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 Eye Of The Tiger-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 most senseless Europe has 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
** for Ha Ha Ha, Kosovska, Pristao Sam Biću Sve Što Hoće, Ružica Si Bila, Nakon Svih Ovih Godina
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