| Paraf | |
|---|---|
| Also known as | Papak |
| Origin | Rijeka, Croatia, Yugoslavia |
| Genres | Punk rock, New Wave (early period) Post-punk, Gothic rock (later period) |
| Years active | 1977–1986 Reunions: 1994, 2003, 2008 |
| Labels | ZKP RTLJ, Helidon |
| Associated acts | Grad, Ogledala, Videosex, Let 2, Public, Strukturne Ptice, Termiti |
| Past members | |
| Dušan Ladavac Goran Lisica Klaudio Žic Mladen Vičić Pavica Mijatović Raoul Varljen Robert Tičić Valter Kocijančić Zdravko Čabrijan |
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Paraf is a punk rock and later post-punk band from Rijeka, Croatia, known as one of the pioneers of punk rock in the former Yugoslavia.
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Following the expansion of punk rock in Europe, teenagers Valter Kocijančić (guitar, vocals), Zdravko Čabrijan (bass) and Dušan Ladavac "Pjer" formed Paraf during the late 1977. The band had their first live appearances at the Rijeka high-schools along with the bands of similar musical orientation, Termiti, Protest and Lom. During the late 1978, the band started performing frequently, even outside Rijeka. They played in Ljubljana, Belgrade, Zagreb. The band also performed at the Novi Sad BOOM festival, as well as an opening act for The Ruts concert in Zagreb. In 1979, they released their debut single "Rijeka", a cover version of the Ramones song "Chinese Rocks", but Kocijančić signed as the song author in order to test the Yugoslav critics of the time. Despite the intention, it was the Džuboks magazine journalist Petar Luković who recognized that the song was a cover version. The band also appeared on the various artists compilation album Novi punk val 78-80, released by ZKP RTLJ in 1980, with the song "Narodna pjesma" ("Folk song").
After several delays, the band debut album A dan je tako lijepo počeo... (And the day started so nicely...) was released by ZKP RTLJ during the Spring of 1980. Due to the explicit lyrics, the album was taxed as kitsch despite the fact that a part of the lyrics had to be changed and the band had to use an alternate album cover. Following the punk rock ideology, the band discussed several themes which were at the time new to the Yugoslav rock: the songs featured ironic usages of communist slogans, mocked, at the time, one of the most popular bands, Bijelo Dugme, in the song "Pritanga i vaza", insulting the police in the censored version of "Narodna pjesma", and dealt with social themes typical for a seaside city. The album production was done by the band's close associate Goran Lisica "Fox", assisted by Igor Vidmar.
After the album release Valter Kocijančić left the band, later joining the band Istočni Izlaz, until quitting his musical career and becoming a teacher, which is also his current occupation. The new members had become the vocalist Pavica Mijatović, using the pseudonym Vim Cola, and the former Zadnji guitarist Klaudio Žic. The latter soon after left the band and the new members had become the guitarist Mladen Vičić "Riči" and keyboard player Raul Varlen. With the arrival of the new members, the band also changed their musical style, moving towards post-punk, influenced by the popular British bands of the genre.
The new musical orientation was presented to the wider audience on the second studio album Izleti (Excursions), featuring the songs "Pobuna bubuljica" ("Acne uprising"), "Nestašni đački izleti" ("Naughty school excursions"), "Javna kupatila" ("Public bathrooms") and "Federico u bačvi" ("Federico in a barrel"), the latter being inspired by the Federico Felini film Casanova. The song also featured the song "Tužne uši" ("Sad ears"), also released on single, featuring a minimalist lyrics "Ležim na leđima i plačem a suze mi teku u uši" ("I am lying on my back and crying while my tears are flowing into my ears").
After a series of promotional concerts, the guitarist Vičić left the band, being replaced by a former Termiti member Robert Tičić. The new lineup started recording the third studio album, and during the period in between the recording sessions and the album mixing the twenty-two-year-old Tičić got a flow of blood onto the brain which was fatal to him. His replacement was the former Konjak guitarist Mladen Ilić, later the founder of the band Psi. The album Zastave (Flags), released in 1984, featured lyrical themes related to the near history, influenced by Miroslav Krleža. The album was produced by the band themselves with the Borghesia member Aldo Ivančić. Despite offering a serious release, especially in the tracks "U pobjede nove" ("Into new victories") and "Zlatno doba" ("Golden age"), the album, due to being uncommunicative, was not well accepted by the audience.
The band existed until 1986 when they disbanded. Pavica Mijatović and Zdravko Čabrijan got married and moved to Krk where they started a tourist business. Drummer Dušan Ladavac joined Let 2 but left the band before it evolved into Let 3.
The original Paraf lineup reunited in 1994 in order to perform at the Ri-Rock festival, the third Fiju Briju festival, as well as to perform several solo concerts. In 1996, Kocijančić performed the song "Rijeka" with the ad hoc group Blagdan Band, and the recording of the song appeared on the live album Pallach's not dead. The original lineup reunited again on December 13, 2003, and the recordings of the songs "Rijeka" and "Hit tema" ("Hit theme") from the performance were released on the various artists live album 25. Ri-Rock, released by Dallas Records in 2004. Four years later, in 2008, the band reunited in both the punk rock and post-punk lineups at the promotion of the Riječki Novi Val box set.
"Goli Otok" was a highly provocative and controversial song that was never officially released, but performed live. Yet another song from the period was "Narodna pjesma" which featured censored lyrics on the debut album, but the original version appeared on the Novi punk val 78-80 compilation album.
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