The monograph entitled “Smak” represents an important and indispensable part of Serbian and Yugoslav musical culture, especially when it comes to its sub-genre called rock and roll. Although a band from Kragujevac, “Smak” is of exceptional importance to Kraljevo and the people of Kraljevo, given that its two members are drummer Slobodan Stojanović Kepa and keyboardist Laza Ristovski from Kraljevo. Smak had its beginnings in Kraljevo, where the song “Blues in the Park” was created.
The author of the monograph is Ksenija Đerković, a journalist and archivist at the Historical Archives of Šumadija in Kragujevac. The book, which is almost 600 pages long, includes photographs from all periods of the band’s work, history, newspaper articles from the press throughout the then Yugoslavia, posters, placards and concert tickets, discography, song lyrics, fan letters, anecdotes about the band, interesting facts, biographies of all band members. Most of the material is from the family archive of the author of the Monograph, given that she is the daughter of one of the founders and drummer of the band “Smak”, Slobodan Stojanović Kepa. The monograph contains authorial texts by rock critic Branimir Lokner (Monograph reviewer) and Petar Janjatović, as well as rock photographer Branislav Brajan Rašić and the author of the Monograph, Ksenija Đerković. The publisher of the monograph is the Kragujevac-based Association “Smakovci”, and the publication of the monograph “Smak” was supported by SOKOJ, the city of Čačak, the city of Kraljevo and the National Museum Kraljevo.
The rock band “Smak” was founded on December 4th, 1971 in Kragujevac by guitarist Radomir Mihajlović Točak, drummer Slobodan Stojanović Kepa and bassist Zoran Milanović. At the beginning of their career, the band worked on the route Kraljevo – Čačak – Kragujevac, in the cities where the three founders of the band come from. Even before the first official discographic releases, the band had a large fan base in cities across Serbia, and many of them followed them at their performances. The band, reinforced by another Kraljevo resident, Laza Ristovski, and singer Boris Aranđelović, began recording for record labels throughout Yugoslavia and Germany. Its popularity grew, and the group “Smak”, regardless of the changes in the lineup, gained the status of one of the biggest rock bands in Yugoslavia in the 1970s and 1980s.
The monograph was preceded by a retrospective exhibition of the archive materials of the group “Smak” called “Smak 50” from 2022, when the group celebrated half a century of existence. The exhibition was a guest at the National Museum Kraljevo during 2023.
The book reviewer Branimir Bane Lokner and author Ksenija Đerković will speak at the promotion, with musical accompaniment by Jovan Pantić.