Mid-January 1980, after a Leb i sol concert, drummer Srđan Gojković Gile (born April 8, 1961, in Belgrade), guitarist Ljubomir Jovanović Jovec (January 16, 1961) — both members of the band Hipnotisano Pile (named after a line from Iggy Pop’s “Lust for Life”) — and keyboardist Ljubomir Đukić Ljuba (August 25, 1960) were sitting in the Belgrade kafana “Mornar.” They came up with the idea to form the punk band Električni Orgazam in which Gile would play guitar and sing, and Jovec would be on drums. Their first performance was in early June 1980 in the small hall of SKC, where they opened for Hipnotisano Pile — in other words, for themselves. The lineup was Gile (guitar), Ljuba (keyboards), Jovec (drums), Goran Sinadinović (guitar) and Marina Vulić (bass, born February 20, 1962).
Because the audience that night reacted better to the opening act, they continued as Električni Orgazam. When the charismatic drummer Goran Čavajda Čavke (ex-Butik, born 1962) joined, Jovec moved to guitar and Sinadinović left to form the band Petar i zli vuci. With Čavke they played their first party gig and shortly after performed at the Palilula Cultural Olympics, where they confidently stopped the show due to poor sound. In autumn 1980 at the “Omladina” festival in Subotica they caused a scandal with an energetic show that included tearing down a microphone, smashing cymbals and breaking garish lamps that were part of the kitschy stage decor. They were immediately disqualified. In early 1981, together with Idoli and Šarlo Akrobata, they recorded the LP Paket aranžman which included the songs “Krokodili dolaze,” “Zlatni papagaj” (backing vocals by Bora Đorđević) and “Vi” (lead vocal Ljuba). Jugoton immediately gave them a chance and they were the first of the Belgrade new-wave trio to record a debut album. They were one of the few bands privileged to “grow up in public.” Produced by Ivan Piko Stančić, they captured an authentic sound of the period on songs like “Nebo,” “Konobar,” “I’ve Got a Feeling” (a Beatles cover), and new versions of “Krokodili dolaze” and “Vi.” While working on that record Čavke was serving in the army, so Branko Kuštrin Mango from Grupa I played drums. The album sleeve, in punk design style, was made by Gile. The record received very good reviews, and their concerts recruited an ever-widening audience. Based on that record, Kris Bon (Kris Bohn), a writer for New Musical Express, called Električni Orgazam one of the most exciting non-British bands; part of the pressing could be bought in England. In autumn 1981 Marina Vulić left and was replaced by Jovan Jovanović Grof. Čavke returned at the same time and in November they went to Poland. Organized by a student, Gregor Bžožović, who had lived in Belgrade in the late ’70s, they played five shows: three in Warsaw, one in Kraków and one in Kalisz. Their first Warsaw show on November 8 at the club “Rivijera Remont” was recorded on an ordinary cassette recorder, and the concert mini-LP Warszawa 81 presented six songs in a limited run of 2,000 copies. The raw recording was post-produced by Slobodan Konjović and stands as a faithful document of the band’s sound and the audience reaction, which rarely had the chance to attend punk concerts. During “Konobar” the PA system failed for half a minute, and someone in the crowd threw tear gas during that time. The short confusion and interruption are captured on the record, along with two new songs, “Leptir” and “Razgovori.”
