Rok Mašina ( sr-cyr, Рок Машина; trans. ''Rock Machine'') was a short-lasting Yugoslav

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a heavier subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and Distortion (music), distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the Garage rock, garage, Psychedelic rock, psychedelic and blues ...

and heavy metal band formed in

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

in 1980. Formed by former members of the progressive/hard rock band

Pop Mašina Pop Mašina ( sr-cyr, Поп Машина; trans. ''Pop Machine'') was a SFRY, Yugoslav progressive rock band formed in Belgrade in 1972. The group blended hard rock sound with blues, psychedelic rock, psychedelic and acid rock elements and is co ...

Robert Nemeček Robert Nemeček (Serbian Cyrillic: Роберт Немечек, 26 May 1949 – 9 January 2024) was a Serbian and Yugoslav musician, music producer, television editor, and organizer of events related to music. Nemeček started his musical care ...

(vocals and bass guitar) and brothers

Zoran Zoran ( sr-Cyrl, Зоран) is a common South Slavic name, the masculine form of Zora, which means ''dawn, daybreak''. The name is especially common in Serbia, North Macedonia, Croatia and to some degree in Slovenia. Notable people with this g ...

and

Vidoja Božinović Vidoja Božinović (Serbian Cyrillic: Видоја Божиновић, born 3 October 1955), also known as Džindžer (transliteration for ''Ginger''), is a Serbian musician. He is best known as the guitarist for the Serbian and former Yugoslav r ...

(guitars), Rok Mašina released only one studio album, '' Rok Mašina'', before disbanding in 1982, while in the midst of recording of their second album. Part of the material recorded for their second album appeared in 1983 on the influential

mini-album A mini-LP or mini-album is a short record album or LP, usually retailing at a lower price than an album that would be considered full-length. It is distinct from an EP due to containing more tracks and a slightly longer running length. A mini- ...

'' Izrod na granici''.

Band history

1980–1982

The band was formed in 1980 by former

members

(vocals and bass guitar) and brothers

and

(guitars), with Vladan Dokić (formerly of the bands Pop Šou and

Opus Opus (: opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera ...

, drums). With Rok Mašina, Nemeček and the Božinović brothers turned towards heavier, less complex sound than Pop Mašina's progressive/hard rock sound with

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

psychedelic Psychedelics are a subclass of hallucinogenic drugs whose primary effect is to trigger non-ordinary mental states (known as psychedelic experiences or "trips") and a perceived "expansion of consciousness". Also referred to as classic halluci ...

and

acid rock Acid rock is a loosely defined type of rock music that evolved out of the mid-1960s garage rock, garage punk movement and helped launch the psychedelia, psychedelic subculture. While the term has sometimes been used interchangeably with "psyc ...

elements. The band had its debut live appearance in 1980 in

Zagreb Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...

, as a part of the event named Pozdrav iz Beograda (''Greetings from Belgrade''). Later that year, the band released the

7-inch single In music, a single is a type of release of a song recording of fewer tracks than an album ( LP), typically one or two tracks. A single can be released for sale to the public in a variety of physical or digital formats. Singles may be standa ...

with the songs "Vatra" ("Fire") and "Bilo mi je bolje" ("I Felt Better"). In 1981, the band released their only studio album, '' Rok Mašina'', through

Jugodisk Jugodisk was a record label was established in 1968, in the then Socialist Republic of Serbia in SFR Yugoslavia in Belgrade, today Serbia. Before 1981, it was known as Beograd Disk. In 2003, the company was sold at a state auction to the show busi ...

record label. Part of the album lyrics were written by Dragana Stanaćev and Koviljka Milić, actresses of the Teatar Levo (''Left Theatre'') theatre, and the album featured Ljuba Ninković (formerly of

S Vremena Na Vreme S Vremena Na Vreme ( sr-Cyrl, С Времена На Време, trans. ''From Time To Time'') was a Serbian and Yugoslav rock band formed in Belgrade in 1972. S Vremena Na Vreme were one of the pioneers of the Yugoslav 1970s acoustic rock scene ...

) and Dragan Popović (formerly of DAG) on backing vocals. The album was produced by Nemeček and featured, beside new tracks, new versions of previously released "Vatra" and "Bilo mi je bolje". After the album release, Dragan Đorđević, a former member of

Generacija 5 Generacija 5 ( sr-Cyrl, Генерација 5; trans. ''Generation 5'') is a Serbian and Yugoslav rock band formed in Belgrade in 1977. The mainstay members of the band are keyboardist and band leader Dragoljub Ilić and guitarist Dragan Jova ...

, replaced Dokić. However, as at the time of the great popularity of new wave bands in Yugoslavia the future for the band did not seem very promising, they disbanded in 1982, in the midst of recording their second studio album. They had their last performance on the Belgrade Rock Festival held in Pionir Hall in September 1982.

Post-breakup

Part of the material recorded for the band's second studio album was released by Jugodisk in 1983 on the

'' Izrod na granici'' (''Bastard on the Border''). The album featured a live version of the song "Bilo mi je bolje", recorded at the 1982 Belgrade Rock Festival, on the band's last live performance. The song "Promašen san" ("Failed Dream") featured a recording of

Aleister Crowley Aleister Crowley ( ; born Edward Alexander Crowley; 12 October 1875 – 1 December 1947) was an English occultist, ceremonial magician, poet, novelist, mountaineer, and painter. He founded the religion of Thelema, identifying himself as the pr ...

