Belgrade, Serbia

Tram number two against poor taste

Published: September 15, 2009

Guest post by JJ Beba

An interesting promo tour was organized on Friday, 11th of September – in one of Belgrade’s trams number two. The organizer, famous rock journalist Peca Popovic, together with the Belgrade tourist organization and the City Public transportation, created a unique travel through city’s music history.

The tour started at the pier, where the tram number two usually starts from. Both famous and not-so-famous city faces – rockers, musicians, actors, journalists, photographers, and other city slickers – gathered first around an improvised bar and shortly afterwards filled the tram. The ride could start.

From the pier via Savamala,  on a warm September night, a musical tram went on its “nostalgic tour”. First – through Karadjordjeva street, the first officially planned street in the city – the same way Strauss, invited by Prince Obrenovic, brought the waltz to Belgrade. And while the tram number two went by the place where, across the street from “Shtayga” [slang for the Belgrade Train station] where the brass bands from all over Serbia were resting, leaning on their old vans covered in bizarre stickers, practicing some “southern comfort” songs, we find out the shocking truth that Strauss came to Belgrade before the brass trumpet. Brass bands came first to Kragujevac and only then to Belgrade.

First music concert in our city was held in 1842, 11 years before the arrival of the first ćevap, and many years before Madonna, Stones, AC/DC and other rock circuses. In 1847, Johan Strauss II was the first world music celebrity to visit our city.

While the passengers in the tram were listening to the musical history of the city, a projector was showing black and white photos of dances and concerts from the old days.

Near Slavija, “where the tram rail curves” we heard the story about the famous disco Akvarius which was located right across the street from today’s McDonald’s in Deligradska street, as well as one of the first private music studios which was located right next to it.

Peca was telling his time travelers stories about the first Belgrade clubs where the fun went on into the wee hours, about concerts, balls, dances, fairs; about wild parties at rafts, raves, Sajam Guitar festival, Hajducka cesma gatherings…

The tram ended its musical journey by the ZOO, under the Kalemegdan, the mythical place of the 60’s musical Belgrade, where the socialist youth danced the twist while listening to sounds of Mile Lojpur’s hand-made guitar, and dreaming of bubble-gums, wind-jackets and jeans from Trieste, Italy.

We could hear the names of Belgrade’s first rock-and-roll bands – Siluete [The Silhouettes], Sanjalice [The Dreamers], Zlatni dečaci [The Golden Boys] which were the foundation for the generations of rockers playing today, and which, unfortunately, like many things in Serbia today, now are completely forgotten.

These were the times of Belgrade’s good taste. The poor taste came later, during the nineties of the last century.

Here is the soundtrack of the “Tour called Nostalgia”, take a listen to some of the songs by clicking the titles:

1. Srpski kadril – Johan Štraus II

2. Jurišni marš – Josif Šlezinger

3. Što se bore misli moje – Kornelije Stanković

4. Druga rukovet – Stevan St. Mokranjac

5. Devojko mala – Đuza Stoiljković

6. Beograde – Đorđe Marjanović

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