I'm in the process of re-listening and re-evaluating my record collection, in no particular order. I'll be sharing the results of my evaluation and thoughts on the music in this blog.
After presenting country-fied bands from Germany and Greece, I thought I'd do the same for probably the most surprising C&W album in my collection: Plava Trava Zaborava formed in 1982 in Zagreb (then part of The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, now Croatia). The band's name translates as "Blue Grass Oblivion", and they deal strictly in traditional country, mostly bluegrass. This is their 2nd LP, released in 1985 by the local (state-owned, of course) Jugoton label. Apparently, in a time when Ronald Reagan spoke of the Soviet Union as the "Evil Empire" and Eastern Europe supposedly lived behind an impenetrable Iron Curtain, the denizens of communist Yugoslavia got their kicks dressing like cowboys and lovingly recreating the "enemy's" music. Who knew? I don't know whether this was a trend in other Eastern European countries, but it certainly wasn't a unique occurence: during a recent visit in Prague I was surprised by the many old Czechoslovakian C&W records I found in used record bins. I'm not by any means a country music connoisseur, but there's no denying that Plava Trava Zaborava play with skill and gusto and generally sound to me like a legit country band. The instrumentation is just right for this genre, and includes lots of fiddle, as well as mandolin, banjo, dobro, and pedal steel guitar.With the exception of sprightly instrumental "Yugo Goes to Nashville", the rest of the songs are covers: each side starts with a traditional bluegrass tune (Bill Monroe's"I'm Ready to Go" and "Blue Moon of Kentucky") and closes with a John Denver cover ("Country Boy" and "Take Me Home Country Roads"). Inbetween we get covers from Johnny Cash and The Band, among others. The singers' English sound natural without the heavy foreign accents one might fear to come across. Eduard "Jimmy" Matesic takes lead on most of the songs, while a couple of them feature female lead vocals by Rajka Sutlovic. (Pedal steel guitarist) Davor and (banjo and bass player) Vladimir have one lead vocal each, while all of them harmonize nicely throughout. It's strange to associate these Slavic names with this kind of music, but that just proves what we all knew all along: that music is a universal language. Asians can rap, whites can play funk, blacks can play metal, and Slavs can play country and western, and it all sounds good as long as the music connects with something deep inside. I'll admit I only bought this LP as a curious addition to my collection, but it's actually a very enjoyable record within its genre. A solid C&W album, recorded in the Balkans at a time when Nashville was moving away from tradition and towards crass commercialism. How about that?
**** for Voila an American Dream, Thank God I'm a Country Girl, Take Me Home Country Roads
*** for I'm Ready to Go, Corina Corina, Cripple Creek, Country Boy, Blue Moon of Kentucky, Yugo Goes to Nashville,Evangeline, Shot Full of Love, I Been to Georgia on a Fast Train
I have in my house a wall-to-wall bookcase full of CD's and vinyl. Modern pop & rock music being what they are, around 90% of that stuff is in the English language. The rest is bundled together in a section that's arranged not by genre or chronology, as I've done with the rest, but geographically. Browsing through that shelf is like taking a mental trip around the world. I must admit that these days I spend more time watching the horror show of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and less time listening to music, but something made me check the North-Eastern Europe shelf for an appropriate CD to listen to on the car ride to work, and I came out with this album. The first thing one should know about it is that, despite the folkloric cover, and the use of the Ukrainian language and instruments, this was actually recorded by a British group: the first recording sessions were produced in 1989 by legendary UK DJ John Peel, and featured Leeds post-punk/indie group The Wedding Present (WP) and guests (singer/violinist Len Liggins and mandolin player Roman Remeynes). Later, WP's Ukrainian-bornguitaristPeter Solowka decided to leave his old band and team up with Liggins and Remeynes, dedicating themselves to pursuing that folk-rock direction with The Ukrainians full time. I am no expert in Ukrainian folk, and couldn't tell you if this is even close to the real thing. I think that very few in the West can, especially given the fact that a lot of what passes here as Russian folklore (cossack dances, for instance) actually comes from Ukraine. The timing of their debut album's creation is also significant: it was released in 1991, the year Ukraine gained its independence, and The Soviet Union and other "communist" multi-national states disintegrated. Ukrainians, including expats abroad, were experiencing a cultural awakening after decades of living under the shadow of Russia. There was an ugly side to it: in order to find distinctly Ukrainian role models/heroes, the heads of that new country turned to anearly 20th century nationalist/fascist movement for inspiration. This paved the way for the legitimization of fascism in Ukrainian society that gave free reign to neo-nazi paramilitary groups, who in turn provided Putin with a convenient excuse for his barbaric invasion. On the other side of the coin, you have this beautiful music that testifies to the inner poetry of the Ukrainian soul. Opener "Zavtra" is a good example: starting up with a wistful vocal accompanied by accordion and violin, it speeds up in celebratory matter. "Tebe Zhdu" is another song that begins as a ballad but breaks into an epic chorus, while "Pereyidu" and "Son" are a couple of lyrical ballads. "Slava Kobzarya" is more similar to Western folk rock, and probably the only track where the band's history in Indie rock is discernible. These tracks come from their debut The Ukrainians (1991), while the rest of this compilation comes from their second album Vorony (1993). "Chi Znayesh Ty?" is a short tune with choral vocals that sounds very authentic to my ears, while the frantic pace and violins of "Shehe Raz" sound Celtic, almost Pogues-like. "Nadia Pishla" is a slow atmospheric song, "Doroha" a short instrumental, and "Rospryahaite" one of the few traditional folk songs. The rest are mostly band originals, although it's hard to tell the difference when confronted with excellent authentic-sounding compositions like "Dvi Lebidky" and "De Ye Moya Mila?". I guess it doesn't matter anyway. We should enjoy the music for what it is: a work of love by talented musicians who, whether of Ukrainian descent or not, are clearly enamored of the region's rich culture. I don't know whether there are better introductions to Ukrainian folk out there, but this winsome collection certainly worked for an eager music traveler like me. I can't imagine it turning off even the most uninitiated to world music...
