* This article is based on interviews of numerous rock performers, songwriters, rock reviewers, and journalists in Yugoslavia from June 14 to July 11, 1987.

1. Simon Frith, The Sociology of Rock (London: Constable, 1978); Tibor Kneif, Einführung in die Rockmusik: Entwürfe und Unterlagen für Studium und Unterricht (Wilhelmshaven: Heinrichshofen's Verlag, 1979); John Orman, The Politics of Rock Music (Chicago: Nelson-Hall, 1984); William S. Fox and James D. Williams, “Political Orientation and Music Preferences among College Students,”Public Opinion Quarterly 38:3 (1974); Philip Lamy and Jack Levin, “Punk and Middle-Class Values: A Content Analysis,”Youth & Society 17:2 (1985); James J. Leming, “Rock Music and the Socialization of Moral Values in Early Adolescence,”Youth & Society 18:4 (1987); Harold G. Levine and Steven H. Stumpf, “Statements of Fear through Cultural Symbols: Punk Rock as a Reflective Subculture,”Youth & Society 14:4 (1983); Karen Beth Mashkin and Thomas J. Volgy, “Socio-Political Attitudes and Musical Preferences,”Social Science Quarterly 56:3 (1975); Lorraine E. Prinsky and Jill Leslie Rosenbaum, “ `Leer-ics' or Lyrics: Teenage Impressions of Rock `n' Roll,”Youth & Society 18:4 (1987); S. Lee Seaton and Karen Ann Watson, “Counterculture and Rock: A Cantometric Analysis of Retribalization,”Youth & Society 4:1 (1972); and John Stratton, “What is `popular music'?”Sociological Review 31:2 (1983).

2. Christoph Dieckmann, “ `Rock'n Roll is here to stay'—Jugendkultur in der DDR,”Kirche im Sozialismus 12:3 (1986); Zsolt Krokovay, “Politics and Punk [in Hungary],”Index on Censorship 14:2 (1985); Günter Mayer, “Popular Music in the GDR,”Journal of Popular Culture 18:3 (1984); Pedro Ramet, “Rock Counterculture in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union,”Survey 29:2 (1985); and S. Frederick Starr, “The Rock Inundation [in the USSR],”The Wilson Quarterly 7:4 (1983). Also relevant is: “Official Documents Concerning Control of Vocal/Instrumental Groups and Discotheques,”Survey, 29:2 (1985). Yugoslav rock is also discussed, within a broader context, in: Pedro Ramet, “Apocalypse Culture and Social Change,” in Pedro Ramet, ed., Yugoslavia in the 1980s (Boulder: Westview Press, 1985); and Pedro Ramet, “Yugoslavia 1987: Stirrings from Below,”South Slav Journal 10:3 Autumn, 1987.

3. Orman, The Politics of Rock Music, p. x.

4. Frith, The Sociology of Rock, p. 54; also Loyd Grossman, A Social History of Rock Music (New York: David McKay, 1976).

5. Jeremy Seabrook, City Close-up (London, 1971), quoted in Frith, The Sociology of Rock, p. 20.

6. R. Serge Denisoff, in Sing a Song of Social Significance (Bowling Green, Ohio: Bowling Green State University Popular Press, 1972), reported a study he conducted among 180 students when a pessimistic, nihilistic song titled “Eve of Destruction” was the number one record. Only 36 percent of those surveyed understood the lyrics as the composer had intended, while 23 percent completely misconstrued them. Denisoff concluded that “the protest song is primarily seen as an entertainment item rather than one of political significance.”—Quoted in Orman, The Politics of Rock Music, p. 150.

7. For example, in the mid-1950s, the Juvenile Delinquency and Crime Commission of Houston, Texas, banned more than 50 rock `n' roll songs within the space of a single week. This and other cases are discussed in Orman, The Politics of Rock Music, pp. 3-8.

8. Vjesnik, December 8, 1984, p. 11, called Bora Djordjević's album, The Truth,“ethically unacceptable.”

9. Interview with Husein Hasanefendić, member of Steamroller, Zagreb, June 24, 1987.

10. Literally “brother-in-law rock,” but probably best understood as a homegrown equivalent of “country rock.”

11. Interview with Tonny Montano, Zagreb, June 24, 1987. See also Snežana Golubović, “Čovek koji je ubio i taličnog toma” [interview with Tonny Montano], in Rock (Belgrade), July, 1987, pp. 26-28.

