Pekinška Patka
Encyclopedia
Pekinška Patka is an eminent Serbia
n and former Yugoslav
punk rock
band from Novi Sad
. Their debut album, Plitka poezija
, released in 1980, is considered the first punk rock album by a band coming from Serbia. Being one of the first punk acts in Yugoslavia, they played a major role in opening doors for many bands that came after. On their second and last album, Strah od monotonije
, released in 1981, they turned towards post-punk
and darkwave
sound, disbanding during the same year. In 2008, the band reunited to perform on the main stage of Exit Festival alongside Sex Pistols
, and in 2010, they reunited once again, continuing their activity.
, performing cover versions of rock standards by the Rolling Stones and Santana
. The following year, Kovačević formed a pop
band Café Express featuring Čonkić as guest vocalist.
During the summer of 1978, Čonkić (often referred to by his nickname Profesor Čonta), at the time a 25-year-old teacher at Mihajlo Pupin High School
in Novi Sad, went to London
where, among other bands, he saw The Clash
, The Specials
, Midge Ure
, Glen Matlock
's Rich Kids
, The Skids, and Magazine
perform live, before returning to Yugoslavia
full of impressions and ideas about putting together a band with a new sound.
During July 1978, Kovačević, drummer Laslo "Cila" Pihler, and Čonkić decided to form a punk rock
group inspired by the British punk bands. The first lineup also featured bass guitarist Miloš "Žure" Žurić. The band held rehearsals at the University of Novi Sad
's Faculty of Mechanical Engineering building where their first live performance took place. Four people attended the gig, all of them friends of the band members. In the meantime, Čonkić and Kovačević started working on new material, mainly in English
which was performed at the first appearance. After the gig Srbislav "Srba" Dobanovački became the new bass guitarist.
song featuring the lyrics "Brižit Bardo bere čičke; Vidi joj se pola pičke" ("Brigitte Bardot
is picking thistle
s; you can see the half of her pussy
").
The band based its sound on melodic punk and vivid public image, while their high-energy live show featured constant jumping and gyrating that had a strong effect on the young crowds. Being one of the first groups in the country with this kind of sound and performing style, they attracted media's interest before releasing any material. Čonkić often used those media appearances for self-promotion, delivering sweeping statements like: "We're the first important thing to happen to Yugoslav rock since the days of Ivo Robić
and Marko Novoselić". He also purposely courted controversy with soundbite
s such as referring to his group as the "first Orthodox punk band", which was against the attitude of the ruling Communist League
that very much promoted atheism
in Yugoslav society.
The band quickly developed a cult following among the sections of Novi Sad youth who expressed their devotion by spraying "Čonta je Bog" ("Čonta is God") graffiti
throughout the city. All of this unconventionality also got the band plenty of attention from local communist authorities who saw subversive and incendiary potential in their sound and appearance. As a result, despite generating a lot of interest, not only in the city but also throughout other parts of Vojvodina
, the band experienced problems with live performances, many of which would get canceled on the day of the show on suggestions from the authorities.
In December 1978, the band played the last BOOM Festival
, which was being held in their hometown that year.
Youth festival with the song "Bela šljiva
". Vesna Vrandečić (later to join Xenia
) won the festival's main award, but Pekinška Patka got the Audience Award. Their whole performance was broadcast on national television which was the first TV appearance of any punk band in Yugoslavia
. This raised their profile as far as Yugoslav recording companies were concerned; they started negotiating with PGP-RTB
label about a debut album, but ultimately could not reach a deal. The band continued playing and soon developed a wider following in bigger Yugoslav cities: Belgrade
, Sarajevo
and Zagreb
. They eventually signed with Jugoton
after its representatives saw them perform at Zagreb's Kulušić
club.
The first Pekinška Patka release became a vinyl 7-inch single (2-side
) "Bela šljiva
" / "Biti ružan, pametan i mlad
" produced by Slobodan Konjović. Relatively good reception of that single, with 35,000 copies sold, paved the way for them to begin recording a full-length debut album.
In October 1979, the band was invited to perform in the village of Stepanovićevo
at the anniversary celebration of the end of World War II
. The band performed their standard set-list and the show also featured blowing of condom
s and throwing them to the audience as well as swearing
on stage that was met with a mixture of shock and delight by the audience. Another punk rock band, Gomila G (a censored version of their original name Gomila G, trans. Pile of Shit), which played as the opening act, performed the song "God save Martin Bormann
", which was also the reason why the authorities and the media turned against the two bands. Soon after the show, Gomila G bassist Borislav "Bora" Oslovčan joined Pekinška Patka as a replacement for Dobanovački. Together they recorded a demo, consisting of seven tracks, which was unofficially released during the 1990s. The new lineup also performed at the Leto na Adi manifestation, which was held at a luxurious raft
at Ada Ciganlija
, with the song "Poderimo rock". Since the crowd rushed to the stage and jumped around, the raft almost sank.
The album Plitka poezija
(Shallow Poetry), a punk rock material with occasional ska
elements and humorous lyrics, was completed by fall 1979, but Yugoslav president Josip Broz Tito
's illness postponed the release until summer 1980. It was ushered in by another 7-inch single, "Bolje da nosim kratku kosu
" / "Ori, ori
". The whole material was recorded in the Boris Kovač
studio, outside Novi Sad, and was produced by Slobodan Konjović, well known disc jockey
from Studio B
radio station. Eventually, their debut album was released in 1980 and sold about 15,000 copies, which Jugoton
considered a failure.
