I liked immediately and forever, and there were those that I liked a little less. Speaking of personalities, I’ll highlight “I Knew” performed by Evgeniy Fedorov from the group Zorge from the album “Park of the MIKE Period”. True, “Zoo” guitarist Alexander Khrabunov does not consider this album a tribute. As he says, he gathered musicians close to the Zoo and recorded songs that either were not recorded or were very rarely played at concerts. I partly agree with him, but I will still consider these songs to be cover versions. Habit.

Why did you decide that such a project is needed now? After all, despite the fact that Mike is a significant person for Russian rock, few people know his songs now. Is this tribute some kind of mission?

It's very simple. 2015 is an anniversary year - in April dad would have turned 60 years old. The initial idea was proposed by collector and producer Evgeny Gapeev, who said that he wanted to collect the best cover versions on one record. I suggested recording completely new ones. As for the mission... Yes, of course, I want the songs of “Zoo” to be known as much as possible more people. But of course, there is no such thing as “we will release a million discs, you will buy them all, and Mike Naumenko will become more famous than Tsoi.” If people who did not know Zoo’s work before listen to this tribute and then discover the originals, I will be only happy.

There is probably some community of people working on such a project who don’t need to explain who Mike is and why you started all this?

Rather, it is a community of people who have one goal. I negotiate with artists, make yes or no decisions. I pretend to be a boss and put on airs. We came up with this tribute, as I already said, with Zhenya Gapeev from the company “Branch Exit”. He will be involved in the release of the disc itself.

As a press attaché, as it is now fashionable to call it, I called Zlata Nikolaeva. She immediately and happily agreed. Zlata manages our pages on social networks, and also communicates with directors and PR people of artists. Zlata also gives important tips and brings me down from heaven to earth.
I entrusted the site to Sergei Shmakov, better known as Sidor. Sergey made almost the first website dedicated to the “Zoo” a long time ago. So it is simply impossible to find a more interested person who will do everything correctly and with love.

Did all the musicians you invited to participate in the project agree to participate in it?

As soon as we talked with Gapeev, I wrote to Zhenya Fedorov on Facebook. He said that we were doing a new tribute and I really(!) wanted Zorge. I think he immediately agreed, but asked for time to think about the song. Then I wrote to Roman Ryabtsev from the Technology group. I really like his cover versions of “Aquarium”, and I know that he loves the song “Gopniki”. Everything was resolved very quickly too. Pasha “Pate” Filippenko, having learned about Ryabtsev, asked to join him in a duet. I think this will be a very interesting track. In general, there are no problems with musicians yet. There were two motivated refusals. One artist said that he doesn’t play cover versions as a matter of principle. The second did not dare to spoil the original with his performance. This is fine. The group directors helped me a lot. They themselves suggested musicians, and found and negotiated with the ones we needed.

For a tribute you are asking for a serious amount. What does this money go to?

Big some will go to "clear" copyrights. Unfortunately, they do not belong to me. Part of it will be used to print the CD. Yes, we haven't given up on the good old CD either. When we calculated the amount, we assumed that one of the musicians would have to pay for the studio and mastering. But for now everyone works exclusively for free. Therefore, we can say that half the declared amount should be enough. From this money the tax to the budget of the Russian Federation, the planeta.ru commission, and the cost of postal delivery of the CD to our shareholders will be paid.

An M24 correspondent asked the project participants:

• Under what circumstances did you hear Mike's songs and do you remember your reaction?
• What made Mike Naumenko stand out on the domestic rock scene?
• How did you choose the song for the tribute and why did you choose this one?
• Is there any hope that through this tribute someone will discover Mike's name?

Boris Grebenshchikov "Aquarium"

I don’t remember the circumstances; I remember the reaction: thank God, finally there was one normal person who sings the way he should.

There was no "domestic rock scene". The Fatherland unleashed the police on us and summoned us for secret interrogations at the KGB. He had nothing to stand out from. He was just being himself.

I've wanted it for a long time; I sang along in the original recording of the song "Rastafara" (Natty Dreda).

I have no hope.

Evgeniy Khavtan (“Bravo”)

Mike Naumenko is one of the most underrated heroes of St. Petersburg rock of the eighties, and the fact that his image is not on T-shirts and posters does not mean that he was not in history. For me, he is one of the main St. Petersburg heroes of the eighties.

I heard his songs just in the early eighties. Unfortunately, I saw it live at a stage when the group was not in the best shape, but it was obvious that it was not like the songs of most of the bands in the Leningrad rock club. His songs did not have any pretensions or pretensions, but they were more than enough of self-irony - a very rare trait for bands of the eighties.

The choice immediately fell on two favorite songs, “Shot” and Blues De Moscou. I chose the second one because I decided to put an end to the stupid debate about the cooler topic - Moscow or St. Petersburg. Very rarely do covers sound better than the originals. But for me, participation in this project is a tribute to a wonderful musician, one of the pillars of Leningrad rock and roll, whose songs are with me forever.

Andrey Zabludovsky ("The Secret")

The first time I heard Mike's songs was on the album "Mike and Boris", and I didn't particularly like Mike's songs, unlike BG's songs. Later, when I heard " County town N,” began to listen, and realized that Mike was a figure and a poet. Later, around 1979, we met.

I played in the group "Vykhod", and Mike came to our rehearsals. In 1981, I saw him on stage for the first time and it was indescribably cool. Such a drive!

Already in “The Secret” I suggested that the guys add “You and Me” to our first album - “Major Rock and Roll” (the Beatles also sang Chuck Berry). Everyone agreed, especially since the song “Major Rock and Roll” was played by the group “Secret”, even before me in 1982, with Mike in Moscow, where they met.

I’m afraid that we won’t open new fans, but there is hope, although weak.

Pavel "Pate" Filippenko (duet with Roman Ryabtsev)

To be honest, I have never been an enthusiastic fan of Mike Naumenko. Maybe because in Russian rock I liked not only the powerful text part, but also the melody and arrangements.

I first heard about “Zoo” when my interest in Russian artists was already fading. At the same time, I was always interested in the artistry, mystery and charisma of the band’s frontman. Which now (together with a strong antisocial component) against the backdrop of widespread conformism is becoming very relevant.

