Fans of music like classic rock, ska, and New Wave are invited to hear contributions to the genres by rock bands from the country of Yugoslavia.  

Yu Rock! celebrates rock n’ roll culture in the former Central European nation of Yugoslavia, at the Slovenian National Home at 6417 St. Clair Ave. on Saturday, Dec. 6.

The country of Yugoslavia existed from 1918 to 1991. It did not officially align with either the East or the West during the Cold War and was run autonomously as a hybrid free-market and state-run economic system. Embracing cultural freedoms, and maintaining a favorable relationship with the West, allowed rock n’ roll to establish itself in Yugoslav youth culture, beginning in the 1960s with bands like The Beatles and The Rolling Stones and thriving through to the nation’s end.

Yu Rock 101: Know before you go…

Yugoslavia rock n’ roll, called “Yu Rock”, downplays the influence of more ethnic styles of music in favor of the Westernized sound first popularized by American and British rock bands.  

“Yugoslav rock wasn’t that adventurous musically,” said Yu Rock’s founder and organizer, Stanislav Zabic, also known as “DJ Greentooth.” “It’s very communicative to a Western audience. You’re gonna find a lot of songs that sound familiar, like maybe a cover, or a halfway ripoff,” he laughed. 

For fans of Led Zeppelin, there is Pop Masina:  

For fans of ‘80’s New Wave, like Berlin and Missing Persons:  

For “yacht rock” listeners, there’s the smooth sound of this song by Leb i Sol: 

Similar to the spirit of rock n’ roll in Westernized cultures, Yu Rock became a voice of rebellion and forward thinking in Yugoslavia. 

When same-sex relationships were decriminalized in Yugoslavia in the 1970s, “four years after the state of Ohio,” Zabic points out, LGBT rock bands began to emerge, including an androgynous all-female band called ‘Boye.’

The Serbian rock band Ekatarina Velika, or “Catherine the Great,” performed a song that predicted the fall of Yugoslavia two years before it happened. “Par godina za nas,” translated as “A Few Years For Us,” featured lyrics such as “They say we’ve only got a few more years ahead of us/We had our toys, and we lived it all.”

‘One minute you’re gonna feel comfortable and the other is gonna make you think’ 

The event also features a record cover art exhibit showcasing the unique artwork Yugoslav rock bands featured on their records.

The band Haustor, according to Zabic, was “interested in finding magical moments in everyday life. That was the theme of the album.” 

“There’s a lot of cool stuff going on that people don’t expect to see from a Yugoslav band,” he said. “They like to make you feel uncomfortable. It’s gonna be like in a pinball game, one minute you’re gonna feel comfortable and the other is gonna make you think.” 

Zabic came to the United States in 1999 and became a Clevelander in 2007. He has DJed Yu Rock sets in Cleveland’s Waterloo neighborhood, where Yu Rock began to catch on here.      

Zabic also credits former Cleveland State University radio station WCSB with helping to popularize Yugoslav music among Cleveland rock fans. Zabic has hosted several Yu Rock sets on the station’s shows. He has also sat in on other WCSB programs, like the Hungarian music hour. 

Yu Rock! starts at 6 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 6, at the Slovenian National Home. A music party and Q&A with the DJs follows at 7 p.m. Food and beverages will be available, including Slovenian sausages and sides, traditional mulled wine and other Eastern European drinks.  

You can catch the Yugoslav record cover art exhibit by setting up an appointment with the Slovenian National Home.