One of the first live presentations of the new material was at the Split
festival with the band Azra
. Several thousand people attended the concert. The relations within the band were somewhat strained at this gig. Dissatisfied with the band's decision to go on tour of Bosnia and Herzegovina
, bassist Oslovčan played with his back turned to the crowd, while actively sabotaging the proceedings by purposely making the band sound as bad as possible.
so he moved to that instrument while new member Zoran "Bale" Bulatović, a 17-year-old Pečat member, took over the vacated guitar spot. Second guitarist Prosenica, and bassist Oslovčan also left the band. Oslovčan was first replaced by Aleksandar "Caki" Kravić and then the former bassist Srba Dobanovački until Marinko Vukmanović joined the band. Prosenica's spot stayed vacant as the band continued with only one guitar. That lineup did not last long as Kovačević left the group during fall 1980 to form his own band, Kontraritam
.
The new lineup went on the successful Bosnia and Herzegovina tour, ending with a sold-out show at Sarajevo
's Skenderija
Hall. The band recorded the cover of the popular Dragan Stojnić chanson "Bila je tako lijepa", with altered lyrics, and released it on single with "Buba-rumba" as the B-side. Another cover version, this time The Hollies
hit "Stop! Stop! Stop!" appeared on the "Rokenroler" show broadcast on TV Belgrade
. The song was used by JTV (Yugoslav television) station for representing Yugoslavia
at the Montreaux Rose d'Or
festival. Čonkić also planned to cover the "Hymn to Saint Sava
", which was not approved by the rest of the band.
During December 1980, the band performed at the Grok festival held at the Novi Sad
Fair. The band left a good impression, but also caused an uproar by burning a copy of the Borba
newspaper. During the intro for the song "Biti ružan, pametan i mlad
", Čonkić said that the song was dedicated to Bijelo Dugme
leader Goran Bregović
. Soon after the show, Dnevnik
journalist Bogdan Četnik wrote an article demanding the band to be completely banned.
From October 1980 until March 1981 the band prepared new material inspired by Joy Division
, The Stranglers
, The Cure
and Magazine
. The band changed the style to post-punk
and dark wave, presenting a different sound and image, which mostly failed to connect with the audiences the way their debut did. The album Strah od monotonije
(Fear of Monotone), released in May 1981, was sold in about 8,000 copies.
The band performed rarely and their last notable shows were at a large concert at Zagreb
Velesajam (performing with Riblja Čorba
, Haustor
, Film, Prljavo kazalište
, Leb i Sol
, Parni Valjak
, and other bands) and the Kalemegdan
park which was their last concert, During the summer, Čonkić went to serve the Yugoslav People's Army
and by the time he returned, Bulatović was already the member of Luna
and Vukmanović formed the pop
band Primavera.
with his family and after working as pizza deliverer and computer programmer at CBC
, he got a job as lecturer
at the Seneca College
in Toronto
. Bulatović moved to New York City
during the 1990s.
In 1997, their complete discography, including singles and albums, was re-released on CD format by Croatia Records
(legal successor of Jugoton). Then on July 5, 2006, the same was done by Serbian Multimedia Records at which time the band got a significant promotional push from Serbian web magazine Popboks.
On May 28, 2008, it was announced that Pekinška Patka would be reuniting to perform at the 2008 EXIT festival
. Their performance took place on EXIT main stage on Sunday July 13, 2008 - the festival's closing night - together with Sex Pistols
, The Hives
, and Ministry
. Pekinška Patka played a 40-minute set consisting of old favorites. In the interviews immediately after the reunion performance, Čonkić left the door open for a full comeback.
After pulling out of a Novi Sad performance for New Year's 2010, the band decided to reconvene again for a show on 21 May 2010 at Belgrade's SKC
in order to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the "Bila je tako lijepa" single release. The band reunited in the lineup which recorded the single and the second studio album, Strah od monotonije, and after the Belgrade performance, they played at the Zagreb
Boogaloo club.
On May 5, at a press conference, the band announced the release of a cover album, featuring songs performed at the Yugoslav
1960s pop festivals such as the Opatija
, Beogradsko Proleće and Vaš Šlager Sezone.
A few days before the upcoming concert in Belgrade, the first lineup guitarist, and the co-founding member of the band, Sreten Kovačević announced suing the band over the usage of the name Pekinška Patka as well as the performance of the songs from the Plitka poezija album for which he is credited as author in SOKOJ (The Serbian Copyright Protection Organization). In the response to the announcement, the band responded at the Long Play record label official site with the explanation that Čonkić has the right to the band name, and that on July 1980, without previously informing the rest of the band, Kovačević had signed co-authorship to the debut album tracks at SOKOJ, thus the information on the authorship and at SOKOJ mismatch
Both the Belgrade and Zagreb performances featured the band playing most of the tracks from Plitka poezija, with the exception of the song "Bolje da nosim kratku kosu" written by Kovačević according to SOKOJ, the upcoming single, the cover version of Luz Casal
song "Un año de amor", and the song "Neko", from the second album Strah od monotonije. However, the Belgrade performance did not feature Pihler on drums, and the substitute drummer was Veliki Prezir
drummer Robert Radić.
In December 2010, the band released an free digital download
mp3
version of the single "Un año de amor" on the Long Play record label official site.
was polled in 1998 as 77th on the list of 100 greatest Yugoslav popular music albums in the book YU 100: najbolji albumi jugoslovenske rok i pop muzike
(YU 100: The Best albums of Yugoslav pop and rock music).
In 2006, the song "Bolje da nosim kratku kosu
" was ranked #22 on the B92 Top 100 Domestic Songs list.
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
n and former Yugoslav
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was the Yugoslav state that existed from the abolition of the Yugoslav monarchy until it was dissolved in 1992 amid the Yugoslav Wars. It was a socialist state and a federation made up of six socialist republics: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia,...
punk rock
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
band from Novi Sad
Novi Sad
Novi Sad is the capital of the northern Serbian province of Vojvodina, and the administrative centre of the South Bačka District. The city is located in the southern part of Pannonian Plain on the Danube river....
