Pankrti
Encyclopedia
Pankrti were a punk rock
band from Ljubljana
, Slovenia
, active in the late 1970s and during the 1980s. They were known for provocative and politically engaged songs and billed themselves "The First Punk Band Behind The Iron Curtain". They are one of the most important former Yugoslav Punk groups and one of the first punk rock bands ever formed in a communist country.
and Peter Lovšin, two young men from the Ljubljana suburb of Kodeljevo, came up with the idea of forming a band in 1977. From its beginnings, the band was heavily influenced by the UK punk scene. Tomc and Lovšin were the primary song writers. Lovšin was the singer of the band, while Tomc came up with the band name and was the band's manager.
The band started playing in fall of 1977, practicing in the basement of Kodeljevo's music school, and held the first concert at Moste High School. Initially they played covers of established punk bands including the Sex Pistols
, The Clash
and New York Dolls
. Some of their first songs that became popular were "Za železno zaveso" (Behind The Iron Curtain), "Anarhist" (Anarchist) and "Lublana je bulana" (Ljubljana is Sick). They were included in the Novi Punk Val
compilation album. They released their first album "Dolgcajt" (Boredom) in 1980 and gained the status of a cult band all over former Yugoslavia
.
Their second album “Državni ljubimci” (State Lovers) was highly appreciated in the public and gained an award for best Yugoslav album of the year.
In 1984 they released their third Rdeči album (Red Album). Its title is an obvious pun
on the famous album by The Beatles
and red as a symbol of communism
. The album featured a cover version of the famous Italian communist revolutionary song Bandiera Rossa
(Red Flag
), which is one of their most famous tracks.
One of their last concerts was in Tivoli Hall in Ljubljana in 1987, named Zadnji pogo (The Last Pogo).
In 1996 the group temporarily reformed to perform as a support act for the Sex Pistols concert in Ljubljana during their Filthy Lucre Tour
. In 2003, Pankrti were included in the 2003 Yugonostalgic Croatian rockumentary
Sretno dijete
, which deals with the former Yugoslav Punk and New Wave
scene of the late 1970s and early 1980s.
Fighters), announced Pankrti's reunion concert in the immediately sold out Hall Tivoli for December 1, 2007 as a celebration of their 30th anniversary. This act was followed by performances in Serbia and Croatia. These events coincide with the 2007 Sex Pistols
reunion for the 30th anniversary of Never Mind The Bollocks.
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 Ljubljana
Ljubljana
Ljubljana is the capital of Slovenia and its largest city. It is the centre of the City Municipality of Ljubljana. It is located in the centre of the country in the Ljubljana Basin, and is a mid-sized city of some 270,000 inhabitants...
, Slovenia
Slovenia
Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...
, active in the late 1970s and during the 1980s. They were known for provocative and politically engaged songs and billed themselves "The First Punk Band Behind The Iron Curtain". They are one of the most important former Yugoslav Punk groups and one of the first punk rock bands ever formed in a communist country.
Biography
Gregor TomcGregor Tomc
Gregor Tomc also known as Grega Tomc is a Slovenian sociologist, musician and activist. In the late 1970s and 1980s, he was the founder and member of the famous Slovenian punk rock band Pankrti.- Biography :...
and Peter Lovšin, two young men from the Ljubljana suburb of Kodeljevo, came up with the idea of forming a band in 1977. From its beginnings, the band was heavily influenced by the UK punk scene. Tomc and Lovšin were the primary song writers. Lovšin was the singer of the band, while Tomc came up with the band name and was the band's manager.
The band started playing in fall of 1977, practicing in the basement of Kodeljevo's music school, and held the first concert at Moste High School. Initially they played covers of established punk bands including the 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 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...
and New York Dolls
New York Dolls
The New York Dolls is an American rock band, formed in New York in 1971. The band's protopunk sound prefigured much of what was to come in the punk rock era; their visual style influenced the look of many new wave and 1980s-era glam metal groups, and they began the local New York scene that later...
. Some of their first songs that became popular were "Za železno zaveso" (Behind The Iron Curtain), "Anarhist" (Anarchist) and "Lublana je bulana" (Ljubljana is Sick). They were included in the Novi Punk Val
Novi Punk Val
Novi Punk Val is a compilation album of Punk rock and New Wave music from the SFR Yugoslavia. It covers the period from 1978 till 1980. It was released by ZKP RTLJ in 1980...
compilation album. They released their first album "Dolgcajt" (Boredom) in 1980 and gained the status of a cult band all over former Yugoslavia
Former Yugoslavia
The former Yugoslavia is a term used to describe the present day states which succeeded the collapse of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia....
.
Their second album “Državni ljubimci” (State Lovers) was highly appreciated in the public and gained an award for best Yugoslav album of the year.
In 1984 they released their third Rdeči album (Red Album). Its title is an obvious pun
Pun
The pun, also called paronomasia, is a form of word play which suggests two or more meanings, by exploiting multiple meanings of words, or of similar-sounding words, for an intended humorous or rhetorical effect. These ambiguities can arise from the intentional use and abuse of homophonic,...
on the famous album by The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
and red as a symbol of communism
Communist symbolism
Communist symbolism consists of a series of symbols that represent a variety of themes associated with communism. These themes may include revolution, the proletariat, the peasantry, agriculture, or international solidarity...
. The album featured a cover version of the famous Italian communist revolutionary song Bandiera Rossa
Bandiera Rossa
"Bandiera Rossa" , often also called Avanti Popolo for its first lines, is one of the most famous songs of the Italian labour movement. It glorifies the red flag, symbol of the socialist and later communist movement...