**** for Zavtra,Rospryahaite, Dvi Lebidky, De Ye Moya Mila?
*** for Slava Kobzarya, Chi Znayesh Ty?, Shehe Raz, Nadia Pishla, Doroha, Pereyidu, Tebe Zhdu, Son
As you probably have guessed, this week's album choice is influenced by the human tragedy unfolding in Ukraine: the war, death, and what we Greeks call prosfygia, the state of being uprooted from your home and becoming a refugee. The experience of prosfygia has become part of our collective DNA: at least one third of modern Greeks are descended from refugees from Asia Minor, and watching the news from Ukraine brings the stories of our grandparents (mine included) to life once more. So, obviously I have been thinking about this war a lot, and wasn't sure whether I should put my thoughts down in this music blog, or not. I decided to do it, but if you've only come here for the album review you may want to stop reading now because what I have to say may annoy you. I believe this story has not one, but two villains: the first one is obviously Putin, using extreme violence to dominate the part of the world he thinks of as his own back yard - which, of course, it isn't. It's someone else's home, and he should get the fuck out of there! The other one is (surprise!) us: the West, or -if you like- the U.S.A., E.U. and their allies, trying to dominate not one part of the world but all of it. In the 3 decades since we won the Cold War, we launched full scale invasions on Iraq and Afghanistan, a major bombing campaign against Yugoslavia as well as some minor ones, we have punished countries with severe economic sanctions, and stoked the fires of countless armed conflicts in order to depose governments we didn't like - most recently in Syria and Libya. We did it as easily as if they were nothing more than enemy pawns in a chess game. Now we show righteous anger against Putin for breaking international law, as if it wasn't us who stood in front of the U.N. presenting fake evidence to justify the invasion of a sovereign country that presented no threat to us. We can, at least, agree on one thing: The Ukrainian people and president Zelensky, despite not being blameless for the current mess, are still the heroes of this specific story. I would gladly join the majority of my fellow Westerners in cheering my support, and in demanding that our governments welcome Ukrainian refugees, and that they support the country financially, with humanitarian and developmental help, and defensive equipment. I will draw the line at waving the Ukrainian flag, which seems to be a very fashionable thing to do nowadays - I am no flagwaver; following flags instead of thinking for yourself is how wars start. But I understand it, everybody wants to get behind a good cause. It makes people feel good about themselves, and it costs nothing. Where I will most definitely draw the line is at arming one side of the conflict with lethal weapons. This is nothing less than waging war by proxy! I'm a pacifist, I believe there are only two justifiable kinds of war: fighting fascism anywhere you find it, and defending your country from a foreign attack. Which, of course, means that Ukrainian defenders are fighting a just war. They have every right, maybe even obligation, to try to kill their attackers But the Russians are not threatening us, so should we really take part in this war? To those of us with a shallow way of thinking, arming Ukraine must seem like helping a smaller kid fight off a bully. But it isn't! What we are literally doing is helping the soldiers on one side kill soldiers on the other side. Even if we do not believe in the words "thou shalt not kill", are we O.K. with killing thousands of young people who are somebody's fathers, sons, or lovers? Should we not try to stop the war instead of prolonging it? It's obvious that, even with our help, the Ukrainian army can not push the Russians all the way back, it will just provoke them into using more violence and directing it towards the civilian population to overcome its resistance. It would stand to reason that the best course for everyone is negotiations, even if that means that Ukraine may need to let go of some provinces whose population may prefer to be independent anyway. Of course aggression should not be vindicated, so the international community must make sure that the war has a steep cost for Russia as well. But peace would not work that well for our interests, would it? American senators gave their game away from day one when, pre-supposing Ukraine's defeat, they talked about sponsoring a long-winded insurrection. What they really want isn't peace but a prolonged war that will take a huge financial, human, and political toll on Russia, and eventually lead to the regime crumbling down and allow them to replace Putin with a Western puppet like Boris Yeltsin. It worked so well with the Soviet Union, so why not try it again? We won't even have to do any of the fighting ourselves. Now, you may argue that, if fighting fascism anywhere is a justifiable war, then maybe fighting someone as aggressive and undemocratic as Putin can also be justified even if his aggression is not currently targeted on us. But that would justmean that you don't understand what fascism is: more than just a violent and oppressive ideology, fascism is war on humanity itself. If it ever wins, there won't be any human beings left, only wolves and sheep. As terrible as this war is, it's no different to any other war in the history of the world: stronger nations prey forever on the weaker ones, and the prize is power, money, land, or slaves. Your country and mine have been the aggressors at different times in their history, and usually we sit back and watch idly while it happens all around us, unless it affects our interests. Am I wrong, or have we also moved to protect the Tigray from Ethiopia? Or Kurds from Turkey? No, Erdogan may be as undemocratic, corrupt, aggressive against his neighbors as Putin is, his army may be occupying Northern Cyprus (which, incidentally, is European territory) and invade Kurdish area in Syria at will, but he's our ally, isn't he? What about Saudi Arabia's war against Yemen? Of course not - the Saudis may have similar ideology to the Taliban, but they are Taliban with money and oil wells. I won't even breach the subject of Israel: Israel may occupy Arab lands, they may bulldoze Palestinian homes to build houses for Jewish settlers, they may bomb a row of buildings just to kill one so-called "terrorist" - but speaking against Israeli policies is anti-Semitism, and I'm no anti-Semite; so I'll just watch the carnage and mumble that Israel has the right to defend itself. But I've taken up too much of your time, so even though there's a lot more to be said about the war in Ukraine, I'll stop here with a plea: keep on pressuring Russia to stop the war, demand the fair treatment of minorities whether they are on "our" side or not, support the civilian population and their defenders in every non-lethal way possible, open your arms to refugees whether they are black or white, Christian or Muslim. Stop waving flags, stop getting caught up in the bullshit "us (the good/liberal/democratic West) versus them (the evil/autocratic Russia/China/Iran)" worldview, which the media keep forcing on us. We are all together in this. Our planet is a sinking ship, but instead of working together towards saving it, we are fighting each other. And stop saying "it's their fault, they started it" because they didn't. They are caught up in an endless power struggle, just as we are. Only when we recognize our own role in this mess and pressure our governments to stop vying for world domination and start working towards peace can we hope for a better tomorrow.
I bought this CD on a sale recently for €1, together with a bunch of albums I missed out on in the 00's. All these albums were best-sellers at the time, most of them had at least a couple of songs on heavy rotation on the radio - people were listening to the radio not so long ago, I swear! No streaming services at the time, no Spotify, and no youtube! Back then, the only way to watch your favorite videoclips again was to stake them out on MTV, and press REC on your VCR the moment they begin playing. When I saw this CD on sale, I thought it was worth picking up if only for "All The Things She Said", rightfully one of the biggest pop hits of the 00's - plus I was curious to hear how they'd approach their Smiths cover "How Soon Is Now".
