In Search of Tito’s Punks

On the Road in a Country That No Longer Exists

Barry Phillips (Independent researcher)

$65.95

Hardback

Not in-store but you can order this
How long will it take?

Availability Information

We source books from suppliers in Australia and overseas. For books we don't currently have in stock, the time it takes to get them from our suppliers can vary widely - from a few days to a few months - so we check each book with each supplier to determine the expected time it will take to be supplied to us.

We then advise you accordingly. If the time taken to get any book is too long for you, you can let us know and we will cancel or adjust your order, and refund as required.

To find out the anticipated arrival time for specific items prior to ordering, please contact us by phone or email:

Phone +61 2 9264 3111, or 1800 4 BOOKS (1800 4 26657) if outside Sydney:
option 1 Abbey's Bookshop (Crime, History, Science, Kids & more) • info@abbeys.com.au
option 2 Language Book Centre (ESL & Foreign Languages) • language@abbeys.com.au
option 3 Galaxy Bookshop (Sci-fi, Fantasy, Romance, Graphic Novels) • sf@galaxybooks.com.au

QTY:

English

Intellect Books
11 August 2023

Punk, New Wave & Indie; Individual composers & musicians, bands & groups; Society & culture: general; Travel writing

Series: Global Punk

A look at the vibrant punk scene that exploded in Yugoslavia during Marshal Josip Broz Tito’s final years.

In 1981, Demob, a young multiracial punk rock band from a stagnating provincial English city, recorded “No Room For You,” a song that sold a few thousand copies before fading into history. The bass player was eighteen-year-old Barry Phillips, and in 2011, he received a Facebook message letting him know that the song was famous throughout the Balkans and had been covered by notable Yugoslavian punk bands. Hoping to understand how Demob’s song had taken root in the communist-era Balkans, Phillips traveled to the former Yugoslavia to learn about the punk scene that emerged in the waning years of Josip Broz Tito’s rule. From Ljubljana to Rijeka to Novi Sad, Yugoslavia boasted one of the most dynamic punk rock and new wave scenes in the world. Rooted not only in western punk rock but also local Balkan folk music, its regional varieties each had a discernible DNA fused with Slavonian Tamburitza, Bosnian Sevdah, or the Dalmatian a cappella, Klapa.

In Search of Tito’s Punks includes interviews with Pankrti (Bastards), Darko Rundek, KUD Idijoti (Cultural Idiots), KBO!, Atheist Rap, and other heroes of Yugoslavian punk and post-punk music, as well as cultural commentators, journalists, filmmakers, authors, and punks. Phillips learns of border “walls” and Brutalism, discovers the world’s first fascist micro-state, sees the legacy of the NATO bombings and the impact of “turbo-capitalism,” and hears the recurrent echoes of genocides and the Holocaust. He also describes a gig where the entire village, including the mayor, came out to party with punks, and uncovers an unlikely relationship between Yugoslav music fans and an independent record shop in Wales.

The first English-language book devoted to the punk and post-punk scene in the former Yugoslavia, In Search of Tito’s Punks is an accessible, humane, honest, and rigorous look at a cultural movement that flourished during a period of political upheaval.

By: Barry Phillips (Independent researcher)
Imprint: Intellect Books
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Edition: New edition
Dimensions: Height: 210mm, Width: 148mm,
ISBN: 9781789387315
ISBN 10: 1789387310
Series: Global Punk
Pages: 260
Publication Date: 11 August 2023
Audience: General/trade , Professional and scholarly , ELT Advanced , Undergraduate
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Barry Phillips is a historian. He is also a former musician and singer-songwriter, former speech writer and policymaker, former ID parade suspect, shelf-stacker and barman.

Reviews for In Search of Tito’s Punks: On the Road in a Country That No Longer Exists

'Barry Phillips has written a very important book here. It is important for understanding Yugo Punk, and has clear relevance [...] to the study of punk generally. More than that, by focusing on lived punk lives rather than on the politics, geopolitics, and the imagined primordial ancient hatreds that are held to define the Balkans, Phillips has made a significant contribution to Yugoslav and Balkan studies. This is an excellent book, an eye-opener both for those interested in the Balkans, and those interested in punk. And beautifully realised in print, paper, and card by the Punk Scholars Network, who clearly take book production as craft very seriously. Very punky. A must-read.' -- Mike Diboll, Toxic Grafity