The Legacy of Davorin Popovich and Indexi
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)." The band went through numerous drummers and keyboardists among which were later Bijelo Dugme members Milich Vukashinich and Vlado Pravdich.
From the late 1960s on, the band began making originals. Their heyday was in the 1970s when they had a string of progressive hits such as Da sam ja Netko (If I Was Someone), Plima (Tide), Balada (Ballad), their signature hit Bacila je sve Niz Rijeku (She Through it All Down a River), Predaj se Srce, (Give up Heart), Sve Ove Godine (All These Years), among others.
Their musical style is a blend of psychadellia and prog rock and takes influences from the Beatles, Yes, and King Crimson, for the most part.
Pimpek Rides Solo
Davorin Popovich has also had a 20-year solo career albeit parallel to his time with Indexi (akin to, e.g. Phil Collins in Genesis). What's worth noting here is that on each of his solo records, one or another lineup of Indexi would back him almost as if they were Indexi LPs issued under his solo name. His most successful of these was his 1976 debut Svaka je Ljubav Ista, Osim one Prave (Every Love is the Same Except the Real One), and his 1984 S Tobom Djelim Sve (With You I Share Everything). He even went on to represent Bosnia and Herzegovina in the 1995 Eurovision contest in Dublin with Dvadeset Prvi Vijek (The 21st Century). Unfortunately, he only placed 15th.
Gone, but Certainly Never Forgotton:
Popovich passed on June 18, 2001 - as a result of pancreatic cancer. He was laid down to rest in the Alley of the Greats at Sarajevo's Bare Cemetary. (Bare being home to many famous musicians such as schlager singer Kemal Monteno and original Crvena Jabuka (Red Apple) singer Drazen Richl-Zijo).
In his honor, the Davorin (since 2010 Indexi) award was coined in 2002. It is literally a carbon-copy of an American Grammy or Canadian Juno award, with categories such as Best Rock Album, Best Rap Album, etc.
While I know this has been said before, I would REALLY encourage my readers to hope on over to YouTube and listen to some of the songs here (simply copy/paste the titles, or search "Indexi" in YouTube). I promise you will like and enjoy these songs EVEN IF you do not understand the words. I feel it shameful that the music of my home country is not known outside of the former Yugoslav territory much less on this side of the pond :-(.
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)." The band went through numerous drummers and keyboardists among which were later Bijelo Dugme members Milich Vukashinich and Vlado Pravdich.
From the late 1960s on, the band began making originals. Their heyday was in the 1970s when they had a string of progressive hits such as Da sam ja Netko (If I Was Someone), Plima (Tide), Balada (Ballad), their signature hit Bacila je sve Niz Rijeku (She Through it All Down a River), Predaj se Srce, (Give up Heart), Sve Ove Godine (All These Years), among others.
Their musical style is a blend of psychadellia and prog rock and takes influences from the Beatles, Yes, and King Crimson, for the most part.
Pimpek Rides Solo
Davorin Popovich has also had a 20-year solo career albeit parallel to his time with Indexi (akin to, e.g. Phil Collins in Genesis). What's worth noting here is that on each of his solo records, one or another lineup of Indexi would back him almost as if they were Indexi LPs issued under his solo name. His most successful of these was his 1976 debut Svaka je Ljubav Ista, Osim one Prave (Every Love is the Same Except the Real One), and his 1984 S Tobom Djelim Sve (With You I Share Everything). He even went on to represent Bosnia and Herzegovina in the 1995 Eurovision contest in Dublin with Dvadeset Prvi Vijek (The 21st Century). Unfortunately, he only placed 15th.
Gone, but Certainly Never Forgotton:
Popovich passed on June 18, 2001 - as a result of pancreatic cancer. He was laid down to rest in the Alley of the Greats at Sarajevo's Bare Cemetary. (Bare being home to many famous musicians such as schlager singer Kemal Monteno and original Crvena Jabuka (Red Apple) singer Drazen Richl-Zijo).
In his honor, the Davorin (since 2010 Indexi) award was coined in 2002. It is literally a carbon-copy of an American Grammy or Canadian Juno award, with categories such as Best Rock Album, Best Rap Album, etc.
While I know this has been said before, I would REALLY encourage my readers to hope on over to YouTube and listen to some of the songs here (simply copy/paste the titles, or search "Indexi" in YouTube). I promise you will like and enjoy these songs EVEN IF you do not understand the words. I feel it shameful that the music of my home country is not known outside of the former Yugoslav territory much less on this side of the pond :-(.
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