Ever since The Monkeys, there have been many made-up pop groups put together by shrewd music business executives, so in this respect there's nothing special about the formation of t.A.T.u.: this Russian producer conceived of a teen girl group and started by conducting auditions for singers. Lena Katina and Julia Volkova, the two girls that won the audition were 14 and 15 years old at the time. Shapovalov (the producer) had a specific marketing strategy on his mind, which centered on provocation: He named the band t.A.T.u., telling the press that it means "Ta Lyubit Tu", or "This [girl] Loves That [girl]" trying to promote them as a "teen lesbian couple" and sexualizing their image by presenting them in short skirts and fetish-like schoolgirl uniforms, having them kiss on video clips and public appearances, and pose as if they were doing a soft porn photoshoot. This would have been controversial in any case because of the homoeroticism and (especially) their age - by the time of their international debut 200 km/h in the Wrong Lane, they were still just 17. But it wasn't only the puritans who were enraged: the fact that it was all a ruse, that the girls were neither romantically involved with each other nor gay, made many critics cry sexploitation. When I read the story it reminded me of how Hollywood producer Kim Fowley formed The Runaways in the 70's. They were also just 16 when he marketed them in a way that was too sexual for their age. But Joan Jett, Lita Ford, Cherry Currie and the rest were no mere dummies. Fowley may have masterminded the group and their public image, but he also nurtured their talent, encouraging them to play their own instruments and write their own songs. One may argue that there's a degree of sexploitation with all teenage pop stars anyway, but it's targeted at their age peers while with t.A.T.u. one gets the impression the marketing was targeted at teen pop fans and dirty old men equally. Anyway, all these antics served their purpose of putting the band on the spotlight, but also managed to divert attention from the music. Was it really necessary? Judging from lead single "All The Things She Said", not at all: the infectious chorus, urgent tempo, and mix of alternative rock and synth pop scream "hit potential" from afar. Kudos must go to British producer Trevor Horn, who made the most of the mediocre songs and thin Lolita vocals by stressing the hooks and dressing the tunes in a modern techno/dance sound with just a hint of 80's new wave. The second big hit here is opener "Not Gonna Get Us", an upbeat number with electronic beats and alternating sweet and shrilly vocals. The girls are going for a "teen rebels" sound but on this album they sound more like spoiled brats. Their singing deficiency becomes painfully obvious in the Smiths cover "How Soon Is Now": where the lyrics cry for teenage melodrama, they are betrayed by the unemotional squeaky vocals. Another track featuring awful singing (with heavily accented English, to boot) is "Malchik Gay". "Show Me Love" fares better: the chorus mimics "All the Things She Said" with the title repetition etc, but featuring a more rhythmic electronic beat. "Clowns (Can You See Me Now?)" is in similar style, both OK for their genre. "30 Minutes" is slow and atmospheric trip-hop style, while "Stars" is interesting because of bringing together mismatched elements: its melodic pop is augmented by a folkish instrumental solo, and interrupted by some Russian-language rapping. Somehow it works. To boost the duration to CD length, the producers added Russian versions of "Not Gonna Get Us" ("Нас Не Догонят"/Nas Ne Dagoniat) and "All the Things She Said" ("Я Сошла С Ума"/Ya Shosla S Uma) as well as a couple of useless remixes of "Show Me Love" and "30 Minutes". I'm not sure whether the two Russian songs are new recordings or they are taken from the band's debut proper 200 Po Vstrechnoy, recorded in 2000. That album got them noticed in Eastern Europe, but with international release 200 km/h in the Wrong Lane t.A.T.u. stroke gold. Whether due to Trevor Horn's excellent production work, or Shapovalov's provocative marketing antics, it sold millions of CD's abroad, becoming Russia's biggest pop export ever while the girls graduated to sex symbols - especially in Eastern Europe, where they still have fans. The rest of the world forgot about them pretty quickly: after winning 3rd place on next year's Eurovision contest they all but disappeared from view. Maybe their producers should have invested more in singing and songwriting lessons, rather than promotional tricks. So yes, this CD rightly belongs in the bargain bin where I found it - but at least, timeless single "All The Things She Said" has earned t.A.T.u. a place in pop history.
**** for All the Things She Said
*** for Not Gonna Get Us, Show Me Love, 30 Minutes, Stars, Я Сошла С Ума, Нас Не Догонят, Show Me Love (extended)
** for How Soon Is Now?, Clowns (Can You See Me Now?), Malchik Gay, 30 Minutes (Remix)
I've been listening to rock and collecting records for 35 years or so, and it took me a long time to acquaint myself to what one can call (in the absence of a better term) East Bloc Rock. Not surprising really, most people are still not aware of its existence. Yet exist it did, long-haired rockers who, despite the political adversities, recorded for State-owned labels in the so-called East Bloc. It amuses me to think that, contrary to popular belief, the iron curtain was not as impermeable as we think: those east of it were aware of the trends on the other side, creating their own versions of it often as good or surpassing their Western counterparts. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying there was a scene comparable to the one in the US or UK, but when you compare the rock scene of, say, Hungary or Yugoslavia to Western countries of similar size like Austria or Portugal, they weren't falling behind. No, apparently the iron curtain was to block our view, to make us believe that art, creativity, and fun were smothered by a totalitarian regime out of Orwell's 1984. We knew there were symphony orchestras, folk troupes, and high-achieving athletes on the other side - but who could imagine East Bloc youths playing loud rock music, dancing and partying like Western ones? Of course, the situation differed from country to country: East Germany, Poland, Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, and Hungary produced their fair share of rock music, which was rarer in Bulgaria and Romania, and non-existent in Albania. In the Soviet Union itself, rock was an underground phenomenon to which the State only opened up hesitantly and gradually during the 80's.
Bijelo Dugme was one of the first East Bloc bands that I sought out - apart from East Germans City whose "Am Fenster" was a huge hit with Greek pirate radio stations when I was growing up. Then, during the late 80's, it was Goran Bregovic's turn to steal the hearts of Greek audiences, initially through his music for Emir Kusturica's Time Of The Gypsies film and afterwards through collaborations with popular Greek artists, as well as with Iggy Pop on the soundtrack of Arizona Dream. I enjoyed Bregovic's lyrical take on Balkan folk as presented in these soundtracks, as well as the more upbeat Balkan tunes from Kusturica's next movie, Underground. So naturally when I heard that he used to be real rock star in Yugoslavia I was excited to hear a sample of his older work. At the time it wasn't possible to get hold of the records he had made in the 70's and early 80's with his band Bijelo Dugme (White Button), but with internet shopping becoming easier I later got hold of a double CD compilation, which I presented on this blog a few years ago. 5 out of the 6 tracks from 1979's Bitanga I Princeza were included in the compilation, but when I came across a vinyl copy for a good price I couldn't help myself; this is exactly the sort of music that's meant to be heard on vinyl. This was their fourth great album in a row, slightly different than the previous ones because it minimized the folkelement in favor of conventional hard rock. It is the first time they had problems with the sensors: first of all, their chosen album coverwas replaced by the label with the one you see here. The original depicted a female leg in stockings and high heels kicking a man in the groin - it was considered vulgar even though it wasn't any more provocative than their previous ones. Two lyrics were also censored, one for containing the Serbo-Croatian version of the "f" word, the other -curiously for an atheist state- because the phrase "...and Christ was bastard and misery" was deemed offensive to Christians. The band denied having any such intention, the name of Christ probably being used in the song as an umbrella term for "saviors" in general. The album opens with a couple of hard rocking numbers: "Bitanga I Princeza" reminds me of Uriah Heep's FM-oriented singles of the era, while "Ala Je Glupo Zaboravit Njen Broj" is a speedy rocker sounding like a cross between Rory Gallagher and Greek rocker of the same era Pavlos Sidiropoulos. "A Koliko Si Ih Imala Do Sad" is among the band's funkier pieces, while "Na Zadnjem Sjedištu Moga Autaand" even flirts with disco. "Ipak, Poželim Neko Pismo" is a mid-tempo piece with funk groove and a vaguely Balkan-sounding chorus - the only throwback to theirpastirski rock days. On a completely different tone, the two symphonic prog ballads "Kad Zaboraviš Juli" and "Sve Će To Mila Moja Prekriti Ruzmarin Snjegovi I Šaš" display aspirations towards serious musicianship. Many consider Bitanga I Princeza the height of the band's artistry. It certainly features a variety of styles without containing any weak moments, while subsequent albums would move away from hard rock towards pop and new wave, and would only intermittentlyyield a really good song. In my mind, Bijelo Dugme is one of the most underrated classic rock acts in Europe but few outside their native land seem to agree - could it be that because of growing up in another Balkan country, their take on rock music is more familiar to me than to others? Anyway, it's worth delving into the whole East Bloc scene; the fact that all these rockers imported a variety of styles from outside and mixed them with local traditions has produced some interesting, genre-defying, results. I can recommend this Spotify playlist as a starting point, but there's also still much I haven't discovered myself yet...