. Their debut album, Plitka poezija
Plitka poezija
- The band :* Boris Oslovčan "Bora" — bass, backing vocals* Laslo Pihler "Laci" — drums, backing vocals* Sreten Kovačević "Srele" — guitar, backing vocals* Nebojša Čonkić "Čonta" — vocals- Additional personnel :* Marko Pešić — photography...
, released in 1980, is considered the first punk rock album by a band coming from Serbia. Being one of the first punk acts in Yugoslavia, they played a major role in opening doors for many bands that came after. On their second and last album, Strah od monotonije
Strah od monotonije
- Personnel :* Mare — Marinko Vukmanović; bass, voice [hypnotic voices], backing vocals* Cila — Laslo Pihler; drums* Bale — Zoran Bulatović; guitar, keyboards, backing vocals* Čonta — Nebojša Čonkić; vocals, performer [Čontajzer]- References :*...
, released in 1981, they turned towards post-punk
Post-punk
Post-punk is a rock music movement with its roots in the late 1970s, following on the heels of the initial punk rock explosion of the mid-1970s. The genre retains its roots in the punk movement but is more introverted, complex and experimental...
and darkwave
Darkwave
Dark Wave or darkwave is a music genre that began in the late 1970s, coinciding with the popularity of New Wave and post-punk. Building on those basic principles, dark wave added dark, introspective lyrics and an undertone of sorrow for some bands...
sound, disbanding during the same year. In 2008, the band reunited to perform on the main stage of Exit Festival alongside Sex Pistols
Sex Pistols
The Sex Pistols were an English punk rock band that formed in London in 1975. They were responsible for initiating the punk movement in the United Kingdom and inspiring many later punk and alternative rock musicians...
, and in 2010, they reunited once again, continuing their activity.
Trafo, Café Express, band formation
Pekinška Patka's roots are found in the band Trafo, a short-lived group, formed in 1976, featuring Nebojša Čonkić on vocals and Sreten Kovačević on guitarElectric guitar
An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
, performing cover versions of rock standards by the Rolling Stones and Santana
Santana (band)
Santana is a rock band based around guitarist Carlos Santana and founded in the late 1960s. It first came to public attention after their performing the song "Soul Sacrifice" at the Woodstock Festival in 1969, when their Latin rock provided a contrast to other acts on the bill...
. The following year, Kovačević formed a pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
band Café Express featuring Čonkić as guest vocalist.
During the summer of 1978, Čonkić (often referred to by his nickname Profesor Čonta), at the time a 25-year-old teacher at Mihajlo Pupin High School
Mihajlo Pupin vocational secondary school of electrical engineering, Novi Sad
Mihajlo Pupin is a secondary school located in the city of Novi Sad, the capital of the Serbian province of Vojvodina. Specifically, it is located at Futoška 17. It was established on May 16, 1963....
in Novi Sad, went to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
where, among other bands, he saw The Clash
The Clash
The Clash were an English punk rock band that formed in 1976 as part of the original wave of British punk. Along with punk, their music incorporated elements of reggae, ska, dub, funk, rap, dance, and rockabilly...
, The Specials
The Specials
The Specials are an English 2 Tone ska revival band formed in 1977 in Coventry, England. Their music combines a "danceable ska and rocksteady beat with punk's energy and attitude", and had a "more focused and informed political and social stance" than other ska groups...
, Midge Ure
Midge Ure
James "Midge" Ure, OBE is a Scottish guitarist, singer, keyboard player, and songwriter...
, Glen Matlock
Glen Matlock
Glen Matlock is an English bass guitarist most famous for being in the original line-up of the punk rock band the Sex Pistols. Drummer Paul Cook has said that Matlock came up with much of the music for the band's songs and most of the lyrics, while lead singer Johnny Rotten made some adjustments...
's Rich Kids
The Rich Kids
Rich Kids were a short-lived, seminal new wave band from London, founded in 1977 by Glen Matlock following his departure from The Sex Pistols. The band also included future Ultravox member Midge Ure, and Rusty Egan, who later went to found Visage.-Career:...
, The Skids, and Magazine
Magazine (band)
Magazine are an English post-punk group active from 1977 to 1981, then reformed in 2009. Their debut single, "Shot by Both Sides", is now acknowledged as a classic and their debut album, Real Life, is still widely admired as one of the greatest albums of all time...
perform live, before returning to Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
full of impressions and ideas about putting together a band with a new sound.
During July 1978, Kovačević, drummer Laslo "Cila" Pihler, and Čonkić decided to form a punk rock
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
group inspired by the British punk bands. The first lineup also featured bass guitarist Miloš "Žure" Žurić. The band held rehearsals at the University of Novi Sad
University of Novi Sad
The University of Novi Sad is a university located in Novi Sad, the capital of Serbian province of Vojvodina and the second largest city in Serbia....
's Faculty of Mechanical Engineering building where their first live performance took place. Four people attended the gig, all of them friends of the band members. In the meantime, Čonkić and Kovačević started working on new material, mainly in English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
which was performed at the first appearance. After the gig Srbislav "Srba" Dobanovački became the new bass guitarist.