The LP Lišće prekriva Lisabon was recorded in Ljubljana’s Tivoli studio and produced with Toni Juri. According to Gile, the album’s title came from a Barbara Cartland romance, and the seventeen new songs introduced a very different Električni Orgazam that embraced a new-psych vision. Each song title was a single word; on tracks like “Podstanar,” “Znam,” “Afrika” and “Alabama” (which includes a textual nod to Bertolt Brecht in a Doors-like interpretation) Ljuba sang part of the lyrics alongside Gile. On “Dokolica” Gile used text from a sociology book, while “Leptir,” “Podstanar” and “Odelo” addressed classic urban alienations. Trumpeter Petar Ugrin guested on “Alabama” and “Leptir.” The LP was accompanied by the single “Dokolica” and its dub version. On December 25, 1982, they held an unusual “New Year’s concert for girls” in the small SKC club, where only (younger) female audience members could attend; the only man in the audience was rock critic Dragan Kremer, who reported on the show. In autumn 1983, Piko and Gile called themselves Hijene and, inspired by the New York underground scene, recorded the record WooDoo za početnike. Dissatisfied with labels’ treatment, they did not release it, but those songs strongly inspired the later album Distorzija. The next recording step was the somewhat unexpected LP Les Chansones Populaires, named after Claude François’s 1973 album. They covered Bowie’s “The Man Who Sold The World” (sung by Ljuba), “Metal Guru” (T. Rex), “When The Music’s Over” (The Doors) and others. The hit was “Locomotion,” originally recorded by Little Eva in 1962. All eight covers were produced by Gile, Ljuba, Toni Juri and Piko, who also played drums because Čavke was in prison. Mango again played drums on tour. When Čavke returned before the next album sessions, Jovec left. Gile and Grof produced Kako bubanj kaže with guest musicians Piko Stančić, Ivan Pajević (guitar), Goran Pojatić (piano), Kire Mitrev (trombone), Ivan Švager (sax) and Goce Dimitrovski (trumpet). Vocals alternated between Gile and Ljuba. The material took them back to early-’70s Rolling Stones, as suggested by the sleeve design. The album includes “Fras u šupi” as part of a trilogy that David Albahari titled the same in his short-story collection, and Miloš Komadina used the song title in his collection Etika trave. All songs were composed by Gile; Čavke wrote the music for “Pričam o tebi.” After the album’s release Ljuba left the band and moved to New York in 1989.
The album sold poorly and at a promotional concert in Zagreb they sold just thirteen tickets. They also fell into a personnel crisis. For a short time the guitar was played by Ivan Pajević, then Nikola Čuturilo, until Branislav Petrović Banana (ex-Pasta ZZ, Bezobrazno zeleno, born April 19, 1963) settled in the role. Before recording Distorzija in 1986, Grof quit the band and Zoran Radomirović Švaba (ex-Butik, Muzej Sarvan, Ljudska Bića, Katarina II, Du Du A, born September 14, 1960, in Smederevska Palanka) became the bassist. With Distorzija they made a major comeback. With simple, inspired rock’n’roll songs they produced a string of hits: “Debela devojka,” “Ja sam težak kao konj,” “Ne postojim,” “Vudu bluz,” “Kapetan Esid,” “Ša la la.” The LP includes a cover of Richard Berry’s “Lui Lui”; the material was produced by Piko and Gile and the sleeve was made by painter Radovan Hiršl (born 1946 in Zagreb). The live album Braćo i sestre was recorded at the Kulušić club on October 17–19, 1986. The record opens with an effective introduction by Dražen Vrdoljak; Ljuba sang as a guest on “Locomotion,” and the only new song was “Bejbe, ti nisi tu,” a cover of The Rolling Stones’ “Out of Time.” Hiršl again designed the sleeve. With the album Letim, sanjam, dišem they repeated the previous form and recorded successful tracks like “Igra rock’n’roll cela Jugoslavija” (guitar solo by Nebojša Antonijević), “Ti,” “Poljubi me i priznaj mi,” “Sve ste vi naše devojke.” The record was produced by Gile, Piko and Teodor Jani (Theodore Yanni), with Saša Lokner guesting on keyboards. They promoted the album with a concert at Tašmajdan in summer 1988. They soon released a best-of compilation and then stopped working for a while. At the end of 1988 Gile recorded a semi-acoustic, stripped-down solo album, Evo sada vidiš da može, with help from Čavke, Koja, Vlada Divljan, Ljuba Đukić, Banana, Ivica Vdović, Bajaga, Anton and Cane. Besides Gile’s songs, the album includes “Mladi luk,” a cover of the instrumental “Green Onions” recorded by Booker T. & the M.G.’s in 1962. The record was promoted with a briefly formed band Fanatici featuring Divljan, Švaba and drummer Srba Radivojević (Van Gogh). Čavke soon moved to Australia, and in 1989 Gile composed music for the omnibus film Kako je propao rokenrol for the short “Nije sve u ljubavi…” (dir. Vladimir Slavica). Gile’s, Koja’s and Divljan’s songs appeared on the film’s soundtrack. Gile and Divljan made songs together and Gile composed music solo for the film Crni bombarder directed by Darko Bajić. On the acoustic version of “Sex, droga, nasilje i strah” Gile sang and played acoustic guitar, Milan Mladenović played harmonica, and Cane sang in the chorus. The film music is on the soundtrack Crni bombarder. Gile and Divljan recorded two albums for younger listeners: Rokenrol za decu and Rokenrol bukvar with lyrics by Ljubivoje Ršumović; these were the decade’s best-selling children’s releases. Both also acted in the stage production Rokenrol za decu at the Boško Buha theatre, which ran over a hundred performances. Gile, Vlada, Piko and Švaba recorded the 1990 album Lutka koja kaže ne with guest pianist Saša Šandorov; songs were written by Vlada and Gile. Čavke rejoined for concert promotions after returning from Australia. During a break Švaba, Banana, keyboardist Zoran Zagorčić (ex-Du Du A), guitarist Ivan Pajević and drummer Vlada Funtek played in the band Trans. Švaba and Banana also performed with Revolveri.
