Parni valjak (“Steamroller”) is a Croatian and former Yugoslav rock band, formed in 1975. They were one of the top acts of the former Yugoslav Rock scene, and one of the top rock-and-roll bands in Croatia.
On their first record, the members of the Zagreb group said that they were a rock ‘n’ roll band. They then proved it with numerous successful live appearances. On their second album, they promised that they were willing to go headlong through walls, while on their third album, the first to be internationally distributed, they said that they were city kids who beside being musicians were fond of stories.
The fourth album “Vruce igre” (“Hot games”) which was like it predecessor recorded in the CBS Milan studios dwelt on the favorite themes of the founding members, singer Aki Rahimovski and guitarist/composer Husein Hasanefendic. To cool things down, they went to Sweden to record the next, prophetically titled album “Vrijeme je na nasoj strani” (“Time Is On Our Side”) but there was no way to keep the steam down and in the Eighties and Nineties “Parni Valjak” (in Croatian “Steam Roller”) fulfilled all the promises of previous albums, all of which went gold or platinum and achieved sales in the millions. The current group has played together since 1988.
During the recording of the album “Sjaj u ocima” the rhythm section was rejuvenated and infused with new musical ideas with the arrival of bass player Zorislav Preksavec and drummer Drazen Scholz, who joined the remaining founder members Hasanefendic and Rahimovski. This winning team which has claimed by far the most “Porins”, the Croatian music awards, was joined in 1988 by the keyboard player Berislav Blazevic and the actual crew was completed in 1991 with the arrival of the lead guitarist Marijan Brkic. The twentieth anniversary of the group was celebrated by recording the excellent unplugged retrospective “Bez struje - Live in ZeKaeM” (1995), definitive proof that the public reaction to Husein Hasanefendic’s songs does not depend on the amount of electricity used and the warmth of the plugs. The undiluted striving for musical progress and the highest standard of musicianship attracted the attention of the managers of the powerful company “Warner Chapell”, which has represented “Parni valjak” since 1996 throughout Europe and manages their publishing rights worldwide.
After a successful experiment with different instrumentations on “Bez struje - Live in ZeKaeM”, the group on the next album “Samo snovi teku uzvodno” (1998) again leans on a pronounced guitar based rock sound.
The same features are present on “Zastave” (2000) but the album that celebrated the twenty fifth anniversary of the group activity has inspired Hus to write several brilliant songs in which he has confronted mature life experience with youthful ideals.
The last studio album was “Pretezno suncano” (2004), and their last public performance in 2005 was a concert on New Year’s eve in Ban Jelačić Square in Zagreb, CroatiaZagreb, Croatia though they stated that more concerts may be held in future. In November 2009, they began a reunion tour in Croatia, performing in nine Croatian cities, finally ending the tour on December 26, 2009.
