Prljavo Kazalište

1977–1979: Formation, debut album and instant popularity The band's origins can be tracked to the band Ciferšlus (Zipper), active in Zagreb in the second half of 1970s and consisting of vocalist Davorin Bogović, guitarist Zoran Cvetković "Zok", bass guitarist Nino Hrastek and drummer Tihomir Fileš. In 1977, the four were joined by guitarist Jasenko Houra, the five deciding to start working under a new name. On the promotional concert in Zagreb's Dom sportova, held on 27 December 1980, the band was joined on stage by traditional tamburica orchestra Zagrebački Muzikaši, in the song "Mi plešemo", the guest appearance revealing Houra's interest for Croatian traditional music. the band generally moved to a more conventional rock sound with the songs like "Djevojke bi" ("The Girls Would"), "Sve gradske bitange" ("All the City's Punks") and "Lupam glavom u radio" ("I'm Banging My Head Against the Radio"). After the release of the record, Fileš and Hrastek went to serve their mandatory stints in the Yugoslav People's Army, so the group continued to perform with the help of the drummer Dražen Šolc and former member Zoran Cvetković, who played bass guitar in this lineup. In 1983, Davorin Bogović returned to the band, and sang on their fourth album Korak od sna (One Step from the Dream). On 7 November 1988, the band performed on a large concert in Zagreb alongside three other most popular Zagreb-based bands of the time, Parni Valjak, Film and Psihomodo Pop. The recordings from the concert were released the following year on the double live album ZG Rock Forces. Fileš claimed that the band was formed by Bogović and himself, with Houra joining on later, and that Prljavo Kazalište trademark was registered by himself. At the beginning of July 2022, as a part of the legal process, Houra's faction was temporarily banned from using the name Prljavo Kazalište on their live performances. In June 2023, Fileš stated that he had an official meeting with Houra and that "Houra doesn't seem to have a problem with the existence of two bands named Prljavo Kazalište". Houra himself refused to give any comments, stating that he had been focused on his band's new album. In July 2023, Houra's and Bodalec's faction of the band released the singles "Stare navike" ("Old Habbits") and "Makni se" ("Step Aside"), announcing their new studio album. Meanwhile, Fileš's and Bogović's faction of the group released the album Underground, originally recorded during the COVID-19 pandemic and musically inspired by Prljavo Kazalište's punk rock and new wave roots. ==Influence, legacy and criticism==

