Električni Orgazam (; ; ) is a Serbian (formerly Yugoslav) rock band formed in Belgrade in 1980. Originally starting as a combination of new wave, punk rock and post-punk, the band later slowly changed their style, becoming a mainstream rock act. They were one of the most notable acts of the former Yugoslav rock scene.
History
New wave years (1980–1983) The melodic hard rock band Hipnotisano Pile (Hypnotized Chicken), formed in 1979, which got the name by the line from the Iggy Pop song "Lust For Life", consisted of Srđan Gojković "Gile" (drums), Ljubomir Jovanović "Jovec" (guitar), Bojan Banović (vocals), Vladan Stepanović (guitar), "Džo" Otašević (keyboards). The band performed their own material, mainly written by Banović, on Guitar festivals in Belgrade.
In mid-January 1980, at the Mornar bistro, after a Leb i Sol concert held at the Belgrade Dom Sindikata, Hipnotisano Pile members, drummer Gojković and guitarist Jovanović, were sitting with organ player Ljubomir Đukić "Ljuba", and planning to form an ad hoc punk rock group, in which Gojković was to play guitar and sing lead vocals, and Jovanović to switch to playing drums. The band was to play as an opening act for Hipnotisano Pile. The idea for the band name came from Gojković, and, while they were waiting for the waiter, Đukić wrote the lyrics for the song "Konobar" ("The Waiter"). Soon after, Gojković wrote a few more songs, "Krokodili dolaze" ("Crocodiles Are Coming"), "Zlatni papagaj" ("Golden Parrotbill"), and "Vi" ("You"). The band was officially formed on 13 January 1980 and was completed with guitarist Goran Sinadinović and bassist Marina Vulić.
The band members then went to Momčilo Rajin and Nebojša Pajkić, both of them in charge of the SKC program, asking for the rehearsal room and booking their first live appearance. In June 1980, the band played as an opening act for Hipnotisano Pile in front of the crowd of about 300 people. Dissatisfied with the Hipnotisano Pile performance, more than half of the audience left the hall. After the performance, Hipnotisano Pile disbanded. Sinadinović also left Električni Orgazam, and with Bojan Banović formed the band Petar i Zli Vuci. Jovanović returned to playing guitar, and the drummer became former Butik drummer Goran Čavajda "Čavke", whom Gojković asked on several occasions to join the band.
The lineup had their first live appearance at a local party, and, soon after, at the Palilula Culture Olympics, where they stopped the performance due to the unsatisfactory amplification. In autumn the same year, the band performed at the Festival Omladina, which was arranged by Riblja Čorba leader Bora Đorđević. Before the performance, the band was warned not to move too much on the stage which had several levels and was unstable. The reaction of the band was quite the opposite, breaking microphones, cymbals, and kitschy stage decorations, eventually getting disqualified. The festival was the place where new wave bands from Belgrade and Zagreb had met for the first time, and the Zagreb band Film won the festival.
The following year, the band had their first recordings, the songs "Krokodili dolaze", "Zlatni papagaj" and "Vi", released by Jugoton on the Paket aranžman (Package deal), three way split album, with the recordings of Idoli and Šarlo Akrobata. The compilation was to feature two more bands, Tunel, and the embryonic Bajaga i Instruktori called Fleke, but were eventually turned down. The success of Paket aranžman provided the band an opportunity to record and release their debut album under the same label. The band was previously turned down by RTV Ljubljana, stating that the album lacked originality, and PGP-RTB, which had problems with the song lyrics for "Krokodili dolaze" and "Nebo" ("The Sky").
Električni orgazam, produced by Ivan Stančić "Piko", featured the band's authentic sound, found in the songs "Nebo", "Konobar", "I've Got a Feeling", both released on the band first single, and new versions of "Krokodili dolaze" and "Vi". The album did not feature the band drummer Čavajda, who was at the time serving the Yugoslav People's Army, being temporarily replaced by Grupa I member Branko Kuštrin "Mango". The album, for which the album cover and design was done by Gojković, had positive reactions by both the audience and the critics, including a review of the album by the NME journalist Kris Bohn, who stated that the band was one of the most exciting non-British acts. Since Gojković was spending time in London, he provided the New Musical Express with a few copies of the album, resulting in the band signing with Rough Trade Records for distributing the copies of the album to England. After the album release, in autumn 1981, Marina Vulić left the band, being replaced by Jovan Jovanović "Grof", and Čavajda returned to the group.
In the meantime, the band met a student from Poland, Grzegorz Brzozowicz, who had contacts with the people from the Warsaw club Rivijera Remont, gathering the fans of new wave and punk rock. Bzozovič arranged the three bands from Paket aranžman to perform in Poland, and after Šarlo Akrobata, in November, the band went on a tour of Poland, playing six dates, four Warsaw, one at Kraków, and one at Kalisz. The performance of 8 November, at Rivijera Remont, was recorded on a simple tape recorder, later released on the six-song Warszawa '81 EP, limited to 2000 copies, being the first official bootleg in former Yugoslavia. The rough recordings were post-produced by Slobodan Konjović, presenting a valid document of the band sound, as well as the audience reaction, not accustomed to visiting punk rock concerts. During the performance of the song "Konobar", there was a half-minute sound equipment failure, during which a member of the audience dropped tear gas. The disturbance was documented on the record, which featured two new songs, "Leptir" ("The Butterfly") and "Razgovori" ("Conversations").