The song “Gopniki” was chosen at least because of its unique title, which has become a historical term that evokes a lot of memories and associations in the listener.

A collection dedicated to Naumenko’s work is an excellent chance to take advantage of new sound technologies and give the material what was missing in the eighties.

Roman Ryabtsev ("Technology")

- I heard “Zoo” for the first time in my first year at the institute, in 1986. My classmate was a big fan of Leningrad rock (and I, apart from “Aquarium” at that time, didn’t know anything special). So Ilya “on potatoes” sang several of Mike’s songs with a guitar, and then let him rewrite the cassette.

For me, brought up on exclusively melodic music, Mike's style was a revelation. At first I didn’t understand how it was possible to perform songs like that (!), half-reciting them. But his lyrics outweighed my passion for correct and precise notes, and I was inspired.

I chose “Gopniki” for the tribute precisely because it was the first “Zoo” song that I heard (first performed by my friend, and then in the recording). And we played and sang it on that same “potato” in the first year. Moreover, in Voronezh (where all this happened) there were an abundance of characters from this song, and it was very relevant for us. However, since those years the percentage of gopniks in the country has remained unchanged, so the song is still relevant (despite several other idols among gopniks in our time)

Undoubtedly. Even I at one time heard and fell in love with the song “We Love Boogie-Woogie” performed by “The Secret”, and only then recognized its author. If this tribute helps maintain interest in Mike's work, then it will be the right thing to do.

Misha Luzin

Fuck knows how I heard Mike's songs. It seems that this happened thanks to the series of tapes “Legends of Russian Rock” during the period of initial accumulation of musical capital, when I decided to temporarily switch from the Beatles and the Doors to a domestic producer. I listened to “Kino,” listened to “Aquarium,” and somewhere between them, on the counter of a pirate store, there was a recording of “Zoo.” Bought. I listened. I liked it.

Some kind of rollicking cheerfulness, banter and 100% vitality from the point of view of a first-year university student. At the end of the 90s, the Ekaterinburg gopniks continued to interfere with our lives, the supply of dry wines regularly came to an end, “sweet N” turned into “rubbish”, multidirectional “gurus from Bobruisk” taught life at every crossroads. It was a fun time, and Mike was the perfect soundtrack, an ambassador for port and rock 'n' roll.

These two friends Mike and BG are powerful Buddhist saboteurs. “My friend told me: you and I are bodhisattvas, which means it’s time for us to go to the store.” Why go to the store, it’s clear as two fingers, what a bodhisattva is was not clear, but it sounded cool and motivated to figure it out. It started to go on and on - “Sai Ram, our father, father; Karmapa - the light of the soul; Oh, lamas of the Kagyu line - how good you are,” and it all began with Mike’s captivating simplicity: “You and I are bodhisattvas, let’s run for vodka in a taxi" (as shown life experience, one does not contradict the other).

There were hesitations in choosing the song, but my friend Zhenya Zhilin said, “You and I are bodhisattvas! Which means...” In short, by participating in the tribute with this song, we want to thank Mike for revealing this word and its meaning to us. Yes, in general, the song is fire.

Everyone who wanted to discover Mike did so a long time ago. The tribute will give a modern interpretation of his songs, through which, perhaps, they will find new life.

Evgeny "Ay-ay-ay" Fedorov (Zorge, Optimystica Orchetra, ex-Tequilajazzz)

I don't remember when it was. In my opinion, this happened at some kind of “hippie flat”, visiting the “system” ones, which was very unusual, since this was not their repertoire at all. I must say that I boasted that my brother Dyusha played a little in the Zoo, replacing Sasha Khrabunov. At the same time, I myself didn’t really listen to him at that time. I became interested only when I witnessed a funny exchange between Mike and BG at a poetry seminar at LRC, in room 47, I think. He impressed me then with his intellect and some very healthy cynicism, in a good way.

In Mike's songs there was ordinary life, recognizable, everyday, everyone else was somehow detached in the songs. Well, it seemed so due to ignorance of linguistic features and internal mythology different groups and groups.

I’m still hesitating between two, I think we’ll write down two, and then we’ll choose and announce.

Well, of course it will open. But what about it? Not hope, but confidence.

Alexander Ivanov ("Naiv", "Radio Chacha")

In the eighth grade, I heard the song “Summer” and was very excited. Firstly, it was easy to play, and secondly, it was not an ordinary yard song, but even a little dissident. “Today is a session in the Leningrad City Council” - it sounded very dashing at that time!

There was truth, sometimes unsightly. That everyday truth that others avoided, but Mike, on the contrary, showed its horror and simultaneous beauty.

Perhaps “Summer” is my favorite song from childhood.

It is quite difficult for young people today to perceive old music, especially the Soviet underground. It was recorded too unprofessionally for their taste.

I hope that new readings of old hits will help draw the attention of young people to Mike’s outstanding but undeservedly forgotten songs.

Alexey Pevchev

According to official data, Mike Naumenko, a Soviet rock musician who founded the Zoo group, died in an accident from a cerebral hemorrhage. Death occurred on August 27, 1991. Michael's songs are still popular today.

The official cause of death of Mike Naumenko is an accident. This conclusion was made by forensic experts in the process of identifying the body of the Soviet musician, founder and permanent member of the Zoo group.

Date of death

The artist’s life ended on August 27, 1991 in his home. Death occurred as a result of massive hemorrhage in the brain. However, a friend and colleague, the band’s drummer Valera Kirillov, puts forward a different version: “Why don’t the police consider the possibility that Mike was attacked in the yard and hit on the head with a blunt object?”

Moreover, the case contains evidence young man, who saw Mike being helped up from the ground by a stranger. From this, Kirillov suggests that after the robbery the artist went up to his room and died from the aforementioned hemorrhage alone. Death did not occur immediately, but after some time, after the body weakened and could no longer fight.

When the body was discovered by friends, an ambulance was called and could not help. The arriving doctors only confirmed death.

The artist was buried at the Volkovskoye cemetery in St. Petersburg.

Family

Misha was born on April 18, 1955 in St. Petersburg, into a family of intelligent parents who already had a child. Mike's sister was 8 years older than him. My father worked at the department of the current St. Petersburg State University of Civil Engineering, and my mother worked in the library.