Local prominence in Novi Sad
The band's first official live appearance took place in December 1978 at Novi Sad's Klub 24 venue and immediately got the local public talking due to the commotion it raised among the club's staff who were sufficiently shocked by the performance that they decided to put the stop to it, sending the crowd of about 200 people home. The immediate reason for the early stoppage was the band's performance of an impromptu vulgar punk cover of the communist Youth work actionYouth work actions
Youth work actions were organized voluntary labor activities of young people in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. The actions were used to build public infrastructure such as roads, railways, and public buildings, as well as industrial infrastructure...
song featuring the lyrics "Brižit Bardo bere čičke; Vidi joj se pola pičke" ("Brigitte Bardot
Brigitte Bardot
Brigitte Anne-Marie Bardot is a French former fashion model, actress, singer and animal rights activist. She was one of the best-known sex-symbols of the 1960s.In her early life, Bardot was an aspiring ballet dancer...
is picking thistle
Thistle
Thistle is the common name of a group of flowering plants characterised by leaves with sharp prickles on the margins, mostly in the family Asteraceae. Prickles often occur all over the plant – on surfaces such as those of the stem and flat parts of leaves. These are an adaptation that protects the...
s; you can see the half of her pussy
Pussy
Pussy is an English word meaning:* Cat* The human female genitalia, for the slang term related to genital anatomy.* Pejoratively, cowardice or weakness as an insult in general- Etymology :The origins of the word are unknown...
").
The band based its sound on melodic punk and vivid public image, while their high-energy live show featured constant jumping and gyrating that had a strong effect on the young crowds. Being one of the first groups in the country with this kind of sound and performing style, they attracted media's interest before releasing any material. Čonkić often used those media appearances for self-promotion, delivering sweeping statements like: "We're the first important thing to happen to Yugoslav rock since the days of Ivo Robić
Ivo Robic
Ivo Robić was Croatian singer and songwriter.-Domestic career:Robić began his career as a soloist with the Radio Zagreb Orchestra, while studying at the same time in Zagreb...
and Marko Novoselić". He also purposely courted controversy with soundbite
Soundbite
In film and broadcasting, a sound bite is a very short piece of a speech taken from a longer speech or an interview in which someone with authority or the average "man on the street" says something which is considered by those who edit the speech or interview to be the most important point...
s such as referring to his group as the "first Orthodox punk band", which was against the attitude of the ruling Communist League
League of Communists of Yugoslavia
League of Communists of Yugoslavia , before 1952 the Communist Party of Yugoslavia League of Communists of Yugoslavia (Serbo-Croatian: Savez komunista Jugoslavije/Савез комуниста Југославије, Slovene: Zveza komunistov Jugoslavije, Macedonian: Сојуз на комунистите на Југославија, Sojuz na...
that very much promoted atheism
Atheism
Atheism is, in a broad sense, the rejection of belief in the existence of deities. In a narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there are no deities...
in Yugoslav society.
The band quickly developed a cult following among the sections of Novi Sad youth who expressed their devotion by spraying "Čonta je Bog" ("Čonta is God") graffiti
Graffiti
Graffiti is the name for images or lettering scratched, scrawled, painted or marked in any manner on property....
throughout the city. All of this unconventionality also got the band plenty of attention from local communist authorities who saw subversive and incendiary potential in their sound and appearance. As a result, despite generating a lot of interest, not only in the city but also throughout other parts of Vojvodina
Vojvodina
Vojvodina, officially called Autonomous Province of Vojvodina is an autonomous province of Serbia. Its capital and largest city is Novi Sad...
, the band experienced problems with live performances, many of which would get canceled on the day of the show on suggestions from the authorities.
In December 1978, the band played the last BOOM Festival
Boom Festival
The Boom Festival is a biennial festival which takes place in Portugal.The festival features music, paint, sculpture, video art, installations cinema, theater and a concept of crosspollination of different art forms....
, which was being held in their hometown that year.
Wider popularity and first releases
The band appeared at the SuboticaSubotica
Subotica is a city and municipality in northern Serbia, in the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina...
Youth festival with the song "Bela šljiva
Bela šljiva
"Bela šljiva" is the song by the Serbian punk rock band Pekinška Patka, released in 1979, which appeared on the double A-side single with the song "Biti ružan, pametan i mlad"...
". Vesna Vrandečić (later to join Xenia
Xenia (band)
Xenia was a Croatian power-pop band from Rijeka, active in period 1981–1985 in former Yugoslavia. Their discography includes two 7" singles singles and two studio albums.-Biography:The band was formed in 1981 by Vesna Vrandečić and Robert Funčić...
) won the festival's main award, but Pekinška Patka got the Audience Award. Their whole performance was broadcast on national television which was the first TV appearance of any punk band in Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
. This raised their profile as far as Yugoslav recording companies were concerned; they started negotiating with PGP-RTB
PGP-RTB
PGP-RTB was a major record label and chain record store in the former SFR Yugoslavia based in Belgrade, Socialist Republic of Serbia. PGP-RTB was established in 1958...
label about a debut album, but ultimately could not reach a deal. The band continued playing and soon developed a wider following in bigger Yugoslav cities: Belgrade
Belgrade
Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe...
, Sarajevo
Sarajevo
Sarajevo |Bosnia]], surrounded by the Dinaric Alps and situated along the Miljacka River in the heart of Southeastern Europe and the Balkans....
and Zagreb
Zagreb
Zagreb is the capital and the largest city of the Republic of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb lies at an elevation of approximately above sea level. According to the last official census, Zagreb's city...
. They eventually signed with Jugoton
Jugoton
Jugoton was the largest record label and chain record store in the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia based in Zagreb, Socialist Republic of Croatia. After the breakup of Yugoslavia the company continued to work in independent Republic of Croatia under the name Croatia...
after its representatives saw them perform at Zagreb's Kulušić
Kulušić
Kulušić was a Yugoslav Concert Club in Zagreb, Croatia, which hosted many famous international acts and all the important acts from the region. It is particularly associated with the Yugoslav New Wave acts of the late 1970s and early 1980s. Many Live albums which today are part of the Ex-Yugoslav...
club.
The first Pekinška Patka release became a vinyl 7-inch single (2-side
A-side and B-side
A-side and B-side originally referred to the two sides of gramophone records on which singles were released beginning in the 1950s. The terms have come to refer to the types of song conventionally placed on each side of the record, with the A-side being the featured song , while the B-side, or...
