Idoli – Maljčiki / Retko Te Viđam Sa Devojkama

Idoli – Maljčiki / Retko Te Viđam Sa Devojkama (Jugoton Records) 1981. Ahhhhhh Idoli. What to do with them? One of the bands that the mysterious Neso introduced me to way back in 2007 when I got schooled in the ways of Yugo Punk. Since then I have tracked down a lot of the bands listed in that fateful post and have become a pretty big fan of Paraf, Pekinska Patka, Panktri, and to a lesser degree Prljavo Kazalište. Two bands I spent a lot of time tracking down were Electricini Orgazm, who were one of my favourite bands on the Artisticka Radna compilation, and Idoli. I’ve been unsuccessful thus far in finding Electricini Orgazm’s early stuff (hint, hint) but I came across this release a while back, which was a bit of a hit in that area of the world. Now, I have never been a big fan of ska, I like it in small doses but easily get bored with it and the A-Side of this single is definitely ska. However, it is also very, very Eastern European in how it approaches the ska. So, its kinda weird ska. A lot of cold-war era videos are available on YouTube by Idoli and the videos, along with their graphics (including the one for this 7inch); really convey a band that had one foot in the new wave and another foot in the traditional music of their native country. A country that no longer exists in the same state it did then and even then was under partial control of the Soviet Union. So once again, art transcends the affairs of man and state. I guess this is why political conservatives generally under-value it.