Sarajevo's Plavi Orkestar Made Their Debut 35 Years Ago

 Many bands and artist have celebrated milestone album anniversaries, or milestone birthdays, but it is also important to remember that rock did not only exist in the UK, Australia, and North America. In fact, rock was a central sound of the former Yugoslavia, and 35 years ago, Plavi Orkestar (Blue Orchestra) released their debut album, Soldatski Bal.

Beatle Copycats

Take a look at the album's cover above. The first thing that should come to mind is Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. That's becaue the band meant to replicate the album cover as it was important - especially to singer Sasha Loshich, and guitarist Mladen Pavichich. The four band members - Losha, Pava, the two "Chera" twins (Samir and Admir - "Ch," prounced like in change), flanked by the seven secretaries of the seven Yugoslav Youth Communist League (SKOJ), and other popular Balkan names such as Lepa Brena, Serbo-Croatian language creator Vuk Karadzich, and many others.

Teen rock and a massive success

To be frank, all four band members were in their early 20s at the time of the album's release. The sound they produced made them idols to many of the nation's teenagers. It is also worth noting that Soldatski Bal (Soldier's Ball) sold about 500,000 copies, making it the highest-selling debut in the former Yugoslavia, and selling twice as many as Sanjati ("To Dream)," by Crvena Jabuka, (Red Apple) several years later.

The album generated seven hits, and features collaboration from some of the biggest stars of the day such as Parni Valjak (Steam Roller)'s Aki Rahimovski, and Jura Stublich of the Zagreb band Film.

Several of the songs, such as "Medena Curice (Honey Girl)", and "Odlazi nam Raja (Our Friends Are Leaving)" were Losha's ideas after serving in the Yugoslav National Army. Every young man in the country had to spend a year at a particular post of the YNA, and unlike most other bands of the day, the members of Plavi Orkestar served their times before even recording their dbut album!

Overall, this is really a great debut album. I suggest that you listen to the tracks I have linked, as well as click on some of the other links with the album cover to hear more from this album.








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