Punk rock in Yugoslavia was thepunk subculture of the formerSocialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. The most developed scenes across the federation existed in theSocialist Republic of Slovenia, theAdriatic coast of theSocialist Republic of Croatia, theSocialist Autonomous Province of Vojvodina andBelgrade, the capital of both Yugoslavia and theSocialist Republic of Serbia. Some notable acts included:Pankrti,Paraf,Pekinška patka,KUD Idijoti,Niet,Patareni andKBO!.
The punk scene emerged in the late 1970s, influenced by the first wave of punk rock bands from theUnited Kingdom and theUnited States, such as theSex Pistols,The Clash and theRamones. TheDIYpunkzine scene also began to develop. The Yugoslav punk rock bands were the first ones formed in a communist country.
Punk rock spread across Yugoslavia in northwest–southeast direction, finding its earliest supporters in:Ljubljana,Rijeka,Zagreb,Novi Sad and other cities. The first punk rock bands in the country werePankrti from Ljubljana andParaf from Rijeka, both formed around 1977.[1] Other notable acts were: Buldogi, Berlinski Zid, Grupa 92, Problemi,Termiti and others. Among this generation of bands was the earlyPrljavo kazalište, but they became a mainstream rock act later. These artists were featured on thecompilation album "Novi Punk Val 78-80", compiled byIgor Vidmar. Meanwhile, inNovi Sad, the notable bandPekinška patka emerged.
The late-1970s and early 1980s bands fromBelgrade included:Defektno Efektni,Urbana Gerila andRadnička Kontrola. Notable members of these bands were:Cane, who later came to prominence as a vocalist ofPartibrejkers;Srđan Todorović, later a movie actor; andVladimir Arsenijević, later a notablepunk writer. This generation of bands was included on theArtistička Radna Akcija compilation.
Električni orgazam was also a punk rock band during its early period, but it became a mainstream rock act later. During this period, thepunkabilly artistToni Montano emerged, first as a vocalist of the band Radost Evrope, but later became a solo artist. Also, the punk writerIvan Glišić fromŠabac emerged in this period.
The first punk band inSkopje, is considered to beFol jazik, formed in 1978. Other notable acts from Skopje includedBadmingtons andSaraceni, both led by Vladimir Petrovski Karter. The bass player of Saraceni,Goran Trajkoski, previously played withKlime Kovaceski in the punk bandAfektiven naboj fromStruga. Later they went intopost punk andgothic rock and together formed the bandsPadot na Vizantija andAnastasia.
InSarajevo, the following acts emerged: Ozbiljno pitanje (which later evolved into the mainstream actCrvena Jabuka), Ševa (laterBombaj Štampa led by the internationally acclaimed actorBranko Đurić), and the cult bandZabranjeno pušenje. These bands formed the punk-inspiredNew Primitives movement.
In the late 1970s, some punk bands were affiliated with theYugoslav new wave scene, and were labeled as both punk rock and new wave. During a certain period, the termnew wave music was interchangeable withpunk. One of the most important compilations of the Yugoslav new wave era isPaket Aranžman.
The 1980s saw the emergence ofstreetpunk andOi!, followed later by:hardcore punk and other subgenres. Notable hardcore punk acts during the 1980s included:Niet, U.B.R., Ćao pičke, Odpadki civilizacije, Tožibabe, III Kategorija, Stres DA, Epidemija and Quod Massacre (all fromLjubljana); S.O.R. (fromIdrija); C.Z.D. (Maribor); Blitzkrieg, Z.R.M., Patareni and Sköl (Zagreb);KUD Idijoti, Gola jaja, Besposličari and Pasmaters (all fromPula); Rukopotezno povlačilo (Slavonska Požega); The Dissidents (Prijedor) and Ženevski Dekret (Mostar); Solunski front, Distress, Necrophilia, Crist and Mrgudi (all fromBelgrade);KBO! (Kragujevac); Nade iz Inkubatora, Giuseppe Carabino, Marselyeza and Process (all fromSubotica); Incest (Novi Bečej); Napred U Prošlost (Banatsko Novo Selo); and the Oi! or streetpunk bands Dva minuta mržnje and Vrisak generacije (both fromNovi Sad).
A notablepop punk band during the 1980s wasPsihomodo pop from Zagreb, which was very much influenced by theRamones.
