Hipodil
Encyclopedia
Hipodil is a Bulgaria
n rock
band, founded 1988 in Sofia
by four classmates from the local Mathematics High School. The band describe their music as alco-agro-porno-punk though elements of ska
, hard rock
and heavy metal
are used en masse as well.
Hipodil's popularity however is based in large on their aggressive, sarcastic, sometimes vulgar and explicit but yet humorous lyrics. Because of that Hipodil are known as a "scandalous and rebellious" band. Their main goal is to entertain the listener and themselves; most of the lyrics concern topics such as alcohol
, sex
, women, the status quo
, etc.; they frequently ridicule famous Bulgarian and non-Bulgarian people and even politicians (and sometimes songs). Nevertheless, the band has some pretty serious tracks with complex and socially oriented lyrics. All the lyrics are in Bulgarian
and are written by vocalist Svetoslav Vitkov (Svetlyo). Most of the music is composed by guitarist Petar Todorov (Pesho). In a great number of songs, guest musicians take part, adding mainly to the brass
section.
The first public performance of the band was at Sofia's Summer Theatre, an open air stage in the largest city park, where the band performed the song "Zidaromazachi" (Wallplasterers), a parody of the ruling communist
regime, which got them into minor trouble with the authorities.
In 1992, after a couple of line-up changes and after recruiting the new vocalist Svetoslav Vitkov, Hipodil recorded the songs "Bira s vodka" (Beer With Vodka), "Bira" (Beer), "Chift ochi" (A Pair of Eyes, a song referring to a woman, described as "a pair of eyes and the rest of her -- ass), "Himna" (The Anthem), "Jenata" (The Woman) and "Klitoren orgasm" (Clitoral Orgasm). Next year, the band released their first studio album called Alkoholen delirium
(Alcoholic Delirium). The band immediately launched a self-bankrolled national tour, which turned quite successful. At one of the tour concerts in Varna
, a mass alcohol-fuelled disorder erupted and all band members and some of the audience were arrested. This event, along with the explicit lyrics of most of their songs gave Hipodil their "scandal aura".
The Varna incident inspired a song - "Hipodili" (Hipodils) - which Hipodil put in their next album, Nekuf ujas, nekuf at
(Some Kind of Horror, Some Kind of Hell), recorded and released in 1994. This song became a Hipodil anthem and a huge gig favorite. The album release was followed by a massive national tour with some 20 dates across the country.
In their fourth album Nadurveni vuglishta
(Horny Charcoal), released in 1998, the band showed obvious growth in terms of music and production and experimented with other styles, mostly ska
. This album was the most commercially successful album of the band and the first to be released on a CD. It was also the most controversial as some of the lyrics provoked Bulgarian Ministry of Culture to mull legal actions against the band for obscenity. The ministry later dropped its plans but the dispute fuelled the album sales and Hipodil suddenly found themselves among the best-selling and most radioplayed acts in Bulgaria.
The album's opening track, song about Gojko Mitić
, "Bate Gojko" (Big Brother Gojko)rocketed to the top of Bulgarian airplay charts and was among the few Hipodil songs to have a video clip. The first ever instrumental track of Hipodil is also on this record, just like one of the best ballads of the band - "Otnesen!" (Scatter-Brained) and a dose of the traditional mockeries with Bulgarian celebrities.
In the end of 1999 the vocalist Svetoslav Vitkov went to work in the USA, but despite that the other band members decided to start recording new material, inviting several singers from other Bulgarian bands, who replaced Vitkov on the vocals. The new album, called Hora ot naroda (People of the Folk), appeared on the Bulgarian music market in the year 2000. The music style is similar to the previous works of Hipodil, but a little bit more soft-sounding and mainly ska
-influenced. Not so typical for the band is also the often usage of keyboard
s. Vitkov appears as a lead singer in only two of the songs - "Partizani" (Partisans) and "Drugo nyama" (There's Nothing Else), and as a backing vocal in "Choveche" (Dude).
Hipodil will never be remembered for a musical and/or lyrical and/or production brilliance and yet the band constitutes integral part of the post-Communist era popular culture in Bulgaria
. Both critics and fans agree that the band's songs and behaviour truly reflect the changes in Bulgarian society in the 1990s and present them in way that young people of all classes and background easily understand.
After a chaotic hiatus in the beginning of the 2000s due to the absence of some band members from the country, their desire to pursue other careers and the inevitable frictions between them, in 2007 the band is gaining new audience especially among fans that have been too young to truly witness their initial rise to popularity. Vocalist Svetoslav Vitkov announced in May 2007 that he is to release an album in June with his new band Svetlio & The Legends. The band features Ventsislav Mitzov, Hipodil's tour and session keyboard player, and four other musicians.
