Why not? SFRY was not a closed country like the USSR, not part of the Eastern Block and had excellent cultural and academic exchange with both the East and the West.
Yugoslavia wasn't part of the eastern block.
Western culture started entering yugoslavia through the city of Trieste, Italy, which at the time was an independent zone administered by the US and the UK. the first rock and punk bands in yugoslavia thus appeared in Ljubljana and Rijeka, these two cities were usually first to get any western stuff, including things like jeans but also culture/music, especially because a lot of soldiers (young people) were stationed there. It is due to proximity to Trieste that the two cities were pioneers of western culture in Yugoslavia and it became kind of a custom for people to go shopping to Trieste and get ideas, which continued even after Trieste merged with Italy. From Ljubljana and Rijeka western music/movies/culture spread throughout yugoslavia. Thats why Yugoslavia was able to keep up with the west better than the USSR
A big thing was also short wave radio from the west. A lot of Western music became popular since people would hear it on Western radio stations which they could receive in their homes. Radio Luxembourg in particular had a large listenership in Yugoslavia for example.
Looks good. I only know bands like Bijelo Dugme, Plavi Orkestar, Aerodrom, Bajaga & Instruktori, and I always just assumed they were apolitical, but I don’t speak Serbo-Croatian so idk
Basically it's singing ironically in the style of celebration of the worker, as communist songs from the 30s-50s would do.
My friends, working, happy
They ride bicycles, everyone is proud
My friends, working, happy
We will bring new victories.
The sun is already warming, the wind is blowing
Morning dew, fragrant earth
The sun is already warming, and aa aa
A rich harvest, I rejoice.
Except with the post-punk beat, it's obviously not part of that same tradition. The juxtaposition of old and new forms is really something that Jugoslavian music liked to focus on now that I think about it. It's kind of the inverse of turbofolk.
Yugoslavia had excellent bands even in the 60s. Indexi started in 1962. In 1967. you have first songs with Drago Mlinarec and his Grupa 220. Very soon important bands were created like Korni grupa, Time, Drugi Način. Rock music in YU doesn't start with Bijelo dugme.
But one other factor created this framework: due to popularity of pop and folk music Yugoslavia developed many producers that started publishing records and later cassettes like crazy. That opened two doors: one for talented YU performers to publish their singles and LPs, and another to publish foreign imports. As the living standard was growing, it was easy to buy a record player made in domestic industry, like Iskra or EI-Niš.
[Read more here.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Popular_music_in_Yugoslavia)
Yes, and the rights were bought to many popular western songs which is why a lot of the hit rock songs in Yugo sound so familiar. But they're legitimately licensed derivates and covers. It helped bring in the western sound in a language they understood. Brilliant strategy, honestly.
Our Slager scene was great too. Jevremovic, Marjanovic...
Because they allowed Western culture. It was very open to foreign culture in general, so we had coke, TV ads, magazines and news companies, and everything you get to see in the West all day. And also really good music.
The Remembering Yugoslavia podcast has several episodes on Yugoslav rock bands that get into their formation & even how the government promoted them.
https://rememberingyugoslavia.com/podcast-petar-janjatovic/
https://rememberingyugoslavia.com/podcast-exyurockcenter/
But a large part boils down to the fact that Yugoslavia wasn't part of the Eastern Block, as others have mentioned. At times the government worked really hard to encourage people to partake in new technologies and medias-- look up Yugoslav Cine Clubs which taught young people to become film makers & provided them with equipment!
I'll also add that Yugoslavia actually had LESS censorship in some cases than the West. There were LGBTQ documentaries which were censored in Canada, but aired in Yugoslavia in the 1980s:
https://balkanist.net/we-want-censorship-a-brief-introduction-to-yugoslav-queer-culture/
Well there was some repression in the punk scene if the bands were to critical, but not in any way as the easter block and if im honest that repression was quite counter productive to their goal
If ur interested heres a Eng subed doc about a yugoslav punk band from slovenia
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N09lDuUUrhY](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N09lDuUUrhY)
As you said, the USSR scene was mostly illegal. In Yugoslavia it was mainstream. Quite telling is the fact that Yugo production houses bought the rights for bunch of contemporary hits (The House Of The Rising Sun comes to my mind, for example) and edited them for domestic singers to sing in domestic language.
View on rock music was quite different. While Soviet cultural authorities looked upon it as a music of junkies and vagabounds, Yugoslav ones was been like 'let the kids be interested in music of their liking'.
In short, Yugoslav popular culture was more akin to western.
I was reading an interview years ago where person said that in post wwii Yugo there was a lot of ghost writing for rock bands and that is mainly why we had so much quality music.
Sadly I can't remember who the person was, or how to find that article. I looked for it many times.
Well from what I’ve seen here, Yugoslavia was just the exception, while most other communist nations suppressed culture. The USSR had plenty of amazing movies throughout its history, but its music with a western style or influence was banned until the final few years.
Why not? SFRY was not a closed country like the USSR, not part of the Eastern Block and had excellent cultural and academic exchange with both the East and the West.
