Parni Valjak

Formation, rise to prominence and first releases (1975–1978) After the disbandment of the band Grupa 220, the group's former guitarists Husein Hasanefendić "Hus" and Jurica Pađen and former manager Vladimir Mihaljek decided to form a new band under the name Parni Valjak. At the time, Bijelo Dugme enjoyed the status of the most popular Yugoslav band, and Mihaljek, who had just ended his cooperation with Bijelo Dugme leader Goran Bregović, envisioned Parni Valjak as Zagreb-based competitors of Bijelo Dugme. however, the brief cooperation would influence Parni Valjak's sound in the following several years. Hasanefendić recorded lead vocals for the song "Stojim već satima" ("I'm Standing for Hours"). After the release of the album, Milošev left the band and started a solo career, releasing the album Granice: Ras, 2va, 3ri' (Borders: One, 2wo, 3hree) in 1990. Zoran Cvetković returned to Parni Valjak, stepping into Milošev's place, and the new lineup recorded the band's second live album, E = mc², released in 1986. Bučević also recorded a solo album, Eclipse, released in 2006 and featuring mostly instrumental themes. The recordings from the concert were released on the DVD Live Beogradska arena (Live Belgrade Arena). In March 2012, the band held five sold-out unplugged concerts in Belgrade's Sava Centar. The group's seventeenth studio album Stvarno nestvarno (Really Unreal) was not available for sale and was released in digital format only. It was available for free download from the band's official website via bar code printed on the tickets for the band's concerts. The deluxe compilation album Nema predaje (No Surrender), released in 2013, featured part of the songs from Stvarno nestvarno, new tracks, a disc with live recordings from concerts in Zagreb Arena and Sava Centar, as well as the DVD Iz rupe bez šminke (Out of the Hole with No Makeup), with recordings from the band's rehearsals. As a part of celebration of 2013 enlargement of the European Union, the band performed in Wrocław, Poland on 29 June 2013. The band's former guitarist and saxophonist Rastko Milošev died on 12 September 2014. In 2015, the band was awarded the City of Zagreb Award for "highest merits in promoting [the city's] social life, and marked their 40th anniversary by releasing box sets Original Album Collection Vol. 1, featuring four studio albums from the 1980s and the live album E = mc², and Original Album Collection Vol. 2, featuring five studio albums from the 1990s and early 2000s and the live album Bez struje – Live in ZeKaeM. The releases were followed by a series of concerts. In Split they held a concert at Prokurative square, and in Belgrade they held two concerts – an unplugged one on 27 November in Sava Centar, and an electric one on 28 November in Ranko Žeravica Sports Hall. They performed the same acoustic and electric sets in Zagreb's Dom Sportova on 28 and 29 December 2015. In the summer of 2016, they performed in the sold-out Pula Arena and Split Spaladium Arena. In 2017, they released the four-piece box set Antologija (Anthology), with their old songs split into four discs in accordance with their sound – Baladerstvo (Ballading), Iskoraci (Stepping Out), Rockologija (Rockology) and Popistika (Popistics). The box set featured a booklet with rare photographs and texts about the band written by Siniša Škarica, Zlatko Gall and Gregor Bžožovič. The double Blu-ray release Live in Pula featured the recording of their 12 August 2016 concert in Pula Arena. As a bonus, the release featured five songs from the band's 2015 acoustic and electric performances held in Dom Sportova. The band's latest studio album, entitled Vrijeme (Time) and released in 2018, had the transience of time as its main theme. The album was produced by Hasanefendić and Brkić. The song "Kad nemaš kud" ("When You Don't Have Where to Go") featured the band's long-time backing vocalists Tina Krestnik on lead vocals. Aki Rahimovski died on 22 January 2022. He was buried at the Mirogoj Cemetery Alley of the Greats. On the day of his burial at 3:00PM, over 50 radio stations in former Yugoslav republics broadcast the band's last song recorded with Rahimovski, "Ponovo" ("Again"). The compilation album Vrijeme ljubavi (Time of Love), released during the same year, featured their old singles and the song "Ponovo". Tribute to Rahimovski, new activities with new vocalist (2022–present) On 26 March 2022, Parni Valjak held a tribute concert to Rahimovski in Zagreb Arena with a number of guest musicians. The entire concert, entitled Dovoljno je reći... Aki (''It's Enough to Say... Aki''), was released on streaming media. In 2022, Rahimovski was posthumously awarded the Porin Lifetime Achievement Award. At the beginning of 2023, the band announced that they are continuing their activity with new vocalist, Igor Drvenkar, releasing the new single "Moja glava, moja pravila" ("My Head, My Rules"). ==Legacy==

