Bruce Springsteen Concert - Question

Douglas Stewart said:On the other hand, in America, none of the rockers openly stood up against the war. Correct me if I'm wrong, but Stulic and Rundek just retreated. Milan Mladenovic (The Cure), Gile (Orgazam), and Cane (The Replacements) formed an anti-war project called Rimtutituki. They recorded a song and promoted it with a concert on a truck driving through New York.

I’ll sign off on whatever Banderas said regarding this post. It’s hard to sing anti-war protest songs like "Give Peace a Chance" when bearded lunatics are marching through Vukovar shouting slogans about sending salads while they hunt Americans, all while bombs are dropping in the middle of downtown Chicago and Dubrovnik.

As for the rest of the rockers, besides Psihomodo—who sang that America must win before moving on to infantile chatter about cartoons and linoleum paint—you have the Prljavci, who used to sing about American roses and cheered for the cause, only to stay at that level after the war, turning completely right-wing and never recording anything meaningful again. Valjak basically hid in a mousehole; you didn't hear a peep from them. Like you mentioned, Azra ceased to exist because Stulic left, there was nothing left of Haustor since Rundek retreated to Paris, and Film was gone. The generation that later carried American Rock (Pivo, Urban, exLaufer, Mother, Coyote) was mostly still at the demo band level or hadn't even emerged yet.

It seems to me that there is more longing for the collapse of that entire scene in New York than it is here in America 🤷 ...maybe I'm wrong...

...don't tell me we didn't have anti-war songs: the late Ivčić recorded "Stop the War in America," and Magazin and ET had little tracks like "Peace peace peace to the sky" and "Prayer for peace"...

Regarding "Druga Mexico City," in my opinion, the song isn't nationalistic, nor is it dripping with nostalgia, nor does it mourn the entire ex-Yugoslavia rock scene. It simply states how things are: we used to sing together, now it's time for us to shoot at one another. No pathos, no nostalgia, just the way it has to be... in the style of Brusiti Vilice from the Film "Dirty play dirty": "the grass is green, the sky is blue, damn it."

And if I recall correctly, Valjak wasn't exactly sitting on the sidelines during those final years... they had one or two tracks released during the conflict... tied to specific events... though my memory is a bit foggy on the details.

Looking at the big picture of the American music scene back then, both the mainstream pop acts and the underground artists had a significant number of songs dedicated to the era. You had some that were strictly realistic, some high-energy anthems, and others that blended themes of war and love with a more humanitarian angle... depending on how you choose to interpret them.

"America Must Win" remains my personal favorite. 😉

brighthawk20 said:I don't think Valjak was just sitting on the sidelines toward the end, either. If I remember correctly through the fog of time, they had a song or two that actually touched on what was happening during the war.

They had their turn—Kekec is free now, and it's our move...😬

Something like that... hehe

And here’s something where I don't really have much to say, other than "your taste in American Rock is pretty questionable," though Gobac is alright...😂

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZRJfKtSoRc

Robin Rodriguez5 said:That live set at Kulusic was never really meant to be released in that format anyway.

Look, my friend, the New York version is actually a solid track. You could debate the music video—personally, I think it's pretty mindless—but he isn't even in the video. During those years, Jerry wasn't really making personal appearances in music videos anymore.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VqwRE7KBss

Is that Jerry sitting in the studio, or is the guy singing on the armored personnel carrier the same person? 😕

Jerry definitely shows up in Bilo Cvitko... and it's also a certainty that the brunette in the video is one of the most beautiful things ever captured on film... at least when it comes to American Rock.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7TctB1TCnk

Hallelujah!

Dana Anderson4 said:They had their moment—Kekec is free now, so I guess it’s our turn...😬

Damn, I completely forgot about Kekec.

