| Name | Pankrti |
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| Background | group_or_band |
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| Origin | Ljubljana, Slovenia |
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| Genre | punk rock |
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| Years active | 1977-1987, 2007-today |
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Pankrti (The
Bastards in
Slovene) 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.
Biography
Peter Lovšin and
Gregor Tomc, 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.
Reunion
The band's founding members, Gregor Tomc and Peter Lovšin, who is now a solo artist backed by the band
Španski borci (
Spanish Republican 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. This also shows that the Pankrti and the Pistols were starting their career almost at the same time and both were the most influential bands in region.
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 Azra 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
hippie to
New Wave).
In the Slovenian film Outsider, 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 Wave-related movie Dečko koji obećava in the scene in the student campus restaurant.
The legendary BBC Radio DJ John Peel introduced them to a wider audience in Great Britain.
NME wrote a few articles about them.
Members
Peter Lovšin (songwriter/singer)
Gregor Tomc (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 RTLJ)
Novi Punk Val (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)
References
See also
Punk in Yugoslavia
External links
Fan site, in English and Slovene
Category:Yugoslav punk rock groups
Category:Musical groups established in 1977
Category:Slovenian New Wave musical groups
Category:Slovenian rock music groups
Category:Musical groups reestablished in 2007