As a child, the hero did not show any musical genre no interest. The first craving appeared after he heard the famous Liverpool quartet - “The Beatles”. A good knowledge of the English language made it possible not only to enjoy the smooth flow of music, but also to evaluate the poetic content of poems sounded in English.

At about the age of 14, he learned to play the guitar, and when he came of age, his grandmother gave him this instrument. The first poems in my life were written in English. After some time, under the influence of Boris Grebenshchikov, popular in rock parties, he begins to paraphrase them into Russian.

After finishing school, at the insistence of his father, he entered the architectural and construction school. After studying there for 4 years, he dropped out of school and, through friends, got a job as a sound engineer at the Bolshoi Puppet Theater.

Creative path

Mikhail Vasilyevich Naumenko is considered one of the founders of Russian rock. His concept of the development of music was radically different from the generally accepted one. All colleagues in the workshop practiced bard compositions, which ideally took root due to the specifics of Russian culture of that time.

Mike presented his songs to the listener differently: he tried to introduce a Western rock sound. Thus, we can call him the pioneer of this genre.

Despite the fact that some of the group’s compositions were clearly similar to foreign works, he endowed them with a special individuality: a striking difference in the texts, surprising with their irony and frank thoughts. Connoisseurs of his work emphasize that the songs, text and music do not contain any plagiarism, but only pure Russian rock and roll.

A special column in Naumenko’s biography should include his acquaintance with Grebenshchikov. At first he simply played along at Aquarium concerts, but in 1978 they released a joint album, “All Brothers and Sisters.” It was dedicated to the birth of Boris Borisovich’s daughter. Some songs from it later became hits:

• "Daughter";
• “The Ballad of Kroki, Nishtyak and Karma”;
• "Ode to the Bathroom"

Around this time, Mike performed in Moscow; the concert was organized informally and took place as an underground concert. His personal song “Fleabag” created a real sensation. The ambiguous plot telling about a dissolute girl led to a fight in the hall. On the one hand there were those who supported such behavior and the newcomer’s poems, on the other – on the contrary, those who condemned it.

In 1980, Naumenko, taking advantage of Grebenshchikov’s support, recorded his first album. It included 16 personal compositions. After that, they began to call him “Leningrad Bob Dylan.”

There is an opinion that the formation of the hero’s musical orientation and style occurred under the passive influence of his girlfriend, Tatyana Apraksina. Journalist and music producer Alexander Kushnir stated: “Mike once admitted to me that all his first songs were dedicated to Tanyusha.”

Organization of the Zoo group

The idea of ​​creating his own band had been tormenting Mike for a long time. After the overwhelming success of his solo album, a decision comes. According to friends, the name in any case should have been in the form of some animal from the zoo. However, the hero went even further.

This desire was explained by the fact that he personified himself and the whole Soviet Union with a certain “zoo”, and the people in it with animals striving for conservatism, lack of freedom, and refusing to think independently.

The debut of the established team took place on the courtyard dance floor. In the spring of the following 1981, they were already accepted into the Leningrad rock club, where the so-called first “semi-official” concert took place.

The first debut album was recorded not in a recording studio, but at a live concert in one of the Moscow cultural centers. The name was appropriately "Blues de Moscou". All included works were written by the vocalist and founder of the band, Mike Naumenko.

Discography

Mike Naumenko's work includes not only studio work in the group, but also several solo and concert selections. The list is impressive.

Single personal albums:

1. “All Brothers are Sisters” with Grebenshchikov;
2. "Sweet N and others";
3. "LV".

Official albums of the Zoo group, recorded in the studio:

1. "Blues de Moscow";
2. "District town N";
3. "White stripe";
4. "Music for the film";
5. "Illusions";

In addition to those listed, in creative biography Naumenko contains a number of works performed by a group, as well as recordings of joint creative evenings and parties, some of which were completely legal in nature.

Relations with Viktor Tsoi

The relationship with Viktor Tsoi can be partially traced in the feature film “Summer”, filmed in 2018. It is obvious here that Mike’s early rise and older age cast him in the role of an older brother, giving rare advice and guidance. The story of a love triangle looks interesting: men and Naumenko’s wife Natalya. The film touches on the period of formation of the artists' personalities and dates back to the first half of the 80s.

As for the story about Natasha and Victor’s heated romance, she herself denies it. According to her, the sensational story happened because several years ago she expressed herself incorrectly in relation to Vita. In reality, she only loved Mike.

Naumenko’s own words confirm: at first he gave advice to a new acquaintance. At his request, I put him in touch with Grebenshchikov, who helped him get promoted. Subsequently, the two rockers communicated a lot, held so-called creative evenings where they drank port wine and sang their songs. Sometimes they stayed at each other's houses overnight. But, as Mike assured after Tsoi’s death: “We have never been friends.”

For Russian history rock 2 idols will remain in memory as one of the pioneers and champions of a new musical direction. They really were something special for their followers, especially since they passed away almost at the same time, almost at the peak of their careers (Mike outlived Victor by only 12 months).

Wife and son

From the photo it seems like an ordinary average Soviet family, but it wasn’t like that. Despite the fact that Natalia and Mike had a son, the girl could not stand the constant excesses and filed for divorce. Judging by the artist’s lifestyle, her decision can be understood. A rock star of that time does not mean beautiful cars and big money. In the Soviet Union everything was different. A huge number of concerts (3-4 a day), constant lack of sleep, wine and stress - that’s probably all that stood out about the rocker’s life at that time.

According to Natalya’s recollections, her husband had the opportunity to change the communal apartment in which they lived with the child to a normal apartment, but he simply did not want to do this. And there wasn’t much time. A beloved man who constantly drinks and fades away from overwork will depress any woman, especially one who has a child. As a result, she could not stand it and left, shortly before that terrible day. Mike Naumenko was left alone, in the void.

The death of Naumenko was the final episode in the specific phenomenon of “flirting” with the authorities. Elements of reservation were visible in his compositions, meaning that talent was worth more than money. At some point, the spark of popularity of “Zoo” flared up to such an extent that it began to overshadow Boris Grebenshchikov himself, and even more so Makarevich. Unfortunately, it went out suddenly, just as it came on.