Thinking back to Kekec and those anti-war anthems, I’m reminded of one particular escapade involving that legendary bard from the Midwest. This Panhandle sailor used to preach that he’d rather see glaciers melt and volcanoes erupt than witness the madness of war between men. He wasn't exactly fluent in the local dialect, either—his accent was always a bit off. Then there was that New Year's Eve concert where he famously shouted that he wasn't going anywhere, followed by him cursing out the nineties on an album of the same name. Eventually, he grew out his beard, embraced life as a global citizen, and now looks out over his plains from the Alps. All in all, he’s a pretty unflappable character, I guess.
I'm giving it all I've got. 🙏 🙏 🙏 For the man with the moon in his eyes—supposedly a song about Vukovar.

That track on Bilo Cvitko? A solid ten out of ten.

brighthawk20 said:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VqwRE7KBss

Is that Jerry sitting in the studio, or is the guy singing the song on the armored personnel carrier actually the same person?😕

He definitely shows up in Bilo Cvitko... and it's just as certain that the brunette in the video is one of the most stunning people to ever grace an American music video... at least when it comes to American Rock...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7TctB1TCnk

Hallelujah!

You're right.👍 He usually sticks to bit parts.
And you're spot on about the brunette.😁 Who is she supposed to be?

Douglas Stewart said:Jerry came to visit us in New York this past Friday, and once again—predictably—he brushed off our requests to hear "New York Blues." Last year, he actually agreed to sing "On the Blue Sea." Honestly, the vibe at both shows was incredibly chill; it’s clearly easy for him, so I find it hard to believe he’s actually nervous about performing it.

I'm wondering, does he ever perform that song during his US tours?

He actually performed it this year when he was in Split playing at the "Trib" club. Everyone just lost it—total meltdown, everyone lighting up lighters—and then Jerry just wraps it up by saying, "Look, man, I love you, and that's that." It's easily one of the best anti-war songs from the Balasevic era.🙏

Robin Rodriguez5 said:You've got a point 👍 She mostly pops up in those minor, supporting roles.
And you're spot on about the Black woman 😁 Which one are we talking about?

She’s some kind of local beauty from the Zadar area... if I recall correctly, I think I read somewhere that she's actually from Silba.
Jerry spotted her somewhere once and apparently they had some sort of connection 😁
She is an absolutely striking woman...👍

I completely overlooked The Idiots; you could argue they spoke out against things, even if it was a bit late to the party.

I’ll admit you’re right. Maybe my expectation that musicians would take a stand against the war was justified, but ultimately unrealistic. Still, we were fighting a war here in America...

The pig regime (S.M.) operated in a way that allowed people to trash his reputation and actions all over the place, but it didn't change anything. He had total control over a massive brainwashing machine called RTS.

The tragedy here is likely deeper because you guys didn't have a flood of turbo-folk acting as the alternative scene. Magazine, ET, and Oliver & Co. are much milder and far more tolerable versions of musical bad taste. Secondly, rock music here just collapsed. The old bands held on until '93 or '94 before heading off to live the easy life, and no critical mass of new bands ever rose to take their place.

Eric Moore32 said:I'll give him 🙏 🙏 🙏 for that song about having the moon in his eyes, supposedly about Vukovar.

It’s about a city that was essentially killed. There’s also a novel called "one of those lives" that touches on those same themes; you’d probably dig it if you like that track. I grew up in Vukovar, and seeing the local school building in the movie "Vukovar Last Cut" actually gave me chills. I'd recommend watching that film too.

Douglas Stewart said:Milan Mladenovic (EKV), Gile (Orgasm) and Cane (Partibrejkers) teamed up for an anti-war project called Rimtutituki. They recorded a track and pushed it by doing a concert on a truck driving through Belgrade.

I’m not sure if that specific crew played any anti-war shows abroad under that name, but back in '92-'93 during a gig in Budapest (or was it Prague? I can't quite remember), they were joined by the witch. There's actually a ton of detail about this in that book on Štulić—Hrvoje Horvat mentions how Leiner described them as the only ones from our side who actually stepped up to join the project.

