Bijelo dugme

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Bijelo dugme
Bijelo Dugme's 1975 single from the album "Sta bi dao da si na mom Mjestu!
Bijelo Dugme's 1975 single from the album "Sta bi dao da si na mom Mjestu!
Background information
Origin Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Yugoslavia
Genre(s) Progressive rock
Hard rock
Folk rock
Years active 1974-1989
Brief reunion: 2005
Label(s) Jugoton
Diskoton
Associated acts Divlje jagode
Kodeksi
Jutro
Former members
Goran Bregović
Željko Bebek
Mladen Vojičić - Tifa
Alen Islamović
Zoran Redžić
Jadranko Stanković
Ipe Ivandić
Điđi Jankelić
Milić Vukašinović
Vlado Pravdić
Laza Ristovski

Bijelo dugme ("White Button") were a highly influential rock band stationed in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, originally when in Yugoslavia. Active between 1974 and 1989, they are considered to have been the most popular band ever to exist in the former Yugoslavia and one of the most important acts of the Yugoslav Rock scene.

Contents

[edit] History

Bijelo dugme was founded by Goran Bregović who was born in Sarajevo, who spent much of his childhood in Music School, studying violin, from which he was expelled for "lack of talent". Soon after his expulsion, his mother bought him a guitar, and thus, Bijelo dugme was born. Goran Bregović often admitted that his main motivation for forming the band was because "girls were more receptive to musicians". Bregović was the band's sole composer and wrote most of the lyrics, although some of the most popular Bijelo dugme songs weren't written by Bregović, for example: Ima neka tajna veza, Glavni junak jedne knjige, Šta bi dao da si na mom mjestu, Pristao sam biću sve što hoće were written by Duško Trifunović, Da sam pekar, Selma were written by Vlado Dijak, Loše vino by Arsen Dedić etc.

After recruiting the band's first line up, Bijelo dugme under the name Jutro (translation: "Morning") were turned down by Sarajevo based record company Diskoton, but another record company, Jugoton, signed them up to record a single. The first single was named Kad bi' bio bijelo dugme (translation: "If I were a white button"). After the single was released, the band's manager talked Bregović into changing the band's name to Bijelo dugme.

With its charismatic vocalist Željko Bebek, the band soon reached superstardom in the former Yugoslavia, and, as one newspaper put it, sold more records than there were record players in the country. The pinnacle of the band's career was 1979's Bitanga i princeza, an album often heralded as their most mature with vocalist Željko Bebek. They were often referred to as the Yugoslav Beatles.

The turn of the decade brought the rise of numerous Yugoslav New Wave artists, including Azra, and Bijelo dugme soon found their popularity sinking, to which they reacted by reinventing themselves for their 1980 release Doživjeti stotu, featuring a much more New Wave sound. The chorus of their ska song "Ha, Ha, Ha" was used as the title of a compilation album by various artists Svi marš na ples! which was released by Jugoton in 1981.

1984 brought the departure of Željko Bebek to pursue a solo career and Mladen Vojičić - Tifa was recruited to replace him for their 1984 self-titled release. He in turn left the band because of inner conflicts and was replaced by Alen Islamović, formerly vocalist of the heavy metal band Divlje jagode for their last two folk-inspired records.

The band disbanded in 1989 after Alen Islamović checked into hospital for chest pains during their last tour, without telling anyone he was ill. The real reasons have never been elaborated, but most people suspect the dissolution of Yugoslavia caused the breakup of the band, because the band was often seen as a symbol of unity among the peoples of Yugoslavia.

Bijelo dugme at the 2005 Sarajevo farewell concert, from left to right: Alen Islamović, "Điđi" Jankelić, Milić Vukašinović, Goran Bregović, Željko Bebek, Zoran Redžić and Vlado Pravdić
Bijelo dugme at the 2005 Sarajevo farewell concert, from left to right: Alen Islamović, "Điđi" Jankelić, Milić Vukašinović, Goran Bregović, Željko Bebek, Zoran Redžić and Vlado Pravdić

Bijelo dugme's biggest hits were: Lipe cvatu, A i ti me iznevjeri, Đurđevdan, Ne spavaj mala moja muzika dok svira, Ipak poželim neko pismo, Ima neka tajna veza, Pristao sam biću sve što hoće, Selma, Loše vino, Jer kad ostariš, Lažeš, Kad zaboraviš juli, Hajdemo u planine, Napile se ulice, Ružica si bila, sada više nisi, Bitanga i princeza, Pljuni i zapjevaj moja Jugoslavijo, Sanjao sam noćas da te nemam, Te noći kad umrem, Nakon svih ovih godina...