The album Lišće prekriva Lisabon (Leaves Fall Over Lisbon) was recorded at the Ljubljana Tivoli Studio, produced by the band themselves with the help of Toni Jurij. The album, which got the name by the title of the Serbian translation of the Barbara Cartland novel Lovers in Lisbon, featured seventeen songs, presenting a new aspect of the band's work, gradually influenced by psychedelic rock, with all the tracks having one-word song titles. Gojković later stated that the during the writing process the band was experimenting with LSD, which influenced the outbreak of the album. The songs "Afrika" ("Africa") and "Alabama", a cover version of The Doors interpretation of the Bertolt Brecht poem, featured Gojković and Đukić sharing vocals duties. The song "Dokolica" ("Idleness"), also released on single with the dub version of the song on B-side, featured the lyrics Gojković found in a sociology book, and the songs "Leptir", "Odelo" ("Suit") and "Podstanar" ("Sub-tenant"), deal with the problems of urban alienation. The album featured guest appearance by the trumpet player Petar Ugrin on the songs "Alabama" and "Leptir".
In autumn 1983, Gojković and Ivan Stančić "Piko", influenced by the New York City underground scene, formed the band Hijene (Hyenas), and recorded the album WooDoo za početnike (Voodoo For Beginners). However, dissatisfied with the record label treatment, the album was never released, but it did inspire the recording of the band fifth album Distorzija (Distortion). The next discography release was the unexpected cover album Les Chansones Populaires (French for Popular songs), produced by Gojković, Đukić, Toni Jurij and Piko Stančić, who also played drums due to Čavajda being in prison, featuring eight cover versions, including the David Bowie "The Man Who Sold The World", T.Rex "Metal Guru", The Doors "When the Music's Over", and Little Eva "Locomotion", the latter also released on single. The tour following the album release featured Mango Kuštrin on drums.
Personnel crisis, mainstream success, disbandment (1984–1989) In 1984, when they were about to enter the studio in order to record the fourth studio album, the band lineup changed, as the drummer Čavajda returned to the band and guitarist Jovanović left the band. With guest appearances by Ivan Pajević (guitar), Piko Stančić (drums), Goran Pojatić (piano), Kire Mitrev (trombone), Ivan Švager (saxophone), and Goce Dimitrovski (trumpet), the band recorded the album Kako bubanj kaže (As The Drum Decides), musically influenced by the early 1970s work of the Rolling Stones, also suggested by the album artwork. Like on all of the previous releases, vocal duties were shared between Gojković and Đukić. The track "Fras u šupi" ("Seizure In The Shed"), which appeared on the album, was a part of the trilogy, beside the story collection, written by David Albahari, and the poem of the same name, written by Miloš Komadina in his poetry book Etika trave (Grass Ethics). The song music and lyrics were written by Gojković, except for "Pričam o tebi" ("I Am Talking About You"), for which the music was written by Čavajda.
The album did not repeat the success of the previous releases, leading Đukić to leaving the band and moving to New York. The band, being in the personnel crisis, firstly featured Ivan Pajević on guitar, then former Siluete member Nikola Čuturilo, until the full-time member became Branislav Petrović "Banana", a former Bezobrazno Zeleno and Pasta ZZ member. In 1986, when the band was about to record the album Distorzija, bassist Jovanović left the band and stopped his musical career. His replacement was the former Katarina II and Du-Du-A member Zoran Radomirović "Švaba". The comeback album, Distorzija, with simple rock songs, featured the hit songs "Debela devojka" ("Fat Girl"), "Ja sam težak kao konj" ("I Am Heavy As A Horse"), "Ne postojim" ("I Do Not Exist"), "Vudu bluz" ("Voodoo Blues"), "Kapetan Esid" ("Captain Acid"), "Ša la la" ("Sha La La"), and "Lui Lui" ("Louie Louie"), a cover of Richard Berry song. The album was produced by Gojković and Stančić, and the cover for the album was done by the painter Radovan Hiršl.
The next release was the live album Braćo i sestre (Brothers And Sisters), recorded in October 1986 at the Zagreb club Kulušić. The album, featuring the guest introduction by Dražen Vrdoljak and guest vocals by Ljubomir Đukić on the song "Locomotion", included the new track "Bejbe, ti nisi tu" ("Baby, You Are Not Here"), a cover version of the Rolling Stones song "Out of Time". Two years later, in 1988, the band, with the same musical style, released the album Letim, sanjam, dišem (Flying, Dreaming, Breathing), and the songs "Igra rock 'n' roll cela Jugoslavija" ("The Whole Yugoslavia Is Dancing To Rock And Roll"), "Ti" ("You"), "Poljubi me i priznaj mi" ("Kiss Me And Confess"), and "Sve ste vi naš devojke" ("All of You Are Our Girlfriends") became immediate hits. The album was produced by Gojković, Stančić and Theodore Yanni, and featured guest appearance by Partibrejkers guitarist Nebojša Antonijević "Anton" and Bajaga i Instruktori keyboard player Saša Lokner.
On Summer of the same year, the band promoted the album with a concert at Tašmajdan Stadium. During the same year, they released the greatest hits compilation album Najbolje pesme 1980-1988 (The Best Songs 1980–1988), and disbanded. Radomirović and Petrović joined the band Trans. Gojković pursued a solo career, releasing his first solo album Evo sada vidiš da može (Now You See It Is Possible), released in 1989, and worked on the Kako je propao rokenrol (The Fall of Rock 'N' Roll) and Crni bombarder (Black Bomber) movie soundtracks. With Vlada Divljan, he released two music albums for children Rokenrol za decu (Rock 'N' Roll For Children), and Rokenrol bukvar (Rock 'N' Roll Alphabet), and the two, with Stančić and Radomirović, released the album Lutka koja kaže ne (A Doll That Says No). Čavajda went to Australia in 1988, and returned in 1991, joining Gojković and Radomirović on the Lutka koja kaže ne tour.