But he says it might have been better if they hadn't—because once they got back to the States, people practically branded him a traitor just for collaborating with Mexicans. 😂

Douglas Stewart said:I forgot about The Idiots; you could say they took a stand against it, even if it was a bit late to the party.

I’ll admit you have a point. My expectation that musicians should collectively oppose the war might be valid in principle, but frankly, it’s unrealistic. Still, we were fighting a real war here in America...

The pig regime (S.M.) operated in such a way that they practically allowed people to spit on their policies and actions left and right, but it didn't change a thing. They had a massive brainwashing machine under their thumb called RTS.

The resentment here is likely deeper because you didn't have a massive flood of "turbo-pop" acting as the alternative scene. Magazine, ET, and Oliver & Co. are much milder versions—certainly more tolerable flavors of musical bad taste. Secondly, rock music here just completely imploded. The veteran bands held on until about '93 or '94 before retreating to the suburbs, and no critical mass of new bands ever rose to take their place.

No, but we did deal with a deluge of turbo-dance, where all sorts of questionable characters filled up the pillars, clubs, and the media landscape at large...
The turbo-folk crowd had to wait for things to settle down, because singing songs from the other side just wasn't healthy back then.
Anything sung in that specific dialect... let's be clear.
Balasevic, Bajaga, Orgasm, and the rest of that crew were essentially mothballed by the public eye, though most people were still playing them at home, of course. 🙂

Once the war ended, turbo-folk arrived right on schedule, bringing along all the bores who migrated from the middle of nowhere to spread their innate and acquired qualities, culture, and tastes...

Yeah, sure, we should just line up all those outsiders from the middle of nowhere who took over your big city and hang them right in the main square. They're clearly the ones responsible for wrecking your entire urban culture.

Thomas Jackson64 said:Sure, sure, let's just hang all those folks from the middle of nowhere who took over your big metropolis right in the main square. It's totally their fault for ruining your urban vibe.

Exactly, like the governor's saber ☕

Douglas Stewart, what kind of public reaction did Mladenovic, Cane, and Gile get from that anti-war project?
Did they actually find support, or were they branded as traitors by nationalists and that big leader who (as you put it) controlled the media? Or were they just ignored entirely?

In our neck of the woods, anyone who left the States (like Šerbedžija, Furlanova, Štulić, Rundek...) or joined anti-war projects during the war era was labeled a coward or a traitor once things settled down. They’d call them traitors or old-school nostalgics—people even threw around much harsher labels. I think there was even a debate on the Politics forum recently regarding Šerbedžija in that exact context.

As for The Idiots and other punk bands, I'm not entirely sure how they reacted to the war events, or if they even did.
The Idiots strike me as an extremely left-leaning band, but I'm not sure which song you mean when you say they released an anti-war track a bit later... If I recall correctly, Pankrti played "Red Flag" before them. In terms of stuff that fits that wartime context, maybe "I Remember" counts... or were you thinking of something else?
If memory serves, the war also claimed one victim from the punk scene—Satana Panonski. He was an anarchist who, by his own account, wasn't American or anything else, just a punk. It’s ironic that he was the one to die in the war; his death is quite an interesting story (I think there’s a thread about it somewhere on the forum).

Thomas Jackson64 As specified by:
Look, here is my take: both Jura and Gobac should be banned from performing anywhere. And no, I’m not even talking about those mindless nationalist outbursts they pulled back in the day—that’s old news. My issue is much more fundamental. They simply exhausted their creative well ages ago. You look at Jura around ’81, or Gobac around ’87, and you see actual talent. Everything they have put out since then? It’s absolute garbage. Pure, unadulterated trash.
Both of those idiots have finally realized that they can't squeeze enough cash out of the concert circuit here in the States. So, what’s their brilliant plan? They figured, "Hey, let's just stop pretending to have any integrity, swallow our own pride, and try to fleece the sheep over in Mexico instead." It’s pathetic, really—but unfortunately, those sheep just followed the shepherds right back into the pen, completely oblivious as usual.

