Rock in Eastern Europe transcends a genre. The rockers of the Eastern Bloc communicated a political statement with their songs. Their creations were a way to mutiny against the stifling political environment that surrounded them. The famous Russian critic Artemii Troitskii in his book Rok v Soiuze: 60-e, 70-e, 80-e claims that Russian rock is a unique phenomenon distinct from its Anglo-American analogues. But what about the rest of Eastern Europe? Did the countries under Soviet dominance replicate the Western tradition or followed their own way? Was the development of rock sub-genres in Eastern Europe somehow special? What did their rock scene evolve into?

Indeed, this topic is so immense that the possible research projects are practically limitless. Here we simply present a few select titles and some curious factoids just to give our readers a general idea of the breadth of the topic. Props to Michael Gabe for doing a lion’s share of research on the topic.

Serbian band Van Gogh‘s video

Yugoslavia was the most fortunate on the Bloc. Tito’s government made no particular effort to curtail all the new musical influences permeating from the West.

SBB, formed in 1971, was one of the mosts popular rock groups that had lyrics in both Polish and English.

Although breaking up in 1980, they eventually reunited and continued to perform for fans in Poland and around the world.

And here is Croatian punk band KUD Idjoti with its cover of Bandiera Rossa

A controversial Slovak band Leibach

And another Serbian band Disciplina Kičme

Plastic People of the Universe

One of the most popular bands from former Czechoslovakia, PPU formed in Prague in 1968 and have had great influence and enduring popularity.

Kino

(1981-1990) was one of the most influential rock bands in the Soviet Union and continues to have a large following. Despite fronot man Viktor Tsoi’s untimely death in 1990, Kino has remained one of the most popular Russian bands.

Listen to their 1989 album Zvezda po imeni solntse.

After communism fell, previously banned rock music became accessible. Eastern Europe rock bands began to follow Western trends more closely. However, many look back fondly to this period and still revere the bands of the past. For example, fans in Moscow have created a memorial wall to Viktor Tsoi.

Soviet rock : 25 years in the underground + 5 years of freedom / edited by Igor Zaitsev ; designed by Alexander Yefremov ; [translated from the Russian by Mark Buser and Dmitry Linnik].

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Књига “Рокенрол у Југославији 1956-1968.” открива нам изнутра једно време, његове људе и догађаје. Ова несвакидашња историја једног доба представља историју свакодневице, друштвених и приватних ритуала, нових обичаја и модерних изазова, ослобађања сексуалности у социјалистичком друштву, идеолошких и политичких драма које су обележиле социјалистичку епоху. (Source)

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Новая книга известного писателя и сценариста Александра Житинского, автора “Путешествия рок-дилетанта” и документальной книги “Виктор Цой. Стихи, документы, воспоминания”, которая среди поклонников Цоя носит название “Библия “киномана”. Представляя вниманию читателя самый полный на сегодняшний день документальный материал, непубликовавшиеся свидетельства и уникальные кадры семейного архива, автор воссоздает картину жизни и творчества кумира миллионов от рождения до трагической смерти.(Source)

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První oficiálně vydaný přehled mapující část scény české nové vlny a alternativní scény 80. let. (More)

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On February 21, 2012, five young women entered the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow. In neon-colored dresses, tights, and balaclavas, they performed a “punk prayer” beseeching the “Mother of God” to “get rid of Putin.” They were quickly shut down by security, and in the weeks and months that followed, three of the women were arrested and tried, and two were sentenced to a remote prison colony. But the incident captured international headlines, and footage of it went viral. People across the globe recognized not only a fierce act of political confrontation but also an inspired work of art that, in a time and place saturated with lies, found a new way to speak the truth.

Masha Gessen’s riveting account tells how such a phenomenon came about. Drawing on her exclusive, extensive access to the members of Pussy Riot and their families and associates, she reconstructs the fascinating personal journeys that transformed a group of young women into artists with a shared vision, gave them the courage and imagination to express it unforgettably, and endowed them with the strength to endure the devastating loneliness and isolation that have been the price of their triumph.(Source)

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The third edition of Encyklopedia Polskiego Roku contains detailed profiles of all the main participants of the Polish rock-scene. The book covers about 40 years of Polish rock history. The title is in Polish.

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“Artyści, wariaci, anarchiści” autorstwa Pawła Konnaka, Jarosława Janiszewskiego i Krzysztofa Skiby to niekomercyjne wydawnictwo, poświęcone interesującym zjawiskom z pogranicza sztuki awangardowej, niezależnej muzyki rockowej i podziemia politycznego lat osiemdziesiątych XX wieku. To zapis bezkompromisowego buntu twórców polskiego punk rocka, Pomarańczowej Alternatywy, Ruchu Społeczeństwa Alternatywnego i Tot-Artu. Bogaty zbiór fotografii i grafik oraz pełne pasji opowieści o deklaracjach ideowych, imprezach, happeningach i manifestacjach składają się na prawdziwe kompendium wiedzy o kulturze, która wyrosła z dążenia do niezależności. (Source)

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Книга известного советского автора была впервые опубликована за рубежом – в Англии, США и других странах. В настоящее издание, дополненное материалами последних лет, вошла практически вся история советской рок-музыки от первых самодеятельных коллективов начала 60-х годов до рок-фестивалей конца 80-х. Множество событий молодежной культурной жизни, в которых сам автор принимал участие или был их очевидцем, нашли отражение на страницах этой книги.(Source)

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Popular music (1981-present); Cambridge University Press

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Worlds of Dissent analyzes the myths of Czech resistance popularized by Western journalists and historians, and replaces these heroic victory narratives with a picture of the struggle against state repression as dissidents themselves understood and lived it. Their diaries, letters, and essays convey the texture of dissent in a closed society. (Source)

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Wiosną 1967 roku słynni już wtedy The Rolling Stones pierwszy i ostatni raz przyjechali do komunistycznego kraju. Liczba tych, którzy idą dziś w zaparte, że widzieli ich koncert w Sali Kongresowej kilkukrotnie przekracza jej pojemność. Występ The Rolling Stones w Polsce szybko stał się wydarzeniem niemal mitycznym, także dla samych muzyków, którzy po powrocie zza niesławnej żelaznej kurtyny ochoczo opowiadali w angielskich mediach barwne historie z pobytu w naszym kraju.(More)

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Publikace přináší poprvé pohled na rockovou hudbu z historické perspektivy (dosud převládaly spíše práce muzikologické a sociologické). Autor si všímá, jak populární hudba ovlivnila téměř tři generace československé společnosti. Mapuje vývoj rockové hudby od roku 1956 (kdy se u nás poprvé objevilo slovo rock´n´roll) až do roku 1989, kdy skončila éra vlády komunistické strany. Autor se snaží čtenáře seznámit se všemi snahami autoritativního režimu o likvidaci této tzv. „buržoazní a úpadkové“ hudby, která měla podle bývalých komunistických autorit nebezpečný potenciál „ideologické diverze“ ovlivňující mládež v celém bývalém východním bloku. (Source)

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The Journal of Popular Culture (1967-present); Wiley Periodicals

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