Rock music in Serbia

[7] 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.

The most famous lineup featured Balašević, Verica Todorović, Bora Đorđević and Biljana Krstić, the latter two joining Rani Mraz after leaving the acoustic rock band Suncokret.

With hits appearing on his albums Zbog tebe bih tucao kamen (1982) and Dođe mi da vrisnem tvoje ime (1985), controversial stage performance and clothing style, Mandić achieved large attention and high record sales.

[15] Idoli, after releasing their debut Odbrana i poslednji dani (1982), recorded their second studio album, Čokolada (1983), which featured a combination of pop rock, funk and electronic music.

However, the band disbanded in 1997 and, in the meantime, Piloti frontman Zoran "Kiki" Lesendrić released the album Nedelja na Duhove (1995) with former Idoli members Srđan Šaper and Nebojša Krstić under the name Dobrovoljno Pevačko Društvo.

[16] The mid-1980s pop rock bands Amajlija, Poslednja Igra Leptira, Divlji Anđeli, Slomljena Stakla, Ruž, Alisa, Banana, Jugosloveni, Bel Tempo and Vampiri had a vast number of album sales, however, the majority of them disbanded before reaching the 1990s, or at the very beginning of the decade.

Poslednja Igra Leptira, formed in 1980 and led by charismatic frontman Nenad Radulović, also known as Neša Leptir, achieved success with their pop rock songs with humorous lyrics, but disbanded in 1989.

The band reunited in 1990, and throughout the 1990s released the albums Svet je moj (1990), Strast (1993), Hodi (1996) and Opasan ples (1999), which made them one of the most popular acts on the Serbian rock scene.

The band Familija was formed in 1994 by former Vampiri, U Škripcu and Košava members, and saw large popularity with their albums Narodno pozorište (1994) and Seljačka buna (1997), which featured ska/pop rock songs with humorous lyrics.

Beside the mentioned bands, the veterans of the Serbian rock scene, YU Grupa, with their comeback Dugo znamo se (2005), Đorđe Balašević, with the albums Dnevnik starog momka (2001) and Rani mraz (2004), Riblja Čorba, with Pišanje uz vetar (2001), Ovde (2003), Trilogija (2007) and Minut sa njom (2009), Bajaga i Instruktori, with Zmaj od Noćaja (2001), Šou počinje u ponoć (2005) and Daljina, dim i prašina (2012), Električni Orgazam with Harmonajzer (2002) and To što vidiš to i jeste (2010), Galija with Dobro jutro, to sam ja (2005) and Mesto pored prozora (2010), Partibrejkers, with Gramzivost i pohlepa (2002) and Sloboda ili ništa (2007), and Van Gogh, with DrUnder (2002), Kolo (2006) and Lavirint (2009), maintained their popularity throughout the 2000s and early 2010s.

The folk rock band Garavi Sokak, after the release of their 1994 acoustic-oriented album Slova tvoga imena, started performing on acoustic instruments only and turned towards pop sound.

Formed in 1968 by Kornelije Kovač, the band had gone through many lineup changes and featured many famous musicians, including vocalists Dušan Prelević, Dalibor Brun, Dado Topić, Zdravko Čolić and Zlatko Pejaković.

In 1985, the band's former leader, keyboardist Dragan Ilić wrote the music for the song "Za milion godina", which was recorded by a group of Yugoslav musicians (including former members of Generacija 5) as a contribution to Live Aid.

After the recording of their debut hit single "Lutka sa naslovne strane" they were joined by guitarist Momčilo Bajagić (who, having left Riblja Čorba in 1984, formed the highly successful pop rock band Bajaga i Instruktori).

The albums Pokvarena mašta i prljave strasti (1981), Mrtva priroda (1981) and Buvlja pijaca (1982), the latter featuring softer sound than the band's first three releases, were also well received by fans and critics alike, and Ðorđević's provocative political- and social-related lyrics, caused him to become one of the most controversial musicians in Yugoslavia.

Pekinška Patka, formed by vocalist Nebojša Čonkić, pronounced themselves "the first Orthodox punk rock band", which was against the attitude of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia, which promoted atheism.

At the Subotica Festival Omladina they won the Audience Award and their whole performance was broadcast on national television, which was the first TV appearance of any punk rock band in Yugoslavia.

Punk rock continued to be popular in the 1990s with the appearance the bands Atheist Rap and Zbogom Brus Li from Novi Sad, Goblini from Šabac, Džukele from Subotica and Novembar from Niš.

Zvuk Ulice member Vlada Divljan, with two friends, Nebojša Krstić and Srđan Šaper formed a conceptual band VIS Dečaci in 1979, whose photographs appeared in the Vidici youth magazine and attracted media's attention.

With the albums Ajd' se zezamo (1984) and Muvanje (1985), the band became popular with humorous lyrical style, featuring kitschy and frivolous motifs dealing with nightlife, parties and girls.

The pioneers of alternative rock can be found in Novi Sad bands Laboratorija Zvuka, with their eccentric style, erotic lyrics, unusual line ups and bizarre circus-inspired stage performances, La Strada, featuring the poet Slobodan Tišma on guitar and vocals, Obojeni Program, featuring former Urbana Gerila vocalist Branislav "Kebra" Babić, and the girl band Boye whose debut album Dosta!

In Belgrade, former Šarlo Akrobata members Dušan Kojić and Milan Mladenović formed two of the most notable bands of the alternative rock scene in Serbia, Disciplina Kičme and Ekatarina Velika.

The band, in the initial period consisting only of Kojić and the drummer Srđan "Žika" Todorović, combining influences from punk rock, funk, jazz fusion, motown, jungle, and the works of Jimi Hendrix.

During the early 1990s, the band moved to London and changed the name to Discipline A Kitschme, performing with female vocalist, African-American singer Gofie Bebe, only to return to Serbia in the mid-2000s.

Another prominent figure of the Serbian alternative rock scene, Mitar Subotić, also known as Rex Illusivi, a composer, producer and one of the pioneers of electronic music in Serbia, was closely associated with the works of Ekatarina Velika.

The beginning of the 1990s featured the prominent alternative rock acts: Dža ili Bu, Darkwood Dub, Presing, Kanda, Kodža i Nebojša, and Block Out from Belgrade, Obojeni Program from Novi Sad and Bjesovi from Gornji Milanovac.

After their debut album Crno, belo i srebrno (1994), the early hard rock concept of Block Out started to move towards a darker, heavier atmosphere and sound under Nikola Vranjković's songwriting.

The followup Godina sirotinjske zabave (1996) featured the material written during the six years of the band existence, and the lyrical themes were mainly oriented around the end of socialism in Serbia.

However, it was in 1992 that Živanović formed the first Serbian Irish folk band called Orthodox Celts with the vocalist Aleksandar "Aca Celtic" Petrović and violinist Ana Đokić.

The most notable bands which were associated with the scene include Klopka Za Pionira, Multietnička Atrakcija, The Mothership Orchestra, Nežni Dalibor, Repetitor, Petrol, S.A.R.S., Stuttgart Online, Svi Na Pod!, Zemlja Gruva, ŽeneKese, Virvel, Kralj Čačka and others.