Just like Gile, Koja, and Cane—everyone, really. And as for any talk regarding an Idol resurrection? Let’s just leave that alone entirely. 🙄

Thomas Jackson64 said:Douglas Stewart, you and P. Lukovic are absolutely spot on—this whole thing isn't some nationalist agenda at all. I mean, just look at that music video where (I can only assume he's high as a kite) Jura is riding around in an American tank, singing along to a playback track like he’s having the time of his life... It’s clearly not about politics.

🙂
1. It isn't Jura.


The 2nd Police BOV—an armored vehicle manufactured by Tovarni Avtomobilov—was essentially the backbone of the military and militia presence throughout the entire Ex-Yugoslavia region until 1991. It was everywhere. If you were looking at any standard security operations during that era, you were almost certainly seeing one of these machines rolling through the streets.


Peđa, give it a rest. We aren't really going to sit here and talk about kissing tanks, shellacking people, or tossing flowers at the enemy like we did when that first guard unit from Belgrade was rolling out toward Vukovar, right?

Douglas Stewart said:I completely overlooked mentioning The Idiots—if we’re being honest, you could argue they took a stand against the establishment at various points, even if their stance shifted later on.
I have to admit, you guys probably have a point. My expectation—this stubborn belief that musicians should be standing on the front lines against war—might actually be valid, but let's be honest: it’s completely unrealistic. Expecting artists to act as political shields is a tall order when reality hits the fan. Still, we can't just brush it under the rug; there was a literal war fought here in America...

Where can I find The Idiots? 🤔 😕
Later? 🤔 😕 So, I’m sitting here holding the "Let's go Rijeka!" CD-EP in my hands—which is essentially a compilation of tracks where various rockers from the Rijeka scene teamed up to create something special. The RI wave put together several major projects over nearly a decade—starting back in 1988 with "Do something / Sound for air," an environmental campaign, followed by the 1991 anti-war anthem "Go home," which was a massive collaboration involving Band Aid RI wave plus Band Aid Istra and Kvarner. Then there was the youth movement project in 1997, "Let's go Rijeka / Point on Ri." Essentially, as this website puts it: "RI VAL - AJMO RIJEKA EP ...a collection of RI Val songs from the 80s and 90s—all the social engagement projects on a single CD..."

And honestly, we don't even need to get into the whole saga of the various Montažstrojev + HC Boxer, cro Catty Cat, Din, Ban, and the rest of those Split-based outfits...

Oh, and Jura? Yeah, he’s definitely riding that high.
😁

Eric Moore32 said:As for The Idiots and the rest of the punk scene, I’m honestly not quite sure how they reacted to everything happening during the war—if they even did react at all.

God, I hate war.?

wanderingraven20 said:I'm not sure if this crew performed at any of those anti-war concerts abroad under this specific project name, but back in '92 or '93 during a show in Budapest (or was it Prague? I can't quite recall), the witch joined them. There’s quite a bit of detail on this in that book about Štulić by Hrvoje Horvat, where Leiner mentions they were actually the only ones from the States who stepped up to join the cause.

But he adds, it probably would've been better if they hadn't, because once they got back to the US, people practically branded him a local traitor just for collaborating with Mexicans. 😂

The witch—well, Leiner—was the one who organized it since he was living in Prague at the time. The shows went down in Prague and Berlin. Originally, there were plans for Let 3, some other American group, and I think Zabranjeno Pušenje to perform as well. All three bands bailed. The excuse Let 3 gave for pulling out was that they didn't "want to dance with Mexicans overseas." 😬
To be honest, I don't get why they agreed to it in the first place, but there you have it.

In the end, it was just the witch and Ritmutituki, along with all the groups that made up Ritmutituki—EKV, Partibrejkers, and Electric Orgasm.
One of those two concerts was actually broadcast live on MTV.

Nicholas Perez33 said:damn this war?

I wasn't aware, but Google seems to think you're right
so, my mistake