PANKRTI

The year of 1977 will everyone remember their own way. The fruit-growers from Gorica by the big storm which lop a lot of trees. Comrade Tito - if his health would last - would be rewinding memories on a successful visit in Central African Republic. United Artists by death of Charlie Chaplin and Pankrti will remember it by punk.As two privileged middle class kids from Kodeljevo, which has, beside that, grown up in social uncompetitive environment of self-management, Grega in Pero have not bet everything career. Not at Marx or Jesus. So free are interested mostly how to fulfil life interesting things, how to change caricature of everydays life into unique adventure. Cycling action, ambush of Erjavceva street, travelling, football ... an of course rock and roll. The problem with rock in 70-es was that it was becoming more and more boring progressive, symphonic, ethnical, complicated, most of all not loud enough. There for those two young men wear inside them, the sound, that they are missing in bends of that time.Pero was writing songs, that were light years from self-managing reality, unsuitable for "Slovenska popevka" (Slovenian song) as for "Boom pop" festivals: Puke everybody ( puke you to), My projector, and so. When has Grega in foreign newspapers read about punk, has his sound, that the journalist wrote about, change in the sound of rock and roll in the future. The very next day they decided: to establish punk bend. Everything rest was up to what time will brought.Grega went to England, to find out, if reality is close enough to the real thing, Pero has in meantime started gathering the band. He started with his right neighbour Jure, which has played solo bass guitar in rounds basements. Left neighbours had a cousin which only played solo. The kid name was Mitja and he had a black copy of Les Paula. One of the underground drummers with feeling for the rhythm was Bogo. Later has Bogo changed his role in rhythm guitar. He was forgiven for that because he brought a new drummer. But he was from ika. Luckily Slavc (the new drummers name), took double citizen-ship.When the band for the first time got together in the early autumn in Kodeljevo's music school basement they already had an appointment for there first concert in the gymnasium of the Moste high school, but they did not have any idea what they are going to play. They had to put all over Kodeljevo, hand made invitations for the "first punk concert: "Za zelezno zaveso" (Behind iron curtain)", they were sure that the first concert will be there last also. In stuffed gymnasium, in which there were beside students also a lot of rookies, have Pankrti played foreign and there own songs. Among foreign ones were a lot of transforms of Sex pistols ( Did You No Wrong became Krivca pa ni(Nobady is guilty); Pretty Vacant into Lepi in prazni(Beautifull and empty); No fun into Dolgcajt (Booring) ... ) an some others (White Riot from Clash became Upor(Rebbelion), Sonic Reducer from Dead Boys into Moja masina(My mashine), Mistery Girl from New York Dolls into Kdo so ti ljudje(Who are those people) ). In two weeks they also made some new, like Anarhist.The reactions were very different. In gymnasium Moste did not have concerts for the next ten years. But nobody have forbidden Pankrti. Even more. Stane Susnik has written a praise critique in Stop magazine, despite the shoe that he got in the head. Next day they had an outside concert with help from Radio Student ( probably with help from Slobodan Valetincic ) and Bora Gostisa. With help of SKUC and indispensable Peter Mlakar they had, as representatives of young Slovenian culture a concert in Belgrade ....Did Pankrti make a career, did they have "a story of success" ? Not exactly. They did not have a lot of appearances ( local organisations, like ZSMS, have very slowly worming for the concerts, because they had no sponsors. There was very hard to get to the recording studio ( they made first shooting in Italy ), all the time problems with censorship ( at Problemi - where there first songs were published with a little help from Jase Zlobec, later with Slavoja Zizek - and after that with publisher on radio and TV) But the punk scene moved on and they had a feeling there a part of a very important thing. With a little help from Igor Vidmar they have at SKUC taped there first small record: "Lublana je bulana" (Ljubljana is sick) and they were very happy but not because the record sale but because that: Jello Biafra told them after the concert of Dead Kennedys in Gorica that he bought it also. In Los Angeles.By the credit of straight Dusan Velkavrh they have for ZKP Ljubljana recorded there first big record "Dolgcajt" (Boring), which they recorded in good forty hours at Miro Bevc in studio Akademik. But before the shooting started has the band changed a little. Neighbour Jure has been replaced by Peros classmate on FSPN Bore, Bogo, that returned later, was replaced by that time already experienced ( also a "Buldozer" (another rock band ) Dule. The things are beginning to get international, because they both lived on a wrong side of Ljubljanica river, almost three hundred meters in Moste.For a repulsive band there were doing