At the end of 1991 Električni Orgazam resumed activity. On the record Seks, droga, nasilje i strah / Balkan horror rock the A-side featured five new songs, including “Mala lopta mentalna” composed by Gile and Čavke. The B-side had live recordings of old hits from a Studio M concert in April 1992 in Novi Sad. The sleeve was made by Linda Čavajda, Čavke’s Australian wife. The cassette Balkan horror rock II included additional live tracks from the Novi Sad show and recordings of “Svečane bele košulje” and “Mjau Mjau” (from Crni bombarder) made at Radio B92’s birthday concert. In early 1992 Gile, Čavke, Švaba, Milan Mladenović, Anton and Cane formed the anti-war group Rimtutituki and recorded the single “Šlušaj ‘vamo” released by Radio B92. Električni Orgazam, EKV and Partibrejkers performed with the Zagreb band Vještice on September 2–3, 1993 in Prague and Berlin at concerts titled “Ko to tamo pjeva?”. In October the band was one of the first Serbian groups to play in Ljubljana, appearing with Majke from Vinkovci and Res Nullius from Velenje; they also played in Maribor, Koper and Hum, and frequently performed in Macedonia. The double album Zašto da ne! was recorded in mid-1994 and combined the styles of Lišće prekriva Lisabon and Distorzija with a ’90s sensibility. At that time they played with guitarist Dejan Radisavljević Role (ex-Revolveri), keyboardist Zoran Zagorčić, and second drummer Srđan Žika Todorović. Guests included Cane, politician Nenad Čanak (ex-Zlatni dijamanti, flute), actor Nenad Racković (backing vocals) and Neša Petrović (sax). Banana emerged as a songwriter on several acoustic-leaning tracks; “Dajem ljubav” was composed by Banana and Zagorčić. Per Gile’s idea, sleeve art and a companion comic were done by Leonid Pilipović of Džukele. After the album Čavke left to focus on Babe, which he had played with informally since 1992. Vlada Funtek (ex-Pasta ZZ, Partibrejkers) became the new drummer. In early 1995 they marked fifteen years with a concert at the Belgrade club Prostor. The following July they played London’s The Bottom Line; Marina Vulić (living in London since 1985, working in video production) edited a video from the performance. The unplugged CD Živo i akustično was recorded on April 17, 1996 at Studio M; they were introduced by Zdenko Kolar and the new drummer was Miloš Velimir, with guests Margita Stefanović (piano, Farfisa), Boris Bunjac (percussion) and Deže Molnar (sax). Alongside new arrangements of their songs they covered Korni Grupa’s “Magična ruka.” On July 10, 1998 they were stars at a concert in Bugojno alongside ex-YU acts. At that time the band included Gile and Banana, plus bassist Zdenko Kolar and drummer Ivan Ranković (ex-Tvrdo srce i velike uši, EKV).
The comeback CD A um bum was released at the end of 1999. Miloš Velimir was again on drums and guests included rock veterans Kornelije Kovač, Branko Marušić Čutura and Bata Kostić. Younger contributors were Slobodan Misailović (keyboards), Srđan Todorović and Ivan Ranković. Cataclysmic drawings on the sleeve were done by Gile; much of the songs relied on an acoustic sound reminiscent of Bob Dylan. Banana sang lead on “Gde da nađem takvu devojku” and “Ja nisam znao neke stvari.” In May 2000 they played successfully at Zagreb’s Tvornica. A second concert at KSET was canceled after police found 0.22 grams of heroin on Gile; he spent a night in jail and was released in the morning with a 250 DEM fine. The affair generated wide media attention; officers in jail asked Gile for an autograph and took photos with him. The compilation Najbolje pesme Vol. 2 collects material from the ’90s. The album Harmonajzer was produced by Koja, with Gile and Banana as co-producers.