As noted by the 70th anniversary of Mike Naumenko
Today, April 18, it would have turned 70 to one of the brightest characters in Soviet rock, the leader of the Zoo group Mike Naumenko. Concerts are held in memory of him, books and even an album in English are produced. I studied all this carefully Igor Gavrilov.
Today it would have turned 70 years old to a man who found that the rhythm end-blouse can be written and singing in Russian no worse than Bob Dylan and Mark Bolan, and learned to do it impudently and ironically, quite in the spirit of the original sources. Mike Naumenko passed away in 1991 and forever, even after two Bayopics, Summer and Johnny, remained in the shadow of Viktor Tsoi and other associates in the Leningrad rock club. Nevertheless, the memory of him is alive.
In the St. Petersburg Jagger club, an exhibition of photographs of Mike was opened and a concert dedicated to his memory was held. In the capital of the Zoo leader, they recall today – at a concert at the ZIL Cultural Center, and yesterday, the journalist Alexander Kushnir, author of the book “Exiting from the zoo”, read a lecture about him in the Dermaid Palacesee “Kommersant” dated June 18, 2020).
Joanna Stingrey, producer of the legendary album “Red Wave” and a propagandist of Leningrad Rock, prepares a documentary about a T -shirt for release. The 15-minute tape is based on the archival interview, which Stingre took from the musician in 1986. By the round date, she did not have time and promises that the film will be released next week.
On the 70th anniversary of the T-shirt, the book “Songs, Poems and other texts” was published. To collect the literary heritage of the musician under one cover was taken by his close friend and designer of the Albums « Zoo » Igor Petrovsky. Surprisingly, this is the first book in more than thirty years, completely dedicated to Mike’s texts – his songs, poems and prose. His colleagues in the Leningrad Rock Club were not only caught by record-companies, but also book publishers, but the Mike Litter was presented to the public in the last century.
The lyrics of Mike’s songs are known for his albums, but not even all fans of the “zoo” know about his prose. These, to put it mildly, are not the texts that need to be included in the school curriculum, but they are written in a recognizable ironic and accurate manner. The book published fragments of Mike’s diaries, his essay in the style of “urban folklore” and even whole stories, which are characterized not by special literary handwriting, but rather the ability to see life through the prism of rock and rolling sarcasm. But the most unexpected in the book is translations into English.
It is known that the Mike well known him translated the texts of his favorite rock musicians, as well as articles from magazines, biographical books and even “real literature”, for example, “Illusions” by Richard Bach. He translated songs quite freely, often they became a source of inspiration for his own creativity. Here is what in the preface to the recently reprinted album “Zoo” “The White Street” was written by the soundtropolot Andrei Tropillo: “The texts of Mike were never discussed and accepted by me a priori, although sometimes they were a direct opposite of the Aglitsky original (for example, the Lolling Stones Laksheri song – luxury – turned into a“ white lane ”into the“ white lane ”into the“ white lane ”into the“ white lane ”into « Poverty ») ».
The translations of the verses of the Mike’s poems into the native language of his idols are quite exotic presented in “Songs, Verses and other texts”. Their author James Mantet is a translator, writer and musician, a devoted fan and active popularizer of Russian -language rock. The main thing in his research is how Mike’s texts return to English again. Say, the “overture” from the album “LV” is inherited by “On with the Show” The Rolling Stones, and now James Mante comes up with what will happen if these texts survive the reverse transformation. If the original “On with the Show” is a crazy cabaret, then Mike writes his “overtur” in a more restrained and mundane spirit of the Leningrad undergrand, and Mante, in the English version, is already a Maykovo, mood.
This February, Bandcamp, a whole album of James Mantet “Songs of Mike Naumenko”, where these translated texts with an American rock activist also streams became available. The recording was clearly made not on a large commercial release, rather it is an underground “kitchen” LO-Fi. Mike Naumenko, with his subtle sense of humor, would definitely appreciate the irony of this “gift” for his 70th anniversary: an American, promoting Russian rock, translates his texts into English, inspired by Bob with Dylan and Lou Read, and sings them to a simple acoustic guitar, as on the apartment. Mantet himself treats his album with all seriousness: “Mike absorbed in the content and genealogy of the songs, trying to get to their essence not as belonging to certain times, records or performances, but as phenomena that freely resonate in us, I feel how much he did not say and did not play, as far as I was not understood.” None of Mike’s compatriots on his 70th anniversary even made an attempt to think about it or talk.
