Майк Науменко

Mike Naumenko (Russian: Майк Нау́менко, born Mikhail Vasilyevich Naumenko, 18 April 1955 – 27 August 1991) was a Soviet rock musician, singer-songwriter and interpreter, leader of the band Zoopark. Born in Leningrad, in the 1970s he was a member of the Russian rock group Akvarium, and in 1981 he formed Zoopark, which became one of the most outstanding blues rock groups of USSR. Naumenko is considered one of the best lyricists of Russian rock, although drawing heavily on Bob Dylan and other UK/US songwriters, and 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). Largely imitative, Naumenko's input was yet very significant as he adapted the Western rock tradition to Russian culture and the urban realities of Leningrad.