***** for Bitanga I Princeza,Sve Će To Mila Moja Prekriti Ruzmarin Snjegovi I Šaš
**** forAla Je Glupo Zaboravit Njen Broj, Ipak, Poželim Neko Pismo, Na Zadnjem Sjedištu Moga Auta, A Koliko Si Ih Imala Do Sad
What a mess this is! No, I don't mean the album, I mean the title. On discogs this is registered as the eponymous album by the band Niemen Enigmatic. It's actually an LP by popular Polish singer Czesław Niemen, whose backing band in the 1970-71 period was called Enigmatic. But that's also the title of his previous album Enigmatic. So Enigmatic (1969) by Czesław Niemen is a different album to Niemen Enigmatic (1971) by Niemen Enigmatic featuring Czesław Niemen. To complicate things further it also circulates under the Polish title Człowiek Jam Niewdzięczny, and sometimes as plain Niemen. To simplify them, everybody just calls it The Red Album. Niemen was born Czesław Juliusz Wydrzycki in 1939 in a village in Belarus, which was at the time divided between Poland and the USSR (after W.W.II it was completely engulfed by the USSR). In the 60's, he embarked on a career as a pop singer in Poland. His publicity photos of the time show him wearing multicolored hippy outfits and long hair, which must have turned a lot of heads in Communist Poland. He used to play pop and soul music, but around 1969 he embarked on a more progressive direction with longer pieces incorporating jazz and classical elements. The 20+ minute opener "Czlowiek Jam Niewdzieczny" takes up all of size 1. It starts as an organ-based ballad ("Whiter Shade Of Pale" comes to mind) and turns into a long jam with many solos - bass and drums too, though the organ and guitar are most prominent. There are also some pretty cool female backing vocals here and there, as well as nods to early Deep Purple (Mk.I), Traffic, and the Jullie Driscoll/ Brian Auger collaborations.
"Aerumnarum Plenus" and "Italiam, Italiam" are nice jazz-soul ballads, "Enigmatyczne Impresje" a rocking instrumental à la Small Faces, "Wruc Jeszcze Dzis" and "Zechcesz Mnie Zechcesz" are upbeat soul rockers, the latter with nice piano instead of the usual Hammond. "Chwila Ciszy" features some sizzling electric guitar and funky bass, "Nie Jestes Moja" his most emotive vocal, and "Sprzedaj Mnie Wiatrowi" some folk-prog flute. Side 4 of the (double) LP closes with "Muzyko Moja". The combination of Hammond organ, hard rock guitars and soul vocals is reminiscent of contemporary Atomic Rooster (with P.J. Proby on vocals). Overall I'm once again impressed with how much with the times (if not ahead of them) a rock band from East Europe could be. Maybe the "Iron Curtain" wasn't that impenetrable after all? Or -maybe, just maybe- it was shielding us Westerners from learning that on the other side there was youth culture, rock'n'roll and modern art. Meanwhile, the Western stereotype of East European youth at the time was uniformed soldiers and androgynous women working out beneath portraits of Lenin, training to beat our athletes at the Olympics. I wonder which side was consuming more propaganda. But in any case, this LP is just as as progressive as anything coming from the UK at the time - and more so than most U.S. groups. It's notable for its fresh mix of jazz, soul and hard rock, excellent musicianship, and some experimental touches that nevertheless take care not to alienate the audience. I must admit that, despite him having a strong and soulful voice, I can't warm up to Niemen's vocals. I think it has to do with the Polish language - not because I am unfamiliar with it, but because I don't think it fits with this kind of music. In any case, this is an excellent album well worth discovering. I'm now eager to delve deeper into Polish rock - I already have a compilation of Niemen's early pop soul stuff, but I'd like to find more albums in this style. SBB and Skaldowie are two more Polish prog groups worth hearing, as well as new waversRepublika and theAnglo-Polish Porter Band - all to be presented in this blog sometime.
**** for Człowiek Jam Niewdzięczny, Aerumnarum Plenus, Italiam Italiam, Enigmatyczne Impresje, Wróć Jeszcze Dziś, Sprzedaj Mnie Wiatrowi, Zechcesz Mnie Zechcesz, Chwila Ciszy
To people who grew up listening to vinyl, like I did, cover art is an important part of a record. At a time before internet when we only had state radio in Greece which seldom played rock music, we relied a lot on the cover to figure out how the music must have sounded: how did the band look on it? what kind of instruments they used? which font did they choose? was the cover funny? serious? sexy? all that played a role. My first record was Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow. I bought it because I'd heard "Temple Of The King", but above all I think because of the cover: a guitar castle out of fairy tales, what more could a 14-year old fantasy fan ask? During the CD era, covers shrinked and became less impressive but there was still a lot to be gathered by looking at them. I'm only starting my review with this because I'm looking at this CD cover and wondering how much ignorance has gone into it, and whether this can affect the way I feel about the album. Let's start with the title: "Velvet Revolution" refers to the regime change (from Communism to Western-style democracy) in Czechoslovakia in '89. Which means that the compilers missed the mark by only 20 years. Many of the bands here do come from Czechoslovakia but that's probably just a happy coincidence. I'd think they had confused the Velvet Revolution with the Prague Spring (1968) but I don't want to give them too much credit. That would imply they have at least some clue. Next, to the one that really irks me: the huge CCCP means of course that the CD contains music from the Soviet Union. Right? I mean you don't put a huge USA on an album containing music from Guatemala - or Canada, for that matter. Nooo...apparently you do. Just to throw potential buyers off. To amplify the message they use a pseudo-Cyrillic font that renders the band names virtually unreadable. Why? Cyrillic is used mainly in Russia, Bulgaria and Serbia. You feature bands from Czechoslovakia, Hungary, East Germany and Poland. These countries all use the Latin alphabet. Do you just want to get on my nerves by making me strain my eyes to decipher your bullshit font? But then I realized: the compilers apparently believe that the Eastern Bloc was a single country (capital:Moscow) that existed in an unspecified time and place. That explains why the cover features World War II bombers (again, 25 years off the mark) and a Soviet soldier - because this is what eveyrone wore in those countries, right? uniforms and hats with red stars on them. Ah, and according to discogs, the tracklist on the back has no less than 4 spelling mistakes. Now, why am I not surprised? Do you know how much skill it takes to copy a title from a record label? At least the booklet seems to have been written by a different person, someone who can actually tell Poland from Mongolia.