Parni Valjak songs "Neda" and "Vrijeme je na našoj strani" was covered by Yugoslav girl group Aska on their 1982 album Disco Rock. "Godine prolaze" was covered by Croatian and Yugoslav country music band Plava Trava Zaborava on their 1999 live album 16 Nam Je Godina Tek – Koncert (''We're Only 16 – Concert''), Rahimovski making a guest appearance in the song. Serbian and Yugoslav rock singer Viktorija covered Parni Valjak songs "Molitva" and "'Ajde igraj" ("C'mon Dance") on her 2000 album Nostalgija (Nostalgia). Croatian pop singer Vanna recorded a cover of "Stranica dnevnika" on her 2007 album Ledeno doba (Ice Age), Hasanefendić and Rahimovski making guest appearances in the song. The song "Uhvati ritam" was covered on the 2001 album Yugoton, featuring covers of songs by Yugoslav rock acts recorded by Polish musicians. In 1987, in YU legende uživo (YU Legends Live), a special publication by Rock magazine, Koncert was proclaimed one of 12 best Yugoslav live albums. In 2000, "Sve još miriše na nju" was polled No. 22, "Jesen u meni" was polled No. 48, "Stranica dnevnika" was polled No. 57 and "Hvala ti" ("Thank You") was polled No. 85 on the Rock Express Top 100 Yugoslav Rock Songs of All Times list. In 2006, "Uhvati ritam" was polled No. 68 and "Stranica dnevnika" was polled No. 96 on the B92 Top 100 Domestic Songs list. In 2015, the group was awarded the City of Zagreb Award for "highest merits in promoting [the city's] social life. In 2022, Rahimovski was posthumously awarded the Porin Lifetime Achievement Award. ==Members==

Current members • Husein Hasanefendić "Hus" – guitar (1975–2005, 2009–present) • Zorislav Preskavec – bass guitar (1988–2000, 2009–present) • Berislav Blažević – keyboards (1989–2005, 2009–present) • Marijan Brkić – guitar (1990–2005, 2009–present) • Dalibor Marinković – drums (2009–present) • Igor Drvenkar – vocals (2022–present) Former members • Jurica Pađen – guitar (1975–1978) • Aki Rahimovski – vocals (1975–2005, 2009–2022) • Zlatko Miksić "Fuma" – bass guitar (1975–1980) • Srećko Antonioli – drums (1975–1978) • Branimir "Johnny" Štulić – guitar (1979) • Zoran Cvetković – guitar (1979–1980, 1985–1989) • Ivan "Piko" Stančić – drums (1979–1980) • Rastko Milošev – guitar, saxophone (1980–1983, 1984–1985) • Srećko Kukurić – bass guitar (1980–1988) • Paolo Sfeci – drums (1980–1988) • Miroslav Barbir – keyboards (1987–1988) • Dražen Šolc – drums (1988–2005) • Bruno Kovačić – guitar, saxophone (1989–1990) • Zvonimir Bučević – bass guitar (2000–2005) ==Discography==

Studio albums • Dođite na show! (1976) • Glavom kroz zid (1977) • Gradske priče (1979) • City Kids (as Steam Roller, 1980) • Vruće igre (1980) • Vrijeme je na našoj strani (1981) • Glavnom ulicom (1983) • Uhvati ritam (1984) • Pokreni se! (1985) • Anđeli se dosađuju? (1987) • Sjaj u očima (1988) • Lovci snova (1990) • Buđenje (1993) • Samo snovi teku uzvodno (1997) • Zastave (2000) • Pretežno sunčano? (2004) • Stvarno nestvarno (2011) • Vrijeme (2018) • Kažu pčele umiru... (2025) Live albums • Koncert (1982) • E = mc² (1985) • Svih 15 godina (1990) • Bez struje – Live in ZeKaeM (1995) • Kao nekada / Live at S.C. (2001) • Dovoljno je reći... Aki (2022) Compilation albums • Parni Valjak (1985) • Samo sjećanja (1991) • ''Pusti nek' traje, kolekcija vol. 1'' (1991) • Najveći hitovi (1997) • Balade(1998) • Koncentrat 1977.-1983. (2005) • Koncentrat 1984.-2005. (2005) • The Ultimate Collection (2009) • Najljepše ljubavne pjesme (2010) • The Best Of (2010) • Nema predaje (2013) • Greatest Hits Collection (2017) • Vrijeme ljubavi (2022) Box sets • Original Album Collection Vol. 1 (2015) • Original Album Collection Vol. 2 (2015) • Antologija (2017) Video albums • Koncert (1988) • Live – Zagreb, Dom sportova 2. XII 2000. (2002) • Bez struje – Live in ZeKaeM (2005) • Live Beogradska arena (2011) • Live in Pula (2017) Singles • "Parni valjak" / "Šizofrenik" (1976) • "Tako prođe tko ne pazi kad ga Parni valjak zgazi / "Dok si mlad" (1976) • "Ljubavni jadi jednog Parnog valjka" / "Teško je biti sam" (1976) • "Prevela me mala žednog preko vode" / "O šumama, rijekama i pticama" (1976) • "'Oću da se ženim" / "Ljeto" (1977) • "Lutka za bal" / "Crni dani" (1977) • "Od motela do motela" / "Predstavi je kraj (u živo)" (1978) • "Stranica dnevnika" / "Ulične tuče" (1979) • "Motel to Motel" / "When the Show Is Done" (1979) • "Neda" / "Hvala ti" (1981) • "Moje dnevne paranoje" / "Ona je tako prokleto mlada" (1982) • "Uhvati ritam" / "Samo ona zna" (1984) • "Kekec je slobodan, red je na nas" (1991) • "Kaži ja (Boje jeseni)" / "Sai Baba Blues" (1997) • "Tko nam brani" / "Dok si pored mene" (2002) Charted singles ==References==