) "Bela šljiva
Bela šljiva
"Bela šljiva" is the song by the Serbian punk rock band Pekinška Patka, released in 1979, which appeared on the double A-side single with the song "Biti ružan, pametan i mlad"...
" / "Biti ružan, pametan i mlad
Biti ružan, pametan i mlad
"Biti ružan, pametan i mlad" is the song by the Serbian punk rock band Pekinška Patka, released in 1979, which appeared on the double A-side single with the song "Bela šljiva"...
" produced by Slobodan Konjović. Relatively good reception of that single, with 35,000 copies sold, paved the way for them to begin recording a full-length debut album.
In October 1979, the band was invited to perform in the village of Stepanovićevo
Stepanovicevo
Stepanovićevo is a village in Serbia. It is located in the Novi Sad municipality, in the South Bačka District, Vojvodina province. The village has a Serb ethnic majority and a population of 2,214 people...
at the anniversary celebration of the end of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. The band performed their standard set-list and the show also featured blowing of condom
Condom
A condom is a barrier device most commonly used during sexual intercourse to reduce the probability of pregnancy and spreading sexually transmitted diseases . It is put on a man's erect penis and physically blocks ejaculated semen from entering the body of a sexual partner...
s and throwing them to the audience as well as swearing
Profanity
Profanity is a show of disrespect, or a desecration or debasement of someone or something. Profanity can take the form of words, expressions, gestures, or other social behaviors that are socially constructed or interpreted as insulting, rude, vulgar, obscene, desecrating, or other forms.The...
on stage that was met with a mixture of shock and delight by the audience. Another punk rock band, Gomila G (a censored version of their original name Gomila G, trans. Pile of Shit), which played as the opening act, performed the song "God save Martin Bormann
Martin Bormann
Martin Ludwig Bormann was a prominent Nazi official. He became head of the Party Chancellery and private secretary to Adolf Hitler...
", which was also the reason why the authorities and the media turned against the two bands. Soon after the show, Gomila G bassist Borislav "Bora" Oslovčan joined Pekinška Patka as a replacement for Dobanovački. Together they recorded a demo, consisting of seven tracks, which was unofficially released during the 1990s. The new lineup also performed at the Leto na Adi manifestation, which was held at a luxurious raft
Raft
A raft is any flat structure for support or transportation over water. It is the most basic of boat design, characterized by the absence of a hull...
at Ada Ciganlija
Ada Ciganlija
Ada Ciganlija , colloquially shortened to Ada, is a river island that has artificially been turned into a peninsula, located in the Sava River's course through central Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. The name can also refer to the adjoining artificial Sava Lake and its beach...
, with the song "Poderimo rock". Since the crowd rushed to the stage and jumped around, the raft almost sank.
The album Plitka poezija
Plitka poezija
- The band :* Boris Oslovčan "Bora" — bass, backing vocals* Laslo Pihler "Laci" — drums, backing vocals* Sreten Kovačević "Srele" — guitar, backing vocals* Nebojša Čonkić "Čonta" — vocals- Additional personnel :* Marko Pešić — photography...
(Shallow Poetry), a punk rock material with occasional ska
Ska
Ska |Jamaican]] ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s, and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. Ska combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues...
elements and humorous lyrics, was completed by fall 1979, but Yugoslav president Josip Broz Tito
Josip Broz Tito
Marshal Josip Broz Tito – 4 May 1980) was a Yugoslav revolutionary and statesman. While his presidency has been criticized as authoritarian, Tito was a popular public figure both in Yugoslavia and abroad, viewed as a unifying symbol for the nations of the Yugoslav federation...
's illness postponed the release until summer 1980. It was ushered in by another 7-inch single, "Bolje da nosim kratku kosu
Bolje da nosim kratku kosu
"Bolje da nosim kratku kosu" is the second single by the Serbian punk rock band Pekinška Patka. The song, having an anthem status in former Yugoslav republics, with its B-side, appeared on the band debut album Plitka poezija...
" / "Ori, ori
Ori, ori
"Ori, ori" is the B-side of the second single by the Serbian punk rock band Pekinška Patka.- Tracklisting :Both tracks by Nebojša Čonkić and Sreten Kovačević.* "Bolje da nosim kratku kosu" * "Ori, ori"...
". The whole material was recorded in the Boris Kovač
Boris Kovac
-Biography:Kovač was born in Novi Sad, the capital of the Vojvodina region of Serbia, then part of Yugoslavia. He studied on the accordion as a child and later received one year of instruction on saxophone, but is self-taught on a wide array of instruments....
studio, outside Novi Sad, and was produced by Slobodan Konjović, well known disc jockey
Disc jockey
A disc jockey, also known as DJ, is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, "disc" referred to phonograph records, not the later Compact Discs. Today, the term includes all forms of music playback, no matter the medium.There are several types of disc jockeys...
from Studio B
RTV Studio B
RTV Studio B, more often called Studio B , is a radio and television broadcaster in Belgrade, Serbia, which was the first broadcast station outside the national electronic media system.-Background:...
radio station. Eventually, their debut album was released in 1980 and sold about 15,000 copies, which Jugoton
Jugoton
Jugoton was the largest record label and chain record store in the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia based in Zagreb, Socialist Republic of Croatia. After the breakup of Yugoslavia the company continued to work in independent Republic of Croatia under the name Croatia...
considered a failure.
One of the first live presentations of the new material was at the Split
Split (city)
Split is a Mediterranean city on the eastern shores of the Adriatic Sea, centered around the ancient Roman Palace of the Emperor Diocletian and its wide port bay. With a population of 178,192 citizens, and a metropolitan area numbering up to 467,899, Split is by far the largest Dalmatian city and...
festival with the band Azra
Azra
Azra was a rock band from Zagreb that was popular across Yugoslavia in the 1980s. Azra was formed in 1977 by its frontman Branimir "Johnny" Štulić. The other two members of the original line-up were Mišo Hrnjak and Boris Leiner . The band is named after a verse from "Der Asra" by Heinrich Heine...