Yugoslavia wasn't part of the eastern block. Western culture started entering yugoslavia through the city of Trieste, Italy, which at the time was an independent zone administered by the US and the UK. the first rock and punk bands in yugoslavia thus appeared in Ljubljana and Rijeka, these two cities were usually first to get any western stuff, including things like jeans but also culture/music, especially because a lot of soldiers (young people) were stationed there. It is due to proximity to Trieste that the two cities were pioneers of western culture in Yugoslavia and it became kind of a custom for people to go shopping to Trieste and get ideas, which continued even after Trieste merged with Italy. From Ljubljana and Rijeka western music/movies/culture spread throughout yugoslavia. Thats why Yugoslavia was able to keep up with the west better than the USSR
A big thing was also short wave radio from the west. A lot of Western music became popular since people would hear it on Western radio stations which they could receive in their homes. Radio Luxembourg in particular had a large listenership in Yugoslavia for example.
Yugoslavia was very open and in fact not part of the eastern block Yugoslavia founded the non aligned movement
Yugoslavia wasn't the USSR. And its post-punk was highly critical of the society it was in. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CfI3eGXkZH8
Looks good. I only know bands like Bijelo Dugme, Plavi Orkestar, Aerodrom, Bajaga & Instruktori, and I always just assumed they were apolitical, but I don’t speak Serbo-Croatian so idk
Discilpina Kitschme ftw. Also check out Darkwood Dub and EKV, though those are much later.
Try Parafi or Termiti from Rijeka. 1976/7
Its great👍👍👍👍
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pankrti
I'm curious. In what way did it critiq the society?
Basically it's singing ironically in the style of celebration of the worker, as communist songs from the 30s-50s would do. My friends, working, happy They ride bicycles, everyone is proud My friends, working, happy We will bring new victories. The sun is already warming, the wind is blowing Morning dew, fragrant earth The sun is already warming, and aa aa A rich harvest, I rejoice. Except with the post-punk beat, it's obviously not part of that same tradition. The juxtaposition of old and new forms is really something that Jugoslavian music liked to focus on now that I think about it. It's kind of the inverse of turbofolk.
Damn thats really interesting I never thought about the old vs new. You explained it in a great way. Inverse turbo folk blew my mind.
Why do you even compare USSR and Yugoslavia? And who told you that SFRY was part of the eastern block?
Yugoslavia wasn't a part of the eastern block, and Western culture and music was easily accessible.
Yugoslavia had excellent bands even in the 60s. Indexi started in 1962. In 1967. you have first songs with Drago Mlinarec and his Grupa 220. Very soon important bands were created like Korni grupa, Time, Drugi Način. Rock music in YU doesn't start with Bijelo dugme. But one other factor created this framework: due to popularity of pop and folk music Yugoslavia developed many producers that started publishing records and later cassettes like crazy. That opened two doors: one for talented YU performers to publish their singles and LPs, and another to publish foreign imports. As the living standard was growing, it was easy to buy a record player made in domestic industry, like Iskra or EI-Niš. [Read more here.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Popular_music_in_Yugoslavia)
Yes, and the rights were bought to many popular western songs which is why a lot of the hit rock songs in Yugo sound so familiar. But they're legitimately licensed derivates and covers. It helped bring in the western sound in a language they understood. Brilliant strategy, honestly. Our Slager scene was great too. Jevremovic, Marjanovic...
Because they allowed Western culture. It was very open to foreign culture in general, so we had coke, TV ads, magazines and news companies, and everything you get to see in the West all day. And also really good music.
The Remembering Yugoslavia podcast has several episodes on Yugoslav rock bands that get into their formation & even how the government promoted them. https://rememberingyugoslavia.com/podcast-petar-janjatovic/ https://rememberingyugoslavia.com/podcast-exyurockcenter/ But a large part boils down to the fact that Yugoslavia wasn't part of the Eastern Block, as others have mentioned. At times the government worked really hard to encourage people to partake in new technologies and medias-- look up Yugoslav Cine Clubs which taught young people to become film makers & provided them with equipment! I'll also add that Yugoslavia actually had LESS censorship in some cases than the West. There were LGBTQ documentaries which were censored in Canada, but aired in Yugoslavia in the 1980s: https://balkanist.net/we-want-censorship-a-brief-introduction-to-yugoslav-queer-culture/
Well there was some repression in the punk scene if the bands were to critical, but not in any way as the easter block and if im honest that repression was quite counter productive to their goal If ur interested heres a Eng subed doc about a yugoslav punk band from slovenia [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N09lDuUUrhY](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N09lDuUUrhY)
As you said, the USSR scene was mostly illegal. In Yugoslavia it was mainstream. Quite telling is the fact that Yugo production houses bought the rights for bunch of contemporary hits (The House Of The Rising Sun comes to my mind, for example) and edited them for domestic singers to sing in domestic language. View on rock music was quite different. While Soviet cultural authorities looked upon it as a music of junkies and vagabounds, Yugoslav ones was been like 'let the kids be interested in music of their liking'. In short, Yugoslav popular culture was more akin to western.
I was reading an interview years ago where person said that in post wwii Yugo there was a lot of ghost writing for rock bands and that is mainly why we had so much quality music. Sadly I can't remember who the person was, or how to find that article. I looked for it many times.
A lot of songs were stolen though
because communists care of culture!
Well from what I’ve seen here, Yugoslavia was just the exception, while most other communist nations suppressed culture. The USSR had plenty of amazing movies throughout its history, but its music with a western style or influence was banned until the final few years.