Video

Digitized video recording of an apartment building with the participation of Mike Naumenko. Made a year before his death.

Around director Kirill Serebryannikov lately too many scandals and trials. Another problem became bigger when rock singer Boris Grebenshchikov expressed his opinion about the film “Summer” about Viktor Tsoi. According to him, the film is a complete invention of the director, and connections with real events No.

Disgraced director Kirill Serebryannikov found himself embroiled in another scandal. This time it was started by rock singer Boris Grebenshchikov. The singer spoke negatively about the new film “Summer” about Viktor Tsoi.

Mike Naumenko's wife Natalya, relationship with Tsoi: Boris Grebenshchikov called Serebryannikov's film a lie

Recently a press conference was held in St. Petersburg, which was dedicated to the release of Boris Grebenshchikov’s album “Time N”. Involuntarily, we started talking about the new film “Summer” by Kirill Serebryannikov, which will soon be released to the public. Filming has finished, all that remains is editing.

The film tells about the summer of 1981 and is dedicated to the life of the leader of the Kino group, Vladimir Tsoi. The main events are the relationship between Vladimir Tsoi and Mike Naumenko, the leader of the Zoo group, as well as his wife Natalya Naumenko.

According to Grebenshchikov, the script is false, and they lived differently at that time. And the screenwriter, in theory, should have served in the KGB at that time. The rock singer has negative feelings about the film precisely because of his different opinion about life in 1981.

“The script is a lie from beginning to end. We lived differently. In his scenario, Moscow hipsters, who except *** (having sex) at someone else’s expense, can’t do anything else. The script was written by a man from another planet. It seems to me that in those days the screenwriter would have worked for the KGB,” the performer said displeasedly.

At the time of 1981, Boris Grebenshchikov, the leader of the rock group Aquarium, communicated well with both the leader of Kino and the leader of the Zoo group. They talked, drank, created, loved together. And who, if not Grebenshchikov, knows about the lives of Viktor Tsoi and Mike Naumenko, as well as the events of that time.

Mike Naumenko's wife Natalya, relationship with Tsoi: Boris Grebenshchikov about the director of the film Summer

He himself expressed hope for the release of Serebryannikov from house arrest, although there was a mistake in the theft of funds for the needs of the film.

“I hope that Kirill Serebrennikov will be released, but we have different opinions about the film. It seems to me that I am right, because I lived at that time. Any games with the state may end in a pre-trial detention center. The state is a dangerous thing. I mean taking money from the state,” Grebenshchikov clarified.

Let us remind you that Kirill Serebryannikov began filming a film about Viktor Tsoi in July 2017. However, after a while, filming was stopped due to an open case about the use and theft of funds from the budget by the management of the Seventh Studio. The film was finally completed while the director was under house arrest. The film “Summer” should be released this year, at the end of summer.

Mike Naumenko's wife Natalya, relationship with Tsoi: the TV journalist's attitude to the new film

Boris Borisovich’s opinion about the film “Summer” was supported by other creators from various fields who were familiar with the events of 1981.

According to Evgeny Dodolev, a television journalist, the script is extremely delicate and illiterate. He completely agrees with the opinion of the rock singer. Dodolev expressed the opinion that the author of the script is not even familiar with the events and characters, and also has hostility towards all rock performers and the movement as a whole. However, he expressed the hope that this mediocre script could be saved by the implementation of Serebryannikov’s vision and his talent.

“Two months ago I read the script: it is an amazingly amateurish and illiterate thing. The only hope for Kirill’s talent is that he was able to refine it. The motivations attributed to the characters, and their portraits in general - I see in this the scriptwriter’s deep hostility towards the entire rock movement and the people who personified it in those years. They are shown flat there. primitive. The person doesn’t know the material at all,” the journalist said.

Mike Naumenko's wife Natalya, relationship with Tsoi: Alexander Lipnitsky's opinion about the film Summer

Alexander Lipnitsky, rock musician and documentary director, was initially ironic towards the film. Lipnitsky clarified that he had not read the script, but knew about the project and was opposed to it. When creating a documentary about the Kino group, the director interviewed the writer Alexander Zhitinsky.

Zhitinsky at that time was working on creating a book about the leader of the group, and talked about the entries that Natalya Naumenko made in her diary. Natalya’s romantic experiences and relationship with Viktor Tsoi were indeed described there, but they were as insignificant as flirting. Therefore, when he heard about the creation of a film in which the relationship between Natalya and Victor would be based, Lipnitsky immediately reacted ironically.

“... I treated this ironically, because the whole story there was sucked out of thin air, it doesn’t look like a film. Even if it's true, which I doubt. So I have no illusions that anything interesting will come out of this. Despite the fact that I have great respect for Kirill Serebrennikov, as a theater director,” said the director.

Mike Naumenko's wife Natalya, relationship with Tsoi: Artemy Troitsky about the film Summer

Artemy Troitsky, music critic, on the contrary, he was not against making a film. He read the script, saw the characters, even the one who plays Trinity himself, and approved. However, the romance between Tsoi and Natalya, according to him, is not valid, “a very strong overreach.” According to him, no one had heard about this novel, if it existed, perhaps even some of the participants in the triangle.

The critic also clarified that Grebenshchikov’s opinion based on one script is not very fair, because the director most likely made his own adjustments.

“On the other hand, I took this script as nothing more than an excuse to talk about the truly fun and inspiring times that reigned in St. Petersburg in the early 80s. And here you have to watch the film: how much this atmosphere is conveyed and how convincing is what the director wanted to express with this film. And he, as far as I understand, wanted to make a film primarily about time, and not about love drama", Troitsky said.

Musician and performer

I've been here too long.
I guess it's time for me to say goodbye
And yet I wanted to stay
But, alas, it's time for me...

Mike Naumenko

The work of Mikhail Naumenko had a tremendous influence on Russian rock musicians. He was the first to perform classic rock and roll in Russian, which previously seemed impossible to both listeners and performers. Mike's songs to this day do not leave indifferent those who grew up listening to his work, and those who are just discovering his talent.

