Punk in Yugoslavia

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The book "Punk u Jugoslaviji" (Punk in Yugoslavia) by Dragan Pavlov and Dejan Šunjka, publisher: IGP Dedalus, 1990
The book "Punk u Jugoslaviji" (Punk in Yugoslavia) by Dragan Pavlov and Dejan Šunjka, publisher: IGP Dedalus, 1990

Punk in Yugoslavia is the punk subculture of the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (a state that existed until 1991). The most developed punk scenes across the federation existed in Socialist Republic of Slovenia, the Adriatic coast of Socialist Republic of Croatia, the Socialist Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, the capital of Belgrade and other places. Notable acts include: Pankrti, Paraf, Pekinška patka, KUD Idijoti, Niet, Patareni and KBO!.

Contents

[edit] History

Novi Punk Val
Novi Punk Val
Patareni
Patareni
U.B.R.
U.B.R.

The Non-Aligned socialist Yugoslavia was never part of the Eastern Bloc, and it was open to western influences. The SFR Yugoslav Pop and Rock scene was socially accepted, well developed and covered in the media. The former Yugoslav punk scene emerged in the late 1970s, influenced by the first wave of punk rock bands from the United Kingdom and United States, such as Sex Pistols, The Clash, The Damned, Ramones, Generation X, The Ruts, Buzzcocks and The Jam, as well as the proto-punk acts such as The Stooges and the New York Dolls. The DIY punk fanzine scene also started to develop in Yugoslavia.

The Yugoslav punk bands were the first punk bands ever formed in a socialist state. Some of the first ones were formed in Slovenia and Croatia: Paraf from Rijeka (formed in 1976) and Pankrti from Ljubljana (formed in 1977) But the Pankrti was the first band that played at concerts across the Yugoslavia. The Slovenian and Croatian scene of that period is featured in the Novi Punk Val compilation album, which included Pankrti, Paraf, Buldogi, Termiti, Berlinski Zid, Grupa 92 and Prljavo Kazalište. Late-1970s Belgrade punk bands included: Defektno efektni, Urbana gerila and Radnička kontrola (feat. Cane who later came into prominence as frontman of Partibrejkers and Srđan Todorović, later an eminent movie actor). This generation of bands was included on the Artistička Radna Akcija compilation. Električni orgazam was also a punk band during its early period. From Novi Sad, Vojvodina, used to be the cult band Pekinška patka, which was led by the charismatic Profesor Čonta. Prominent Yugoslav punkabilly artist was Tonny Montano from Belgrade (formerly a singer of Radost Evrope).

The first punk band in Skopje, Socialist Republic of Macedonia was Fol Jazik, formed in 1978. Other notable acts from Skopje included Badmingtons and Saraceni, both led by Vladimir Petrovski Karter. The bass player of Saraceni, Goran Trajkoski, previously played in the punk band Afektiven naboj from Struga. Later he was the frontman of Padot na Vizantija and rose to international prominence as the frontman of Anastasia and Mizar. In Sarajevo, Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the following artists emerged: Ozbiljno pitanje (which later evolved into Crvena Jabuka), Ševa (which later evolved into Bombaj Štampa led by Branko Đurić), and the cult band Zabranjeno Pušenje. These bands later formed the punk-inspired New Primitives movement.

In the late 1970s, some punk bands were affiliated with the Yugoslav New Wave scene, and were labeled as both punk rock and new wave. During a certain period, the term New Wave music was interchangeable with punk. The most important record of the Yugoslav New Wave era is Paket Aranžman.

The end of the 1970s and the beginning of the 1980s saw the emergence of various subgenres of punk rock, such as streetpunk and Oi! later followed by: hardcore punk, crust punk all the way to crossover thrash and grindcore. Notable acts during the 1980s included: the hardcore punk bands Niet, U.B.R.(Uporniki brez razloga) , Stres D.A.(stres državnega aparata), Odpadki Civilizacije,Tožibabe, S.O.R. (Sistem organizirane regresije), Epidemija (from Slovenia), Patareni (from Croatia), KUD Idijoti (from Pula), KBO! (from Kragujevac), Trula Koalicija, Apatridi, NUP (Napred u prošlost), Giuseppe Carabino (from Subotica), ; and the Oi!/streetpunk bands Dva minuta mržnje, Vrisak generacije and Ritam Nereda (all three from Novi Sad, Vojvodina). A notable mainstream pop punk band was Psihomodo Pop from Croatia (heavily influenced by the Ramones).

