KBO! is a Serbian punk rock band from

Kragujevac Kragujevac ( sr-Cyrl, Крагујевац, ) is the fourth largest city in Serbia and the administrative centre of the Šumadija District. It is the historical centre of the geographical region of Šumadija in central Serbia, and is situated on ...

, Serbia. They are one of the first

hardcore punk Hardcore punk (also known as simply hardcore) is a punk rock music genre and subculture that originated in the late 1970s. It is generally faster, harder, and more aggressive than other forms of punk rock. Its roots can be traced to earlier p ...

acts on the former Yugoslav punk scene. Since the very beginning, the band accepted the

DIY ethic "Do it yourself" ("DIY") is the method of building, modifying, or repairing things by oneself without the direct aid of professionals or certified experts. Academic research has described DIY as behaviors where "individuals use raw and sem ...

by forming their own record label KBO! Records, through which they have released all their official releases. The band have toured across several European countries including Hungary, Austria, Greece, Belgium and Netherlands and shared the stage with acts such as

Gorilla Biscuits Gorilla Biscuits are an American hardcore punk band from New York City, New York, United States, formed in 1986. The band currently consists of Anthony "Civ" Civarelli, Walter Schreifels, Arthur Smilios and Luke Abbey, and is signed to Revelatio ...

and Babes in Toyland. They released several studio and live albums, some of them for foreign record labels and were included in numerous international punk compilations featuring eminent bands.

History

1980s

The band was formed in January 1982 by 17-year-old high school friends, guitarists Saša Vujić "Vuja", Aleksandar Vojinović "Aca", bassist Milorad Mišić "Miša" and drummer Rajko Todosavljević, becoming the first punk rock band in

.KBO! Official MySpace
/ref> Getting the name by an onomatopoeic sound "kvo" made by a

frog A frog is any member of a diverse and largely Carnivore, carnivorous group of short-bodied, tailless amphibians composing the order (biology), order Anura (ανοὐρά, literally ''without tail'' in Ancient Greek). The oldest fossil "proto-f ...

in a cartoon, written in

Cyrillic The Cyrillic script ( ), Slavonic script or the Slavic script, is a writing system used for various languages across Eurasia. It is the designated national script in various Slavic, Turkic, Mongolic, Uralic, Caucasian and Iranic-speaking co ...

, the band name is often misspelled. The band had their first recordings released by

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...

record labels on various artists compilations ''International Brigade'', released in 1984, and ''Liberate'', released in 1985. They also performed at local festivals, until the band members went to serve the army. On their return, in 1986, the band lineup changed as Mišić and Todosavljević left the band, Saša Vujić switched to vocals and his brother, Slobodan Vujić "Boban", joining the band as the new drummer. The new lineup started recording demos, releasing them independently through their own

independent record label An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels and artists are often represented ...

KBO! Records, and so the 1986 ''Tama'' (''Darkness''), 1987 ''Nove obrade starih stvari'' (''New Covers of Older Stuff''), 1988 ''!OBK'', and 1989 ''Moja sloboda'' (''My Freedom''), gave the band the opportunity to overreach local prominence. It is partially due to this fact that the band got the opportunity to perform in

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population o ...

, Hungary, in March 1988, recording the show and releasing it as ''Live in Budapest''. On May of the following year, the band performed in

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its metropolitan area, and the capital of the geographic region of ...

, Greece, and having performed four times in Hungary, in October, the band went to

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, Austria, performing as an opening act for Emils and

1990s

The band's debut album, ''Forever Punk'', recorded at the

Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; names in other languages) is the capital and largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and the crossroads of the Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. Nearly 1,166,763 mi ...

''O'' studio for only four hours, was released by the Greek record label Wipe Out Records in 1991, and the following album, ''Pozovi 93'' (''Call 93'') was released by the

Novi Sad Novi Sad ( sr-Cyrl, Нови Сад, ; hu, Újvidék, ; german: Neusatz; see below for other names) is the second largest city in Serbia and the capital of the autonomous province of Vojvodina. It is located in the southern portion of the P ...

record label Start Today Records in 1992. The band promoted the materials on tours of

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label= Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavij ...

, Hungary and Austria, and during the summer of 1991, the band toured Belgium and Netherlands. During 1992, the band performed in

Skopje Skopje ( , , ; mk, Скопје ; sq, Shkup) is the capital and largest city of North Macedonia. It is the country's political, cultural, economic, and academic centre. The territory of Skopje has been inhabited since at least 4000 BC; r ...

