1966-1967: The Red Roosters The history of the group began in September 1966, when Sergey Danilov and Gennadiy Barikhnovskiy were both eighth-graders at School No. 216 in the
Kirovsky District of Leningrad. In the midst of
Beatlemania and the popularity of
rock and roll, they decided to start their own group. In one of their early performances as a duet, they played music from the film
Lyudi nad oblakami () at a school event. Soon after, Dmitry Zadvornov, then a freshman, joined the group as a vocalist. Soon after, Vyacheslav Legzdin replaced Bezdudnov on bass and the group changed their name to Mify (). The band's first performance under the new name took place on November 7, 1967.
1967-1974: Early years of Mify Before the members graduated from school, the group performed at their own school, School No. 501, and at the Seltso
sovkhoz. Drummer Valeriy Sorokin was replaced by Sergey Petrov, who had previously played in a group at School No. 501. Zadvornov left the group and Barikhnovsky took over the vocals. At the end of 1967, Mify took the second place in a district-wide competition of school ensembles. They went on a city-wide tour and came fourth in that competition. A portion of their performance was played in a radio program dedicated to the competition. The members of Gorizont (), the group that won the competition, advised the members of Mify to join the choir at the
Pioneers Palace. Danilov, Barikhnovsky and Legzdin followed this advice and learned to sing vocal harmonies. In the summer of 1969, Yuri Ilchenko joined the group. The first performance in the updated line-up (Danilov, Barikhnovskiy, Ilchenko, and Petrov) took place in October, in the club of the village of
Pargolovo. Mify played at dance parties in Pargolovo and
Toksovo, performing the English-language pop-rock standards that were popular at that time. Their repertoire included songs from
The Beatles,
The Rolling Stones, and others. The group's few original songs at the time included "Ya padayu, padayu" (), several instrumental compositions, and a couple of English-language sketches. In early 1970, guitarist and singer Yuri Bushev joined the group. In the same year, Yuri Ilchenko was drafted into the army, and the group was left without a main vocalist. Mify dissolved and the former band members joined
VIA acts. It was decided to extend the existence Mify for another season, with yet another line-up change. At this point, the group was composed of Barikhnovskiy (bass, vocals), Danilov (guitar, some vocals), Ilchenko (guitar, vocals), Mikhail "Michael" Kordyukov (drums), Vsevolod Levenshtein (saxophone), and Yuri Stepanov (grand piano, vocals). Levenshtein participated in the group not only as a musician, but also by conducting the group's affairs, organizing concerts, and performing other production duties. Before joining Mify, Levenshtein had led the VIA Dobry Molodtsy () for two years. Mify existed for some time under the unofficial name Lyudi Levenshteina (). However, the group only performed under this name once: at a jazz concert organized by jazz expert Grigory Frank, the sound engineer of Leningrad television, in the spring of 1975. For this occasion, Levenshtein invited a couple of familiar professional jazz players to play along with the group. At rare underground concerts, the group performed under its real name. In November 1975, having left Mify, Levenshtein also left the Soviet Union.
1975-1979: Yuri Ilchenko, Mashina Vremeni, and Voskreseniye Yuri Ilchenko returned to the group in the autumn of 1975. Mify adopted a
jazz-rock sound, introducing a brass section with Oleg Kuvaitsev and Albert Rachkin on saxophone, Yuri Gantsev on trumpet, and Viktor Musorov and Valery Zavarin on trombone. At around the same time, Mify gave a concert at the Krupskaya Palace of Culture in Leningrad. This concert also marked the debut of the Moscow group
Mashina Vremeni on the Leningrad stage, and Mify's set left a strong impression on
Andrei Makarevich, the leader of Mashina Vremeni. A couple of months later, Mashina Vremeni again visited Leningrad. For eight months, Ilchenko lived in Andrei Makarevich's apartment and performed with Mashina Vremeni. Several of Mify's compositions entered Mashina Vremeni's repertoire. In particular, the song “Shock” was later published on the disc
Eto bylo tak davno (). In the same year, Danilov went to prison on charges of possession and use of drugs, and Mify again dissolved. Over the next few years, Ilchenko participated in a variety of projects. In 1977, Ilchenko took part in the creation of the Soviet Union's first
underground rock magazine Roksi (), acting as an editor and journalist. In 1980, Danilov was released from prison and Mify was revived. On March 7, 1981, Mify performed at the opening ceremony of the
Leningrad Rock Club, alongside Rossianye and
Picnic. In the same year, they performed at a festival in the Nevsky Palace of Culture and completed the recording of their debut album
Doroga domoi () on AnTrop. Mify also received a prize for the anti-war song "Otvetny udar" (). == Band members ==