(Red Flag
Red flag
In politics, a red flag is a symbol of Socialism, or Communism, or sometimes left-wing politics in general. It has been associated with left-wing politics since the French Revolution. Socialists adopted the symbol during the Revolutions of 1848 and it became a symbol of communism as a result of its...
), which is one of their most famous tracks.
One of their last concerts was in Tivoli Hall in Ljubljana in 1987, named Zadnji pogo (The Last Pogo).
In 1996 the group temporarily reformed to perform as a support act for the Sex Pistols concert in Ljubljana during their Filthy Lucre Tour
Filthy Lucre Tour
The Filthy Lucre Tour was the infamous 1996 reunion tour of the pioneering British Punk rock band Sex Pistols. The 78-date world tour lasted for almost six months....
. In 2003, Pankrti were included in the 2003 Yugonostalgic Croatian rockumentary
Rockumentary
The term rockumentary is a neologism denoting a documentary about rock music or its musicians. The term was used by Bill Drake in the 1969 History of Rock & Roll radio broadcast, and by Rob Reiner in the 1984 mockumentary film This Is Spinal Tap....
Sretno dijete
Sretno dijete
Sretno dijete is a documentary film directed by Igor Mirković, and produced by Rajko Grlić, an Ohio University professor of film, in 2003...
, which deals with the former Yugoslav Punk and New Wave
Yugoslav New Wave
New Wave in Yugoslavia was the New Wave music scene of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia...
scene of the late 1970s and early 1980s.
Reunion
The band's founding members, Gregor Tomc and Peter Lovšin, who is now a solo artist backed by the band Španski borci (Spanish RepublicanSpanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
Fighters), announced Pankrti's reunion concert in the immediately sold out Hall Tivoli for December 1, 2007 as a celebration of their 30th anniversary. This act was followed by performances in Serbia and Croatia. These events coincide with the 2007 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...
reunion for the 30th anniversary of Never Mind The Bollocks.
Popular references
- A movie was made about their first album Dolgcajt (Boredom).
- Another movie called by one of their greatest song "Totalna revolucija" (Total Revolution), that talked about Pankrti, has been seen in cinema, and it talked about appearance of punk- rock in Slovenia (Yug) by Pankrti.
- In the Croatian-produced movie Sretno dijete (Happy Child) they had also a very important role as a starters of a new scene in Yugoslavia.
- The exhibition of their photos was held at the Modern Culture Museum in Slovenia.
- The rock band AzraAzraAzra 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...
mentions Pankrti in its song "Balkan":
- Brijem bradu, brkove, da ličim na Pankrte
- Translation: I shave my beard, mustache to resemble Pankrti (regarding Azra's frontman Johnny Štulić's transition from hippieHippieThe hippie subculture was originally a youth movement that arose in the United States during the mid-1960s and spread to other countries around the world. The etymology of the term 'hippie' is from hipster, and was initially used to describe beatniks who had moved into San Francisco's...
to New WaveNew Wave musicNew Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...
).- In the Slovenian film OutsiderOutsider (film)Outsider is a film produced in 1997 in Slovenia by writer and director Andrej Košak.The film takes place in the 1980 in the former Yugoslavia...
, some of the soundtrack is original Pankrti music and most of the characters had the names of their songs. - The Slovenian punk band Racija has a song "To ni bla Metka" (That Was Not Metka), apparently parodying Pankrti's song "Metka". This Pankrti song was included in the Yugoslav New WaveYugoslav New WaveNew Wave in Yugoslavia was the New Wave music scene of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia...
-related movie Dečko koji obećava in the scene in the student campusCampusA campus is traditionally the land on which a college or university and related institutional buildings are situated. Usually a campus includes libraries, lecture halls, residence halls and park-like settings...
restaurant. - The legendary BBC Radio DJ John Peel introduced them to a wider audience in Great Britain.
- NME wrote a few articles about them.
- In the Slovenian film Outsider
Members
- Peter Lovšin (songwriter/singer)
- Gregor TomcGregor TomcGregor Tomc also known as Grega Tomc is a Slovenian sociologist, musician and activist. In the late 1970s and 1980s, he was the founder and member of the famous Slovenian punk rock band Pankrti.- Biography :...
(songwriter/manager) - Bogo Pretnar (guitar)
- Dušan Žiberna (guitar)
- Marc Kavaš (guitar)
- Boris Kramberger (bass)
- Slavc Colnarič (drums)
Discography
- Lublana je bulana (1978, SKUC)
- Dolgcajt (1980, ZKP RTLJZKP RTLJZaložba kaset in plošč RTV Ljubljana or Založba kaset in plošč Radiotelevizije Ljubljana , was a major record label based in Ljubljana, Socialist Republic of Slovenia, during the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia...
) - Novi Punk ValNovi Punk ValNovi Punk Val is a compilation album of Punk rock and New Wave music from the SFR Yugoslavia. It covers the period from 1978 till 1980. It was released by ZKP RTLJ in 1980...
(1981) - Namesto tebe (1981, ZKP RTLJ)
- Državni ljubimci (1982, ZKP RTLJ)
- Svoboda (1982, ZKP RTLJ)
- Rdeči album (1984, ZKP RTLJ)
- Pesmi sprave (1985, ZKP RTLJ)
- Slovan (1985, Slovan)
- Sexpok (1987, ZKP RTVLJ)