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
n rock
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
band, founded 1988 in Sofia
Sofia
Sofia is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria and the 12th largest city in the European Union with a population of 1.27 million people. It is located in western Bulgaria, at the foot of Mount Vitosha and approximately at the centre of the Balkan Peninsula.Prehistoric settlements were excavated...
by four classmates from the local Mathematics High School. The band describe their music as alco-agro-porno-punk though elements of ska
Ska
Ska |Jamaican]] ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s, and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. Ska combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues...
, hard rock
Hard rock
Hard rock is a loosely defined genre of rock music which has its earliest roots in mid-1960s garage rock, blues rock and psychedelic rock...
and heavy metal
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
are used en masse as well.
Hipodil's popularity however is based in large on their aggressive, sarcastic, sometimes vulgar and explicit but yet humorous lyrics. Because of that Hipodil are known as a "scandalous and rebellious" band. Their main goal is to entertain the listener and themselves; most of the lyrics concern topics such as alcohol
Alcohol
In chemistry, an alcohol is an organic compound in which the hydroxy functional group is bound to a carbon atom. In particular, this carbon center should be saturated, having single bonds to three other atoms....
, sex
Sex
In biology, sex is a process of combining and mixing genetic traits, often resulting in the specialization of organisms into a male or female variety . Sexual reproduction involves combining specialized cells to form offspring that inherit traits from both parents...
, women, the status quo
Status quo
Statu quo, a commonly used form of the original Latin "statu quo" – literally "the state in which" – is a Latin term meaning the current or existing state of affairs. To maintain the status quo is to keep the things the way they presently are...
, etc.; they frequently ridicule famous Bulgarian and non-Bulgarian people and even politicians (and sometimes songs). Nevertheless, the band has some pretty serious tracks with complex and socially oriented lyrics. All the lyrics are in Bulgarian
Bulgarian language
Bulgarian is an Indo-European language, a member of the Slavic linguistic group.Bulgarian, along with the closely related Macedonian language, demonstrates several linguistic characteristics that set it apart from all other Slavic languages such as the elimination of case declension, the...
and are written by vocalist Svetoslav Vitkov (Svetlyo). Most of the music is composed by guitarist Petar Todorov (Pesho). In a great number of songs, guest musicians take part, adding mainly to the brass
Brass
Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc; the proportions of zinc and copper can be varied to create a range of brasses with varying properties.In comparison, bronze is principally an alloy of copper and tin...
section.
History
The four classmates from the Sofia's Mathematics High School Nikola Kavaldjiev, Miroslav Tellalov, Nikolay Savov and Petar Todorov formed in 1988 a punk band which played only own songs in Bulgarian.The first public performance of the band was at Sofia's Summer Theatre, an open air stage in the largest city park, where the band performed the song "Zidaromazachi" (Wallplasterers), a parody of the ruling communist
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
regime, which got them into minor trouble with the authorities.
In 1992, after a couple of line-up changes and after recruiting the new vocalist Svetoslav Vitkov, Hipodil recorded the songs "Bira s vodka" (Beer With Vodka), "Bira" (Beer), "Chift ochi" (A Pair of Eyes, a song referring to a woman, described as "a pair of eyes and the rest of her -- ass), "Himna" (The Anthem), "Jenata" (The Woman) and "Klitoren orgasm" (Clitoral Orgasm). Next year, the band released their first studio album called Alkoholen delirium
Alkoholen delirium
- The Album :"Alkoholen delirium" is the debut album of Bulgarian rock band Hipodil, released in 1993 under the now defunct Unison-RTM label...
(Alcoholic Delirium). The band immediately launched a self-bankrolled national tour, which turned quite successful. At one of the tour concerts in Varna
Varna
Varna is the largest city and seaside resort on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast and third-largest in Bulgaria after Sofia and Plovdiv, with a population of 334,870 inhabitants according to Census 2011...
, a mass alcohol-fuelled disorder erupted and all band members and some of the audience were arrested. This event, along with the explicit lyrics of most of their songs gave Hipodil their "scandal aura".
The Varna incident inspired a song - "Hipodili" (Hipodils) - which Hipodil put in their next album, Nekuf ujas, nekuf at
Nekuf ujas, nekuf at
Nek'uf ujas, nek'uf at is the second album by the Bulgarian punk rock band Hipodil, released in 1994, the band's first under the Riva Sound label....
(Some Kind of Horror, Some Kind of Hell), recorded and released in 1994. This song became a Hipodil anthem and a huge gig favorite. The album release was followed by a massive national tour with some 20 dates across the country.
In their fourth album Nadurveni vuglishta
Nadurveni vuglishta
- The Album :"Nadurveni vuglishta" is the fourth album by the Bulgarian rock band Hipodil, released in 1998 under the Riva sound label, the bands fourth with the company...
(Horny Charcoal), released in 1998, the band showed obvious growth in terms of music and production and experimented with other styles, mostly ska
Ska
Ska |Jamaican]] ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s, and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. Ska combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues...