dammed good. Mostly they were getting approvals, but if there were someone who did not have the same opinion (like Dimitrij Rupel ), they got an alternative avalanche of anger. They were also getting rewards ( that was not exactly a "Grammy" but it was a reward of 7.secretars in SKOJ in Croatia ), in Belgrades newspaper "Knjizevne reci" published a separate "In job of her Highness", you could listen to them on Radio 1 on John Peel show. There were also an article about them in NME. They had more and more concerts all over Yugoslavia, but the payment was extremely low for a punk star.But sadly that idyll did not last very long. In Slovenian alternative institutions have very shortly appeared arbiters of punk and Pankrti of course were not the type of band that would fit into there form. As all punks of first generation they came from elsewhere. They have listen to: Bob Dylan, Rolling Stones, Kings, Reed, Troggs, The Beatles, David Bowie, Roxy Music, Iggy, Berry, Slade, Whitesnakes, blues ... And there were very bad influence on becoming generations. Bands, that could make money out of making the "limits of punk orthodoxy", became out of lines of those which tastes were so limited, that there only tradition was punk. However, for a lot of experts they have with their second, but definitely with their third record became old chums, in best way punk or roll. Finally thing started to normalise- there were someone who did not like them.Second record "Drzavni ljubimci"(Lowers of the state), have serbian Dzuboks make a record of the year in Yugoslavia, have been made by the influence of the army in intoxicated atmosphere studio Tivoli. Bogo has returned to take Mitjas place, on drums helped Coc. At "Rdeci album" (Red album) they have again conquest studio Akademik, and with the help of producer Braco Doblekar tough that they are going to make a hit again. Absolutely they have make their best selled record yet. I guess that the most credit for that had the adjust song Bandiera Rossa, which could be heard all over Yugoslavia. They went to Zagreb every three months, in Belgrade they have a few times sold out SKC, even "Leb i sol" came to see them in Skopje, only Sarajevo was limited for them. Until they were invited by Emir Kusturica in Akademija. Dzuro is still proud of that concert.Before fourth album "Pesmi sprave" (Songs of reconciliation) Dule has the band left, and he was replaced by Marc. Nove Jarse got a status of Kodeljevo's colony. The producer of the album was Brian Hayes ( great guy ), the guitar player with famous Angelic Upstarts. Album was popular all over Slovenia. Especially because of Osmi dan (Eight day), Vecer v mestu (Night in the city), Umazane igre (Dirty games). If the public till the end of eighties only stare at them, has now began to entertain. And if anyone say that the first concerts of Pankrti were the best might be true to some point as far was the difference between the noise and chaos that they make and the silence that was produced by the public.With their fifth and last studio album "Sexpok" they wanted to make a step forward. The publisher got them a place in a for that time luxury studio Smolec in Zagreb. They were a lot of cooperation with young musicians from Zagreb, went out with boys and girls of good will (thank you Dzoni for all the visits) and on their way home when they have listened their songs (Last love song) they could not hide their joy and happiness. They possibly could not have done more.Pankrti were only punk band, which in their ten year of existence, work more or less normal. In that time they have make five big studio records and one small and one double small record and one big record live "Svoboda 82" (Freedom 82). Out of punk bands they have made far most appearances. At home with help from local ZSMS organisations, manager for Yugoslavia Jugo Berislav Jankovic have drove them around in second class trains, in foreign countries - mostly in Italy, Austria, Germany, Sweden and Poland they were invited by friends, thank you Edvard, Ingo and the rest from the group Rock Gegen Rechts. Those guys did not only knew how to full fill a box but they also knew how to full fill a refrigerator to.Because of underdeveloped music scene the others quality punk bands (like Lublanski psi, Kuzle, O'kult, Via ofenziva and later Niet ) could not came to the same position in music as they did. If those bands fell apart because of the ignorance, were Pankrti victims of success. In small slovenian space have in ten years run out of motives for proving them selves, at the same time they were not so ambitious to compete the rest of the world. So that the adventure of onetime do not become a caricature of everydays, when there were not the same filling no more, finally broke up.The last concert had PANKRTI have on Thursday 10. of December 1987 in Tivoli hall, with the tittle ZADNJI POGO (Last pogo). But that was not the end. Pero Lovsin, Dusan Ziberna and Slavc Colnaric, are still together in the band called Krizarji and they are still playing old and legendary song from Pankrti. Their concerts are still loud, noise and full of energy and mostly very well visited, which proves that punk will not die.