Many eminent foreign punk bands played concerts in the former Socialist Yugoslavia including: The Ruts, Siouxsie & the Banshees, UK Subs, Angelic Upstarts, The Exploited and The Anti-Nowhere League. In 1983 The Anti-Nowhere League released their album Live in Yugoslavia, while Angelic Upstarts released a live album with the same title in 1985. Their member Knox had also produced the last album of Pankrti, Sexpok

[edit] Nazi punk affair

A great scandal emerged all over Yugoslavia when the authorities arrested a Nazi punk and Nazi skinhead-oriented group called The Fourth Reich in Ljubljana, Slovenia in 1981. The group was put on trial and imprisoned. The one-party system used this incident to impose harsh indiscriminate opression on all punks and skinheads who began to be perceived as potential enemies of the state, despite the fact that the overwhelming majority of them was actually anti-fascist and anti-totalitarian in general. Despite this incident, the Yugoslav punk scene continued to exist successfully (although with less mainstream media coverage) until the disintegration of the Socialist Yugoslav Federation.

[edit] Yugoslav Wars

The punk scene of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia ceased to exist with the disintegration of the Socialist Yugoslav Federation. Many of its former adherents participated in anti-war and anti-nationalist activities, and were often attacked by the nationalists in their countries. A 1993 compilation of anti-war punk songs, Preko zidova nacionalizma i rata (Over the walls of nationalism and war) featured bands from the ex-Yugoslav countries. However, some individuals previously involved in the Yugoslav punk scene embraced national chauvinism, and some even fought in the Yugoslav wars. One example is Satan Panonski, a charismatic and controversial punk singer and poet from Vinkovci, Croatia, who had a cult status in the former Yugoslav punk scene. A former convict charged with murder who spent several years in mental institutions, he was an outspoken opponent of any national chauvinism and was openly a homosexual. However, after the Croatian War of Independence began, he joined the Croatian forces and was killed under unknown circumstances.

The local scenes in the independent countries that emerged after the breakup of Yugoslavia continued to exist, some of them heavily suffering during the war. The underground music scene continued even in the shelters during the Sarajevo siege and a compilation album Rock under siege (Radio Zid Sarajevo, Stichting Popmuziek Nederland) including the punk band Protest was released in 1995.

A new federal state comprising Serbia and Montenegro named Federal Republic of Yugoslavia formed after the disintegration of Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia during the Yugoslav wars. It existed from 1992 until 2003. Notable punk bands in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia included: Atheist rap, Ritam Nereda and Zbogom Brus Li from Novi Sad; Direktori and Šaht from Belgrade and Goblini from Šabac. Some of them were formed during the previous Yugoslav federation, and some still exist in the 2000s. Many bands in this period openly opposed the regime of Slobodan Milošević, but some espoused radical Serbian nationalism.

[edit] Current (2000s)

After the end of the conflicts and especially later, after the departure of the nationalist leaders such as Slobodan Milošević and Franjo Tuđman, the former Yugoslav nations started to normalise their relations. Thus their music scenes (this time both mainstream and alternative) could freely restore their former cooperation. Anti-Nowhere League came once again on former Yugoslav soil (in Croatia) and released their live album Return to Yugoslavia. In 2003 Igor Mirković from Croatia made the rockumentary Sretno dijete (Happy Child) named after a song by Prljavo Kazalište. The movie covers the early Yugoslav Punk and New Wave scene feat. eminent artists from Zagreb, Ljubljana and Belgrade. Inspired by "Sretno dijete", rockumentary "Bilo jednom..." was made in 2006, featuring punk-rockers from Novi Sad, active during the first half of 1990s.

Current notable acts in the former Yugoslav countries: Hladno pivo, KUD Idijoti, Let 3 (feat. the former Termiti member Damir Martinović- Mrle), Fat Prezident, Overflow, FOB, Grupa tvog života and Gužva u 16-ercu from Croatia; Superhiks and Two Sides from Republic of Macedonia; Red Union, Zbogom Brus Li, Atheist Rap, Six Pack, Mitesers, Ska Ringišpil, The Bayonets from Serbia and others.

[edit] Reunions

Pankrti played a reunion concert in Tivoli Hall in Ljubljana on December 1, 2007, with guitarist Ivan Kral P.Smith, as a celebration of their 30th anniversary. They had also a great tour across all former Yugoslavia.http://www.pero-lovsin.com/index2.htm][1][2] Meanwhile, in Skopje, Republic of Macedonia, the group Badmingtons reformed and their music was included in the soundtrack for the feature film Prevrteno (Upside Down) directed by Igor Ivanov Izy. These events coincide with the current 2007 Sex Pistols reunion tour for Never Mind The Bollocks 30th anniversary.[3][4]

[edit] Related movies

[edit] References

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

Pop and rock music of Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
Music of Yugoslavia - SFR Yugoslav pop and rock scene - Yugoslav Band Aid (YU Rock Misija) - Yugoslavia in the Eurovision Song Contest
Record labels
Jugoton - PGP RTB - Suzy Records - Diskoton - ZKP RTLJ - Jugodisk
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