Divlje Jagode - The Little Yugoslav Band That "Could?"

In the former Yugoslavia, there were many bands that were famous in the country, but what if I told you that there was a popular band from Bihach, Bosnia-Herzegovina, who ALMOST made it in England?
Divlje jagode.JPG

They had an interesting history...

 The band Divlje Jagode (Wild Strawberries) grew to become a popular rock and heavy metal band. Led by the unsurpassed talent of guitarist Senad "Zele" Lipovacha - a former member of the short-lived band Zenit as was bass player Nihad Jusufhojich, the band made nationwide headlines with the issue of their 1979 self-titled debut LP.

In 1981, Alen Islamovich joined in as lead singer. This resulted in their best-selling 1982 LP Motori ("Motorcycles") and showed a true, heavy metal tone. This continued on 1983's Charobnjaci ("The Wizards"), and 1985's Vatra ("Fire")

So, what about recording in England

 It was 1986 when Alen Islamovich took the band over to England to make an album under the new name of Wild Strawberries. The album also featured Don Airey - then of Whitesnake and previously of Rainbow fame.

While the album featured a rerecording of eight of their songs in English (would've been GREAT for the classic rock station near you), massive delays by the record company led to album eventually being shelved.

This disppointment, however, did not end Islamovich's career. A month later, ha accepted an invitation from Goran Bregovich to fill the void of lead singer in Bregovich's band - Bijelo Dugme (The White Button).


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Jimmy Stokley and Exile

Image
  Although of minor significance, today is 35 years since we lostJimmy Stokley of Exile. A little known Kentucky band, Exile is perhaps only known for their 1978 hit Kiss You All Over . In the 80s, the band shifted to more of a country sound, and has not made any noteable chart hits since. A Jagger-like frontman Born James Carr Stokley on October 18, 1943, Stokley joined The Fascinations in 1963, who then became Jimmy Stokley and The Exiles, featuring future Exile guiarist J.P. Penington  Jimmy Stokley and The Exiles, were, towards the end of the decade, shortened to simply The Exiles, before the plural form was dropped in the mid 70s, becoming Exile. Interestingly, Stokley's attire and attitude on stage led to many calling him the American Mick Jagger. One hitters In 1978, Exile issued their LP Mixed Emotions  through Warner Bros. records. The record features the disco-ey hit Kiss You All Over , written by producer Mike Chapman (also notorious for working with Blondie). ...
Read more

Bijelo Dugme - Former Yugoslavia's Greatest Rock Band

Image
In today's blog post, we will examine perhaps one of the GREATEST rock bands of the former Yugoslavia. Bijelo Dugme (The White Button), which by sound is largely influenced by the heavy metal likes of Deep Purple, Zeppelin, and Sabbath; however in culture, they were most simillar to the Beatles. In fact, there was a Dugmeania in the former Yugoslavia in the late 70s akin to Beatlemania in the US in the 60s. The brainchild of the band was a young man named Goran Bregovich, aka Brega. He was born on 3, 22, 1950 in Sarajevo to a Serbian mother and a Croatian father. At some point, his mother enrolled him into a music school with violin as a chosen instrument, but around twelve he was expelled showing lack of interest. Consequently, his mother bought him a guitar in his early teenage years. Brega's first bands were high school bands. He played bass guitar for Beshtije (The Beasts). At a  br in 1969, Bregovich met Zeljko Bebek who was part of a band called Kodeksi (The Codexes)...
Read more

The Legacy of Davorin Popovich and Indexi

Image
In the former Yugoslavia, there were many successful artists, but one of the most important, and even overlooked sometimes, was a popular band called Indexi (The Indeces). They had an awesome lead singer. The late, great Davorin Popovich today is remembered for has raspy, tenor voice - to me, a bit comparable to Burton Cummings of The Guess Who fame. Over the years, he has earned various nicknames such as Dacho and Pimpek. They were the seeds for other bands. Formed back in 1962, Indexi set the stage for what is now known as the Sarajevo School of Pop Rock - a movement that would live for the next three decades (a la before the Yugoslav wars). Their name, by the way, is the plural of Index - a student's gradebook. Each student was expected to record and maintain their own grades. The core  members, aside from Popovich, consisted of late guitarist Slobodan Bodo Kavachevich and bass player Fadil Redzich (pronounce "dz," like "s" in "risotto)."...
Read more