. Several thousand people attended the concert. The relations within the band were somewhat strained at this gig. Dissatisfied with the band's decision to go on tour of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina , sometimes called Bosnia-Herzegovina or simply Bosnia, is a country in Southern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula. Bordered by Croatia to the north, west and south, Serbia to the east, and Montenegro to the southeast, Bosnia and Herzegovina is almost landlocked, except for the...
, bassist Oslovčan played with his back turned to the crowd, while actively sabotaging the proceedings by purposely making the band sound as bad as possible.
Lineup changes, post-punk period
Following the debut album release, the band went through some personnel changes with some members changing instruments and others leaving altogether. Guitarist Kovačević expressed a desire to play saxophoneSaxophone
The saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
so he moved to that instrument while new member Zoran "Bale" Bulatović, a 17-year-old Pečat member, took over the vacated guitar spot. Second guitarist Prosenica, and bassist Oslovčan also left the band. Oslovčan was first replaced by Aleksandar "Caki" Kravić and then the former bassist Srba Dobanovački until Marinko Vukmanović joined the band. Prosenica's spot stayed vacant as the band continued with only one guitar. That lineup did not last long as Kovačević left the group during fall 1980 to form his own band, Kontraritam
Kontraritam
Kontraritam was a New Wave band from Novi Sad, notable as the first 2 Tone/ska band in Serbia.- History :...
.
The new lineup went on the successful Bosnia and Herzegovina tour, ending with a sold-out show at Sarajevo
Sarajevo
Sarajevo |Bosnia]], surrounded by the Dinaric Alps and situated along the Miljacka River in the heart of Southeastern Europe and the Balkans....
's Skenderija
Skenderija
Skenderija is a city center in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. It was constructed in 1969 as a cultural and sport center, but was later revitalized and expanded for the 1984 Winter Olympic Games. Below the structure is a shopping mall...
Hall. The band recorded the cover of the popular Dragan Stojnić chanson "Bila je tako lijepa", with altered lyrics, and released it on single with "Buba-rumba" as the B-side. Another cover version, this time The Hollies
The Hollies
The Hollies are an English pop and rock group, formed in Manchester in the early 1960s, though most of the band members are from throughout East Lancashire. Known for their distinctive vocal harmony style, they became one of the leading British groups of the 1960s and 1970s...
hit "Stop! Stop! Stop!" appeared on the "Rokenroler" show broadcast on TV Belgrade
Radio Television of Serbia
Radio Television of Serbia or Serbian Broadcasting Corporation is the public broadcaster in Serbia. It broadcasts and produces a variety of news, drama, and sports programming through radio, television and the Internet. RTS is, since July 2001, a member of the European Broadcasting Union. RTS is...
. The song was used by JTV (Yugoslav television) station for representing Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
at the Montreaux Rose d'Or
Rose d'Or
The Rose d’Or is one of the most important international festivals in entertainment television. It was founded in Montreux in 1961 and has taken place in Lucerne since 2004. Producers, executives from independent and public service broadcasters and heads of production companies from over 40...
festival. Čonkić also planned to cover the "Hymn to Saint Sava
Saint Sava
Saint Sava was a Serbian Prince and Orthodox monk, the first Archbishop of the autocephalous Serbian Church, the founder of Serbian law and literature, and a diplomat. Sava was born Rastko Nemanjić , the youngest son of Serbian Grand Župan Stefan Nemanja , and ruled the appanage of Hum briefly in...
", which was not approved by the rest of the band.
During December 1980, the band performed at the Grok festival held at the Novi Sad
Novi Sad
Novi Sad is the capital of the northern Serbian province of Vojvodina, and the administrative centre of the South Bačka District. The city is located in the southern part of Pannonian Plain on the Danube river....
Fair. The band left a good impression, but also caused an uproar by burning a copy of the Borba
Borba (newspaper)
Borba is a Serbian newspaper, formerly the official newspaper of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia...
newspaper. During the intro for the song "Biti ružan, pametan i mlad
Biti ružan, pametan i mlad
"Biti ružan, pametan i mlad" is the song by the Serbian punk rock band Pekinška Patka, released in 1979, which appeared on the double A-side single with the song "Bela šljiva"...
", Čonkić said that the song was dedicated to Bijelo Dugme
Bijelo dugme
Bijelo dugme was a highly influential former Yugoslav rock band, based in Sarajevo. Active between 1974 and 1989, it is widely considered to have been the most popular band ever to exist in former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and one of the most important acts of the Yugoslav rock...
leader Goran Bregović
Goran Bregovic
Goran Bregović is one of the most internationally known modern musicians and composers of the Balkans. He currently splits his time between Paris and Belgrade, where he settled down during the Yugoslav Wars.Bregović has composed for such varied artists as Iggy Pop and Cesária Évora...
. Soon after the show, Dnevnik
Dnevnik (Novi Sad)
Dnevnik , lit. Daily news, is a Serbian language daily newspaper, published in Novi Sad, Serbia.The newspaper was founded during Axis occupation in 1942, and its original name was Slobodna Vojvodina...
journalist Bogdan Četnik wrote an article demanding the band to be completely banned.
From October 1980 until March 1981 the band prepared new material inspired by Joy Division
Joy Division
Joy Division were an English rock band formed in 1976 in Salford, Greater Manchester. Originally named Warsaw, the band primarily consisted of Ian Curtis , Bernard Sumner , Peter Hook and Stephen Morris .Joy Division rapidly evolved from their initial punk rock influences...