's voice. The album cover was designed by

Jugoslav Vlahović Jugoslav Vlahović ( sr-cyr, Југослав Влаховић; born 17 March 1949) is a Serbian and Yugoslav visual artist, caricaturist, illustrator, graphic designer, photographer, art educator and retired rock musician. Vlahović is b ...

. The original cover, also designed by Vlahović, should have featured two hands with feathers thrust through them and the bands logo and album title written in red, but was, as Robert Nemeček stated in 1983, refused by the Jugodisk as "politically problematic". After Rok Mašina disbanded, Zoran Božinović retired from music. In the late 1990s, he returned to performing, starting to perform with the blues rock band

Zona B Zona B (Serbian Cyrillic: Зона Б, transl. ''Zone B'') is a Serbian and Yugoslav blues rock band formed in Belgrade in 1987. They are one of the most prominent blues rock acts of the Serbian and Yugoslav rock scenes. History Zona B was off ...

. He died on 12 July 2004. Vidoja Božinović dedicated himself to his studies of architecture at the Belgrade Faculty of Architecture. He would occasionally perform in

clubs and with the

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

band Interaction, before joining the highly popular band

Riblja Čorba Riblja Čorba ( sr-Cyrl, Рибља Чорба, pronounced ; ) is a Serbian and former Yugoslav Rock music, rock band formed in Belgrade in 1978. The band has been one of the most popular and most influential acts of the Popular music in the So ...

in 1985. Robert Nemeček became the film program editor at TV Politika. He later worked as program editor on

TV Pink Pink is a privately owned, national brand of radio stations and TV channels in Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem ...

and

Radio Television of Serbia The Serbian Broadcasting Corporation, more commonly referred to as Radio Television of Serbia (), or RTS (), is the state-owned public radio and television broadcaster of Serbia. RTS has four organizational units – radio, television, music pro ...

and eventually as the editor-in-chief of

TV Avala TV Avala (full legal name: TV Avala d.o.o., Serbian Cyrillic: ТВ Авала) was a Serbian television network with national frequency. Registered as a limited liability company, the station was given a national TV frequency in Serbia in April 2 ...

. In 1994, the band's song "Nulti čas" ("Zero Hour") was released on Komuna compilation album '' Pakleni vozači: Jugoslovenski hard rock'' (''Hell Riders: Yugoslav Hard Rock''). In 2001, One Records released the compilation album entitled ''Rok Mašina'', which featured all the tracks from both their self-titled debut and ''Izrod na granici''. In 2008, Nemeček released a collection of Pop Mašina recordings on the box set ''Antologija 1972 – 1976'' (''Anthology 1972 – 1976''). During the following years, Vidoja Božinović tried to persuade him to do the similar thing with Rok Mašina recordings. Finally, in 2015, the compilation album ''Antologija 1980 – 1983'' was released through Multimedia Music. The songs released on the album were remastered by Nemeček himself and his son Jan. The compilation featured all the material officially released by Rok Mašina, previously unreleased recordings and a book about the band."Za rok sladokusce: Antologija grupe "Rok Mašina"", Blic
/ref> The previously unreleased recordings included the song "Umbra Zonule" (

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

for " Twilight Zone"), originally performed by Nemeček's 1960s band Dogovor iz 1804. and later recorded by Rok Mašina. Robert Nemeček died in Belgrade on 8 January 2024.

Legacy

In 2012,

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

band

Kanda, Kodža i Nebojša Kanda, Kodža i Nebojša ( sr-cyr, Канда, Коџа и Небојша; , trans. ''Probably, Plenty and Daredevil'') is a Serbian alternative rock band from Belgrade. History Formation, first releases (1990–1995) The band, consisting of ...

recorded a cover of Rok Mašina's song "Granica" ("Border") for the

New Year's Eve In the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Eve refers to the evening, or commonly the entire day, of the last day of the year, 31 December, also known as Old Year's Day. In many countries, New Year's Eve is celebrated with dancing, eating, drinkin ...

edition of Radio Television of Serbia show ''Bunt'' (''Rebellion'')."Kanda kodža i Nebojša - Granica (Rok mašina)", YouTube
/ref> In 2019, the same song was covered by Serbian blues rock band

Texas Flood ''Texas Flood'' is the debut studio album by the American blues rock band Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble, released on June 13, 1983, by Epic Records. The album was named after a cover song featured on the album, " Texas Flood", which wa ...

on their cover album ''Tražim ljude kao ja'' (''I'm Looking for the People like Me''). The song "Nulti čas" was covered in 2018 by Serbian heavy metal band Orvel 69 on their self-titled EP.

Discography

Studio albums

*'' Rok Mašina'' (1981) *'' Izrod na granici'' (1983)

Compilations

*''Rok Mašina'' (2001) *''Antologija 1980 - 1983'' (2015)

Singles

*"Vatra" / "Bilo mi je bolje" (1980)

References

External links

Rok Mašina
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. Database contents are user-generated, and described in ''T ...