Rock music in Romania
Romanian rock is a
As a result, the rock music that is currently performed in Romania features a politically influenced profile that equipoised censorship policies in
However, the strict government regulations practised in Romania during the
History
Rock music, which rapidly gained momentum during the 1960s in communist Romania, was a rather controversial topic, mainly because of the regime's propaganda against Western culture. In 1971, this fear culminated with the famous July Theses. Thanks to its growing popularity, rock music was regulated, but allowed to flourish in Romania, often triggering a generation gap not dissimilar to that of the West or other Eastern European countries.[citation needed]
"Electric guitar bands"
Rock and roll didn't really gain solid ground in Romania until the early 1960s. During the 1950s, all art forms were highly influenced with proletkult. The 1950s' vogue in music was latin jazz and tango. The music was sometimes thought of as inventive, but it mostly resembled kitsch.[citation needed]
Little is known about the beginning of rock music in Romania; however, some of the earliest artists were: Uranus (founded in 1961, in Timișoara),[1] Cometele (The Comets, 1962, Bucharest),[2] Sfinţii (The Saints, 1962, Timișoara),[3] Entuziaştii (The Enthusiasts, 1963, Bucharest).[4] Such early bands survived for only a couple of years (Except for Sfinţii, who later became Transsylvania Phoenix and is still active), but the musicians carried on playing in other bands, soon to become famous. The rock trend started in Romania with The Young Ones (1961), a feature film starring singer Cliff Richard.[citation needed]
Rock music was actually seldom called by its name in Romania (and in other East European countries); however, the term beat was sometimes used instead (this was also the name of an EPs series, released in the late 1960s). However, rock bands were much more often referred to as "electric guitar bands" (ro. formaţii de chitare electrice). The use of alternative names in the 1960s does not mean that the term "rock" was banned or avoided, but shows that there was a different perspective on the whole phenomenon.[citation needed]
Aftermath of the July Theses
All through the 1960s, Romanian rock bands were permitted to sing in English or other foreign languages; moreover, covers of Western music were requested by Electrecord itself (the state recording label), to increase disc sales.
In 1971, President
Post-communist era
With the disappearance of state censorship after the
Music festivals such as Stufstock and Peninsula / Félsziget Festival further helped with the popularization of Romanian rock, including to neighboring countries, such as Bulgaria and Hungary.
In 2011, the first edition of Summer Well Festival took place near Bucharest, on the Ştirbey domain, in Buftea. Thanks to this festival, many indie, brit-pop or electro bands such as The Wombats, Interpol or Chew Lips were promoted and shown to the Romanian public.
Notable bands
- Altar
- Bere Gratis
- Byron
- Cargo
- Celelalte Cuvinte
- Compact
- Grimus
- Direcția 5
- Holograf
- Iris
- Krypton
- Kumm
- Luna Amară
- Magica
- Negură Bunget
- Proconsul
- Progresiv TM
- Sfinx
- Taxi
- The Kryptonite Sparks
- Timpuri Noi
- Transsylvania Phoenix
- Trooper
- Urma
- Vița de Vie
- Voltaj
- Tectonic
- Om la lună
Romanian rock musicians
- Dan Andrei Aldea
- Mircea Baniciu
- Dan Bittman
- Sorin Chifiriuc
- Nicu Covaci
- Mircea Florian
- Josef Kappl
- Ovidiu Lipan
- Adrian Ordean
- Teo Peter
- Costin Petrescu
- Günther Reininger
- Valeriu Sterian
- Octave Octavian Teodorescu
- A. G. Weinberger
- Dorin Liviu Zaharia
Bibliography
- Caraman Fotea, Daniela and Nicolau, Cristian (1999). Rock, Pop, Folk Dictionary, Humanitas Publishing House, Bucharest. ISBN 973-28-0910-8
- Ionescu, Doru (2005). Time of Electric Guitars. A Journey Log through the Romanian Television's Archives, volume 1, Humanitas Educational, Bucharest. ISBN 973-689-064-3
- Preda, Caterina (2009). Dictators and Dictatorships: Artistic Expressions of the Political in Romania and Chile (1970s–1989): No paso nada...?, Universal-Publishers, Boca Raton, ISBN 978-1-59942-310-4.
References
- ^ Caraman Fotea, p. 527
- ^ Ionescu, p. 77
- ^ Ionescu, p. 85
- ^ An interview with Dimitrie Cădere, former guitarist with the band Entuziaștii, published on Muzici și Faze (12 December 2005)
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