Kontrol are a
Bulgaria
Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Mac ...
n punk band. Initially active between 1988 and 2000, they achieved stardom in the early 1990s with their first two albums, ''Bumm'' (1991) and ''Lele kako'' (1993). In 1997, their lead singer Nikolai Yordanov left and the band's popularity declined, which led to their dissolution in 2000. They reformed in their original lineup in 2009 for a short Bulgarian tour, then reformed in 2014 with a new lead singer, Ivan Gatev.
History
The band was formed in 1988 and were one of the first official punk bands in the country. Their first recordings, "Tryabva vsichko da priemam" and "Nai-vazhnoto", were for the 1988 film "Pred praga" (At the Doorstep). Later that year, they released a demo tape called ''
Stariyat dub''. The tape contained 8 songs.
In 1989, they were signed to Balkanton and released a split LP with
Nova Generacia
Nova Generatsia, ( bg, Нова генерация, lit=New Generation) is a Bulgarian new / cold / dark wave musical group. It was founded in 1987 by Dimiter Voev, and existed in different lineups until Voev's death in 1992 at the age of 27. Dur ...
. The Kontrol side consisted of the first six songs from ''Stariyat dub''. They then performed at the ''Svyat - chudni hora'' festival in
Michurin. The first song they played, "Ima" (originally released on ''Stariyat dub'') appeared on the official compilation in 1990.
In 1990, they recorded 15 songs at the BNR Studio II. After the fall of communism, 14 of the tracks were released on the ''
BUMM'' cassette in 1991.
In 1992, they recorded their second album, ''
Lele kako'', released in 1993. They also released the ''
88-92'' compilation. The A-side consisted of the ''Pred praga'' tracks, an unreleased track called "Bulgaria" and the six songs from the ''BG Rock I'' split. The B-side consisted of songs from ''BUMM'' and ''Lele kako''. That year, ''BUMM'' was also reissued on cassette by Lazarov Records with the ''Pred praga'' songs and an unreleased version of ''Ne umirahme ot shtastie''.
The band released their third album, ''
LyubOFF'', in 1994. In 1996, they released a concert album called ''
Punku nema'a umre''.
In 1998, founder Nikolai Yordanov left the band and was replaced by Petar Stanoev. With Stanoev, they released their fourth and final album, ''
Pazete si decata'' in 1999. The band broke up a year later.
In 2004, the compilation ''Te t'va e'' was released, containing 22 songs from the Nikolai Yordanov period. In 2001, they recorded a song called "Urok po tanci".
In 2009, they embarked on a short tour of Bulgaria with
Revyu and
Hipodil
Hipodil ( bg, Хиподил ) was a Bulgarian rock band, founded in the late 1980s in Sofia by four classmates from the local Mathematics High School.
Hipodil's popularity was based in large on their aggressive, sarcastic, sometimes vulgar a ...
.
In 2014, the band reformed with new singer Ivan Gatev. Their new album ''9'' was released in April 2017.
Discography
* ''
Stariyat dub'' (1988, self-released)
* ''
BG Rock I
''BG Rock I'' is a split album by the Bulgarian punk band Kontrol and new wave band Nova Generacia. It was released in 1989, and is the first release in the ''BG Rock'' series. The series was produced by Kiril Marichkov, a member of the famous Bulg ...
'' (1989,
Balkanton
Balkanton ( bg, Балкантон) was a state-owned record manufacturing company in Bulgaria founded in 1952. Many of the produced records were, or still are available in the countries of the former Soviet Bloc.
Balkanton's plant in Sofia was ...
)
* ''
BUMM (1991, Mega International Records)
* ''
The Punk Years 1988-1991
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in E ...
'' (1992, Killed by the Perestroika, bootleg containing ''Stariat dub'' and the Kontrol side of ''BG Rock I'' plus some live tracks)
* ''
Lele kako'' (1993, Unison)
* ''
88–92'' (1993, Unison)
* ''
Lyuboff'' (1994, Marlboro)
* ''
Punku nema'a umre!'' (1996, Radius)
* ''
Pazete si decata'' (1999,
Polysound)
* ''
Te t'va e!'' (2004,
Stars Records
A star is an astronomical object comprising a luminous spheroid of plasma held together by its gravity. The nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked eye at night, but their immense distances from Earth mak ...
)
* ''
9'' (2017)
External links
Kontrolat
Bulgarian Rock Archives
Bulgarian Rock Archives (or Български рок архиви) is the first online encyclopedia dedicated to rock music in Bulgaria. Launched online on 2 August 2013 and includes more than 350 bands and performers from the mid-1960s. The artic ...
Bulgarian rock music groups
Musical groups established in 1988
Musical groups disestablished in 2000
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