La Strada (band) - History - New Wave Years (1979-1981)

New Wave Years (1979-1981)

In 1979, Slobodan Tišma (guitar, lead vocals) also known as "Deda" ("Grandpa"), a rock veteran and poet, inspired by the increasing popularity of New Wave music in Yugoslavia formed La Starada, naming it by the Federico Fellini movie La Strada. The rest of the band consisted of Danijel Stari (bass guitar, arrangements), Boris Oslovčan "Bora" (bass guitar), Siniša Ilić "Siki" (guitar) and Dragan Nastasić "Gane" (guitar) and a temporary drummer Siniša Sekulić "Sekula". The band functioned with a studio and a live lineup as Stari did not want to perform live and bassist Oslovčan was his live replacement and drummer Sekulić also did not perform live so the band instead used a rhythm machine. The lineup made their first recordings in the Vranešević brothers studio, which consisted of three songs "On" ("Himself"), "Sat" ("Clock") and "Narcis" ("Narcicus") which were often broadcast on radio Novi Sad's shows Yu Pop Scena (Yu Pop Scene) and Novi Vidici (New Views) hosted by Dragan Gojković "Goja", one of the promoters of New Wave music in Novi Sad. The former two tracks appeared on the semi-official compilation album Hokej klub Virginitas (Hokey Club Virginity), released in 1988 by Ding Dong Records.

After the recording of the tracks both of the band's guitarists left the band and were replaced by Predrag Ostojić "Preža" (guitar) and Ivan Fece "Firchie" (drums). The new lineup made their first live appearance in 1980 at the Novi Sad club No. 1 as an opening act for Električni Orgazam. In May of the following year, the band performed at Subotica Youth Festival, on which New Wave bands from Serbia and Croatia had met for the first time, and at the Novi Sad Danube park handball playground, performing as an opening act for the band Film, the winners of the Subotica festival. After the performance at the Belgrade KST club in June 1981, due to a misunderstanding between the band members, bassist Oslovčan and then guitarist Ostojić left the band. After their departure Tišma remained the only guitar player and the new bassist became the former Pekinška Patka member Zoran Bulatović "Bale". At the time, the band was preparing for a three-date mini tour, including Novi Sad, Pančevo and Belgrade, organized by the Muzička Omladina concert agency, with the bands Lačni Franz, Čista Proza and Fotomodeli. Despite being well-accepted at the performances, the band ceased to exist and Tišma, Fece and Bulatović went on to form Luna.