La Strada (band)

La Strada
La Strada in 1985, from left to right: Daniel Stari, Žolt Horvat, Robert Radić, Jasmina Mitrušić and Slobodan Tišma
Background information
Origin	Novi Sad, Serbia, Yugoslavia
Genres	New wave, post-punk, alternative rock, neo-psychedelia, indie pop
Years active	1979 – 1981 1984 – 1987
Labels	PGP-RTB, "M" Produkcija Radio Novog Sada, Ding Dong, PMK
Associated acts	Atheist Rap, Boye, Ekatarina Velika, Griva, Jakarta, Kontraritam, Laboratorija Zvuka, Love Hunters, Luna, Obojeni Program, Pekinška Patka, Veliki Prezir
Past members	see the members section

La Strada (Serbian Cyrillic: Ла Страда; Italian for The Road) was a Serbian and former Yugoslav new wave and later alternative rock band from Novi Sad.

Formed in 1979 by Slobodan Tišma, the band recorded a three-song demo which was often broadcast on Radio Novi Sad. Having changed several lineups and despite having well received live appearances, the band disbanded in 1981. Tišma with at the time La Strada members Zoran Bulatović "Bale" and Ivan Fece "Firchie" formed Luna. After the Luna disbandment, in 1984 Tišma reformed La Strada with the former La Strada bassist Danijel Stari, former Luna member Jasmina Mitrušić "Mina", guitarist Žolt Horvat and drummer Robert Radić. The lineup entered the studio during the same year, however, it was in 1987 that the eponymous debut album La strada was released. After the album release the band lineup had changed but the band nevertheless disbanded soon afterward. In 2004, Luna reunited and performed at the Exit festival, and during the same year Tišma performed a solo concert with a half-hour set of La Strada songs at the Pančevo Grrr! festival, with the recording from the performance being released in 2011 under the La Strada moniker.

In 1979, Slobodan Tišma (guitar, lead vocals) also known as "Deda" ("Grandpa"), a rock veteran and poet, inspired by the increasing popularity of new wave music in Yugoslavia formed La Starada, naming it by the Federico Fellini movie La Strada. The rest of the band consisted of Danijel Stari (bass guitar, arrangements), Boris Oslovčan "Bora" (bass guitar), Siniša Ilić "Siki" (guitar) and Dragan Nastasić "Gane" (guitar) and a temporary drummer Siniša Sekulić "Sekula". The band functioned with a studio and a live lineup as Stari did not want to perform live and bassist Oslovčan was his live replacement and drummer Sekulić also did not perform live so the band instead used a rhythm machine. The lineup made their first recordings in the Vranešević brothers studio, which consisted of three songs "On" ("Himself"), "Sat" ("Clock") and "Narcis" ("Narcicus") which were often broadcast on radio Novi Sad's shows Yu Pop Scena (Yu Pop Scene) and Novi Vidici (New Views) hosted by Dragan Gojković "Goja", one of the promoters of new wave music in Novi Sad. The former two tracks appeared on the semi-official compilation album Hokej klub Virginitas (Hokey Club Virginity), released in 1988 by Ding Dong Records.