Mike's parents were native Leningraders, his father was a teacher at a technical university; mother is a library worker. The head of the family, the main educator, and authority for Mike was his grandmother. She was cultured and very educated person, loved children very much, understood them and always found common language. Mike learned to read at the age of 5. In kindergarten, where he began attending at the age of 6, he was a constant reader on behalf of the teacher.

Until the age of fifteen, Mike was absolutely indifferent to music. As a child, he did not sing, did not participate in amateur performances, and generally hated any kind of public performances in front of guests or at school.

My parents bought a tape recorder and a guitar for Misha’s sixteenth birthday in 1971. He loved his first guitar, although not very inexpensive, tenderly and devotedly. He learned to play the guitar on his own. In his studies, Mike showed his characteristic patience, diligence and perseverance. He didn't know for a long time musical notation but always refused to go to music school. Mike for some reason considered this completely unnecessary and even harmful.

At the same time, Mike studied at a school with intensive study of the English language. After graduating from school, Mike could well have entered the philological faculty of the university, however, Mikhail used his in-depth knowledge of the language in a different direction. He read, translated and took notes on a huge amount of literature related to rock music, and became an authoritative expert in this direction.

He listened to albums by the Rolling Stones, The Beatles, and Jefferson Airplane, and collected Western articles about T.Rex, Doors, and D. Bowie. Under their influence, Mike began to compose songs in English and tried to play with various compositions.

After school, Mike entered the Institute of Civil Engineering. Misha passed the entrance exams quite successfully, and the winter session also went well. Mike started his studies at the institute quite successfully. He liked student life, a less strict regime than at school, and a scholarship. But he studied without any interest. With two academic leaves, under pressure from his parents, he completed four courses and dropped out of college when he had only a year and a half left to graduate.

Mike himself later said in an interview: “I started in 1973 as a bass player. Until 1975, he played in two or three bands, which are not worth talking about. In 1974 I met Aquarium. ...In June 1978, Grebenshchikov and I recorded a joint acoustic album, “All Brothers and Sisters.” But, in general, I fulfill the duties of a rock and roll whore: I play wherever I have to, with whom I have to, and whatever I have to do..."

At the beginning of 1977, he briefly played in the Union of Rock Music Lovers of Vladimir Kozlov. From 1977 to 1979, he periodically collaborated with Aquarium as a guest electric guitarist, performing under funny name“Vocal and instrumental group named after Chuck Berry” with a repertoire of classic rock and roll. In the summer of 1979, he toured the villages of the Vologda region as part of the “Capital Repair” group, which was later beautifully described in Vyacheslav Zorin’s story “The Unclosed Circle.”

In mid-1978, Mike, together with Aquarium leader Boris Grebenshchikov, recorded the acoustic album “All Brothers and Sisters”. Two guitars and a harmonica were recorded right on the banks of the Neva using the microphone of an old Elektronika 302 tape recorder. Mike sang half the songs, Grebenshchikov sang half. The quality of the recording was terrifying.

In the summer of 1980, in the studio of the Leningrad Bolshoi Puppet Theater, Mike recorded his first solo acoustic album, “Sweet N and others.” Of the 32 songs recorded, only 15 were included in the album. The album quickly sold out across the country and Naumenko began to be called “Leningrad’s Bob Dylan.”

The recording itself took place in the studio of the Bolshoi Puppet Theater thanks to the chief director Viktor Sudarushkin, who passed away early, recalled senior radio technician Alla Solovey, who performed part of the sound engineering work during the Sweet N session.

Naumenko did not yet have his own group, and Mike invited guitarist Vyacheslav Zorin from the group “Capital Repair” to the session. Some things were rehearsed in advance, and part of the program was decided to be recorded almost immediately. On several compositions, Boris Grebenshchikov played along with the guitar duet of Mike Naumenko and Vyacheslav Zorin.

Mike started recording a little timidly, but when he saw the reaction of the operators and the first listeners, he calmed down and went wild,” Zorin said. - After the first session, when we went outside, he said in a surprisingly solemn voice: “Today will not be lived in vain.”

Zorin recalled that except for a few compositions in which Mike overdubbed lead guitar and occasionally bass, most of the songs were played live, and each of them took no more than three rough takes.

“Mike wanted the best and was afraid to spoil the options,” Zorin said. “He assumed that some songs would be remade at another time.”

The resulting album was inspired by the sixties. The slow rock and roll of “7th Heaven” was adjacent to the rhythm and blues of “Morning Together” and the magnetism of “Suburban Blues,” in which the line “I want to smoke, but there are no cigarettes left” seemed pulled from the arsenal of decadent poetry of the Silver Age. Performed at a frantic pace, this composition looked like an open bid for punk rock. At that time, “Suburban Blues” was perceived as a call for an armed uprising - it is no coincidence that a couple of years later, during a Lithuanian meeting in a rock club, instead of “I’m sitting in the toilet and reading Rolling Stone,” it turned out to be “I’m sitting in the apartment.” It’s good that the censors from Rubinshtein Street did not touch the beautiful but suspicious word “cigarette”. You never know what could be inside... The album opened with the composition “If you want”, which was actually put together at the dress rehearsal for the opening of the first version of the rock club in 1979. A spectacular recitative and pseudo-Beatlesque transition from major to minor and back to major framed the formulated result of the life philosophy of the figure of the Leningrad underground culture: “And if you want, you can tease me!”

The medicine Mike invented turned out to be just a drug. Mike’s banter pills led to the temptation to work under the underground of many guys who lived for the most part in high-rise Stalinist buildings and had never seen real queues and police raids in their lives.

The first side of the album closed with several blues songs at once. “If it rains” is a beautiful acoustic ballad, slightly broken in rhythm, “I’m coming home” is a bachelor’s manifesto, accompanied by a solemn chord progression, and finally, the super hit “Blues de Moscou”, played with the active participation of Zorin’s guitar and his remarks: “Pour it up!”

It is curious that on this album in the composition “Blues de Moscou” “young ladies in the capital do not yet like punk rock stars” - and not musicians, as was the case in later versions, when Mike with terrible force began to disavow the vulgar punk music. movements. Meanwhile, Mike, in splendid isolation, pushed a heavy cart with punk blues in front of him. “This is the blues” - he announced another rock and roll at this session, calling everything blues, including typical rock and just ballads. It is said that he was not very fond of root African music, preferring to listen and cultivate white blues, although the ending of "Old Wounds" ends with a reggae guitar solo from "I Shot The Sheriff".

