Pekinška patka

Infobox musical artist
Name = Pekinška Patka


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Origin = Novi Sad
Serbia
Genre = Punk rock
Post-punk
Dark Wave
Years_active = 1978–1981
reunion: 2008
Label = Jugoton
Croatia records
Multimedia Records
Associated_acts = Kontraritam
La Strada
Luna
Primavera
Pečat
URL = [http://www.popboks.com/pekinskapatka/ Homepage]
Current_members = Nebojša Čonkić
Borislav Oslovčan
Sreten Kovačević
Laslo Pihler

Past_members = Aleksandar Kravić
Boško Prosenica
Zoran Bulatović
Marinko Vukmanović
Miloš Žurić

Pekinška patka (Serbian Cyrillic: Пекиншка патка; trans. "Peking duck") was an eminent punk rock band from Novi Sad, Serbia, during the late 1970s and early 1980s in SFR Yugoslavia.

Pekinška patka is considered a cult band of the Yugoslav Punk scene. Although highly inspired by the British punk rock, their sound was authentic and distinguishable. Being one of the first punk acts in the country, they also played a major role in opening doors for many bands that came afterwards.

History

Band formation

The first signs of the band's formation can be found in 1976 and the band called Trafo. The band, featuring Nebojša Čonkić (vocals) and Sreten Kovačević (guitar), performed cover versions of rock standards like the Rolling Stones or Santana. The following year Kovačević formed the pop band Café Express which featured Čonkić as guest vocalist.

After the band split up, on July 1978, Kovačević, Laslo Pihler Cile (drums) and Čonkić decided to form a punk group inspired by the British punk bands. The first lineup also featured the bassist Miloš Žurić Žure. The band held rehearsals at the Faculty of mechanical engineering in Novi Sad where their first live appearance was held. Four people attended the gig, all of them were 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 Dobanovački Srba became the new bassist.

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 and The Specials as the opening act, Midge Ure and Glen Matlock's Rich Kids , The Skids and Magazine perform live and returned to Yugoslavia full of impressions and ideas about putting together a band with a new sound.

First releases and popularity

Their very first official live appearance took place in December 1978 in Novi Sad's Klub 24 venue and immediately got the local public talking for the commotion it raised among the club's staff who were sufficiently shocked by the performance that they stepped in and interrupted it, sending the crowd of about 200 people home. The reason for the interruption was the band's performance of a vulgar punk cover of the communist Youth work actions song featuring the lyrics "Brižit Bardo bere čičke; Vidi joj se pola pičke" ("Brigitte Bardot is picking thistles; 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 became an exercise in physical endurance with constant jumping and gyrating that had an infectious effect on the young crowds. Being one of the first groups in the country with this kind of sound and performing style, they ruffled plenty of feathers initially, generating media interest before even releasing any material.

Čonta often used those media appearances for unabashed self-promotion, delivering sweeping statements like: "We're a first important thing to happen to Yugoslav rock since the days of Ivo Robić and Marko Novoselić". He also purposely courted controversy with soundbites he knew would create a stir such as referring to his group as the "first Orthodox punk band", which did not sit well with the officials of the ruling Communist League that very much promoted atheism in Yugoslav society.

The band quickly developed a fierce 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 distinguished communists 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 enormous problems with live performances, many of which would get canceled on the day of the show on suggestions from above. In December 1978, the band played the last BOOM festival, which was being held in their hometown that year.

In October 1979, the band was invited to perform at the small country called Stjepandićevo on a celebration of the World War II riddance. The band performed their standard set-list and the show also featured blowing of condoms and throwing them to the audience and swearing on the stage which made the audience shocked and delighted at the same time. Gomila Govana, which performed as the opening act, even performed the song "Go sad Martin Bormann", which was also the reason why the authorities and the media turned against the two bands. Soon after the show, Gomila Govana bassist Borislav Oslovčan Bora joined the band as a replacement for Dobanovački. Together they recorded a demo, consisting of seven tracks, which was unofficially released during the nineties. The new lineup also performed at the "Leto na Adi" manifestation with the song "Poderimo rock" which was held at a luxurious raft. Since the crowd rushed to the stage and jumped around, the raft allmost broke down.

The band also appeared on the Subotica Youth festival where they presented to the audience with the song "Bela šljiva". Vesna Vrandević (later to join Xenia) won the festival, 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 resulted the rising of 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.

The album "Plitka poezija", a straightforward 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 from Studio B.

Their sound in this phase was somewhat comparable to that of Toy Dolls, although Pekinška patka was formed before them and it also had certain local flavor which distinguished it from the British bands and their foreign clones. Eventually, the album was sold in about 15.000 copies which Jugoton considered a failure, unlike Azra whose debut album which is considered to be the most successful debut in the history of Yugoslav rock.

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. Bassits Oslovčan, as a sign of protest, played with his back against the audience and tried to make the band sound as worse as it gets, due to the decision of the band to go on a tour to Bosnia.

Lineup changes, post punk period

Following the debut album release, the band went through some personnel changes with certain members changing instruments and others leaving altogether. Guitarist Sreta expressed a desire to play saxophone so he moved to that instrument while new member Zoran Bulatović Bale, 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 Kravić Caki and then the former bassist Bora 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 Sreta left the group during fall 1980 to form his own band, Kontraritam.

