Zoopark
Zoopark (Russian: Зоопа́рк) was one of the founding rock groups which began the Russian rock movement. The group was founded in 1980.[1] It consisted of singer-songwriter Mike Naumenko, guitarist Aleksandr Khrabunov and a varied group of artists. The first album recorded was All Brothers are Sisters with Boris Grebenshikov in 1978. They recorded on the banks of the Neva River in Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg) with a "choir" of drunken friends and colleagues playing percussion on metal cans.[2] Naumenko was a rock outcast, concentrating his work on electrified hard-core blues, although his Russian-language poetic songwriting made him a favorite in the hippie underground.[3] His inspirations included T. Rex, B.B. King and Chuck Berry.[3]
Naumenko died in 1991,[1] cutting his career short. He remains celebrated, however, as a pioneer of Russian rock music, with his birthday observed in St. Petersburg clubs, along with numerous creative tributes, including a 2009 novel and an "blues opera" that premiered in 2011.[4] A collection of Naumenko's complete written works — including his samizdat translation of Richard Bach's Illusions — is being prepared for publication in 2015.[4]
Discography
- 1978 — All brothers are Sisters (Все братья - сёстры (Майк и БГ))
- 1980 — Sweet N (Сладкая N и другие)
- 1981 — Blues de Moscou
- 1982 — LV
- 1983 — Small Town Called N (Уездный город N)
- 1984 — White Stripe (Белая полоса)
- 1985 — Life in the Zoo (Жизнь в Зоопарке)
- 1987 — W
- 1987 — Illusions (Иллюзии)
- 1991 — Soundtrack for the movie (Музыка для фильма)
References
- 1 2 Zoopark:Istoriya (in Russian)
- 1 2 Urban, Michael, with Andrei Evdokimov. Russia Gets the Blues: Music, Culture, and Community in Unsettled Times. Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press, 2004. P. 32, 90, 93. ISBN 0-8014-4229-X
- 1 2 Chernov, Sergey. 'Unexposed genius: Musicians will gather this week to remember the late Zoopark singer Mike Naumenko.' The St. Petersburg Times. April 18, 2012