Elvis J. Kurtović and His Meteors: the Yugoslavian punks who took aim at the state
When the abrasive sounds of punk rock hit the airwaves in the mid-1970s, it was deemed the greatest musical rebellion since Elvis waltzed into Sun Studio in Memphis. However, the vast majority of legendary names within the genre are limited to those operating in the UK and America, where the scene soon devolved into a soulless fashion, the same as what the hippie subculture had become. Elsewhere, among the oppressed youth of the Eastern Bloc, punk found a natural home. The rebellion of artists like Elvis J. Kurtović against the authoritarian regime of Yugoslavia made the revolutionary traits of the Sex Pistols feel akin to nicking a Twix from a corner shop.
Elvis J. Kurtović and His Meteors officially formed in 1981, by which time much of the first wave of punk in the West had moved on. In Yugoslavia, however, artists had much more to rebel against, namely the oppressive totalitarianism of the Yugoslavian government, who, though a separate entity from the USSR, adhered to many of the same policies. Elvis and His Meteors formed an intrinsic part of the country’s ‘New Primitivism’ movement, a subculture of Yugoslav artists, subverting the desires of the state and society through music, comedy and radio. Two of the main groups within this scene were Elvis J. Kurtović and His Meteors, and Zabranjeno Pušenje. However, the latter were forced to take a hiatus after the majority of members were called up to military service.
Expectedly, the group was not viewed favourably by the powers that be within Yugoslavia. In their early years, the band were panned by music critics and politicians alike but began to amass a cult following within the Yugoslavian underground scene; there was clearly an appetite for rebellion brewing. They initially formed after Mirko Srdić adopted a stage name, coming from a local rock and roll fan who had named his son after Elvis Presley (and, as it happens, was not best pleased about giving his name to a Yugoslav punk outfit).
Their first album, released in 1984, was titled Mitovi i legende o kralju Elvisu and continued in the surrealist comedy stylings purported by the wider New Primitivism movement. Within the context of the punk rock sound, it is almost unrecognisable, featuring satirical covers of Western rock tracks like ‘Pinball Wizard’ by The Who and ‘Honky Tonk Woman’ by The Rolling Stones. It was a fearless rebellion through the means of satire and punk rock – think of a mix between the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band and The Damned – a manifesto which would follow the group throughout their tenure.
Elvis J. Kurtović and His Meteors produced two further albums during the 1980s, with the second following much the same themes as the first – even including another Rolling Stones cover, this time of ‘It’s Only Rock ’n’ Roll (but I Like It)’. Their third release, Čudesan svet privatluka (The Wonderful World of Private Business), is by far the greatest and most politically charged effort dealt out by the group.
Thematically, the album deals with the emergence of a new social class within Yugoslavia following the death of Tito and the rise of private ownership and materialism. It perfectly captured the zeitgeist of Bosnia and wider Yugoslavia during the period and still stands up today both musically and as a historically significant artefact.
For all their revolutionary traits, Elvis and his Meteors were bound by the circumstances in which they were formed. For instance, after the death of Yugoslavian President Josip Broz Tito in 1980, aggression against Bosnia and Herzegovina began to rise. The political tension came to a head in the early 1990s with the advent of the Bosnian War, the most brutal and disastrous conflict in Europe since World War Two. The outbreak of war signified the end of Elvis J. Kurtović and His Meteors, but the respective members did not stop in their quest for a cultural revolution. Some members fled to Belgrade, but Elvis himself remained in Bosnia, participating in the surrealist sketch comedy Top Lista Nadrealista during wartime.
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