Prljavo Kazalište is generally considered one of most prominent and influential acts of the Yugoslav new wave scene, and their early works have been widely praised for their rebellious attitude and social-related lyrics. The band enjoyed large popularity during their initial punk rock and new wave phase, and has continued to enjoy large popularity after their shift to mainstream rock and pop rock sound in mid-1980s. In Croatia they have enjoyed the status of the most popular rock band (alongside Parni Valjak) since the early 1990s, and their work continues to enjoy large popularity in other former Yugoslav republics. However, despite never promoting chauvinism and continuing to perform in other former Yugoslav republics after the end of the Yugoslav Wars, the band's late 1980s and early 1990s patriotic songs have often led to the group being accused in Croatia and rest of the region of flirting with nationalism. Additionally, despite social commentary in their late 1990s works, the band has performed on Croatian Democratic Union 2003 and 2009 electoral rallies, which led to negative reactions by a part of Croatian public and the group being labeled as "state band". The song "Mojoj majci" was in the late 1980s embraced by nationalist and pro-independence parts of Croatian public as the announcement of return to Croatian national sentiment. The song was covered during the same year by singer Frank Kalabrić Franky on his album Ruža hrvatska, titled after the song. Serbian and Yugoslav psychobilly musician Toni Montano covered the band's ballad "449 (Svaki put kad odlaziš)" ("449 (Everytime You Leave)"), under the title "Odlaziš (1984–1990)" ("You're Leaving (1984–1990)"), on his 1991 album Lovac na novac (Money Hunter), and the band's song "Široke ulice" on his 1999 album Srećan rođendan (Happy Birthday). Croatian dance-pop group Karma covered "Zaustavite Zemlju" on their 2001 album Sedam dana (Seven Days). The song "Sretno dijete" was covered by Croatian world music band Postolar Tripper on their 2007 album Zamisli život u ritmu cipela za ples (Imagine a Life in the Rhythm of Dancing Shoes). The band's song "Iz nekih starih razloga" ("Out of Some Old Reasongs") was covered by Croatian pop singer Ivana Kindl on her 2010 album Promjenljiva (Unstable). A Polish cover version of the Prljavo Kazalište's song "Crno bijeli svijet", translated as "Czarno-Biały Świat" and performed by Kazik, was included in the 2001 tribute album Yugoton, a tribute to the Yugoslav rock scene by Polish artists. In 2015, Prljavo Kazalište was polled No.23 and Crno bijeli svijet was polled No.24 on the list of 100 Greatest Yugoslav Albums published by the Croatian edition of Rolling Stone. In 2000, "Mi plešemo" was polled No.49, "Crno bijeli svijet" was polled No.74, "Ma kog me boga za tebe pitaju" was polled No.77 and "Marina" was polled No.93 on the Rock Express Top 100 Yugoslav Rock Songs of All Times list. In 2006, "Mi plešemo" was polled No.42 and "Crno bijeli svijet" was polled No.60 on the B92 Top 100 Yugoslav songs list. The lyrics of the band's songs "U mojoj općini problema nema" ("There Are No Problems in My Municipality"), "Sretno dijete", "Čovjek za sutra", "Nove cipele", "Moderna djevojka" ("Modern Girl") and "Neka te ništa ne brina" ("Nothing Should Worry You") were featured in Petar Janjatović's Pesme bratstva, detinjstva & potomstva: Antologija ex YU rok poezije 1967 - 2007 (Songs of Brotherhood, Childhood & Offspring: Anthology of Ex YU Rock Poetry 1967 – 2007). Books The band has been a subject of several books: • Lupi petama (1993); • Božićni koncert 1994 (1995), dealing with the band's 1994 Christmas concert; • Prljavo Kazalište (1996), dealing with the band's tour across Canada, United States, and Australia; • Sve je lako kad si mlad (2001) by Darko Glavan and Hrvoje Horvat, an authorized biography of the band. ==Discography==

Studio albums • Prljavo Kazalište (1979) • Crno bijeli svijet (1980) • Heroj ulice (1981) • Korak od sna (1983) • Zlatne godine (1985) • Zaustavite Zemlju (1988) • Devedeseta (1990) • Lupi petama... (1993) • S vremena na vrijeme (1996) • Dani ponosa i slave (1998) • Radio Dubrava (2003) • Moj dom je Hrvatska (2005) • Tajno ime (2008) • Možda dogodine (2012) Live albums • Sve je lako kad si mlad – Live (1989) • Zabranjeni koncert (1994) • Božićni koncert (1995) • 20 godina (1997) • XXX godina (2009) • XL World Tour Finale Stadion Zagreb (2019) • 30 godina od koncerta na Trgu - Arena Zagreb (2020) Compilation albums • Najveći hitovi (1994) • ''Sve je lako kad si mlad '77 – '99'' (box set; 2001) • Rock balade (2004) • ''Single Collection '79–'90'' (2010) • Greatest Hits Collection (2017) Box sets • Sve je lako kad si mlad (2001) • Millenium Collection (2008) • Best of Live (2008) Video albums • Lupi petama (1993) • Božićni koncert (1995) • Prljavo Kazalište (1996) • Prljavo Kazalište na Trgu (2003) • XXX godina (2009) • XL World Tour Finale Stadion Zagreb (2019) • 30 godina od koncerta na Trgu - Arena Zagreb (2020) Singles • "Televizori" / "Majka" / "Moje djetinjstvo" (1978) • 'Moj je otac bio u ratu" / "Noć" (1978) • "Moderna djevojka" / "Crno bijeli svijet" (1980) • "...Mojoj majci" / "Topoteka House Mix" / "Marina" (1989) • "Dođi sada Gospode" (1996) • "Tamni slapovi" (2014) • "Stare navike" (2023) • "Makni se" (2023) • "Molim Boga da svane" (2024) • "Djeca su OK" (2024) Charted singles Other appearances • Novi punk val (1978) • ZG Rock Forces (1997) • Sretno dijete – originalna glazba iz filma (2004) ==References==