The band reunited for three concerts in Sarajevo, Zagreb and Belgrade in 2005 with all three vocalists, but without the drummer Goran "Ipe" Ivandić who died in Belgrade, Serbia in 1994.

A new pop folk-like album was released in November of 2007.

[edit] Legacy

Bijelo dugme laid the groundwork for the Yugoslav rock scene, and the epitome for the Sarajevo rock school. Inspiring many artists from different musical genres, from all countries of former Yugoslavia. In the 2003 rock documentary Sretno dijete, the guitarist and lead songwriter for Prljavo Kazalište said that "whatever Bijelo dugme did, everyone else did".

They still enjoy a huge fanbase; their 2005 concerts in Sarajevo at Koševo stadium and Zagreb at Maksimir stadium) sold out within hours. Their 2005 concert in Belgrade at the hippodrome drew more than 250,000 fans, while more than 20,000 fans stayed outside of hippodrome.

There is a tour of the Canada, United States of America and Australia planned for fall of 2006.[1],
in Europe - Vienna (25th November)

There are plans of a tour in either the spring or the summer of 2008.

[edit] Trivia

 Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines.
The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.

Throughout the years, many people have accused Goran Bregović of "stealing" other people's songs. People think that Bregović was stealing these songs and changing them thinking that no one would recognize the extreme similarities between his songs and others, which is wrong. Many people in Ex-Yugoslavia already listened to British and American Rock and knew what was popular in other countries too, and the purpose of Bregović's making songs similar to foreign hits was exactly for that reason. So when someone would hear these songs, they could sing them in their own language, and also because Bregović would take the mistakes he felt the original artists made and would correct them and possibly make the songs better (according to many people). The songs that Bregović made similar to others are only a couple out of all the songs he has written put together. Some examples of these songs are as follows:

[edit] Members

[edit] Timeline

[edit] Albums

[edit] Studio albums

  1. Kad bi' bio bijelo dugme - 1974 ("If I Were a White Button")
  2. Šta bi dao da si na mom mjestu - 1975 ("What I Would Give for You to be in My Place")
  3. Eto! Baš hoću! - 1976 ("There! I Will!")
  4. Bitanga i princeza - 1979 ("The Brute & the Princess")
  5. Doživjeti stotu - 1980 ("Live to be 100")
  6. Uspavanka za Radmilu M. - 1983 ("Lullaby for Radmila M.")
  7. Bijelo dugme (Kosovka djevojka) - 1984 ("White Button" aka "Kosovo Maiden")
  8. Pljuni i zapjevaj moja Jugoslavijo - 1986 ("Spit and Sing, My Yugoslavia")
  9. Ćiribiribela - 1988
  10. untitled -November 2007

[edit] Live albums

  1. Koncert kod Hajdučke česme - 1977
  2. 5. april '81 - 1981
  3. Mramor, kamen i željezo - 1987
  4. Turneja 2005 - Sarajevo, Zagreb, Beograd - 2005

[edit] Compilations and other works

  1. Iz sve snage - 1975
  2. Ipe Ivandić i Bijelo Dugme - 1976
  3. Svi marš na ples! - 1981
  4. Singl ploče (1974-1975) - 1982
  5. Singl ploče (1976-1980) - 1982
  6. A milicija trenira strogocu! (i druge pjesme za djecu) - 1983
  7. Sanjao sam noćas da te nemam (Velike rock balade) - 1984
  8. Rock & Roll - 1988
  9. Nakon svih ovih godina - 1990
  10. Ima neka tajna veza - 1994

[edit] See also

[edit] External links