, The Stranglers
The Stranglers
The Stranglers are an English punk/rock music group.Scoring some 23 UK top 40 singles and 17 UK top 40 albums to date in a career spanning five decades, the Stranglers are the longest-surviving and most "continuously successful" band to have originated in the UK punk scene of the mid to late 1970s...
, The Cure
The Cure
The Cure are an English rock band formed in Crawley, West Sussex in 1976. The band has experienced several line-up changes, with frontman, vocalist, guitarist and principal songwriter Robert Smith being the only constant member...
and Magazine
Magazine (band)
Magazine are an English post-punk group active from 1977 to 1981, then reformed in 2009. Their debut single, "Shot by Both Sides", is now acknowledged as a classic and their debut album, Real Life, is still widely admired as one of the greatest albums of all time...
. The band changed the style to post-punk
Post-punk
Post-punk is a rock music movement with its roots in the late 1970s, following on the heels of the initial punk rock explosion of the mid-1970s. The genre retains its roots in the punk movement but is more introverted, complex and experimental...
and dark wave, presenting a different sound and image, which mostly failed to connect with the audiences the way their debut did. The album Strah od monotonije
Strah od monotonije
- Personnel :* Mare — Marinko Vukmanović; bass, voice [hypnotic voices], backing vocals* Cila — Laslo Pihler; drums* Bale — Zoran Bulatović; guitar, keyboards, backing vocals* Čonta — Nebojša Čonkić; vocals, performer [Čontajzer]- References :*...
(Fear of Monotone), released in May 1981, was sold in about 8,000 copies.
The band performed rarely and their last notable shows were at a large concert at Zagreb
Zagreb
Zagreb is the capital and the largest city of the Republic of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb lies at an elevation of approximately above sea level. According to the last official census, Zagreb's city...
Velesajam (performing with Riblja Čorba
Riblja Corba
Riblja Čorba is a Serbian and former Yugoslav rock band. Their presence on the scene has lasted from 1978 to today. They reached their peak of popularity in the 1980s, but it has declined in the 1990s, partly due to controversial political attitudes of the band's leader Bora Đorđević...
, Haustor
Haustor
Haustor was a rock band from Zagreb, SR Croatia, a member of the Novi val movement, and an important act of the former Yugoslav Rock scene.- Biography :...
, Film, Prljavo kazalište
Prljavo kazalište
Prljavo kazalište is a rock and roll band from Zagreb, Croatia. Since its formation in 1977, the group changed several music styles and line ups but remained one of the top acts of both the Croatian and the former Yugoslav rock scenes.-Beginnings:Prljavo kazalište was formed in 1977 in Dubrava,...
, Leb i Sol
Leb i sol
Leb i sol is a Macedonian rock group founded in the 1970s by Vlatko Stefanovski , Bodan Arsovski , Nikola Kokan Dimuševski and Garabet Tavitjan . Tavitjan ceded the drumwork to Dragoljub Đuričić for some of the albums, while Kiril Džajkovski replaced Kokan on Kao Kakao and Putujemo...
, Parni Valjak
Parni Valjak
Parni valjak 1975 is a Croatian and former Yugoslav rock band. They were one of the top acts of the former Yugoslav Rock scene, and currently one of the top rock-and-roll bands in Croatia.-Biography:Parni valjak was founded in 1975...
, and other bands) and the Kalemegdan
Kalemegdan
Belgrade Fortress , represent old citadel and Kalemegdan Park on the confluence of the River Sava and Danube, in an urban area of modern Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. It is located in Belgrade's municipality of Stari Grad...
park which was their last concert, During the summer, Čonkić went to serve the Yugoslav People's Army
Yugoslav People's Army
The Yugoslav People's Army , also referred to as the Yugoslav National Army , was the military of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.-Origins:The origins of the JNA can...
and by the time he returned, Bulatović was already the member of Luna
Luna (Novi Sad band)
Luna was a Serbian and former Yugoslav post-punk/gothic rock band from Novi Sad.Formed on the ashes of the New Wave band La Strada and getting the name by the Bernardo Bertolucci film La Luna, Luna quickly gained the public's attention and established a cult status...
and Vukmanović formed the pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
band Primavera.
Post-breakup and reunions
In 1994, Čonkić immigrated to CanadaCanada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
with his family and after working as pizza deliverer and computer programmer at CBC
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly known as CBC and officially as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian crown corporation that serves as the national public radio and television broadcaster...
, he got a job as lecturer
Lecturer
Lecturer is an academic rank. In the United Kingdom, lecturer is a position at a university or similar institution, often held by academics in their early career stages, who lead research groups and supervise research students, as well as teach...
at the Seneca College
Seneca College
Seneca College of Applied Arts and Technology is a Canadian public college in the greater Toronto area. Seneca College is currently Canada's largest college with approximately 108,000 students.-History:...
in Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
. Bulatović moved to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
during the 1990s.
In 1997, their complete discography, including singles and albums, was re-released on CD format by Croatia Records
Croatia Records
Croatia Records is the largest major record label in Croatia, based in Dubrava in Zagreb.-Summary:Croatia Records d.d. is a joint stock company currently led by the Chairman of the Board of directors Želimir Babogredac, a notable sound engineer...
(legal successor of Jugoton). Then on July 5, 2006, the same was done by Serbian Multimedia Records at which time the band got a significant promotional push from Serbian web magazine Popboks.
On May 28, 2008, it was announced that Pekinška Patka would be reuniting to perform at the 2008 EXIT festival
EXIT (festival)
Exit is an annual summer music festival in the Petrovaradin Fortress of Novi Sad, Serbia. It is staged annually since 2000 and usually lasts four days ....
