40th anniversary Paraf debut and the most important Croatian punk album all the time.
In the spirit of the original release of “a dan je tako lijepo počeo” (And the day started so nicely), Dallas Records presents a new special edition of the first album by the punk band Paraf. It is a key album of the Yugoslav and one of the key albums of the continental European punk scene. This most important Croatian punk album was released on June 5, 1980, and flashed the first lineup of Parafov into the anthology of local and European punk subculture, as well as into the annals of regional pop culture.
A special edition of the original mix mix brings four bonus tracks “Rijeka” and “Moj život je novi val” from their live album, released in 1979, a single version of “Narodne pjesme” from the compilation New Punk Wave 78-80 and a performance of the cult song “Goli otok” from live performance in 1979 in Pula.
The band debut album A dan je tako lijepo počeo… (And The Day Started Out So Nicely…) was released by ZKP RTLJ in the Spring of 1980. Due to provocative lyrics, the album was classified as kitsch product, and thus liable to additional taxation, despite subsequent changes to some of the lyrics as well as the selection of a different album cover. In line with the punk rock ideology, the band addressed several topics which were at the time new to the Yugoslav rock: the songs featured ironic usages of communist slogans, mocked, at the time, one of the most popular bands, Bijelo Dugme, in the song “Pritanga i vaza”, insulting the police in the censored version of “Narodna pjesma”, and dealt with social themes typical for a port city. The album was produced by the band’s close associate Goran Lisica “Fox”, assisted by Igor Vidmar.
Even 40 years later, the album “And the day started so beautifully” sounds strong, destructive, dangerous, daring and fresh. Valter Kocijančić, Zdravko Čabrijan and Dušan Ladavac Pjer successfully combined initial punk simplicity with relentless juvenile rebellion against boring everyday life in 14 songs released on the album. That’s why this album sounds so strong today.
As Igor Vidmar, one of the producers of the album, said: “The initials were an anticipation of the coming crisis, in the sense of a precursor to social disappointment and the efforts of socially subordinate classes to express their individuality in any way. ”
The original press release that accompanied the album reads: “The initials sing about a street that can be ridiculous and humorous, about the difficult and torturous street of teenage doubts, passions, separate mythologies and one’s own perspective… so this album brings irony, ridicule, madness and free access to the taboos of the average petty-bourgeois everyday life. Until then, almost unimaginable in Yugoslav popular music, such an approach provided Paraf with an undeniable cultural pedestal. ”
‘The initials predicted that there would be a breakdown of the system that had been maintained on army and militia apparatus after Tito’s death. They shattered social illusions about the eternity of this system, in the form of punk, which at first they didn’t even know what it sounded like, but they sensed it had to be easy, fast, daring, provocative and loud ’. Aleksandar Dragash
‘The Great Castle, the National Song and its sarcastically murderous refrain’ There is no one better than our police ‘or the equally destructive Long Live Yugoslavia, whose whole text is composed of political slogans and ideological’ great truths’, still holds water today as well as striking language singles Sex of the Pistols who provoked anarchy in Britain and celebrated the Queen or the call of the Clashes for a white uprising.”
‘If Paraf were just the first punk rock band in Croatia, that would be more than enough, let alone the fact that after the first album they left behind three punk rock anthems for all time in this area. The first album “A dan je tako lepo pocelo” is measured by all punk rock dimensions and today the best album of the Croats. ‘
(Dallas Records)