. This album was the most commercially successful album of the band and the first to be released on a CD. It was also the most controversial as some of the lyrics provoked Bulgarian Ministry of Culture to mull legal actions against the band for obscenity. The ministry later dropped its plans but the dispute fuelled the album sales and Hipodil suddenly found themselves among the best-selling and most radioplayed acts in Bulgaria.
The album's opening track, song about Gojko Mitić
Gojko Mitic
Gojko Mitić is a Serbian director, actor, stuntman, and author. He lives in Berlin....
, "Bate Gojko" (Big Brother Gojko)rocketed to the top of Bulgarian airplay charts and was among the few Hipodil songs to have a video clip. The first ever instrumental track of Hipodil is also on this record, just like one of the best ballads of the band - "Otnesen!" (Scatter-Brained) and a dose of the traditional mockeries with Bulgarian celebrities.
In the end of 1999 the vocalist Svetoslav Vitkov went to work in the USA, but despite that the other band members decided to start recording new material, inviting several singers from other Bulgarian bands, who replaced Vitkov on the vocals. The new album, called Hora ot naroda (People of the Folk), appeared on the Bulgarian music market in the year 2000. The music style is similar to the previous works of Hipodil, but a little bit more soft-sounding and mainly ska
Ska
Ska |Jamaican]] ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s, and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. Ska combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues...
-influenced. Not so typical for the band is also the often usage of keyboard
Keyboard instrument
A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
s. Vitkov appears as a lead singer in only two of the songs - "Partizani" (Partisans) and "Drugo nyama" (There's Nothing Else), and as a backing vocal in "Choveche" (Dude).
Hipodil will never be remembered for a musical and/or lyrical and/or production brilliance and yet the band constitutes integral part of the post-Communist era popular culture in Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
. Both critics and fans agree that the band's songs and behaviour truly reflect the changes in Bulgarian society in the 1990s and present them in way that young people of all classes and background easily understand.
After a chaotic hiatus in the beginning of the 2000s due to the absence of some band members from the country, their desire to pursue other careers and the inevitable frictions between them, in 2007 the band is gaining new audience especially among fans that have been too young to truly witness their initial rise to popularity. Vocalist Svetoslav Vitkov announced in May 2007 that he is to release an album in June with his new band Svetlio & The Legends. The band features Ventsislav Mitzov, Hipodil's tour and session keyboard player, and four other musicians.
Trivia
- The band's name is a punPunThe pun, also called paronomasia, is a form of word play which suggests two or more meanings, by exploiting multiple meanings of words, or of similar-sounding words, for an intended humorous or rhetorical effect. These ambiguities can arise from the intentional use and abuse of homophonic,...
. It is a mix between hippopotamus and crocodile (in BulgarianBulgarian languageBulgarian is an Indo-European language, a member of the Slavic linguistic group.Bulgarian, along with the closely related Macedonian language, demonstrates several linguistic characteristics that set it apart from all other Slavic languages such as the elimination of case declension, the...
: HIPOpotam and KrokoDIL / ХИПОпотам - крокоДИЛ). Vocalist Vitkov explained once in a TV-show (probably joking or maybe not) that the hippopotamus and the crocodile in question are actually two male exemplars, who got stuck together while mating.
- Vitkov has a released book, containing all the lyrics of Hipodil's songs (written by himself), as well as many self-written poems, thoughts and revelations.
- Despite some openly homophobic and misogynistic lyrics, Hipodil were never really a racist or a sexist band.
Discography
- Alkoholen deliriumAlkoholen delirium- The Album :"Alkoholen delirium" is the debut album of Bulgarian rock band Hipodil, released in 1993 under the now defunct Unison-RTM label...
/Alcoholic Delirium (1993) - Nekuf ujas, nekuf atNekuf ujas, nekuf atNek'uf ujas, nek'uf at is the second album by the Bulgarian punk rock band Hipodil, released in 1994, the band's first under the Riva Sound label....
/Kinda Horror, Kinda Hell (1994) - S gol v rukata...S gol v rukata...- The Album :S gol v rukata... is the third studio album by the Bulgarian rock band Hipodil, released in 1996 under the Riva Sound label. The album marks a slight departure from the established musical style of the group, with many experiments and new influences including plenty of ska motifs...
/With a Naked ... in Hand (1996) - Nadurveni vuglishtaNadurveni vuglishta- The Album :"Nadurveni vuglishta" is the fourth album by the Bulgarian rock band Hipodil, released in 1998 under the Riva sound label, the bands fourth with the company...
/Aroused Charcoal (1998) (a pun for Na durveni vuglishta - 'On Charcoal') - Hora ot naroda/People of the Folk (2000)
- Tu'pestTu'pest"Tu'pest" is a greatest hits compilation of some of the most popular songs from the first four albums of the Bulgarian rock band Hipodil, released in 2000 under the Riva Sound label, the bands fifth and last release with that company...
/The Best (compilation) (a pun from tup - Bulgarian for 'dumb' and -est, the superlative suffix in English.)