Many foreign punk bands played concerts in former Yugoslavia in the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s:The Ruts,Siouxsie and the Banshees,UK Subs,Angelic Upstarts,The Exploited,Charged GBH,The Anti-Nowhere League,Discharge,Youth Brigade andAmebix. In 1983 The Anti-Nowhere League released their albumLive in Yugoslavia, while Angelic Upstarts released a live album of the same title in 1985.
Although the Yugoslav punk musicians were working in aone-party state, they were still allowed to includesocial commentary in their songs, with only occasional cases ofcensorship.Anarcho-punk andStraight Edge scenes also existed, while some bands were purelynihilistic. The Yugoslav punk lyrics often included social and political criticism,anti-war, anti-chauvinist,anti-fascist, anti-authoritarian andanarchist messages, which was reflected in the bands' names, such as: Vrisak Hirošime (meaning:The Cry of Hiroshima), Apatridi (Stateless persons), The Dissidents (Dissidents), Patareni (Patarenes), Marselyeza (La Marseillaise), Stres Državnega Aparata (Stress Of The State Apparatus), Sistem Organizirane Represije (System Of Organized Repression), etc. But there were also manyapolitical acts, whose songs dealt with personal subjects,humour,substance abuse,sex, or just innocent youth rebellion.
A significant scandal emerged in communist Yugoslavia when the authorities arrested anazi punk andnazi skinhead group called TheFourth Reich inLjubljana, in 1981. Though largely obscure, the band was put on trial and its members were imprisoned before having a chance to release any recordings or play live, hence leaving no legacy. They were also once turned down by the notablepromoter andPankrti's managerIgor Vidmar, who refused to sign them as he disapproved of their lyrics.[2][3]
Although punk rock was tolerated in Yugoslavia, the system still viewed it with suspicion. The authorities used this scandal as an opportunity to label the movement assubversive and to indiscriminately persecute allpunks andskinheads, although the majority of them was actuallyanti-fascist. Ironically, both Pankrti andKUD Idijoti have their respective cover versions of the Italian antifascist andcommunist songBandiera Rossa.
The scandal led tomoral panic. The authorities' reaction to punks, labeling them as "neonazis", reached its crescendo during the prosecution of Igor Vidmar, who was arrested for wearing theDead Kennedys'Nazi Punks Fuck Off! badge with aswastika crossed out.[4] That anti-fascist badge was misinterpreted as a "nazi provocation" and Vidmar was detained.
After the scandal faded, the Yugoslav punk scene continued to exist, albeit with less mainstream media coverage. While the first generation of bands such as:Pankrti,Paraf,Prljavo kazalište andPekinška patka were well exposed in the media, having appearances on the public TV stations and record contracts for major labels such as:Jugoton,Suzy Records andZKP RTL, the bands that came afterwards, faced problems and gained prominence only in theunderground circles.
Also, some media considered punk rock outdated, so they turned their attention to other genres, leaving much of the new punk generation underestimated or unnoticed. This opinion was shared by some musicians, so for example, Paraf and Pekinška patka wentpost-punk, while Prljavo kazalište and Električni orgazam became conventional rock bands.
The late 1980s and early 1990s saw transition toparliamentary democracy, which brought liberalisation to the country, but also a rise in extremenationalism, previously kept under control by thecommunist regime. These processes led to thebreakup of SFR Yugoslavia.
Despite the problems that Igor Vidmar once had with the Yugoslav communist system, in an interview published in thepost-communist and post-Yugoslav period, he was quoted saying: "It is an irony that it is harder to work now in thisliberal democracy, than in the last 10 years ofSFRY's communism".[5]
With the violentbreakup of Yugoslavia in the early 1990s, its punk rock scene ceased to exist. Its former adherents took different positions on the issue. Some musicians participated inanti-war, anti-nationalist, andanti-fascist activities and were attacked by the nationalists in the independent countries that emerged after the breakup of Yugoslavia. Some musicians were forcibly mobilized and sent to the war, but others embraced nationalistic views (in their opinion, patriotic views) and voluntarily joined the armed forces and even saw active combat.
In 1992, the supergroupRimtutituki featuring members ofPartibrejkers,Električni orgazam andEkatarina Velika released apacifist single, but since the authorities didn't allow them to promote it with a gig, they performed on atrucktrailer driven through the streets of Belgrade, as their stage. The Serbian musician Branislav Babić Kebra ofUrbana Gerila andObojeni program was mobilized in the army and sent to thewar in Croatia, but hedeserted with the help of his Croatian friend, Goran Bare ofMajke.[6] A 1993 compilation of anti-war punk songs,Preko zidova nacionalizma i rata (Over the walls of nationalism and war), included bands from the ex-Yugoslav countries. After theTen Day War and the withdrawal of the Yugoslav Army from Slovenia, its formerbarracks weresquatted and theMetelkova City Autonomous Cultural Center was established. Metelkova was attacked bynazi-skinheads because it hosted punk rockers,anarchists,anti-racist,ecological andlesbian and gay rightsactivists.