Now let us go to the music, starting with the Hungarian bands: Opener "Visz A Vonat" by Illés is groovy, organ-heavy, soul-rock with female vocals. A second song by the same band is completely different, featuring male vocals and a folk sound akin to Incredible String Band. Another (as Illes Zenckar) has some nice hard rock guitar but is otherwise unimpressive. Neoton is also represented with 3 tracks: hard rockers "A Haz" (Deep Purple-influenced) and "Nehez Fiuk" (Hendrix-like) and ballad "Gyere Alom". Moving on to Czechoslovakia, "18 Minut" by Juventus starts off like typical 60's pop but turns into a freakout with the singer yelling and band attacking their istruments hard. Olympic were a hugely popular band (nicknamed The Czech Beatles). "Tobogan" is a Yardbirds-like rocker and "Ikarus Blues" reminds me of Traffic circa 1968 - including a Chris Wood-like flute solo. Blue Effect were a Matadors offshoot (We'll talk about the Matadors in another post). The Effect's "White Hair" has some nice guitar but otherwise sounds like an outtake from the musical Hair. Of the Polish bands, Czerwono Czarni offer their own take on The Electric Prunes' Mass in F Minorwith the instrumental "Kyrie". No To Co's "Saturday To Sunday" is English language flower pop. The band even made an attempt for an international career by releasing a record at the UK, but failed to get noticed. By "international" I mean in the West. Most of these bands did have international careers within the confines of the "Eastern Bloc". Breakout's "We Have Told All" (sung in Polish, despite the English title) sounds a lot like Jullie Driscoll circa 1968-69. Rounding the compilation up, there are some East German numbers. East Germany had a great rock scene, evidence of which is the fantastic hard rock of Scirroco Combo (think Atomic Rooster), Joco Dev Sextett (Black Sabbath without the ultra heavy riffs) and Electra Combo (rather progish - Jethro Tull meet Cream?). On the whole this compilation helps to dispel the myth that Eastern Europe was this backwards place where rock was unknown or banned. Despite their difficulties in dealing with the state, rock bands flourished and produced music at least equal to the one made on the other side of the Continent. Musically, this is probably worth 3,5 stars but I'm subtracting 1,5* because of the disrespectful cover art presenting all these countries as if they were nothing more than Russian provinces.
**** for Visz A Vonat (Illés), Wege Mit Gutem Namen (Scirroco Combo), Stapellauf (Joco Dev Sextett)
*** for 18 Minut (Juventus), Tobogan (Olympic), Du Bist Mir Nah (Joco Dev Sextett), The Story Of M (Illés), Ikarus Blues (Olympic), Kyrie (Czerwono Czarni), Saturday To Sunday (No To Co), We Have Told All(Breakout), Über Feuer (Electra Combo), Nehez Fiuk (Neoton)
** for A Haz (Neoton), Gyere Alom (Neoton), Menekilles (Illes Zenckar), White Hair (Blue Effect)
This is Allmusic's review on this album: "I'll be honest, I've never heard either of these records. The only reviews of them I've ever read were by longtime Plastic People supporter Robert Christgau. He gave Leading Horses an A-. That's all the info I need. If you find them before I do, please tell me where you purchased them." I'm only quoting it to illustrate how the band's fame exceeded by far the reach of their music: few have actually heard their records but those interested in avant-guard rock know two things about them: that they made uncompromising, experimental music and that they stood up to Czechoslovakia's "Communist" dictators and paid the cost of their stance. The band was born during what became known as The Prague Spring, a few months in '68 starting with a liberalization attempt by the Czechoslovakian Communist Party under the leadership of General Secretary Alexander Dubček and ending with an invasion by Soviet armed forces bent on putting their comrades back on the path of Communist orthodoxy. Resistance took many forms. In the case of PPoTU, it was a series of dadaist cultural happenings which must have puzzled the commissars to no end. Despite what you may hear, rock music was not outlawed in Communist states. In fact, despite the regime's mistrust, many rock bands thrived all over Eastern Europe, although not in The Soviet Union itself (at least not until the 80's). In general these were the genres the regime could accept: 1)Jazz and Blues was to them "the music of the oppressed American negros" and definitely kosher 2)Progressive Rock would pass muster since it could be presented as "Modern Classical music with electric instruments". Even better if it embraced folk elements, always preferably in local language 3)Rock'n'roll was considered "dance music for the youth". Frowned upon for its immaturity but considered, as Douglas Adams would put it, mostly harmless 4)Folk music was welcome, since it's by definition "the musical expression of the rural proletariat". Which is why -you may be surprised to learn- country music was popular in many Communist countries even though I doubt those commies would be equally welcome in America. If you take a stroll around Czech used record shops, you'll be amazed by the number of local country LP's on display. 5)Heavy Rock was OK as long as it stayed clear of its natural subject matter (no Satan, drugs or sexist imagery - what is there left to sing about anyway?) Punk, on the other hand, was a definite no-no.The anarchic sounds of PPoTU did not fall in any of the above categories, so they must have dumbfounded the censors enough to retract their members' licences as professional musicians. This meant they were not permitted to record and distribute albums or play public gigs, which they nevertheless kept doing illegally. The crackdown on the band was pretty severe, resulting at the confiscation of their instruments and even jail time for some of their members. Supposedly they were persecuted because of their music but many other Czech rock bands prospered during the same period, which makes me think that this backlash was not due to cultural reasons but rather political ones: even if their lyrics were not overtly political, they must have had some anti-establishment activity. For once they were close to Václav Havel, famous playwright and political dissident of the time, and later the first post-communist President of the country. Actually "Co znamená vésti koně" was illicitly recorded at Havel's house in 1981 and released for the first time in Canada in 1983 under the English title "Leading Horses". But I wrote already so much without commenting on the music. As is commonly remarked, they seem to have been influenced by avant-rock pioneers like Frank Zappa, Captain Beefheart, and the Velvet Underground, as well as free jazz and musique concrète. The closest musical companion I can find in my record collection is Area, which is ironic since that Italian band were all staunch communists. Opener "Co znamená vésti koně" is dominated by a repetitive viola riff over rhythmic drums while "Slovo má buben" is a mainly slow piece with chanted vocals and a Zappa-esque freak-out middle section. "Samson" has a more epic, cinematic, character with choral vocals and military drums. "P.F." and "Delirium" are cacophonous experiments, "Májová" is another atonal piece dominated by clarinet and "Fotopneumatická pamět" is an introspective song with churchy chants. "Rozvaha neuskodí ani kuřeti" has a slow oriental beat, atmosperic melody and chanted vocals that reminded me of Dead Can Dance (albeit a few years earlier). "Mse" starts promisingly but quickly descents into chaos, while the last (and longest) track "Osip" features spoken incantations and a wailing saxophone over improvised bass lines. The whole album sounds very emotional rather than cerebral as it often happens with other experimental/prog bands. This specific reissue from 2014 has a seemingly very informative booklet with lots of details on the recording and complete lyrics - but it's all in Czech, thus of no use to me. It's very difficult to judge this album, as it seems to be the result of arduous self-exploring and self-expression rather than made with listeners in mind. I enjoyed it intermittently and found it annoying at other instances. Let's just say it's an interesting but challenging listen that may be rewarding to those who like adventurous, unconventional, music.
**** for Samson, Rozvaha neuskodí ani kuřeti
*** for Co znamená vésti koně, Slovo má buben, Májová, Fotopneumatická paměť, Osip
Are we (I mean myself and my girlfriend) what people callfoodies?I don't like to think so because it soundspretentious, like hipsters for food or something. But of courseshe is a cooking enthousiast with afood blog (with recipes for food mentioned in fairytales and classic stories). And I can't help noticing thatmy reports on international record stores in this blog are infested with remarks on local dishes and restaurants. So when I sit down to write about Prague's record stores, I have to try not to comment on the history of Czech pilsner or the difference between Czech and Hungarian goulash (the one is a stew with thick sauce served with dumplings, the other is a beef soup with potatoes and carrots -there I said it! It just came out!). I'll urge you instead to read aboutKafka, about the city'sJewish community and the legend of theGolem, and about Prague's turbulent history (thedefenestrations, thePrague Spring and the exciting World War II episode ofOperation Anthropoid - don't forget to visit the crypt in Saints Cyril and Methodius church where the final confrontation took place).
