Mike (Mikhail) Naumenko is a legendary rock singer and author of his own songs, musician, guitarist. One of the first representatives of Russian rock and the founder of the Zoo group. His songs were performed by many famous rock musicians and bands, and Sweet N, Suburban Blues, Boogie Woogie Everyday became classic rock music of the 80s.
The name of Mike Naumenko is known to all fans of Russian rock. He became popular back in the 80s, performed at apartment houses, at the Leningrad rock club, at concerts in the houses of culture. His songs are still loved by admirers of his work, and the name is on a par with such legendary performers as: Viktor Tsoi, Boris Grebenshchikov, Yuri Morozov, Alexander Laertsky, Vladimir Shakhrin, Oleg Garkusha.
Childhood
Mikhail was born in a family of indigenous Leningraders in 1955. My father worked as a teacher at one of the institutes, and my mother was a library worker. The grandmother was mainly engaged in the upbringing of the boy, and she instilled in the child a love of reading and literature.
Already in kindergarten, Mikhail constantly spoke at children's parties and recited poems, for which he enjoyed special love from educators. He was not at all interested in music, he was never engaged in singing or playing musical instruments, and he completely ignored participation in amateur performances. Even at school in the elementary grades, no one could force him to perform at festive concerts in front of teachers. So it was until the guitar and the first tape recorder that his parents gave him for his sixteenth birthday appeared in the house.
Mikhail immediately became interested in guitar and began to independently study musical notation and select chords for famous compositions. At the same time, he refused to go to music, believing that with his patience and perseverance he would cope with his goal.
At a school with in-depth study of English, where Mikhail was sent, he was a diligent student, studied "excellent" and could easily enter any humanitarian university. But he applied his knowledge of a foreign language in a completely different field. Already as a teenager, he began to translate foreign literature on rock music, and became one of the best specialists in this direction.
Having mastered the guitar, constantly listening to the recordings of famous English-speaking rock performers, he began to compose his first songs and try to perform with various groups that began to appear in the country in those years. Then they began to call him Mike and this name was firmly entrenched in the musician. But even this passion for rock music did not become decisive in choosing a profession.
After school, Mike entered LISI and began to successfully master a new profession in order to graduate and begin working as an engineer. He liked to study, but at the same time he did not show much interest in technical sciences. With great difficulty, he managed to unlearn until the fifth year, but the matter did not go further and Mike dropped out of college. Not even the persuasion of his parents and several academic leave that he managed to take during his studies did not help.
Creative way
Music more and more fascinated the young man, and gradually he began to devote more and more time to writing songs and performances with different groups. He played with Vladimir Kozlov in his collective "The Union of Rock Music Lovers", then a little with Boris Grebenshchikov in the "Aquarium", traveled through the Russian outback with the group "Overhaul".
In the late 70s, the first joint album was recorded with Grebenshchikov, entitled "All Brothers Are Sisters." It was an acoustic album recorded on the Neva Embankment, in which the musicians used only guitars and harmonica, and recorded on an old tape recorder. Of course, it’s not necessary to talk about any, even a little acceptable quality of the record, it turned out terrible.
A year later, Mike agreed with the studio of the Bolshoi Puppet Theater in Leningrad, where he was allowed to record a solo album. It was called "Sweet N and Others." Naumenko invited his friends Vyacheslav Zorin and Boris Grebenshchikov to record the album, because he did not have his own team at that time. The album instantly spread among Mike's fans and was even called "our Leningrad Bob Dylan."
From all the tracks of the album, the sixties, rock'n'roll and blues blew. The composition "Suburban Blues" has become one of the most beloved not only among the musician, but also among his fans, who have already appeared quite a lot. Some phrases from the song were later changed when Mike began performing on the stage of the Leningrad Rock Club. Censorship simply did not miss them. Another hit of the album was the composition, which Mike composed for more than a year, it was called "Rubbish". Rock lovers said that Mike borrowed the melody from T.Rex and Morrison, nevertheless "Rubbish" became a classic not only in Naumenko’s repertoire, but also in all the rock music of the 80s. After the death of the singer, the crematorium group received permission to perform the composition from Naumenko's ex-wife. She was also performed by the famous rock singer Olga Pershina.
There were various rumors about the album "Sweet N", and fans were often interested in who became the prototype of this woman. Mike himself claimed that she did not exist, but he was desperately in love with her. Subsequently, producer A. Kushnik said that Mike sang about one famous artist Tatyana Apraksina, but still it was more a collective image and an unattainable ideal of femininity.
"Zoo"
Having recorded his first album, Mike first began to create his own team, having come up with the name "Zoo". Already in 1981, they were accepted into the rock club, and Naumenko himself, in addition to working with his group, recorded several compositions with Viktor Tsoi and even performed with him at concerts, playing guitar parts. One of Viktor and Mike's favorite songs was “Seen the Night, ” they composed and recorded it together, and often performed at concerts held by the rock club.
In the early 80s, Mike quite often holds tenants with Tsoi. A recording of one of these home concerts can be found today, entitled "Concert by Pavel Kraev." In one of the sleeping areas of Leningrad, beginners and already well-known performers of Russian rock often gathered, including Naumenko. At that time it was dangerous to hold such concerts: musicians, participants and apartment owners were harassed by the police and they were held in complete secrecy.
Mike's popularity is starting to grow rapidly. He performs in Moscow, where his concerts attract even more fans than in his native St. Petersburg. Then began touring the entire Union and recording several more albums, which became no less popular than the first.
Last years
By the beginning of the 90s, Mike was getting more and more tired of concert activity and gradually stopped appearing in front of the audience. He begins to get addicted to alcohol and his health deteriorates sharply. He throws away all his new compositions; he does not like anything else.
Mike’s last appearance on stage was in 1991, on the 10th anniversary of the rock club in Leningrad. In August of the same year, Mike dies of a brain hemorrhage.
There are still many rumors around his death, but relatives believe that there is nothing strange in his death. Mike was attacked at the entrance when he was returning from one of the parties and beaten. He lay on the street until morning, and when they found him, they moved him to an apartment and called an ambulance, it was too late.
