Jasenko Houra

Jasenko Houra (born 3 June 1960) is a Croatian and former Yugoslav rock musician, best known as the guitarist, occasional vocalist, leader and principal songwriter of the popular band Prljavo Kazalište.

Houra started his musical career in 1977 at the age of 17, when he formed Prljavo Kazalište with the members of the band Ciferšlus. The group gained popularity with their punk rock self-titled debut, establishing themselves as one of the most prominent acts of the Yugoslav new wave scene with their second, more ska-oriented album Crno bijeli svijet. After the group's vocalist Davorin Bogović was excluded from the group in 1981, Houra took over lead vocal duties for the band's third album Heroj ulice, with which they moved towards more conventional rock sound. Bogović returned in 1983, and was later replaced by Mladen Bodalec, Houra continuing to occasionally provide lead vocals for some of the band's tracks. He has been Prljavo Kazalište's principal composer and lyricist since its formation, and since 2022 remains the only original member of the band's original incarnation.

Musical career Prljavo Kazalište (1977–present)

Houra started his career at the age of 17, when he joined the members of Zagreb-based band Ciferšlus (Zipper), Davorin Bogović (vocals), Zoran Cvetković "Zok" (guitar), Nino Hrastek (bass guitar) and Tihomir Fileš (drums). With Houra's arrival in the autumn of 1977, the group started performing under the name Prljavo Kazalište. Houra has remained the band's guitarist and principal songwriter, occasionally providing lead vocals for some of the band's songs, the group establishing itself during the 1990s as one of the most popular Croatian rock acts. Houra has denounced accusations of nationalism on numerous occasions, describing the band's 1990s patriotic songs as "švejkian". In 2015, Prljavo Kazalište was polled No.23 and Crno bijeli svijet was polled No.24 on the list of 100 Greatest Yugoslav Albums published by the Croatian edition of Rolling Stone.

In 2000, four Prljavo Kazalište songs appeared on the Rock Express Top 100 Yugoslav Rock Songs of All Times list: "Mi plešemo" ("We Dance") polled No.49, "Crno bijeli svijet" polled No.74, "Ma kog me boga za tebe pitaju" ("Why in the Heaven's Name Are They Asking Me about You") polled No.77 and "Marina" polled No.93. In 2011, "Mi plešemo" was polled No.42 and "Crno bijeli svijet" was polled No.60 on the B92 Top 100 Yugoslav songs list.

Houra's lyrics for the songs "U mojoj općini problema nema" ("There Are No Problems in My Municipality"), "Sretno dijete" ("Happy Child"), "Nove cipele" ("New Shoes"), "Moderna djevojka" ("Modern Girl") and "Neka te ništa ne brina" ("Nothing Should Worry You") were included in Petar Janjatović's Pesme bratstva, detinjstva & potomstva: Antologija ex YU rok poezije 1967 - 2007 (Songs of Brotherhood, Childhood & Offspring: Anthology of Ex YU Rock Poetry 1967 – 2007).

Discography With Prljavo Kazalište Studio albums Prljavo Kazalište (1979) Crno bijeli svijet (1980) Heroj ulice (1981) Korak od sna (1983) Zlatne godine (1985) Zaustavite Zemlju (1988) Devedeseta (1990) Lupi petama... (1993) S vremena na vrijeme (1996) Dani ponosa i slave (1998) Radio Dubrava (2003) Moj dom je Hrvatska (2005) Tajno ime (2008) Možda dogodine (2012)

Live albums Sve je lako kad si mlad – Live (1989) Zabranjeni koncert (1994) Božićni koncert (1995) 20 godina (1997) XXX godina (2009) XL World Tour Finale Stadion Zagreb (2019) 30 godina od koncerta na Trgu - Arena Zagreb (2020)

Compilation albums Najveći hitovi (1994) Sve je lako kad si mlad '77 – '99 (box set; 2001) Rock balade (2004) Single Collection '79–'90 (2010) Greatest Hits Collection (2017)

Box sets Sve je lako kad si mlad (2001) Millenium Collection (2008) Best of Live (2008)

Video albums Lupi petama (1993) Božićni koncert (1995) Prljavo Kazalište (1996) Prljavo Kazalište na Trgu (2003) XXX godina (2009) XL World Tour Finale Stadion Zagreb (2019) 30 godina od koncerta na Trgu - Arena Zagreb (2020)

Singles "Televizori" / "Majka" / "Moje djetinjstvo" (1978) 'Moj je otac bio u ratu" / "Noć" (1978) "Moderna djevojka" / "Crno bijeli svijet" (1980) "...Mojoj majci" / "Topoteka House Mix" / "Marina" (1989) "Dođi sada Gospode" (1996) "Tamni slapovi" (2014) "Stare navike" (2023) "Makni se" (2023) "Molim Boga da svane" (2024) "Djeca su OK" (2024)

Charted singles Title Year Peak chart positions Album CRO "Stare navike" 2023 2 "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that territory.