Zoopark (russian: link=no, Зоопарк) was one of the founding rock groups which began the

Russian rock Rock music became known in the Soviet Union in the 1960s and quickly broke free from its Western roots. According to many music critics, its "golden age" years were the 1980s (especially the era of perestroika), when the Soviet underground ro ...

movement. The group was founded in 1981.Zoopark:Istoriya
(in Russian)

Background

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 Grebenshchikov Boris Borisovich Grebenshchikov (russian: link=no, Борис Борисович Гребенщиков; born ) is a prominent member of the generation which is widely considered to be the "founding fathers" of Russian rock music. He is the fo ...

in 1978. They recorded on the banks of the Neva River in Leningrad (now

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

) with a "choir" of drunken friends and colleagues playing percussion on metal cans.Rybin A., Startsev A., eds. and authors, with A. Lipnitsky. ''Mike from Zoopark'' . Tver: Lean, 1996. . 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.Urban, Michael, with Andrei Evdokimov. ''Russia Gets the Blues: Music, Culture, and Community in Unsettled Times''. Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press, 2004. pp. 32, 90, 93. His inspirations included Lou Reed,

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

, T. Rex,

B.B. King Riley B. King (September 16, 1925 – May 14, 2015), known professionally as B.B. King, was an American blues singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. He introduced a sophisticated style of soloing based on fluid string bending, shi ...

and

Chuck Berry Charles Edward Anderson Berry (October 18, 1926 – March 18, 2017) was an American singer, songwriter and guitarist who pioneered rock and roll. Nicknamed the " Father of Rock and Roll", he refined and developed rhythm and blues into th ...

Legacy

Naumenko died in 1991, 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 a "blues opera" that premiered in 2011.Chernov, Sergey (April 18, 2012)
"Unexposed genius: Musicians will gather this week to remember the late Zoopark singer Mike Naumenko"
'' The St. Petersburg Times''. A collection of Naumenko's complete written works—including his samizdat translation of Richard Bach's ''

Illusions An illusion is a distortion of the senses, which can reveal how the mind normally organizes and interprets sensory stimulation. Although illusions distort the human perception of reality, they are generally shared by most people. Illusions may oc ...

''—was being prepared for publication in 2015.

Discography

* 1981: ''Blues de Moscou'' * 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

External links

Zoopark's Discography
* *
Mike Naumenko
{{Authority control Musical groups established in 1981 Musical groups disestablished in 1991 1980s in music Blues rock groups Musical groups from Saint Petersburg Russian rock music groups Soviet rock music groups 1981 establishments in Russia 1991 disestablishments in Russia