. Their performance took place on EXIT main stage on Sunday July 13, 2008 - the festival's closing night - together with Sex Pistols
Sex Pistols
The Sex Pistols were an English punk rock band that formed in London in 1975. They were responsible for initiating the punk movement in the United Kingdom and inspiring many later punk and alternative rock musicians...
, The Hives
The Hives
The Hives are a Swedish garage rock band that first garnered attention in the early 2000s as a prominent group of the garage rock revival. Their mainstream success came with the release of the "greatest hits" album Your New Favourite Band, featuring their most well-known song "Hate to Say I Told...
, and Ministry
Ministry (band)
Ministry is an American industrial metal band founded by lead singer Al Jourgensen in 1981. Originally a synthpop outfit, Ministry changed its style to industrial metal in the late 1980s. Ministry found mainstream success in the early 1990s with its most successful album Psalm 69: The Way to...
. Pekinška Patka played a 40-minute set consisting of old favorites. In the interviews immediately after the reunion performance, Čonkić left the door open for a full comeback.
After pulling out of a Novi Sad performance for New Year's 2010, the band decided to reconvene again for a show on 21 May 2010 at Belgrade's SKC
Studentski kulturni centar
Studentski Kulturni Centar , abbreviated as "SKC", is a cultural centre in Belgrade, Serbia.The center opened in 1971 in the building that had up to that point been used by state security agency UDBA. The opening of SKC was seen by many as the communist regime's concession to the youth of Belgrade...
in order to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the "Bila je tako lijepa" single release. The band reunited in the lineup which recorded the single and the second studio album, Strah od monotonije, and after the Belgrade performance, they played at the Zagreb
Zagreb
Zagreb is the capital and the largest city of the Republic of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb lies at an elevation of approximately above sea level. According to the last official census, Zagreb's city...
Boogaloo club.
On May 5, at a press conference, the band announced the release of a cover album, featuring songs performed at the Yugoslav
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
1960s pop festivals such as the Opatija
Opatija
Opatija is a town in western Croatia, just southwest of Rijeka on the Adriatic coast. , the town proper had a population of 7,850, with the municipality having a total 12,719 inhabitants.-Geography:...
, Beogradsko Proleće and Vaš Šlager Sezone.
A few days before the upcoming concert in Belgrade, the first lineup guitarist, and the co-founding member of the band, Sreten Kovačević announced suing the band over the usage of the name Pekinška Patka as well as the performance of the songs from the Plitka poezija album for which he is credited as author in SOKOJ (The Serbian Copyright Protection Organization). In the response to the announcement, the band responded at the Long Play record label official site with the explanation that Čonkić has the right to the band name, and that on July 1980, without previously informing the rest of the band, Kovačević had signed co-authorship to the debut album tracks at SOKOJ, thus the information on the authorship and at SOKOJ mismatch
Both the Belgrade and Zagreb performances featured the band playing most of the tracks from Plitka poezija, with the exception of the song "Bolje da nosim kratku kosu" written by Kovačević according to SOKOJ, the upcoming single, the cover version of Luz Casal
Luz Casal
Luz Casal, born November 11, 1958 at Boimorto, is a Spanish pop singer. She grew up in neighbouring Asturias, took singing, piano and ballet classes, and moved to Madrid to pursue a career as a musician....
song "Un año de amor", and the song "Neko", from the second album Strah od monotonije. However, the Belgrade performance did not feature Pihler on drums, and the substitute drummer was Veliki Prezir
Veliki Prezir
Veliki Prezir is a Serbian britpop/alternative rock band from Vrbas.- 1990s :...
drummer Robert Radić.
In December 2010, the band released an free digital download
Music download
A music download is the transferral of music from an Internet-facing computer or website to a user's local computer. This term encompasses both legal downloads and downloads of copyright material without permission or payment...
mp3
MP3
MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III, more commonly referred to as MP3, is a patented digital audio encoding format using a form of lossy data compression...
version of the single "Un año de amor" on the Long Play record label official site.
Legacy
The album Plitka poezijaPlitka poezija
- The band :* Boris Oslovčan "Bora" — bass, backing vocals* Laslo Pihler "Laci" — drums, backing vocals* Sreten Kovačević "Srele" — guitar, backing vocals* Nebojša Čonkić "Čonta" — vocals- Additional personnel :* Marko Pešić — photography...
was polled in 1998 as 77th on the list of 100 greatest Yugoslav popular music albums in the book YU 100: najbolji albumi jugoslovenske rok i pop muzike
YU 100: najbolji albumi jugoslovenske rok i pop muzike
YU 100: najbolji albumi jugoslovenske rok i pop muzike is a book by Duško Antonić and Danilo Štrbac...
(YU 100: The Best albums of Yugoslav pop and rock music).
In 2006, the song "Bolje da nosim kratku kosu
Bolje da nosim kratku kosu
"Bolje da nosim kratku kosu" is the second single by the Serbian punk rock band Pekinška Patka. The song, having an anthem status in former Yugoslav republics, with its B-side, appeared on the band debut album Plitka poezija...
" was ranked #22 on the B92 Top 100 Domestic Songs list.
Discography
- Plitka poezijaPlitka poezija- The band :* Boris Oslovčan "Bora" — bass, backing vocals* Laslo Pihler "Laci" — drums, backing vocals* Sreten Kovačević "Srele" — guitar, backing vocals* Nebojša Čonkić "Čonta" — vocals- Additional personnel :* Marko Pešić — photography...
(1980) - Strah od monotonijeStrah od monotonije- Personnel :* Mare — Marinko Vukmanović; bass, voice [hypnotic voices], backing vocals* Cila — Laslo Pihler; drums* Bale — Zoran Bulatović; guitar, keyboards, backing vocals* Čonta — Nebojša Čonkić; vocals, performer [Čontajzer]- References :*...
(1981)