One of the main hits of the album was the song “Fleabag”. Mike wrote this song over the course of a whole year and only finished it in 1979. Many claimed that its melodic line was taken exactly from “T.Rex”, the bass line was taken from Morrison, and the lyrics were reminiscent of a free translation of Lou Reed and a half-forgotten action movie “The Russians” called “Muck”. In particular, Vyacheslav Zorin recalled that while sitting one evening at Mike’s house, he accidentally heard “Fleabag” in English. Vyacheslav, just don’t think anything,” Mike became worried. What is there to think about! Mike and Bob, as the most English-speaking of the Leningrad authors, knew Western rock poetry very well. It was not necessary to translate anything completely, if it was enough to study the poetic philosophy or mentality of Western rock minstrels and reproduce what was sought in relation to Soviet urban folklore or interrupted traditions of the Silver Age.

The same “Fleabag” was subsequently perceived as a brilliant improvisation and over time became a classic in the repertoire of Mike and “Zoo”. In the early 90s, the right to perform “Fleabag” was obtained from Mike’s ex-wife by the group “Crematorium”, and almost at the same time “Fleabag” was recorded by Olga Pershina, co-author of “Two Tractor Drivers” and a fighting friend of “Aquarium” from the “Aquarium” era. Triangle."

Mike never disguised the sources of his inspiration, naming Marc Bolan and Lou Reed among his favorite performers. It is no coincidence that the composition “Fear in Your Eyes,” recorded during a session at the puppet theater, was reminiscent of one of the T.Rex tunes from the ’77 album “Dandy In The Underworld,” and “I Love Boogie-Woogie” from the album “ White Stripe" exactly copied "I Love To Boogie" from the same Bolan disc - without attribution. For comparison, we note that the same Grebenshchikov did not hesitate to indicate in relation to the composition “Sergei Ilyich” from “Triangle” that this is a song for MB. Go figure!

During the June session of “Sweet N,” Mike recorded sixteen more compositions that were not included in the album and were released fifteen years later on the double CD “Sweet N and Others.” Among these archival compositions there are many interesting ones - starting from several songs “ Major renovation"performed by Zorin, ending with Mike's apartment hits from the time of "All Brothers and Sisters": "Ode to the Bathroom", "Woman" and "The Seventh Chapter". Another composition not included in the album was dedicated to sound engineer Igor Sverdlov. Andrei Tropillo, who was present at the session at the puppet theater, claims that most of“Sweet N” was recorded not by Sverdlov, but by Alla Solovey - since Igor was primarily involved in port wine management and establishing alcohol contacts. In principle, Mike sings about this in his dedication to Sverdlov: “Finish the port wine - go home.”

Mike himself spoke about the semi-mythical “Sweet N” to which several compositions were dedicated at once and the existence of which Mike stubbornly denied for a long time in an interview with the Leningrad underground rock magazine “Roxy” a few months after recording the album:

“Sweet N is an amazing woman who I love madly, but at the same time I’m not entirely sure that she exists in nature... But maybe she looks like the one on the cover.” In reality, the prototype for “Sweet N” was the Leningrad artist Tatyana Apraksina, whom Mike met in 1974. Interesting in appearance, with an attractive inner world and the charm of a fairy-tale witch performed by Marina Vladi, Tatyana was then Mike’s main muse.

“Mike came to visit me alone or with one of his friends, modestly forming a small retinue of the Aquarium,” recalls Tatyana, whose artistic pseudonym was associated with the fact that she lived most of her life in Apraksin Lane. - Thin, puny, with a big nose, with eyes sparkling with good-natured curiosity, Mike was ready to participate in everything and be friends with everyone. By that time, he had not yet written any of his famous songs, although he already carried with him a neat notebook in which the foundations of future hits were laid. He could carry one song for years, from time to time writing words or phrases in a notebook, wondering different options- as if making a mosaic - and subjecting the text to gradual editing.”

“Aquarium” was received very well. However, the star of the evening was Mike. This was the first performance in his life big hall. He came out wearing dark glasses and announced in a nasal voice that he recommended the Leningrad Belomor and Havana Club rum to everyone. Then he started “Sweet N”... One could have foreseen that Mike would greatly surprise the audience, but the spontaneity and strength of the reaction exceeded all expectations...” - from “Rock in the USSR” by Artemy Troitsky.

In the fall of 1980 he collected own group, not without looking back at “Aquarium”, calling it “Zoo”. The first to be invited were two musicians from the student group “Farewell, Black Monday,” Alexander Khrabunov (guitar) and Andrey Danilov (drums), and then, on recommendation, bassist Ilya Kulikov from the group “Maki” was invited. The group began rehearsing in November 1980, the following year they were accepted into a rock club, and in the spring they gave their first concert with a program of Mike's songs, which caused a stormy, albeit ambiguous, reaction from the public.

For three years, “Zoo” regularly performed at home and traveled to Moscow, where Mike initially enjoyed much greater success than in Leningrad, was for some reason perceived by the local public as a punk, performed several times accompanied by musicians from the group “DK” and made a concert album "Blues de Moscow". In St. Petersburg during this time, Naumenko played a guitar solo at the debut concert of the Kino group in March 1981.

In 1982, Mike, with the help of friends, recorded the album “LV” (55 - the year Mike was born). The album is distinguished by its musical diversity and parody orientation, and is replete with dedications to St. Petersburg musicians.

The following year, Mike recorded the album “County City N” at the AnTrop studio, the title song of which, a 14-minute ballad, is called “the encyclopedia of our lives.” And the album “White Stripe” in 1984 made Mike’s name and his songs known throughout the country.

“By the way, in addition to his direct musical passions, Mike is also involved in the creation of one of the oldest St. Petersburg rock samizdat magazines, Roxy. At one time, he, together with BG and others, was on the editorial board of this magazine. What else did he do in life? Yes, probably the same as all the rockers of that time. Panker and I came to Mike at the place where he was engaged in creativity, wrote songs and... worked part-time as a watchman. As it should be in this world, it seems, for all artists, writers and musicians. They are guarding. It’s just unclear from whom. But they are guarding. And who should be on guard, on the other hand, if not a writer, not a musician, not a poet? What Mike did there, among other things, was drinking port, meeting with friends and playing preference. In general, he was a very charming person...” - “About SashBash, about Kinchev, about himself, about life,” wrote Svyatoslav Zaderiy.