, Republic of Macedonia and prepared new material released on the CD ''Za jedan korak'' (''For a Single Step'') by the French record label Onkra from

Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and fr ...

in 1992. The band also performed at

Ilirska Bistrica Ilirska Bistrica (; german: Illyrisch Feistritz; it, Villa del Nevoso, before 1927: ''Bisterza,'' Hungarian: ''Illírbeszterce'') is a town in the Inner Carniola region of southwestern Slovenia. It is the administrative seat of the Municipalit ...

and

Koper Koper (; it, Capodistria, hr, Kopar) is the fifth largest city in Slovenia. Located in the Istrian region in the southwestern part of the country, approximately five kilometres () south of the border with Italy and 20 kilometres () from Triest ...

, Slovenia. In 1993, the band's song "Ubijte me" ("Kill Me") appeared on the various artists compilation ''The Dignity Of Human Being Is Vulnerable'', released in Netherlands. In 1995, the band's song "IdI+odlazi" ("Go+leave") appeared on the anti-war compilation ''Mi za mir'' (''We for Peace''). The band's fourth official album, ''Svetlo ludila'' (''The Light of Craziness''), prepared for about two years, was released by their own record label in 1997, and featured cover versions of

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classic ...

's "

Ode to Joy "Ode to Joy" (German language, German: , literally "To heJoy") is an ode written in the summer of 1785 by German poet, playwright, and historian Friedrich Schiller and published the following year in ''Thalia (magazine), Thalia''. A slightl ...

" and "Grk" ("Greek") by

Mikis Theodorakis Michail "Mikis" Theodorakis ( el, Μιχαήλ "Μίκης" Θεοδωράκης ; 29 July 1925 – 2 September 2021) was a Greek composer and lyricist credited with over 1,000 works. He scored for the films ''Zorba the Greek'' (1964), '' Z'' ...

. In October 1996, the band performed in KST in Belgrade and the cover versions of

UK Subs U.K. Subs are an English punk rock band, among the earliest in the first wave of British punk. Formed in 1976, the mainstay of the band has been vocalist Charlie Harper, originally a singer in Britain's R&B scene. They were also one of the f ...

' "Organized Crime", Alphaville's " Forever Young", renamed to "Forever Punk" and

Abrasive Wheels Abrasive Wheels are a punk rock band of the late 1970s – early 1980s. They hailed from Leeds, England and were seldom out of the Independent charts between 1980 and 1984 when the band split. The band were Shonna Rzonca – vocals, Dave Ryan ...

' "When the Punks Go Marching In", performed at the concert, appeared on the various artists compilation ''Punk You All'', released in 1998. In December 1996, the band performed at the TV Politika ''Paket Aranžman'' TV show fifth anniversary, and the live versions of "Ubijte me", "Samoća" ("Solitude") and "Lopovi" ("Thieves") appeared on the various artists compilation ''Svi protiv svih'' (''Everybody against everyone'') in 1998. The band, with Drama and Propaganda 117, appeared on the Goran Matić ''Život za sebe'' (''Life on Its Own'') movie soundtrack, with the songs "Balkanska rapsodija" ("The

Balkans The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...

Rhapsody"), "Ludilo" ("Madness") and "Pada noć" ("The Night is Falling") and rerelesed on CD the first two studio albums through KBO! Records.

2000s

The band recorded a

cover album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records c ...

''(Ne) Menjajte stanicu'' (''(Don't) Change the Station''), released in 2001, featuring cover versions of

ABBA ABBA ( , , formerly named Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Anni-Frid or Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Frida) are a Swedish supergroup formed in Stockholm in 1972 by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. The grou ...

Električni Orgazam Električni Orgazam ( sr-cyr, Електрични Оргазам, lit=Electric Orgasm, translit=) is a Serbian rock band from Belgrade. Originally starting as a combination of new wave, punk rock and post-punk, the band later slowly changed t ...

Pet Shop Boys The Pet Shop Boys are an English synth-pop duo formed in London in 1981. Consisting of primary vocalist Neil Tennant and keyboardist Chris Lowe, they have sold more than 50 million records worldwide, and were listed as the most successful duo ...

Mike Oldfield Mike may refer to: Animals * Mike (cat), cat and guardian of the British Museum * Mike the Headless Chicken, chicken that lived for 18 months after his head had been cut off * Mike (chimpanzee), a chimpanzee featured in several books and document ...

Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD) are an English electronic band formed in Wirral, Merseyside, in 1978. The group consists of co-founders Andy McCluskey (vocals, bass guitar) and Paul Humphreys (keyboards, vocals), along with Martin C ...

Billy Idol William Michael Albert Broad (born 30 November 1955), known professionally as Billy Idol, is a British-American singer, songwriter, and musician. He first achieved fame in the 1970s emerging from the London punk rock scene as the lead singer o ...

Black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white ha ...

and

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. ...

songs. The band also appeared on the ''Know Your Rights'' various artists compilation with the songs "Zgubidan" ("Absent") and "What Can I Say", released by NGO Millennium in 2001. In 2002, the band appeared on the '' Ringeraja'' movie soundtrack with the cover of the

Indexi Indexi was a Bosnian and former Yugoslav rock band popular in Yugoslavia. It formed in 1962 in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and disbanded in 2001 when singer Davorin Popović died. Some of their most notable songs are "Svijet u kome živ ...

single "Bacila je sve niz rijeku" ("She has Thrown away Everything down the River"), featuring

Zvoncekova Bilježnica Zvoncekova Bilježnica ( Serbian Cyrillic: Звонцекова Биљежница; trans. ''Zvoncek's Notebook'') is a Serbian punk rock/hardcore punk band from Aranđelovac. History The band was formed in 1988 by the former Kralj Vuk member ...

member Toza Rabassa on guest vocals, for which a promotional video was also recorded. The band also released the studio album ''Drugarska stvar'' (''A Friendly Matter''), which featured more politically themed songs. This was the last release to feature Aleksandar Vojinović who left the band in 2005, being replaced by Thimble member Ivan Ivezić "Iveza". The new lineup recorded the new studio album in 2008 with the work title ''Prosta proza'' (''Simple Prose''), the album was mixed and post-produced during the following year.

2010s

In October 2010, it was announced that during the following month the band would release the seventh studio and twelfth official band release ''Prosta proza'', featuring the single "Tačka" ("Full Stop"), previously released on the Internet for

streaming Streaming media is multimedia that is delivered and consumed in a continuous manner from a source, with little or no intermediate storage in network elements. ''Streaming'' refers to the delivery method of content, rather than the content i ...

and digital download as the first single"KBO! - koncert za Prostu prozu", Popboks.com
The material to be released, featuring the tracks written since 1996, consists of thirteen out of thirty six new songs the band have so far recorded. In the autumn of 2014, the band participated in a tribute album to

Novembar Novembar (Serbian Cyrillic: Новембар; trans. ''November'') is a Serbian punk rock band from Niš. History Studeni Studeni, band formation (1986–1991) During the late 1980s, one of the most promising former Yugoslav bands from Zagreb ...

, entitled ''Tako mlad i tako čist'' (''So Young and So Clean''), with a cover of Novembar song "Blues južne pruge" ("Southern Railroad Blues")."RAZNI IZVOĐAČI - TRIBUTE TO NOVEMBAR - TAKO MLAD I TAKO ČIST", nocturnemagazine.net
/ref>

Discography

Official demo recordings

Studio albums

Cover albums

Singles

References

* EX YU ROCK enciklopedija 1960-2006, Janjatović Petar; * Dragan Pavlov and Dejan Šunjka: ''Punk u Jugoslaviji'', publisher: IGP Dedalus, Yugoslavia, 1990
KBO! discography at Discogs

External links

*
KBO!
at Myspace
KBO!
at

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dust ...

KBO! fan page 1
at

KBO! fan page 2
at

KBO!
at

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

KBO!
at

Discogs Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the ...

KBO!
at

Last.fm Last.fm is a music website founded in the United Kingdom in 2002. Using a music recommender system called "Audioscrobbler", Last.fm builds a detailed profile of each user's musical taste by recording details of the tracks the user listens to, e ...

KBO!
at

Rateyourmusic Rate Your Music (often abbreviated to RYM) is an online collaborative database of music releases and films. Users can catalog items from their personal collection, review them, and assign ratings in a five-star rating system. The site also feat ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kbo! Serbian punk rock groups Yugoslav punk rock groups Serbian hardcore punk groups Musical groups from Kragujevac Musical groups established in 1982 1982 establishments in Yugoslavia