Riblja Čorba

Riblja Čorba is a rock band from Belgrade, Serbia, and one of the best-known acts of the former Yugoslav rock scene. It was formed in 1978 by singer Bora Đorđević, formerly of Rani Mraz and Suncokret, and three members of the band SOS: guitarist Rajko Kojić, bassist Miša Aleksić and drummer Vicko Milatović. The four agreed on the band at the Šumatovac kafana on 15 August 1978 and played their first concert in Elemir on 8 September. Momčilo Bajagić soon joined on rhythm guitar.

Their first single, "Lutka sa naslovne strane", released on 22 December 1978, was an immediate hit. The debut album Kost u grlu (1979), with "Ostani đubre do kraja" and "Rock 'n' Roll za kućni savet", sold about 120,000 copies, and on 1 September 1979 they sold out the Tašmajdan Stadium. Pokvarena mašta i prljave strasti (1981), with "Dva dinara, druže", was followed the same year by Mrtva priroda, which sold over 450,000 copies, and by Buvlja pijaca and the live album U ime naroda in 1982. A concert at the Zagreb Ice Hall on 8 February 1982 ended in tragedy, when a fourteen-year-old girl was trampled to death in the crowd.

In 1984 Bajagić and Kojić left after a dispute on a Greek tour; Bajagić went on to lead Bajaga i Instruktori, and Vidoja "Džindžer" Božinović and Nikola Čuturilo came in on guitars. Večeras vas zabavljaju muzičari koji piju (1984), with "Besni psi", which was banned, was followed by Istina (1985), often considered their masterpiece, with "Pogledaj dom svoj, anđele". "Amsterdam" was named hit of the year at the MESAM festival in 1986, and Ujed za dušu (1987) brought "Kad padne noć (Upomoć)".

Koza nostra (1990) included "Tito je vaš", one of the first Yugoslav rock songs to mock Tito openly. In the 1990s Đorđević's nationalist stance cost the band many fans in Croatia and Bosnia, while "Baba Jula" (1996) became an anthem of the 1996-1997 protests in Serbia. Later albums include Nojeva barka (1999), Pišanje uz vetar (2001), Ovde (2003), Trilogija (2007), Minut sa njom (2009), Uzbuna! (2012) and Da tebe nije (2019).

Bora Đorđević died of pneumonia on 4 September 2024, aged 71, after being admitted to a hospital in Ljubljana, and the remaining members announced that the band would end after its 21st studio album, Ljubav i smrt. In the 1998 YU 100 list of the best Yugoslav albums, Kost u grlu was ranked 16th, Mrtva priroda 19th and Pokvarena mašta i prljave strasti 23rd. In the Rock Express Top 100 Yugoslav Rock Songs of All Times, voted in 2000 by readers, critics and musicians, "Pogledaj dom svoj, anđele" was ranked first, "Dva dinara, druže" second, "Ostani đubre do kraja" 25th, "Lutka sa naslovne strane" 35th, "Rock 'n' Roll za kućni savet" 64th and "Kad padne noć (Upomoć)" 76th.