In May 1983, at the 1st rock club festival, pianist and singer Alexander Donskikh appeared as part of the Zoo. Although Zoo's performance was uneven and the group did not win, Mike himself received a prize for "Consistent Development satirical theme" A special nomination, the initiator of which was the writer-publicist Alexander Zhitinsky (Rock-Amateur). This is described in his book "Journey of a Rock Amateur." By the following winter, the original line-up of the group had disbanded.

In March 1984, Naumenko and Khrabunov appeared on the club stage, accompanied by the Aquarium rhythm section: Mikhail Vasiliev (bass) and Pyotr Troshchenkov (drums). Vasiliev, who at that time actually left the Aquarium, played at the Zoo until the end of the year, and Troshchenkov was replaced in April by the best drummer in the city, Evgeniy Guberman.

In 1984, “Zoo” recorded the album “White Stripe”, which in 1988 was released by the Melodiya company, cutting down the songs “Poverty” and “Forward Boddisattva”. The album includes “Fear in Your Eyes” and “Gopniks,” which were not “covered” at the time by the Leningrad Rock Club.

But there is an opinion that, like “Zoo” and Mike, they sold out there...

To whom??

Well, “Melodies”, official...

First of all, I can honestly say that I didn’t lift a finger to get this record released. Sell ​​to Melody? - so Melodiya doesn’t pay anything at all. Well, everyone who had records out took it all and sold it, or what? - From an interview with Mike.

The performance of “Zoo” at the 2nd Leningrad Rock Festival became one of its central events, despite the campaign launched at that time by the Ministry of Culture against amateur rock, inspired by the provocative articles of composer Alexander Morozov in “Komsomolskaya Pravda” and V. Vlasov in the Leningrad “ Change.” The group received the audience award and a special prize established by the Optical Institute. And the winner was the group “Secret”, which performed Mike’s song “Major Rock and Roll” at the festival and did not hide its admiration for his music.

In the summer of 1984, Andrei Tropillo recorded, as it later turned out, the last studio album of the White Stripe group. In November 1984, Mike and Khrabunov played one concert and “Zoo” disappeared for nine months. Only in August 1985 did the search for suitable musicians temporarily end, and a new “Zoo” appeared on the stage, including Sergei Tessul and Valery Kirilov.

The following spring, "ZOO" again surprised many by appearing on the stage of the 4th rock festival, accompanied by a spectacular vocal trio (Donskikh, Natalya Shishkina and Galina Skigina) and keyboardist Andrei Muratov. Chic arrangements, light theatricality, stylized doo-wop vocals - the old fans of “Zoo” were annoyed, the new ones were intrigued, and the jury was fascinated, as a result of which the group received the laureate title for the first time. This version lasted a year, made a number of scattered radio recordings, and disbanded in May 1987.

In September 1987, “Zoo” performed at the All-Union Rock Festival in Podolsk, toured the country a lot - at some stage it was the most concert band of the rock club, and perhaps the whole country. In 1988, Tropillo released a slightly stripped-down version of the White Stripe album on record. In April of the same year, Muratov left for DDT, and Zoo returned to the quartet, although the group’s activity from that moment began to decline sharply. In the fall of 1988, ex-guitarist of “Myths” Alexander Novikov rehearsed with them, but never joined.

During the years 88-90, Mike traveled all over Russia, and, despite the fact that the group had not changed its repertoire for a long time, almost everywhere at his concerts there was a full house. As the press wrote at that time, Zoo became the champion of the Leningrad rock club in terms of the number of concerts per year, surpassing even Aquarium and Kino.

In 1988, Zoo recorded its last album, Music for Film. In one of the songs on this album, “Shots,” there are the words: “Well, will there be tomorrow, a new day, again?” Mike probably didn’t believe in a “new day” for himself.

At the beginning of 1990, director Alexander Kiselev filmed at the Leningrad studio documentaries the film “Boogie Woogie Every Day” dedicated to “Zoo”, for which the group recorded several of their previously unreleased numbers, which were later included in the album “Music for the Film”. The decline in widespread interest in rock and roll, and with it touring activity, plus growing problems practically took Zoo out of the game: the attempt of Andrei Tropilo, who was elected director of the Leningrad Recording Studio in the summer of 1989, to bring the group into the studio was not successful.

Kulikov parted ways with Zoo again, and Nail Kadyrov became the bassist. On March 14, 1991, Mike Naumenko appeared on stage for the last time, performing his “Suburban Blues” accompanied by “Aquarium” at the festival dedicated to the 10th anniversary of the Leningrad rock club.

Mike died on August 27, 1991 in Leningrad, in his room in a communal apartment on Razyezzhaya Street. Doctors recorded death from cerebral hemorrhage. He did not live only two months before the 10th anniversary of the group.

Mike's life ended tragically. Returning home from a party after seeing off one of the band’s musicians abroad, he fell in his communal apartment, was dragged to bed by a neighbor, and lay motionless until the morning. Then the relatives who arrived called an ambulance, which stated the most incompatible with life of all injuries - a fracture of the base of the skull. In such cases, doctors do not move the patient even during examination, because even a slight movement is enough for death to occur. Mike was conscious until the end and behaved very courageously.

“Mike was a visionary and generally the kindest person. I still don’t understand what happened to him. The circumstances of his death remain largely mysterious. With Tsoi, at least, everything is clear - if not in essence, then in form - how everything happened. For Mike, everything was almost the same as with Zhora Ordanovsky. He, as we know, simply disappeared without leaving any traces" - Excerpt from "Interview with Mike (last Rock" n "roller)" in DBP.