I know there's too much to do and to see in Prague, but I guess if you're reading this you're music fans and would also like to buy some records while you're there. I did, so I rented a place near the Jewish quarter and proceeded to explore the city. Most of the record stores are situated in the area called Nové Město/New Town, within walking distance from my apartment. Googlemaps showed me that the closest record shop was called Musicland, a shop that didn't exist in most guides. Probably because it is a rather faceless business situated in the second basement of the big Palladium mall. Expect to find the equivalent of the music section of a big department store: clean, well ordered, with a mainstream selection of CD's (200-400 CZK) and LP's (370-800 CZK). To put that in perspective, at the time of my visit 100 Czech Crowns were worth about 4 Euros. The second store I visited was also inside a mall on a very commercial pedestrian street (Na Příkopě), the Černá Růže passage. But this shop is one for the vinyl fetishists. It's called Japan LPand sells exclusively Japanese vinyl imports (mostly 2nd hand). There are a few offers 150-300CZK, but the usual price is 500-700, up to around 1000CZK. Owner is probably a late sleeper, as he opens at noon. At the end of Na Příkopě you can find Bontonland, a shop that advertises itself as "Europe's Biggest vinyl shop". Now that's a big claim if I ever heard one! To find the store you have to descent the stairs leading to an underground passage connected to the Mustek metro station. I'll admit that, for sheer surface, the vinyl department is huge. It hosts only new LP's from all genres (500-900CZK), a wide but far from complete collection. If a vinyl record is recently (re)issued, you'll probably find it here. It reminded me what I've read in a magazine, that Europe's biggest new vinyl records manufacturer is a Czech company whose pressings, I'm sure, are well represented here. The CD department is also big with separate mini-shops for classical, metal, czech music etc. Typical prices 300-400CZK, though there are some offers for half that price. For example, I got a CD (very rare outside Czechia) by Plastic People Of The Universe for only 160CZK. Also has the best opening hours (9:00-20:00, even open on Sundays).
Another shop in a commercial passage (Lucerna Passage which also hosts a live stage for pop concerts) is Happy Feet(open 12-18:00). It's a cute shop, very small but unexpectedly good. Some really nice LP's (prog/kraut rock, pop and classic rock) on sale for 200-500CZK. Despite its size, certainly worth a visit. The Suprafon music label is probably Czechoslovakia's most important one. A pre-war classical music label, it was of course nationalized in the country's communist period during which it held an almost-monopolistic position. Its official selling place is Suprafon Music Point, located in a nice square (Jungmannovo 17). It's a rather spacious shop with a big LP collection (400-900CZK) as well as CD's (200-400CZK) - a bit of everything, not just their own releases. But I daresay if an album is released by Suprafon, this is probably the place to find it. Bazar-CD on Školská 36 is your typical 2nd hand record store (thank God for those!). Here you'll find all kinds of music on CD and LP, as well as DVDs. CDs are typically 140-180 CZK, many on sale for only 50CZK. Most pop/rock LP's cost 350-500CZK, some old Suprafon issues 50-80CZK or less. There's a good selection of classic rock and, naturally, Czech music. The owner is helpful and will let you listen before buying.
Aurora (Spálená 53)is a huge antique/used books store which also sells records. Instead of doing the sensible thing and collect all the music in one place, its owners scattered the records about different rooms, so the experience is akin to shopping at different stalls in a bazaar. There are a lot of classic rock and pop LPs available between 200-500CZK, as well as some new reissues on sale for500CZK. My sources said that Disco Duck was mostly specialized in dance music, so I almost didn't visit it which would be a pity. The shop is in an inner yard connected via a passage to a very crowded touristic street near Charles bridge (Karlova no.12). There are a lot of funk and hip hop records, as well as cheap techno 12's. But there's also a good rock vinyl collection. Used LP's cost 300-800CZK (mostly 500) and new ones 700-800CZK. They also sell nice decorative clocks made of old vinyl records.
Phono.cz (Opatovická 24) is a, slightly underground, vinyl-only store with a good selection of used (250-500CZK) and new (500-700CZK) records. In addition to the usual pop/rock stuff, one can find funk, dub/reggae and East European prog. Towards the southern end of Nové Město (Trojanova 9) you can find Prague's most "alternative" record shop Rekomando. On the outside it looks like a thrift store, but it holds real treasures inside. Especially the front room with its impressive variety of punk, indie and underground CDs (300-400CZK) and LPs (new 350-600CZK). There are many more used records of all genres (200-400CZK) as well as books, usually relevant to underground/ rock'n'roll culture. Back to the center, I went looking for Bazar CD Krakovská, which had a legendary collection. Apparently it merged with punk/metal store Maximum Underground at Jilská 22. Enter the passage and go up the stairs to find yourself in front of the biggest 2nd hand music selection in Prague. Pop/rock LP's cost from 50/100CZK to, typically, 350 and 700 for the more collectible items. If you spend some time, you'll find many good albums around 200-300CZK. The CD collection (100-300CZK) seems almost infinite. Be prepared to spend a lot of time here. Up to now all the record shops mentioned are in the Nové Město district. I only visited a couple of shops outside that area.
One was Gramodesky Letna at the 7th district (Heřmanova 51, opens at 13:00). It had a good collection of classic rock and jazz (vinyl 190/260/420 CZK, CD's 190-260CZK) as well as some cheapos (25-100CZK). A nice enough shop, but hardly worth getting out of your way. In the same district you can apparently visit (I didn't find the time to) Jukebox Records (Funk/Soul/Hip-Hop, Heřmanova 38, open from 15:00) and Garage Store (Veverkova 6) for more rock'n'roll things. Some other record shops I had to leave out, partly because of the location and partly because they deal mostly in electronic/dance music were: Gram Records (Lužická 31), Vinyl Kink (Veverkova 6), and Alien DNA (Seifertova 24). They may be worth your time if you're interested in that kind of music. Last among the shops I did visit on this trip is Music Antiquariat CD LP, inside a passage (Tržiště 22) at the Castle District/Malá Strana. Medium sized with an interesting selection of reasonably priced 2nd hand items. If your walk around the castle and to this store has made you hungry, I suggest a stop at Magistar Kelly, round the corner (Šporkova 5) named after the (in)famous 16th century alchemist who lived in this neighborhood. I've tried their beef goulash, pork knuckle and mushroom risotto, washed down with a light and particularly refreshing dark draft beer. Excellent food, and relatively cheap - there, I did it again! Oh well...
