Abstract: During the 1970s, instances of intolerance toward young men with long hair persisted in Yugoslavia. While the state and party leadership and youth organization viewed rock and roll with sympathy, as a form of youth culture that did not conflict with socialism, certain segments of the middle class, acting in accordance with these power structures, resorted to punishment and violence against long-haired young men. It is especially striking that this unfolded during the golden decade of Yugoslav rock and roll.

Keywords: Yugoslavia, rock and roll, long hair, youth culture, socialism, intolerance

Summary: Suspicion of young men with long hair, and even violence against them, unfolded at the same time as the long-haired band Korni Grupa celebrated the struggle of the Partisans and the socialist revolution through the rock poem 1941 (1971) and the song “Ivo Lola” (1973), and while Goran Bregović and Željko Bebek, the leaders of the long-haired band Bijelo Dugme, publicly stated in 1974 that they were members of the League of Communists. To celebrate 1976, Bijelo Dugme performed in front of Josip Broz Tito at a New Year’s party organized for the Yugoslav president. The 1970s represented the pinnacle of Yugoslav rock and roll, not only in terms of the sheer number and significance of its bands, but also given the singular social phenomenon of the group Bijelo Dugme and their “Yugoslav Woodstock” – a landmark concert held at the Hajdučka česma in Belgrade (1977). These events highlight the contradictions in Yugoslav society during the 1970s and the disconnect with the messages coming from the highest authorities. Opposition to long-haired young men did not originate from the top of the state, the party or the youth organization, but rather from the middle class, embodied in the teaching staff in schools, the leaders of labor organizations, as well as some members of the militia (police). In a similar way, the middle class rebelled against the Belgrade Guitar Festival (1966), while the state and party leadership, as well as the youth organization, even then showed understanding for rock and roll as an emergent youth value. It seems that most of the intolerance stemmed from an aversion to the subversion of the patriarchal morality that long hair brought with it. Fear of drug addiction and associations with the Second World War Chetniks could have been used as additional arguments to deny young men the right to wear long hair. From 1977 onward, with the emergence of Yugoslav punk (and subsequently new wave), long hair was no longer a necessary attribute of rockers. The Novi Sad punk band Pekinška patka sang “Bolje da nosim kratku kosu” (I’d rather wear short hair) in 1980. Members of Bijelo Dugme also adopted shorter cuts. However, Bajaga's song “Pustite me druže” from 1984 shows that even in that decade, there were sometimes problems with the police over hair length.