In Croatia, some musicians joined the Croatian forces. A notable example was Ivica Čuljak, better known asSatan Panonski, a punk singer,punk poet andbody artist fromVinkovci. Before the war, he was a convict charged with homicide (in self defence) and he spent several years in mental institutions. He was an outspoken opponent of nationalism and was openlygay, but after the war began, he decided to join the Croatian forces. He was killed on January 27, 1992.[7] Before the war, he was a close friend ofIvan Glišić, apunk writer from Serbia. Some musicians also performed live on the frontlines or recorded songs, such as "Hrvatska mora pobijediti" ("Croatia Must Win") byPsihomodo pop, which boosted the morale of poorly-armed Croatian forces. During this period, especiallyskinheads andfootball hooligans expressed nationalistic views.
The local punk scenes in the independent countries that emerged after the breakup of Yugoslavia continued to exist, some of them heavily suffering during the war. Theunderground music scene continued, even in the shelters during theSarajevo siege, and a compilation album,Rock under siege (Radio Zid Sarajevo, Stichting Popmuziek Nederland), was released in 1995.
AfterSlovenia,Croatia,Macedonia, andBosnia and Herzegovina proclaimed independence, and SFR Yugoslavia was dissolved, a new federal state comprising onlySerbia andMontenegro, named "Federal Republic of Yugoslavia", was established. The punk rock bands in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia included:Atheist rap,Ritam Nereda andZbogom Brus Li fromNovi Sad;Direktori andŠaht fromBelgrade; andGoblini fromŠabac.
After the end of the war and the departure of nationalist leaders such asSlobodan Milošević andFranjo Tuđman, theformer Yugoslav nations began to normalise their relations. Their music scenes could now restore their former cooperation.Anti-Nowhere League came once again to former Yugoslav soil (inCroatia) and released their live album,Return to Yugoslavia. In 2003 Igor Mirković from Croatia made therockumentarySretno dijete (Happy Child), named after a song by Prljavo kazalište. The movie covers the early Yugoslav Punk and new wave scene featuring artists fromZagreb,Ljubljana, andBelgrade. Inspired by "Sretno dijete", the rockumentary "Bilo jednom..." was made in 2006, featuring punk-rockers fromNovi Sad who were active during the first half of the 1990s.
Current notable acts in the former Yugoslav countries include: Niet, Scuffy Dogs, Aktivna Propaganda, GUB,Pero Lovšin (formerly ofPankrti), Golliwog, In-Sane, Kreshesh Nepitash, No Limits, all from Slovenia;Hladno pivo, Pasi,KUD Idijoti,Let 3 (featuring the former Termiti member Damir Martinović Mrle), Kawasaki 3P,Fat Prezident, Deafness By Noise, Overflow, FOB, No More Idols, Hren, Lobotomija, Brkovi, Grupa tvog života, FNC Diverzant, Tito's Bojs and Gužva u 16ercu from Croatia;Superhiks,Two Sides, Noviot Pochetok, and Denny Te Chuva from theRepublic of Macedonia;Red Union,Zbogom Brus Li,Atheist Rap,Six Pack, Vox Populi, SMF, BOL, Ritam Nereda, Šaht, Miki Pirs, Birtija, Prilično Prazni, KBO!,Potres, Gavrilo Princip,Zvoncekova Bilježnica, Mitesers, Pogon BGD, Hitman,Nor, Concrete Worms, Ringišpil, The Bayonets, The Bomber fromSerbia, and others.
Pankrti played a reunion concert in Tivoli Hall inLjubljana,Slovenia, on December 1, 2007, as a celebration of their 30th anniversary. They also toured across parts offormer Yugoslavia with a new guitarist,Ivan Kral, who previously played withPatti Smith,Blondie, andIggy Pop.[8][9] Meanwhile, inSkopje,Republic of Macedonia, the groupBadmingtons reformed, and their music was included in thesoundtrack for the feature filmPrevrteno (Upside Down), directed by Igor Ivanov Izy. At theExit festival in Novi Sad on July 13, 2008,Pekinška Patka played a reunion concert, sharing the stage with theSex Pistols, who played afterwards that evening.
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