I was visiting the beautiful old town of Amersfort for work, but (of course) still found time to visit the local record shop, where I saw this at the used LP section. Immediately my absurdity alarm bell began ringing: 3 teddy boy style guys posing in front of a wall with Cyrillic graffiti? Made in The USSR? I don't have anything like that in my collection! I wonder what it sounds like... I asked to listen to it, and was convinced after listening to a few seconds of the first song: "Come On!" is a great slice of neo-rockabilly, every bit as good as The Straycats albeit sung in Russian - which makes for a surreal experience. The band do not seem so much concerned with rocking hard or replicating the fifties rock sound (which they do) they're just full of enthousiasm and fun. Their playing is good all around, but on that first listen I especially liked the sax which reminded me of Louis Jordan. On returning home, I googled them, and came across their source of inspiration: If the title Mister Twister reminds us of Chubby Checker (Is it a biiird?Noooo...Is it an aeroplaaane? Noooo...Is it a Twister?) to those growing in the Soviet Union it had a different meaning: Mister Twister was a popular satirical children's poem whose protagonist, an obnoxious and racist American millionaire, was cleverly tricked and punished for his arrogance by a Soviet hotel clerk. So the band name is not just American and retro, but also mocking of the communist propaganda of the older Russian generation. Starting out in 1985, Mister Twister quickly became the country's leading representatives of a youth movement called "style" (meaning retro? mod? not sure myself), which explains why their 1990 debut for the state record label Melodiya sold an estimated 1,7 million(!) copies - meaning it's not exactly a rarity. Indeed while the album rarely appears at Western record shops, it can easily be obtained on second hand vinyl from The Russian Federation and other former Soviet Republics. Whether you should get it depends on whether the idea of Russian language rockabilly appeals to you. Purely musically it's good but not exceptional: You either like rockabilly or not, and there's only so much you can do within the genre. There's a bunch of fast tunes that remind me of Gene Vincent, like "Rockabilly-Rock", "Rock-n-Roll Without Validolum", "I Often Hear The Question", and the sole cover "Shake, Rattle & Roll". These give the guitarist the chance to shine, laying those fancy licks thick on the ground. Next to the rockers there are some mid-tempo jazzy numbers ("We`ve Parted", "Blues For J.", "Fat Hands Blues", "Arbat Shuffle"), 60's pop ("By The Blue Sea") and ballads ("Tenderland", the romantic "Moscow Nights") signifying the boys have been listening to a lot of Elvis. I personally prefer the faster songs, but I have to admit that Russian as a language is a more natural fit for ballads. In any case, besides being an interesting curio, this is as good a rock'n'roll record as any made in the West during the same time period. I was quite happy to add it to my collection.
**** for Давай! (Come On!), Mы Расстались (We`ve Parted), Pокабилли-Pок (Rockabilly-Rock), Pок-н-Pолл Без Валидола (Rock-n-Roll Without Validolum), Блюз Пуxлых Pук (Fat Hands Blues), Арбатский Шаффл (Arbat Shuffle), Московские Hочи (Moscow Nights), У Cамого Cинего Mоря (By The Blue Sea)
*** for Блюз Для Ю. (Blues For J.), Рок Bокруг Дискотеки (Rock Around The Discotheque), Shake Rattle & Roll, Bечер Pок-н-Pоллa (Rock-n-Roll Party), Pок-Tерапия (Rock Therapy), Я Часто Cлышу (Bопрос) (I Often Hear The Question)
I bought this CD on a whim, just because it was cheap and I liked the cover. I was familiar with Czechoslovakian 60's Beat music but this one was my first contact with the modern Czech indie scene - if such a scene even exists. It's difficult to tell, as there's little relevant information out there. One might blame the Czech language: even speaking it seems like an arduous task to non-natives, imagine trying to sing in it. But one listen to Toyen disproves this theory: their songs are easy on the ear, lyrical and melodic. In fact this album sounds a lot like early U2 - in an alternative world where English hasn't dominated popular culture, Toyen might also be international superstars. As it is, a googlesearch brings up mostly entries on the painter whose name they adopted. Which is just as well, otherwise I may never have heard of her/him: born Marie Čermínova, she/he adopted the name Toyen (from the French "citoyen") and often switched gender identities (usually preferring the male one). She/he was one of the founders and main representatives of the Czech surrealist movement since the 20's, leaned politically towards anarchism, and saw her/his art championed by André Breton and other surrealist leaders. It's a story well worth reading and her/his paintings are equally worth of attention, so I'm glad this CD led me to the discovery of Toyen the painter. Back to the same-named band, they started as a punk group with the name Letadlo during the Communist era but kept getting marginalized by the government and eventually quit, only to reform with another name after the regime change. They got some international attention thanks to fan Scott Murphy from ABC-TV, but quickly quit any ambitions for an international career - as is evident in this, their second, album being exclusively sung in the Czech language whereas their debut was divided between Czech and English. Opener "Po Stopách Zmizelých Železnic" immediately catches the ear, a radio friendly tune reminiscent of REM circa "Green". It's followed by the lyrical new wave "Ten Druhý" inviting comparisons with early U2 and melodic ballad "Srdcerváč". "Myji Si Ruce" is guitar-driven rock while "Fotky"'s indie pop carries echoes of The Smiths. "Byl Tu Chvíli" and "Příběh Lásky" are closer to 80's Goth (the former reminded me of Mission) and "Sv. Jan" is another epic U2 soundalike with a "heroic" guitar solo. The last two tracks are a couple of dance mixes that made me drop one star in the rating. They'd be OK as a standalone single (especially "Bestie") but tucked at the end of an atmospheric new wave album, they ruin the mood with their attempt to imitate the British rave scene of the time. That mis-step aside, this CD is another potent reminder that great music continues to grow away from the Anglocentric pop mainstream - if we only open up our ears to it...
**** for Po Stopách Zmizelých Železnic, Ten Druhý, Srdcerváč, Fotky, Byl Tu Chvíli
*** for Myji Si Ruce, Příběh Lásky, Sv. Jan, Bestie (Dancing Groovie Mix)
I've really been working on this review for a long time. Not only it's a very long album (35 songs) but it spans many years and styles, and concerns a band that is very famous in their own land (making any mistakes on my part easily detectable) but also previously completely unknown to me, meaning it required quite a lot of research and careful listening. Not to mention it's sung in Serbo-Croatian, which sound pretty strange to the ears of those of us not used to Slavic languages. I hope it's nevertheless a good presentation of the album and the band to readers not familiar with Yugoslavian rock and will encourage them to delve further into that genre.
Here's one I don't know where to classify, and this time I don't just mean musically but geographically. Bijelo Dugme (Serbian for White Button) were (I believe) Serbians, born and bred in Sarajevo of Bosnia and recording for a Croatian label. Back then, of course, all these were one country, named Yugoslavia. The powers that be divided it in several pieces, after plunging it in a bloody civil war whose ripples are still felt in the area. Despite being neighbors, we Greeks did not have much cultural exchange with Yugoslavia - except in sports, that is. Goran Bregovic was the first Yugoslavian artist to become popular (in the late 80's) thanks to his film music and has subsequently recorded with many famous Greek artists - yet few people know he used to be a rock star in his own country. Even the idea of Yugoslavian Rock sounds ridiculous to people nurtured with the idea that rock can only be English or American. When I read about them, I just had to get me an album and, thanks to ebay, I soon had this double compilation with a generous 35-song tracklisting. The band was founded in 1974 and led by guitarist Goran Bregović and singer Željko Bebek. Like most East European rockers they sing in their native language, either because they didn't speak English or -more likely- to avoid problems with the "communist" censors. Its mixture of hard rock, blues and Balkan folk music was named by the press pastirski (shepherd) rock. Now, in Western music, folk usually means acoustic instruments and ballads. Those familiar with the Balkans, though, know that Balkan folk is mostly dance music for big feasts, weddings etc. and meant to be played loud. Couple that with BD's insistence on electric instruments and the outcome is nothing like folk rock - rather hard rock often inspired by traditional melodies. The slow songs, on the other hand, are more Westernized as they draw inspiration from the blues. I will not go into details about their history since there's a very detailed wikipedia page in English on them. Instead I'll present their discography through the songs making up this compilation, starting with their first single, 1974's "Top", a hard rocker reminiscent of Deep Purple Mk.I (pre-Ian Gillan) while "Da Sam Pekar" from the same year is a fast paced boogie. From their '74 debut LP "Kad bi bio bijelo dugme" we get the heavy blues "Blues Za Moju Bivšu Dragu", the shameless Chuck Berry ripoff "Ne Spavaj Mala Moja Muzika Dok Svira" and the emotive ballad "Selma". The album's cover must have been pretty daring for East Bloc standards, as it featured a girl in an unbuttoned jean shirt, exposing most of her breasts. It didn't seem to bother the censors, though, and the band would go on with releasing more provocative covers in the future.
