Mrtvi kanal

Mrtvi kanal was a punk and new wave band from Rijeka. Its guitarist and songwriter Goran Vrkić dates the band from 1978 to 1983. The singer and co-founder was Diego Kernel, born on 22 May 1962, whom Novi list remembered, together with Predrag Kraljević "Kralj", as the most striking voice the Rijeka new wave scene ever had. Srećko Gaćeša "Srle" played the electric accordion, which gave the band a sound of its own.

Mrtvi kanal started as a classic punk band but soon moved to a darker punk and new wave sound, with Croatian lyrics about social issues and a punk sarcasm aimed even at punks. Songs such as "Oglasi", "Dijagnoza", "Ljetovanje u Poljskoj", "Samo tijelo", "Menza", "U korak", "Čovjek stroj" and "Smiješna djeca" became favourites of the Rijeka scene, and Kernel liked to end every concert with "Posljednji valcer". "Dijagnoza" was written in 1980, with music by Vrkić and words by Kernel.

The band never released a vinyl record in its time. In 1983 it shared a cassette with the Rijeka band Grč, released in a limited edition by Galerija ŠKUC Izdaja in Ljubljana, the label of Laibach and Borghesia. In 2008 Mrtvi kanal appeared on the compilation Riječki novi val, and the same year Dallas Records released its first album of its own, Prošlost i budućnost, with the songs of the 1983 cassette and recordings from 1979. In 2023 the Grč and Mrtvi kanal split was presented on vinyl, with Vrkić as a guest.

Diego Kernel left music young and became a successful businessman; he died in March 2020. Vrkić went on to write songs for the bands Fiume and GO Man in the 1990s, and in 2021 he recorded a new version of "Dijagnoza" in Kernel's memory, released by Dallas Records. The playlist is the band's Topic channel, with the songs of Prošlost i budućnost.