12. See Dragan Ambrožić, “FV založba,” in Rock August, 1987, p. 48.

13. Interview with Petar Popović, International Label Manager for RTB PGP and founder of Rock magazine, Belgrade, June 16, 1987. See also Jadranka Janković, “Ja sam običan mali lajava” [interview with Zlatan Stipišić-Džibo of the heavy metal group, “Osmi putnik”], in Rock June, 1987, pp. 26-27.

14. Interview with Petar Popović.

15. Interview with Vladimir Divljan, rock guitarist and singer, Belgrade, June 17, 1987.

16. Interview with Zemira Alajbegović, manager of “Borghesia,” Ljubljana, July 3, 1987.

17. Interview with Vladimir Bajac, editor of Rock magazine, Belgrade, June 16, 1987.

18. Interview with Dražen Vrdoljak, Music Director of Radio Zagreb, Zagreb, June 22, 1987.

19. Interview with Aleksandar Tijanić, NIN music critic, Belgrade, June 18, 1987.

20. The series began in the March 28, 1976 issue of NIN. Reported in Dušan Vesić, “Dvadeset taktova za Tita,” in ITD (Belgrade), May, 1987, p. 9.

21. Interviews with Sladjana Aleksandra Milošević, rock singer, Belgrade, June 19 and July 5, 1987; and interview with Dragan Todorović, incoming editor of Rock magazine, Belgrade, July 10, 1987.

22. Danas, April 7, 1987, as cited in Bulletin of the Democratic International Committee to Aid Democratic Dissidents in Yugoslavia (New York), July, 1987, p. 18.

23. Aleksandra Marković, “Tragično smo odrasli” [interview with Nele Karaljić of “Zabranjeno pušenje”], in ITD, June, 1987, p. 5.

24. From the song “Dan Republike” (“Republic Day”) on the album, Pozdrav iz zemlje Safari. See also the report in Glas Istre, June 28, 1987, p. 17.

25. Interview with Bora Djordjević, lead singer of “Riblja čorba,” Belgrade, June 18, 1987.

26. Interview with Pero Lovšin, lead singer of “Pankrti,” Ljubljana, June 30, 1987.

27. Interview with Divljan, Belgrade, June 17, 1987.

28. See also Vladimir Stakić, “Svi su pametni i bez mene” [interview with Bora Djordjević], in Rock, March, 1987; and “Majstor verbalnog terorizma” [interview with Bora Djordjević], in Start, 478 (May 16, 1987).

29. Interview with Igor Vidmar, Music Coordinator of Radio Student, Ljubljana, June 30, 1987; and interview with Miha Kovač, former Editor-in-Chief of Mladina, Ljubljana, July 3, 1987.

30. Interviews with Vidmar and Kovač, see footnote 29.

31. Interview with Rudolf M. Rizman, Professor of Sociology, Ljubljana, July 3, 1987.

32. Interview with Furio Radin and Vlasta Ilišin, researchers at the Institute for Social Research, Zagreb, June 26, 1987.

33. Interview with Siniša Škarica, Program Director of Jugoton, Zagreb, June 24, 1987.

34. Interview, Ljubljana, June, 1987.

35. Howard S. Becker, Outsiders: Studies in the Sociology of Deviance (1963), quoted in Paul H. Shapiro, “Social Deviance in Eastern Europe: On Understanding the Problem,” in Ivan Volgyes, ed., Social Deviance in Eastern Europe (Boulder: Westview Press, 1978), pp. 6-7.

36. Discussed in Ramet, “Rock Counterculture in Eastern Europe,” pp. 161-163. See also “Tschechische Rockmusik als Seismograph für gesellschaftliche Alternativen,” in Osteuropa 35: 7-8 (1985).

37. See Gregor Tomc, “Punk and Protest in Slovenia,” in Across Frontiers (Fall, 1986), pp. 26-28.

38. Shmuel N. Eisenstadt, From Generation to Generation (New York, 1956), as cited in Frith, The Sociology of Rock, pp. 25-26.

39. Frith, Sociology of Rock, p. 198.

The Rock Scene in Yugoslavia

Abstract

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