And we don't like them.
Everyone takes the subway
Well, we are not one of those.
Yeah, we're taking the motor,
Although there is a naked man in my pocket,
And we drink our port wine,
We drink someone else's cognac.
I don't like Taganka
I hate Arbat.
One more
And it's time to go back.
Nobody loves us here
And it doesn’t call for flat,
Doesn't serve beer
He doesn't cook lunch for us.
We keep everyone happy
They're making us happy all around,
In Sokolniki and in the center
One big bummer.
It's cold and nasty here
It’s not crazy here at all.
One more
And it's time to go back.
And young ladies in the policy
They won't fulfill it on us,
They don't like punk rock stars
And then there was a complete refusal.
The telegraph dynamizes me,
Without issuing a translation.
I have nowhere to hide
When your stomach hurts.
From a torn trouser leg
Looks at my bare butt.
One more
And it's time to go back.
We're scared in stores
Everything there is not like ours,
You can't get port wine there,
Only kvass is on sale.
The people there are brutal,
He hits each other face.
Nobody's heard the Stranglers
And only “Space” is in fashion.
From all this abundance
It makes me want to go to the mat.
One more
And it's time to go back.

Mike Naumenko

He was buried at the Volkovskoye cemetery in Leningrad.

Natalya Naumenko – ex-wife, band musician. She was a direct witness to the heyday of Russian rock and roll and rock. In their communal apartment on Borovaya, musicians gathered who later became legends: Alexey Rybin and others. In 2018, the movie “Summer” will be released, telling about little known facts from the life of Viktor Tsoi, Mike Naumenko and Natalia.

Childhood and youth

Natalya Vasilievna Naumenko was born on January 21, 1960 in Leningrad. Her maiden name Rossovskaya.

Natalya is a non-public person; there are a lot of gaps in her biography. All her interviews are dedicated to the famous ex-husband, and she prefers to remain silent about her life before Mike. Nothing is known about her childhood, parents and education.

Career

When Natasha met Mike and they decided to get married, she had to go to Teploenergo, since the organization’s employees were given rooms. Everything was new for the petite girl. Unknown mechanisms of unimaginable size in the boiler room instilled fear that she had to overcome. She worked as a gas boiler operator, simply a fireman.

In 1997, Alexey Rybin published the book “The Right to Rock,” which included Natalya’s memories of life with Mike. Its part received the title “Hotel called “Marriage””.

Personal life

The girl met her future husband, musician and leader of the Zoo group Mikhail Naumenko, when she was 19 years old. She first saw him in a communal apartment on Vasilyevsky Island, Natalya was introduced to her by her cousin Vyacheslav. A month later they met again at Slava’s wedding, Mike joked a lot, and then invited the girl to rehearsals at Bolshoi Theater Kukol, where he worked at that time.

Natalya Naumenko and Mike Naumenko in their youth

Soon the young man proposed to the girl, but they decided to postpone the wedding, since the housing issue had to be resolved first. Natalya became pregnant and had to go to the hospital. And as soon as she was discharged, Mike immediately took the girl to the registry office. He wanted to legitimize their relationship. Therefore, there was no preparation for the wedding; everything went quickly and chaotically.

In July, Natalya had a son. They originally planned to name the boy Mark, after Marc Bolan. But as soon as the baby was born, everyone immediately began to dissuade new parents from using this name. Therefore, they waited for a long time and decided, and in the end they gave their son the name Evgeniy.

They lived extremely poorly, but, like everyone else in their youth, they did not realize their poverty. Moreover, then everyone in the country lived approximately the same. There were always guests in their communal apartment, among them the leader Viktor Tsoi.

Unlike Mike, who had difficulty finding a common language with the baby, Victor often helped Natalya. He handled little Zhenya with such ease, as if he had already raised at least three children.

There is a version that there was an affair between Natalya and Victor. In 2007, a woman, at the request of Alexander Zhitinsky, who was writing a book about Tsoi, provided the writer with her diary entries. But initially Natasha agreed with Zhitinsky that her memories would be to help him, and not for publication.

Later he assured her that everything looked noble and everything should be left in the book as she had written. The woman agreed. In an interview with Argumenty i Fakty, which Natalya gave in 2018, she said that it would have been much easier for her to live if she had not succumbed to Zhitinsky’s persuasion, but “now she’s unraveling.”

At that time, Tsoi constantly disappeared in Naumenko’s house; friendly and trusting relationships developed between Natasha and Vitya. They talked a lot, although in the company Tsoi was known as an eternal silent man. One day, before the girl’s 22nd birthday, she asked Mike to give her a gift - to allow her to kiss Tsoi. And although the husband was surprised by such a question, he allowed it.

On her birthday, Mike was at work: he left for a day and was absent from the celebration. Then their first kiss happened, but not the last. True, the woman describes their relationship as “ kindergarten“, they even kissed like classmates at a school party. According to Natalya Naumenko, for a short period they had a tender friendship, but nothing more. Although Mike believed that such friendships were much more dangerous than anything else.

Natalya lived with Mike for 10 years. The couple divorced on August 15, 1991. They did this without scandals and unnecessary showdowns. Together with her son, the woman moved to Moscow. On August 27, 1991 - 12 days after the official divorce - Mike died. The cause of death was cerebral hemorrhage. But the circumstances under which it happened still remain unclear.

Natalya Naumenko now

In 2018, director Kirill Serebrennikov will present the film “Summer” at the Cannes Film Festival. The events of the film unfold in the summer of 1981 in Leningrad. The plot centers on the lives of Viktor Tsoi, Mike Naumenko and Natalia. The woman was played by a woman known to viewers from the blockbuster “Attraction”. The roles of musicians went to and.

However, even before the screening, a scandal erupted around the film. - the founder, having read the script, said that it was all a lie from beginning to end. According to him, the characters in Serebrennikov’s painting have nothing in common with the people he knew personally.

Documentary director Alexander Lipnitsky was also skeptical about the film. He believes that the plot is “sucked out of thin air.” At one time, he made a documentary about the Kino group and talked with Alexander Zhitinsky.

From their conversation, he realized that between Natasha Naumenko and Viktor Tsoi there was an easy romantic relationship, at the level of flirting. Lipnitsky noted that he doesn’t really believe in this whole story with the novel, and even if it’s true, it clearly doesn’t fit into the plot of the film.

Natalya answered the question about the current situation around the film ambiguously. What she saw on film set, she liked it, she believes in director Kirill Serebrennikov. But I don’t think it’s right to express my opinion about a picture without seeing it.