Belgrade Punk: Asphalt and Grit

Lauren Spurlock

Belgrade in the 70’s and 80’s was a cultural environment dominated by the mob, drugs, and salacious clubs. It was a city where the youth were pushing against the state’s overarching influence on society and ultimately rejecting communism. Because such amazing artistry and pop culture phenomenon grew from this political pushback, “in [Belgrade] the 1980s are viewed through a rather nostalgic lens” (Magda Janjic, 2015). Before this “silver age” however, rock’n’roll struggled to become relevant in Belgrade. Lack of concert halls and performance spaces caused Belgrade’s rock music scene’s growth to be stunted (Misina). Rock bands were also not getting the media coverage needed to make the genre and scene a cultural staple. This new wave of rock’n’roll hailing from Britain was gaining artistry and a fan base so quickly the state ran media seemed old-fashioned and “out of touch” (Misina). This period of neglect to the western influenced musical evolution in Belgrade didn’t last long, however. Soon local bands became Yugoslav punk rock icons. Polet was one of the only music magazines that gave credit to these emerging rock stars and deemed them to be wildly talented. This seemed to be the little push that shoved Belgrade’s punk artists into a musical sensations…anywhere but Belgrade (at first).

Belgrade’s new wave rock scene was working against the wildly popular rock music of the 1970’s by ultimately being its punk counterpart. New wave music or punk was a form of music that was “speaking about the essence of one's own being in the world reflected through one's self-awareness of personal and larger social position, condition and situation” (Misina). Riblja Čorba was the first band that revolutionized this movement of music that poetically talked about all facets of life in Yugoslavia. This was the first time a western style of music was being tailored to include the culture and lifestyle of Yugoslavia. 1980s in Belgrade were looked upon as an era of artistic communion in later more turbulent years and “this period in the former Yugoslav music is considered its "Golden age"” (Infogalatic).

Šarlo Akrobata, "Nobody Like Me," a single featured in the famous Paket Aranžman compilation of Belgrade New Wave.  

Idoli, "Malchiki," another song featured in Paket Aranžman. Because of the song's irreverent attitude towards the socialist realist aesthetic, "Malchiki," was considered subversive at the time of its release. 

Once Belgrade’s punk music hit the airways and gained recognition from local popular news outlets, it garnered immense popularity throughout Yugoslavia. This is despite the fact that the city which birthed it could only supplied gang-operated underground clubs and limited more socially accepted venues in its early start. A memorable punk space of the time was Belgrade’s Club Industria where drugs and alcohol were “largely unrestricted” (Jelcic, 2015). These lifestyles and clubs became the backdrop to bands such as Električni Orgazam, Idoli, and Šarlo Akrobata.

Individually, each of these bands was successful in the punk music world. Eventually world famous, Električni Orgazam or Electric Orgasm, was known for their highly political songs such as “Nebo,” where they talk about the socialist state as imprisonment and seeking control of their creativity. Lyrics from the song translated into English read “They’ve chained my heaven with wire… But I’m not giving up on my vision” (Električni Orgazam). Songs like “Nebo” indicate the growing dissatisfaction of the youth in the Yugoslav capital of Belgrade and the overall desire for individualism, “that would have a crucial effect on the cultural state of the nation, as well as its positive image abroad” (Klemens Casey). Although this genre of music created an outlet for frustrations, its main focus was “unity and brotherhood,” even if the other artists were not Serbian.

By the early 80’s an amazing collaboration between Belgrade punk bands was the compilation album created by Idoli, Električni Orgazam, and Šarlo Akrobata called “Paket aranžman (Package Tour).” In the early years of New Wave music in Belgrade, the bands were almost always tied back to the music industry from Zagreb, where Jugoton, the largest state-owned music label was located. “Package Tour” was different, “making an indirect but important distinction between Zagreb and Belgrade streams of New Wave” (Misina). Belgrade finally had an album and musical direction that actually included it. The album art for this collaboration is symbolic of the dirty and unsophisticated lens Belgrade is often seen through, featuring a grainy off focused black and white photograph of the cityscape. Idoli, Električni Orgazam, and Šarlo Akrobata became cult icons at the beginnings of punk rock in Yugoslavia; by convening on an album about discovering one’s self and purpose in the city of Belgrade while maintaining the distinctive styles of their bands.

Disappointingly, by the mid 1980’s the New Wave punk rock music had dissipated following the natural progression and break up of bands. The rapid rise of nationalism is also an understandable reason why a musical genre that thrived off of harmonized cooperation could not survive. In the 90’s after the outbreak of horrifying civil war, New Wave artists continued their tradition of pointing out social wrongs by releasing anti-military music while nationalistic pop funded by the state was all the rage. Because Serbia bore the brunt of much disdain from other emerging nations in Yugoslavia, Belgrade’s New Wave former “members of Partibrejkers, Ekatarina Velika and Električni Orgazam released… "E, moj druže Beogradski" ("Hey my Belgrade comrade")” (Infogalatic). The song was in direct opposition to hateful nationalistic narrative, likely making former fans in other areas of Yugoslavia question this era of violence. This period of punk rock is often overshadowed by the wars and dissolution of the 90’s, but in the hearts of former Yugoslavs and people of Belgrade the nostalgia surrounding the time of unity between youth lives on. Belgrade may have lacked the infrastructure to become a memorable punk space, but the city inspired artists who are respected as the best of Yugoslav punk.

Works Cited:

Buljeta, Marija. “Yugoslav post punk/new wave/new romantic/synth pop scene.” ALTVENGER. ALTvenger. 6 June 2016. Web. altvenger.com.

Casey, Klemens. “The Factory Sings: Yugoslavian 80’s New Wave”. Post Pravda. Article. 10 Aug. 2015. Web. 29 April 2017.

Janjić, Magda. "Sva lepota Beograda osmadesetih godina je na ovim fotografijama" Vice (Serbia). https://www.vice.com/rs/article/fotografije-osamdesete-beograd Web: 26 Oct 2015.

Misina, Dalibor. “ 'Who's That Singing over There?': Yugoslav Rock-Music and the Poetics of Social Critique”. University of Alberta. Graduate Research. Doctor of Philosophy. Fall 2008. Web. 29 April 2017.

"Popular music in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia." Infogalactic: the planetary knowledge core, . 1 Mar 2016, 11:25 UTC. 4 May 2017, 09:51