The new lineup went on the successful tour to Bosnia and ended it at the sold-out show in Sarajevo's venue Skenderija. The band recorded the cover of the popular Dragan Stojnić chanson, 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 the RTV Belgrade. The song was used by JTV (Yugoslav televison) station for representing Yugoslavia at the Montreal Golden Rose festival. Čonta also planned to cover the "Saint Sava anthem", 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 made a good impression, but also made an incident by burning a copy of the "Borba" newspaper. During the intro for the song "Biti ružan, pametan i mlad", Čonta said that the song was dedicated to 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", released in May 1981, was sold in about 8.000 copies.

The band performed rarely and their last notable shows were at the Zagreb velesajam (performed with Riblja Čorba, Haustor, Film, Prljavo kazalište, Leb i Sol, Parni Valjak, etc.) and the Kalemegdan park which was their last concert, During the summer, Čonta went to serve the Yugoslav People's Army and by the time he returned, Bale was already the member of Luna and Vukmanović formed the pop band Primavera.

In 1994 Čonta, with his famili moved to Canada and after working as a pizza deliverer and a computer programmer in CBC, he started working as a lecturer at the Seneca university in Toronto. Bale moved to New York during the nineties.

Post-breakup and reunion

In 1997 their complete discography including singles and albums was re-released on CD format by Croatia Records and again on July 5, 2006 by Serbia's Multimedia Records.

On May 28, 2008, it was announced that Pekinška patka would be reuniting 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. [ [http://www.popboks.com/vest.php?ID=7799 Pekinška Patka: Stari pankeri bez sakoa, Popboks, July 14, 2008] ] Pekinška patka played a 40-minute set consisting of old favorites. In the interviews immediately after the reunion performance, Čonta left the door open for a full comeback. [ [http://www.blic.co.yu/zabava.php?id=49205 „Sex Pistols“ iz temelja drmali Tvrđavu, "Blic", July 14, 2008] ]

Discography

Singles

* "Biti ružan, pametan i mlad" (Jugoton, 1979)
* "Bolje da nosim kratku kosu" (Jugoton, 1980)
* "Bila je tako lijepa" (Jugoton, 1981)

Studio albums

* "Plitka poezija" (Jugoton, 1980)
* "Strah od monotonije"(Jugoton, 1981)

Compilation albums

* "Pekinška patka" (Multimedia Records, 2006)

Various artists compilations

* "Svi marš na ples!" (Jugoton, 1981)
* "Punk! Oi!! Yu" (1996)
* "Tutti Pazzi Vol. 5" (Falšanja Kol'ko'š Records, 2004) - 12" vinyl release
* "Novosadska punk verzija 1978 - 2005" (Studentski Kulturni Centar Novi Sad, 2006)

External references

* Dragan Pavlov and Dejan Šunjka: "Punk u Jugoslaviji" (Punk in Yugoslavia), publisher: IGP Dedalus, Yugoslavia, 1990 sr icon hr icon sl icon
* Janjatović, Petar. "Ilustrovana Enciklopedija Yu Rocka 1960-1997", publisher: Geopoetika, 1997 (also available as e-book) sr icon
* Janjatović, Petar. "EX YU ROCK enciklopedija 1960-2006". ISBN 978-86-905317-1-4 sr icon
* Janjatović, Petar. "Drugom stranom - Almanah novog talasa u SFRJ". sr icon
* [http://www.multimediarec.co.yu/artist.php?artist=PEKIN%8AKA+PATKA Pekinška Patka info at Multimedia Records] sr icon
* [http://www.multimediarec.co.yu/release.php?relID=12519 Pekinška Patka Complete Discography CD by Multimedia Records] sr icon
* Branko Kostelnik - "Moj život je novi val", knjiga intervjua, publisher: Fraktura, Zagreb, Croatia, 2004 hr icon
* Bogomir Mijatović, " [http://www.plastelin.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=232&Itemid=103 NS rockopedija, novosadska rock scena 1963-2003] ",Publisher: SWITCH, 2005 sr icon

External links

* [http://www.popboks.com/pekinskapatka/ Pekinška Patka Homepage]
* [http://www.myspace.com/pekinskapatka MySpace Tribute Page]
* [http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Pekin%C5%A1ka+patka&search_type= Pekinška Patka at Youtube]
* [http://www.last.fm/music/Pekinška+patka Pekinška Patka at Last.fm]
* [http://www.akordi.co.yu/arhiv/ostali/patka.htm Čonta interview] , XZabava, October 20, 1998
* [http://www.danas.co.yu/20060819/kultura1.html#4 Čonta interview] , "Danas", August 19, 2006
* [http://www.dnevnik.co.yu/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=13456 Čonta interview] , "Dnevnik", August 20, 2006
* [http://www.b92.net/kultura_old/index.php?view=32&did=19561 Čonta interview] , B92, September 5, 2006
* [http://www.liber.org.yu/arhiva/liber05/pekinska_patka.html Čonta interview] , "Liber", Jan/Feb, 2008
* [http://www.mtsmondo.com/entertainment/music/text.php?vest=98400 Pekinška patka na EXIT festivalu] , MTS Mondo, May 28, 2008
* [http://www.popboks.com/vest.php?ID=7460 Bolje da na Exitu nosim kratku kosu] , Popboks, May 28, 2008
* [http://www.blic.co.yu/zabava.php?id=47140 Pank je življi nego ikada] , "Blic", June 27, 2008

See also

* Punk in Yugoslavia
* New Wave in Yugoslavia
* SFR Yugoslav Pop and Rock scene