This collection also includes most of their 1975 album"Šta bi dao da si na mom mjestu", including the galloping "Hop Cup" and the blues/hard rock "Ne Gledaj Me Tako I Ne Ljubi Me Više". Once again I'm reminded of Deep Purple (Mk III this time, and their classic "Mistreated") because of Bebek's bluesy delivery and the great interplay between Bregović 's guitar and Vlado Pravdić's organ. Other songs from this album include the bluesy "Šta Bi Dao Da Si Na Mom Mjestu" and "Ne Gledaj Me Tako I Ne Ljubi Me Više" and power ballad "Došao Sam Da Ti Kažem Da Odlazim". "Tako Ti Je Mala Moja Kad Ljubi Bosanac" is dominated by an almost metallic riff but also contains a Balkan-sounding chorus. "Požurite Konji Moji" is a complex composition, a fast hard rocker with a prog/jazz middle section. "Ima neka tajna veza" is a nice, single-only, mid-paced prog rocker from the same year.
From 1976's "Eto! Baš hoću!" we get once more most of the album, starting with the epic hard rock of "Dede Bona, Sjeti Se, De Tako Ti Svega" and "Izgledala Je Malo Čudno U Kaputu Žutom Krojenom Bez Veze" with its heavily distorted guitar effects. "Ne Dese Se Takve Stvari Pravome Muškarcu" is closer to Lynyrd Skynyrd territory and even features some great harmonica. "Sanjao Sam Nocas Da Te Nemam" and "Loše Vino" are a couple of sensitive ballads with sensual female backing vocals.
1979's "Bitanga i princeza", almost completely included in this compilation, is straight hard rock, the same-named number reminding me of Uriah Heep's FM-oriented singles of the era. "Ala je glupo zaboravit' njen broj" is a fast rocker very close to what Pavlos Sidiropoulos was doing around the same time in Greece. It contains their first censored lyric - curiously for an "atheist" socialist society because the censors thought it could offend religious Christians. In "Ipak, poželim neko pismo"the guitar is less prominent than the bass and keyboards. The Balkan-sounding melody of the chorus is the only discernible folk element in this LP. "Kad zaboraviš juli" and "Sve Će To Mila Moja Prekriti Ruzmarin Snjegovi I Šaš" are a couple of grandiose ballads featuring a symphonic orchestra, "Na Zadnjem Sjedištu Moga Auta" points to a turn of direction, incorporating ska, disco and new wave elements.
By next year's "Doživjeti Stotu" the transformation (musical and stylistical) is complete and, although Bregovic has complete control as producer, his electric guitar is buried behind the keyboards and sax. Songs like "Doživjeti Stotu", "Čudesno Jutro U Krevetu Gđe Petrović" and "Ha, Ha, Ha" have more in common with The Beat or The Motels than with their earlier albums and "Pristao Sam Bicu Sve Sto Hoce" a pleasant but forgettable singalong number.
1983's "Uspavanka za Radmilu M"continues on the same ska/new wave style. "Drugovi I Drugarice" and "U Vrijeme Otkazanih Letova" are nice enough for that genre but sound rather outdated to my ears. "Kosovska", sung in Albanian, was the band's attempt of reconciling the Serbian and Albanian communities of that Yugoslavian Republic through rock'n'roll. Admirable sentiment but it'd take much more than an EyeOfTheTiger-style funk rocker to do that. "Ako Mozes, Zaboravi" is the standout track, and the first song in this compilation that actually sounds like the Goran Bregovic we know from the "Time of The Gypsies". Think Ederlezi with electric guitars and you're close.
From 1984's"Bijelo Dugme", featuring new singer Mladen Vojičić Tifa, we get only the folk-inflected "Lipe Cvatu Sve Je Isto K'o I Lani" while 1986's "Pljuni i zapjevaj moja Jugoslavijo" featured yet another vocalist in Alen Islamović. "Hajdemo u planine" features both gypsy folk and funk/rap elements while "Ružica si bila, sada više nisi" is the kind of pop ballad that later became associated with the likes of Eros Ramazzotti - something that also holds for "Nakon Svih Ovih Godina" from the band's last album "Ćiribiribela" (1988).
The story of Bijelo Dugme comes to a close, almost simultaneously with the story of their country. In the early 90's, Yugoslavia was immersed in a civil war, the bloodiest and mostsenseless Europehas seen since World War II. The country was divided and official history has given out roles: the good guys, the bad guys, the victims and the murderers. Like always, reality is infinitely more complicated. Suffice it to say that the split is complete and that all that came before now seems as unreal as a dream. It seems like there always has been a country called Croatia, Serbia, Slovenia etc. Yugoslavia has almost faded from memory within a few years, and so has its greatest rock band Bijelo Dugme. Goran Bregovic has moved on to become a successful film music composer and international world music star, but his rock'n'roll past deserves to be saved from obscurity (though of course it's anything but obscure for his co-patriots). This compilation makes for an ideal introduction.
***** for Požurite Konji Moji
**** for Top, Da Sam Pekar, Ne Spavaj Mala Moja Muzika Dok Svira, Tako Ti Je Mala Moja Kad Ljubi Bosanac, Hop Cup, Bitanga I Princeza, Na Zadnjem Sjedištu Moga Auta, Hajdemo U Planine, Ima Neka Tajna Veza, Selma, Blues Za Moju Bivšu Dragu, Loše Vino, Sve Će To Mila Moja Prekriti Ruzmarin Snjegovi I Šaš, Ako Možeš Zaboravi
*** for Dede Bona, Sjeti Se, De Tako Ti Svega, Izgledala Je Malo Čudno U Kaputu Žutom Krojenom Bez Veze, Ne Dese Se Takve Stvari Pravome Muškarcu, Ala Je Glupo Zaboravit Njen Broj, Doživjeti Stotu, Čudesno Jutro U Krevetu Gđe Petrović, Drugarice I Drugovi, Vrijeme Otkazanih Letova, Lipe Cvatu, Došao Sam Da Ti Kažem Da Odlazim, Ne Gledaj Me Tako I Ne Ljubi Me Više, Šta Bi Dao Da Si Na Mom Mjestu, Sanjao Sam Nočas Da Te Nemam, Ipak Opželim Neko Pismo, Kad Zaboraviš Juli
** forHa Ha Ha, Kosovska, Pristao Sam Biću Sve Što Hoće, Ružica Si Bila, Nakon Svih Ovih Godina
