History
The Non-Aligned Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was never part of the Eastern Bloc, and it was open to western influences. The 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 punkzine 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 the then SR Slovenia and SR Croatia: Pankrti from Ljubljana, formed in 1977, and Paraf from Rijeka, formed either in 1976 or 1977. (depending on the source). The Slovenian and Croatian scene of the day was featured in the Novi Punk Val compilation album, compiled by Igor Vidmar, which included Pankrti, Paraf, Buldogi, Termiti, Berlinski Zid, Grupa 92 and the early Prljavo Kazalište, who went mainstream later.
The late-1970s and early 1980s bands from Belgrade, the capital of both SR Serbia and Yugoslavia 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, although it changed to a more mainstream act later. Prominent Serbian punkabilly artist was Toni Montano from Belgrade, formerly a singer of Radost Evrope. Pekinška patka, led by the charismatic Professor Čonta, hailed from Novi Sad, SAP Vojvodina. Notable Yugoslav punk writer Ivan Glišić emerged from Šabac, in Serbia Proper.
The first punk band in Skopje, Socialist Republic of Macedonia is considered to be 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 the mainstream act Crvena Jabuka), Ševa (later Bombaj Štampa led by Branko Đurić), and the cult band Zabranjeno Pušenje. These Sarajevian bands 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. One of the most important compilations 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 such as Niet, Odpadki Civilizacije, Tožibabe, Epidemija and U.B.R. from Ljubljana, S.O.R. from Idrija and Ujetniki svobode from Laško, Slovenia; Patareni from Zagreb, KUD Idijoti from Pula and Apatridi from Slavonska Požega, Croatia; The Dissidents from Prijedor and Ženevski Dekret from Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina; KBO! and Trula koalicija from Kragujevac, Serbia Proper; Nade iz Inkubatora, Giuseppe Carabino, Marselyeza and Process from Subotica, Incest from Novi Bečej and Napred U Prošlost from Banatsko Novo Selo, Vojvodina; 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 Yugoslavia in the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s, including: The Ruts, Siouxsie and the Banshees, UK Subs, Angelic Upstarts, The Exploited, Charged GBH, The Anti-Nowhere League, Discharge, Youth Brigade and Amebix. 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.
Read more about this topic: Punk Rock In Yugoslavia
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