Rock music in Serbia

Serbian rock is the rock music scene of Serbia. During the 1960s, 1970s and the 1980s, while Serbia was a constituent republic of Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Serbian rock scene was a part of the SFR Yugoslav rock scene.

The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was not an Eastern Bloc country, but a member of the Non-Aligned Movement and as such, it was far more open to the Western culture comparing to the other socialist countries. Rock and roll reached Yugoslavia via foreign radio stations, most notably Radio Luxemburg, and rock and roll records, brought in from the West. Rock and roll influences reached schlager singers, most notably Đorđe Marjanović, who released the first popular music solo album in Serbia, in 1959. The end of the 1950s featured the appearances of first rock and roll acts, and the 1960s featured many beat bands, such as Siluete and Elipse, which became enormously popular with the younger generations. Rock bands drew the public's attention to themselves, which was followed with the appearance of first rock music magazines, radio and TV shows.

Until the beginning of the 1970s, Serbian rock bands released only 7-inch singles and extended plays. Korni Grupa was the first Serbian rock act to release a full-length album, in 1972, and one of the first bands to move towards progressive rock. Progressive rock dominated the Serbian rock scene during the 1970s, with a part of bands incorporating elements of traditional music into their sound. At this period, bands like YU Grupa, Pop Mašina and Smak achieved large mainstream popularity and massive album sales. The end of the 1970s featured the appearance of the prominent hard rock band Riblja Čorba, and the emergence of the closely associated punk rock and new wave scenes. Pekinška Patka was the first Serbian punk rock band to release an album, in 1980. The new wave bands Šarlo Akrobata, Električni Orgazam and Idoli, which appeared on the influential compilation album Paket aranžman in 1980, were followed by many new wave acts. Around 1982, new wave scene declined and many acts moved towards more commercial sound. During the 1980s, pop rock acts, such as Đorđe Balašević and Bajaga i Instruktori, dominated the mainstream scene, but various other rock genres also emerged, and the alternative rock scene, with the acts such as Ekatarina Velika, Disciplina Kičme, and Rambo Amadeus, started to develop and gain mainstream popularity.

With the outbreak of the Yugoslav wars at the beginning of the 1990s, the former Yugoslav rock scene ceased to exist. During the 1990s, most of, both mainstream and underground, rock acts expressed their opposition towards the government of Slobodan Milošević, which caused their absence from most of the government-controlled media. Although several major mainstream acts managed to sustain their popularity (some of them, like Partibrejkers and Van Gogh, even increasing it), and a large underground and independent music scene developed. After the 1999 NATO bombing of FR Yugoslavia and the arrival of the political changes during the 2000s, a new independent scene started to develop. The 2000s also featured the establishing of new connections between the former Yugoslav republics' scenes.

The first rock acts emerged in the late 1950s. Influenced by the rock and roll and rockabilly acts, many young people started performing the so-called "električna muzika" ("electric music"), naming themselves "električari" ("electricians"). One of the first Serbian rock and roll musicians who rose to fame was guitarist Mile Lojpur from Belgrade, often considered the first Serbian or even Yugoslav rock and roll musician. He rose to fame at the dances he and his band Septet M organized at Red Star basketball courts at Kalemegdan. Although Lojpur did not make any recordings, he had a great influence on subsequent development of the scene. Another notable rock and roll artist was Perica Stojančić from Niš, whose debut single was released in 1961.

The singer Đorđe Marjanović became the first Yugoslav superstar. Despite essentially being a schlager singer, Marjanović also performed rock and roll songs. He is also notable as the first Yugoslav popular music singer who had an energetic on-scene appearance. He was the first pop singer to walk off the stage into the audience and perform songs in theatrical manner. His popularity led to the release of his album Muzika za igru in 1959, the first popular music solo album released by PGP-RTB, the biggest Serbian record label. In 1963, Marjanović went on his first Soviet Union tour, where he soon became very popular, and had gone on more than thirty Soviet Union tours since. He continued to perform until 1990, when, on concert in Melbourne, he had a stroke, after which he decided to retire.

The beginning of the 1960s saw the emergence of numerous beat and rhythm and blues bands, the majority of which being initially inspired by the then-popular Cliff Richard and The Shadows: Iskre and Siluete, both formed in 1961; Zlatni Dečaci and Bele Višnje, both formed in 1962; Crni Biseri, Daltoni, Elipse, and Samonikli, all formed in 1963; Tomi Sovilj i Njegove Siluete and Sanjalice, both formed in 1964; Plamenih 5, formed in 1965, Džentlmeni, formed in 1966. Siluete were well known for their shocking appearance and performance, and the band's frontman Zoran Miščević became one of the first Yugoslav rock stars and a sex symbol. The media often promoted rivalry between Siluete and Elipse. Initially formed as a beat band, Elipse moved to soul music and added a brass section when they were joined by vocalist Edi Dekeng, an African student from Congo, in 1967. Crni Biseri featured the prominent musician Vlada Janković "Džet", who later formed the band Tunel and became a well-known Radio Belgrade host. Sanjalice were one of the first former Yugoslav all-female rock bands. The members of Džemtlmeni, brothers Žika and Dragi Jelić, later formed the highly successful progressive/hard rock band YU Grupa. Although all of these bands released only 7-inch singles and extended plays – with the exception of Crni Biseri, which recorded their only studio album Motorok in 1976, and Bele Višnje, which recorded their old songs and released them on the album Pesme naše mladosti in 1994 – they had major influence on the subsequent development of the scene.

Korni Grupa was one of the first Serbian rock bands to achieve major mainstream popularity. Formed in 1968 by former Indexi keyboardist Kornelije Kovač, the band recorded many commercial pop songs released on 7-inch singles, with which they achieved huge popularity and appeared on pop music festivals throughout Yugoslavia. Already influenced by progressive rock, the band moved towards progressive sound with the arrival of vocalist Dado Topić, continuing, however, to release commercial singles. Korni Grupa's 1971 debut album Korni Grupa was the first long play album by a rock act coming from Serbia, and the fourth long play album by a Yugoslav rock act. The band's second, symphonic rock-oriented album, Not an Ordinary Life, released under the name Kornelyans in 1974, was one of the first Yugoslav albums released through a foreign record label. Despite the success with the singles they released in Yugoslavia, the band disbanded due to the little success of Not an Ordinary Life and the song "Moja generacija", with which the band represented Yugoslavia at the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest.