Of all the singers who came out of Oliver Dragojević’s rib, Tedi Spalato might be the most sincere one - by following the older colleagues example and spirit more than slavishly just copying the sound, Spalato managed to create his own style which is close to his idol but nevertheless original on his own. What Dragojević and his truly unforgettable Songbook left behind trough decades is weary, melancholic and reflective music that identify Dalmatian coast of Croatia, its people and tradition. That even in spite of local dialect, this music came to be embraced far beyond its place of birth just shows how much it appeals to listeners everywhere - we might not always understand the local jargon but we get the message trough emotions that our hearts all have in common.
Ted Spalato have of course been in music business forever - he has with older colleague in common not just geographic background but they were both at different times members of legendary band “More” that served as kind of incubator for several talents who later became hugely successful solo artists. Who knows why it was so, but while other people realized their careers much faster, Spalato took his time to blossom and when he finally did, we all celebrated because he didn’t go with predictable commercial route but kept creating music close to his heart and results was this timeless album that might even be his best and most inspired work. It helped that some of the best homegrown songwriters (Gibonni, Marijan Ban, Tomislav Mrduljaš and great, late Ljubo Stipišić) this time served him with brilliant songs - Spalato himself is represented with three of titles (“Moje izgubljeno blago”, “Đardin” and beautiful “Još Te nima”) that absolutely match his collaborators - so it seems that when this late bloomer eventually recorded this career-making album, everything fell into place and he was ready. Its a collection of melancholic, heartfelt ballads - none of them quick grabbing hit but more of slow burning embers that glow in the dark, timeless music that we listen alone, feeling like artist speaks exactly to us although he actually sings about himself. The title of album is actually first verse of song “Sve ću preživit” which turned into huge hit and hopefully turned listeners to check out the whole album that is actually in the same league with this song - in reality, this hit is just one of the many great other titles so I can’t say why exactly this was biggest hit and not something else - personally I was always floored with “Testament” that combines anthemic music with the unrepentant lyrics about its stoic character who understand his place in the world, he is prepared to live and die without complain, following his heart and he will die with his boots on, with no material goods to leave behind him in his testament. Lyrics were written by Ljubo Stipišić but they perfectly encapsulate Spalato and by God, the message is so powerful that every time I hear this, I am ready to die with my boots on even though I don’t understand half of the lyrics.
More than any other artist, in my mind Ibrica Jusić embodies majestic, medieval city of Dubrovnik as he is celebrated troubadour forever associated with that town - we remember him singing under the starry skies with his guitar and a dog in a tow, perpetual lonely poet pouring his heart in music. His music persona was so firmly established from the start, that its easy to forget that he actually arrived on a scene in late 1960s when amongst schlager competition he must have been sticking out like a sore thumb. Sure, other singers like Arsen Dedić, Zvonko Špišić and Hrvoje Hegedušić broke the ice before him and established chanson as visible genre in Croatian music, but they all worked under protective umbrella of Zagreb and its recording industry, while younger Jusić had his own thing going and he remained spiritually rooted in Dubrovnik, its historical traditions and particular magic.
At the dawn of 1970s, recording company Jugoton heralded new, young generation of singers with LP albums showcasing these new talents - if older generation was generously represented on 1960s festival compilations, people like Drago Mlinarec, Josipa Lisac and Ibrica Jusić now had their own long play albums, though it must be noted that all of them paid their dues during past decade and first had to go trough festival route: some of these earlier festival tracks are included here, so this album serves more as compilation: “Celuloidni Pajac”, “Još Uvijek Ne Znam Neke Važne Stvari” and “Mačka” were all recorded at least five years before this release. Because he was always such a hardcore chanson singer, Jusić never enjoyed prominence allowed to some other, more commercial artists but it seems that he cultivated small, faithful audience who loved his poetry in music and it might be that because he worked so long under the radar, he eventually came to survive decades with impressive longevity.
This beautiful, poetic album brings some truly inspired songs with lyrics from authors like Jacques Brel, Drago Britvić, Ivica Krajač and Zvonimir Glob - heavyweights of their time, all of them stunning, meaningful and reflective songs, sometimes backed with atmospheric, almost cinematic orchestrated arrangements though it seems Jusić actually sounds even better when he is left alone with a guitar. He seems to stand somewhere between Arsen Dedić and future duo Buco i Srđan in that particular, gentle and romantic sound so beloved by urban audience who cherished literature and poetry. Because of his repertoire and declamatory style, I grew up assuming this would not appeal to me, just to get completely converted later in life when a friend basically forced me to listen this album carefully - we had some wine next to open fire and the whole experience of poetry swirling around us was unforgettable.
In his excellent book “Prima Donna: A History” author Rupert Christiansen explains that for centuries, soprano prime donna was the most familiar and popular of voices - eclipsed by other forms of modern music, operatic soprano today is one of the most alien - it came to sound pompous and affected to majority of audience long removed from its popular appeal. Even with clever marketing behind classical crossover artists like Sarah Brightman, we are aware that this particular type of singing have been eclipsed by other genres, but not so far ago - precisely in 1930s and 1940s - it was still centerpiece of some of the biggest Hollywood musicals and this album is love letter to these old movies and shows that inspired them.
British soprano Lesley Garrett sounds like natural descendant of famous operatic movie stars like Grace Moore, Jeanette McDonald and Deanna Durbin who all glowed and glittered on the big screen in the golden days of Hollywood musicals. Today we might not be familiar with titles like “One Night Of Love”, “Roberta” or “Monte Carlo” but we might recognize songs that came from them - “Smoke Gets In Your Eyes” or “Yesterdays” have long been adopted by Jazz musicians who turned them into standards of American Songbook. This album lovingly restores them to original sound, the way they first sounded when they were still new and fresh, authentically recreating arrangements popular almost a century ago. Conductor Paul Bateman and The BBC Concert Orchestra stand behind vivacious singer who sounds like she is having time of her life and the whole album is one perfectly tailored time travel into 1930s. Classical music purists shouldn’t have a problem with this, because it is not some clumsy step into pop music but more of a recreation of exactly the same sound cinema audiences heard back in the days when MGM and Louis B. Mayer ruled Hollywood.
Gone but definitely not forgotten, our dear, beloved Ella Fitzgerald would have been 99 now.
I can still recall the very first time she came in my life, it was trough some Jazz compilation found in public library - I was very young and just discovered that one can also get LP albums and not just books - the song she was singing on that album was Gershwin’s “Lady Be Good” (arranged as a ballad, not famous bebop version) which floored me and I thought it was just unbelievably sensual and angelic. Later in life I finally discovered her huge discography - its almost intimidating to even approach it since she was really hard-working and recorded tons of music during almost 60 years of singing - and after some initial reservations, now I truly love her sound. Those first reservations were superficial: I was so fascinated with suicidal torch of Billie Holiday that it took me forever to just relax and enjoy what Ella had to offer, her pure joy of music and sunny moments when your heart sings along with hers.
In honor of Ella’s 99 birthday I decided to re-visit one of the most famous albums in her discography, in fact it might even encapsulate who she was and where she wanted to go. Cleverly planned by her manager Norman Granz and arranged by incredibly young and precocious arranger Buddy Bregman, this double LP album brings respected middle-aged black Jazz singer into big time pop market without compromising her art and created international superstar out of her. It was probably business as usual for Granz who was a sharp deal maker and had excellent musicians at his disposal but 26 years old Bregman was the one who suggested the whole project as (according to his reminiscences) he always loved Broadway music, which back than was actually pop music of the day. Its fun to imagine Bergman arriving in with jeans and a T-shirt, full of ideas and passion, just to face singer who had absolutely no idea what sophisticated songs of Cole Porter actually meant - she was natural-born musician, schooled not by notes but on nightly tours and live performances, so all these talks about Dorothy Parker, Abelard and Heloise and such were little confusing to her.
This is actually something that used to bother me for many years, the fact that Granz and Bergman decided to use hard-swinging, Appolo-winning and basically lighthearted singer who had absolutely no connections in her background for this sort of music, music that was from completely another world, world of risqué and jaded socialites who drank cocktails that servants handed to them - as Bergman himself remembers, his social status was very far removed from Fitzgerald’s and his only contact with black people were maids helping in his parent’s house. (Sounds like another planet today!) Majority of these songs were originally performed by stars of Broadway and occasional supper club artist like Mabel Mercer who would knowingly wink while singing witty little story that could have been quite dirty if read between the lines.
That it actually worked out so perfectly just points at genius of Ella Fitzgerald who was magnificent singer, ready to expand out of the box where she was placed for two decades - she mainly worked in world of smoky, segregated nightclubs and handled little swing novelties like “A-Tisket, A-Tasket” simply because nobody gave her chance to do something different. Her recording company “Decca” gave her one delicious try on Gershwin but most of the time they served her novelty tunes that she sung so joyously that we secretly felt she actually liked them. At the age of 39 she was either destined to forever sing novelties or bebop which had limited, cult appeal amongst audiences. This album changed it all because it gave her perfect frame to show everything she was capable of as either ballad or swing singer - her by now rich, fruity voice cushioned by elegant orchestration made Cole Porter Songbook shine like gemstones and any reservation we might have towards assumed lack of involvement in lyrics evaporate before sheer beauty of music which Fitzgerald approached seriously. Perhaps its not quite what Cole Porter had in mind (upon hearing the recording, his now famous remark was only ambiguous compliment to singers clear diction) however his show music was now translated, packaged and marketed as classy 1950s pop and it went places like never before, establishing Fitzgerald as best-selling album artist and it started the whole phenomenon of Songbook tradition. I am still not 100% sure that Cole Porter is exactly right fit for the singer but my heart jumps every time Bregman gives her swinging tune like “Too Darn Hot” where she bounces and swaggers way beyond anything composer could have imagined possible.
Sure, its all fairly mainstream - even involvement of some serious Jazz cats like Bud Shank and Harry "Sweets" Edison amongst musicians didn’t make it exactly Jazz album, they all played safe and square, songs are rarely extending 3 minute standards and the final results are occasionally so mellow (“I Get a Kick Out of You”) that all that softness might knock you off to sleep, but its exactly that reassuring, comforting quality that made it such a beloved classic in the whole world. This album gave a completely new life to old Cole Porter songs (“Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye” even charted as a hit single) and its still stands as a lesson in 1950s pop singing. I understand that some younger listeners today might find it all way too old fashioned and far removed from our times - even I resisted this album for many years, thinking Fitz played it too gingerly, just to find myself singing along with it today with pure joy. So we finally connected, some 60 years later.
It seems that the world is divided between hard-core fans and those who stubbornly refuse to watch “Game of Thrones”. There’s no middle ground, I have never met anyone who actually watched one episode and gave up because it was boring or uninteresting. I do know some people who prefer to read the books and several strange individuals still refuse checking it out because they think its not cool to follow the herd (usually my first impulse, however second impulse is at least curiosity) but its their loss - its the biggest TV phenomenon in recent years and deservedly so because every usual fantasy cliché is presented realistically in full colour (or gloom) of cinematic sweep almost unprecedented on small TV screens until now (budget is $10 million per episode). The script is fantastic - although very brutal - and it plays with all sorts of audience’s fascination with behind-the-throne cruelty. If HBO’s “Rome” was excellent, historical sword-and-sandal saga, well this actually went one step forward and lifted the bar. Curiously enough for what is basically a fantasy genre, magic is not overwhelmingly used but only hinted as something dangerous and possible.
“Game of Thrones” is also the only TV series in my life where I am still curious and thrilled to watch it way beyond usual first few seasons - usually I enjoy everything up to the point and than get tired of it, but not this time. When season 5 ended with all those cliffhangers, I just could’t imagine that we have to wait another year to find out what happened later. Somehow the year had passed by and season 6 is here - it seems the whole world held its breath to find out is Jon Snow alive but so far he is still a corpse, unfortunately. Author George R.R.Martin had actually not even written sequel nr.6 yet so I have no idea how producers came with all this new twists and turns, its quite ridiculous situation where TV series continued without its author on the rudder.
I watched the first episode of season 6 yesterday with glass of wine and several cigarettes, it was orgasmic as usual - everything was dark, gloomy, dangerous and fabulous. Sansa and Theon Greyjoy have escaped and now they are protected by fierce Brienne of Tarth who is rare character with pure heart in the whole story. Cersei mourns the death of her daughter, poisoned by dangerous Ellaria Sand who is already wrecking a havoc down in distant Dorne. Young queen Margaery is still in prison but something in her steely attitude suggest she might be very dangerous in the future. My least favorite character Daenerys Targaryen is taken a prisoner but this time has no dragons to protect her, as usual she only boasts about her royal bloodline and I really wish somebody would just cut her head off and show her that she is no better than anybody else. On the Wall, Ser Davos protects the corpse of Jon Snow behind locked doors and priestess Melisandre (who we all expect to somehow do some magic tricks and bring Jon Snow back to life) in privacy of her bedroom takes the magic necklace off, revealing incredibly old woman she actually is, probably centuries old. Now for the first time I am faced with problem that I can’t continue immediately with another episode but actually have to wait regular showing.
This morning I caught myself giggling truly delighted when I saw some old book cover - it was blast from the past, some guilty pleasure that I used to read when I was still young and budding, precocious (and voracious) reader back in adolescent days. I usually never take seriously when people talk about “good old days” because times were always the way they always are - sometimes difficult, sometimes nice, it always depends on point of view anyway. Most of the people idolise younger days because they simply had less worries and obligations - I had similar conversation with tax driver recently about the expression “time passes so fast”, well its simply because as adults we have so many things on our minds as opposed to those long, never-ending days of childhood when homework and TV were our main preoccupations - so looking back, yes I was younger but not necessary happier and if anything, adulthood gave me certain balance where I understand and accept what makes me happy. As a kid, I was constantly told that I am spending pocket money on nonsense (books, LP albums) and guess what, I grew up into older version of the same person who still gets the biggest kick out of books and music, so what. I usually don’t even separate these two hobbies, but if I reflect than literature was my first love in chronological order - music came slightly later.
Like so many kids of my generations, I was obsessed with public libraries - who had money to buy and collect all those books - and weekly pilgrimage to these public libraries was my real school, where I learnt everything about adventures of The Tree Musketeers, Count Monte Christo, Tarzan and Winettou. Just like today, publishing used enticing covers that usually had absolutely nothing with book subject, quite a few times I discovered that what was inside the covers was completely opposite of what picture promised. A quick look at titles published during my childhood shows that good old times were illusion indeed - publishers scrapped he bottoms of any barrels available and we were fed everything from WW2 memoirs, cookbooks and astrology to best-selling authors and depressing homegrown classics that were oh-so-obligatory in schools (and made kids hate the books instead of loving them). What I want to mention today were the books that were obviously not for me, cheap thrills and guilty pleasures that excited me at the same time when I was actually supposed to read historical sagas about our glorious past - just like today, there were always titles popular I guess with housewives, secretaries and mousy spinster librarians and I soaked them all in because they were so much more thrilling than anything around me.
Harold Robbins and Sidney Sheldon for example, I can’t even tell one from another because in my mind its all the same now - thrillers with suspense and sex, honestly I can’t recall one single plot or what was all about (Alfie?) but back than I used to gulp one title after another in passionate succession. Erica Jong was such a favourite for the longest time and although she was chiefly known (notorious?) for her than-unheard of description of sexual lives of her heroines, I found her extremely entertaining and funny, all that sex probably just went above my head because I didn’t even understand what she was talking about. Our own Croatian Zagorka with her quasi-historical saga about witch hunts was probably one of the very first passions, though today I probably wouldn’t touch her even if its the only book on deserted island and even than I would rather play with stones on the beach. But she planted a seed of lifelong fascination with historical novels where heroines fall from one danger to another and voilà, you can imagine my thrill when I discovered Anne & Serge Golon (now I know it was only wife, the husband collected the money and fame just by association) with their fabulous, unforgettable Angelique who was kidnapped, raped and sold in slavery from one sequel to another and she was constantly getting more and more beautiful the more hardships she went trough. I actually stumbled upon Angelique recently again and gleefully added her to my library just for the sake of old times - after all, what is Diana Gabaldon than simply modern version of same idea. Juliette Benzoni with her Catherine was very much same thing. Than of course, there was the whole bunch of royal biographies about famous women from the history and I read them all like there’s no tomorrow, Stefan Zweig biographies of Mary Queen of Scots and Marie Antoniette were the best of the bunch but I do remember deliciously trashy Fanina about Roman Vestal Virgin who also went trough slavery, kidnapping and all sorts of calamities before she came to happy ending. Byzantine empress Theodora, hell yeah. Who had time for Dostoyevsky when I needed to know new details about harem conspiracies? Looking back now, I just laugh and smile and it makes me happy when I even see these old book covers - sure, I grew up and my interests might have slightly changed and expanded into different genres but obviously this is who I was and what rocked my world back than. In fact, even much later when I considered myself grown up and adult, serious person, there was the whole list of irresistible, trashy cinema biographies like The Divine Feud that exploited probably blown-up competition between Bette Davis and Joan Crawford and I just could’t put it down. So much about sophisticated taste.
That I even left this kind of literature behind me is a wonder, considering how long have I enjoyed reading trashy best sellers.This is probably the reason why I feel its my duty to read the famous classics every now and than - but you can bet that behind every collection of poetry or celebrated classic, I have some delicious guilty pleasure stashed away just in case. To be perfectly honest, I am really intrigued to check out Angelique again and to see how would I like it now. Here are some of my favourite book covers from that times.
I absolutely couldn’t miss the visit from Serbian theatre with play “Mrs.Minister”, one of the oldest and classic comedy works by wonderful Branislav Nušić, the play that has been 100% sure hit ever since it first arrived in 1929 - this is really a rare thing, theatre phenomenon that could always be re-interpreted and re-constructed to reflect human ignorance, stupidity and greed although it was actually written in some other times. I guess its longevity just proves that its a real masterpiece.
The main character here is Mrs. Živka Popović (played by Lidija Stevanović) - typical small-minded matron, busy with gossip, neighbours and her sewing machine, whose husband (never even shown in the play) might suddenly became a minister by some twists and turns of political upheavals. Surrounded by hangers-on, this newly crowned Mrs.Minister is immediately obsessed with all sorts of plots and plans how to overshadow her predecessors and impress the neighbourhood, while the whole household is instantly placed in turmoil and confusion. What follows is the genius of comedy and the fireworks display of provincial greed, ignorance and stupidity - Mrs.Minister parades around with a new golden tooth, gets herself a gigolo who will give her lessons in bon ton (she has to learn how to smoke, play bridge and definitely needs a lover because every elegant, sophisticated lady has one) and everybody around her has to improve since she will go places. There is a whole list of delicious supporting roles that circle around her like vultures, expecting favours now when she is minister’s wife - they will all disappear quickly the moment when minister resign, embarrassed by scandals created by his wife but even at finale, Mrs.Minister is not giving up, she faces the audience and promises she will be back!
Its an excellent role and I bet every actress dream to play such unforgettable character as Mrs.Minister - her mad determination to show herself as classy lady is hilarious and audience loves her, we laugh with her as much as at her. I have seen several different casts on now-classic TV shows and it was a great joy to see the play finally live in theatre, specially as we had a rare opportunity to see Serbian actors performing it during a tour. It was “Boško Buha” theatre from Novi Sad - in old days of Yugoslavia it was very common that theatre groups tour the whole country up and down, but since we had civil war I guess things got scaled down to local performances and now, two decades after the end of the war, cultural exchange between two countries started again, to the delight of the audience who bought all the tickets to see this classic Serbian comedy play performed by Serbian actors. I have naturally heard some Croatian actors murmuring how they did it differently and faster but resisted to get involved in an argument with them, let them think whatever they want, this is Serbian play and these wonderful actors know best how to bring these characters to life. Loved, loved, loved it!
p.s.
It seems that when the play was still new, critics attacked the playwright that this is all too local and provincial, but I disagree - even though its all about certain social group placed in its time, I bet that with the right translation this could be a huge smash everywhere.
This early and probably most exciting chapter in career of dynamic husband & wife duo has all their early hit singles collected on explosive debut LP that unleashed their combined talents into the world. Ike Turner have been in music business for a good decade, always playing second fiddle to other people who would leave him to pursue solo careers and he probably couldn’t believe his good luck when planned demo for “A Fool In Love” turned out smash hit with girl singer who was just a substitute in the studio. As we all know now, she was quickly re-named, re-modelled and placed in the spotlight of his touring soul revue that featured many other artists, almost like a travelling circus with various attractions.
As excellent peak into the early days of R&B, this album brings bluesy, growling sound that Turner perfected during previous decade, combined with gospel shouts and female backing trio The Ikettes that cleverly emulates Ray Charles and his The Raellets (if you don’t know any better, you would believe this were The Raelettes with different producer). Majority of songs here still reflects sound of previous decade - “Letter From Tina” for example, is pure doo wop harmony and “If” is big band swing - what makes it fascinating and so interesting is main girl singer who despite her kittenishness clearly followed instructions and leaned not towards typical female cooing of the day but towards hard, shouting and bluesy sound of guys like James Brown and she was damn good at it. Sure, they were many bad Blues mamas before her who did the same thing (Big Maybelle and Big Mama Thornton for example) but this girl had her own lusty, uninhibited sex appeal and self-confidence that didn’t hurt live performances and hubby cunningly exploited this fierce energy that was natural and could have never been taught. By far closest they would ever be to that first, primeval and raw sound of R&B which they helped to put on the map, this album presents Turners as pioneers in a field which would soon drastically change but they will stick with the same formula for few more years, before they turn to cover versions of white artists and finally cross over in bigger market - this is authentic, black sound of early 1960s.
In order to give their mother some free quality time with new boyfriend, teenagers Becca (Olivia DeJonge) and Tyler (Ed Oxenbould) arranged via Internet to spend several days visiting grandparents whom they never knew - mother has left that house after an argument and never visited it again. Excited about the adventure, kids are filming every step of their journey for their “documentary” which will include “interviews” with grandparents. Soon after their arrival, preoccupied with their camera, they notice some bizarre and strange situations but are told everything is fine…
This was great fun!
Director M. Night Shyamalan had some ups and downs in his career, but generally I love his movies no matter what other people say and I found his suspense exciting (“The Sixth Sense”, “Signs”, “The Village”, The Happening” were all unforgettable) so this was another movie where I expected the unexpected - Shyamalan is known for shocking and surprising his audience. Kids are here almost like a comic relief, because they are typical teenagers lost in their own world of pop stars, computer games and superficial preoccupations - Tyler raps and Becca is smart-ass movie director who plans to reconcile the family trough her amazingly filmed and edited home movie. That they accept everything around them and are not immediately alarmed serves the storyline just fine and it turns into one of those movies where afterwards you realise hints were there all the time, but we were too blind to see them. It turns into real Horror later and at certain point Shyamalan drops the bomb that is actually scarier than anything we have seen previously. Deanna Dunagan as grandmother is really excellent, what amazing actress and completely fearless at this late stage of her career to bite in such role. Easily recommended to all the lovers of suspense.
Last night I saw the most unusual movie, something that I am still not 100% sure was enjoyable experience and although at first my initial reaction was one of the dismissal and even annoyance, it did crept under my skin so here I need to sort my impressions before I make up my mind is it masterpiece or awful. The more I think about it, the closer I am towards the first option because it is rare that the movie provoke such a strong reaction - we are mostly accustomed to approach movies as light entertainment so when something like this comes along, it is rare thing indeed.
Isolated from the world, alone in the wilderness of New World, puritan family slowly sinks into religious madness and paranoia.
In lesser hands, this could have been disaster but director Robert Eggers stylishly and painstakingly recreates long gone world and atmosphere of times when everyday life was completely absorbed in religion and questions of sin and God’s mercy. Collaborating with experts from Museums and historians, Eggers goes so far that his characters not only wear according costumes but actually talk the way people did centuries ago. Acting is indisputably excellent - both parents are chilling as they try to protect the family absolutely alone, with nobody to help them except prayers, although this is one of movies where I am not sure about using kids because it left me traumatised just watching it. The supernatural part of the story bothered me a little bit because it forces the viewer to accept it as a fact and this is the point that might divide the audience - in my opinion, you will have problem with this as long as you don’t take it not as Horror but as a documentary-style recreation of times. Perhaps danger could have been suggested or just imagined, but Eggers had different vision and he expect us to take every known detail from fairy tales (little hut in a dangerous wood, etc, etc) as something strong, powerful and real - so its actually combination of Fairy Tale and psychological Horror. It definitely has something from original Brothers Grimm touch in it, the way their stories were before they got cleaned up and expurgated from scary parts. Its a complete artistic success and one of the best nightmares I have ever seen.
A guilty pleasure and not something you approach expecting life-affirming philosophy (although the authoress of the successful novel might think differently) this stylish and visually enticing Australian movie is light-hearted fun built around character that is surprisingly not our typical, young ingénue but a fully formed, grown up woman with a past. This is probably the main attraction of the story, as we are constantly served with stories about girls and here finally we see a woman - hard working, capable, strong, brave and very sensuous to boost.
Kate Winslet is the dressmaker who returns to her birthplace after many years to face nasty, provincial citizens of Dungatar who banished her many years ago for the crime that traumatized her so much that she can’t even remember the details: locals are alarmed with her return, her own alcoholic mother (excellent Judy Davis) don’t even recognize her and to say that she is not welcomed would be understatement. Than, just like in some good revenge western, dressmaker turns the tables on people who cruelly tortured her all those years ago. It is an interesting twist, because although its a woman’s movie its actually a western in a new clothing - except that instead of guns, this character uses Singer Sewing Machine. It could have been much darker but director Jocelyn Moorhouse purposely keeps it featherlight in order to combine humor and drama, in such degree that comedy eventually turns into almost parody, however visually everything is stunning and a hoot to watch as heroine not only swaggers around in high couture dresses amongst surprised citizens of dusty little town but soon dresses all the women in her creations, so the final result is surrealistic dream where small-town folk prances around in latest Parisian fashion. As we will see later, wolves in new clothing are still wolves.
Although movie eventually loses the steam and goes on perhaps too long, the main focus is Kate Winslet who is western gunman in high heels - her steely determination and firm calmness is sharply contrasted with caricatured citizens of Dungatar who all deserve what they got. Where in old movies we would have some decorative gal to add sex appeal, here we have Liam Hemsworth in that role, so its amusing how this movie puts it all upside-down and plays with established rules of western genre - instead of silent but dangerous gunman and his pretty girlfriend, here we have silent and dangerous dressmaker and her handsome boyfriend. Campy, light-hearted fun.
Several years ago Croatian TV created the most exciting documentary that I have ever seen made locally - it was done with great care and effort, in visual style closely resembling “National Geographic” documentaries, with lots of special visual effects, historical costumes and 3D computer animations that reconstructed long gone castles, fortresses and places. The name of this documentary is “Hrvatski kraljevi” (The Croatian Kings) and its really, really surprisingly good - I have heard about it before from some co-worker but never thought it would appeal to me so much and I am catching up with it right now. As it happens, the new documentary made by exactly same team just started showing on our TV and last night I saw the first episode, it is called “Republika” and this time its all about ancient city of Dubrovnik, which we mostly take for granted as something that was always there, but in fact it have wonderful story and the guys from Croatian TV team really know how to make good documentary (praise to author Domagoj Burić).
Judging by first episode, “Republika” is visually and thematically very close to earlier documentary, as expected - again we are treated with spectacular scenes of huge ships, historical costumes and interviews with historians from Cambridge and such. We are all familiar with majestic, walled medieval city but in reality we hardly know anything about its first days - at least I have no clue when this main competition to Venezia actually started - so it was truly interesting to see what was there before Dubrovnik. The very first time we hear about the city is just after Roman Empire fell and the whole area was part of newly formed Byzantine Empire, the documentary actually shows stone fortress that was at this spot in early medieval times, before the place became known as Ragusa (strangely enough, on my journeys I have encountered another Ragusa in Sicily, built by sailors who came from Dubrovnik). What I didn’t know is that merchants from Dubrovnik successfully sailed and sold their products all over the place, as far as Southampton and in fact, the first coffee house in London was owned by someone from Dubrovnik! There were also some beautiful scenes of people in historical costumes walking trough famous main promenade Stradun where I walked so many times, its fascinating to think how much history this place has. Documentary naturally talks about fierce and proud citizens always being independent, but in reality we can’t ignore the fact that they traditionally paid taxes to invaders to be left alone - somehow I thought that city walls were enough, well apparently Turkish Sultans got better deal of receiving gold, silver and gifts from Dubrovnik than destroying it. The independence ends up in 1808 when after brutal siege, the city was invaded, destroyed and occupied by combined forces from Russia and Monte Negro (imagine that, same people who will attack Dubrovnik again in 1990s) and after initial push & pull between big powers, the city eventually fell into hands of Hapsburg empire. So this very first episode was indeed very interesting introduction to everything that future episodes will show in greater details - I expect stories about its famous citizens, artists and poets, along with anecdotes about everyday life in medieval city that had no rival on Adriatic sea except much bigger Venezia. The documentary is so good that I even think many more Croatian cities could be described this way.
I came to Sevdah later in life and approached it with the same curiosity & delight that some archaeologist might feel on excavation site.
When I was growing up, pop music was my main interest and something as archaic as traditional folk music couldn’t be more remote from my world - it took me decades to finally turn my attention to world music, than slowly out of curiosity I finally came to Sevdah that in Bosnia people loved and cherished for centuries. After all, if I enjoyed Portuguese Fado, why not checking out something that I actually might understand, right? It was truly a thunderbolt and I quickly put all my prejudices behind, once I have discovered this intoxicating combination of music and poetry that might in reality have nothing with my background (I was a city child) the sheer beauty of the sound and its message was too good to ignore. Even now I am far from expert, since Sevdah really speaks to Bosnian listeners who understand all the nuances, ornamentations and ancient expressions (my Turkish co-worker finds it similar to what her parents listened so this is interesting connection) but I do get the magic of the music and strangeness of old words even adds to it.
Even though Sevdah is ancient music genre, it seems that during 1960s there was explosion of new recordings with works by composers like Jozo Penava who continued in exactly same style and created what now is accepted as “classic Sevdah” although it was actually newly written. This wonderful, early 1960s EP recording brings together two of the biggest Sevdah singers from Bosnia, singing new songs that came to become classics. Zaim Imamović was older and more stately of the two, his voice reminiscent of some gentle, wise bard and his songs were fitting to someone world-weary (“Stara Staza” is indeed a song about a man in hospital, meditating on his life, death and rare visitors). Younger Safet Isović was completely different kind of singer, golden voiced, lusty prince who sounds so happy singing that you can’t help thinking he was born to sing - he really had one of the best voices in business and even if the subjects of the songs were sad, he somehow made it sound joyous. Perhaps its also the fact that guys are backed by simple accordion duo (Duo Harmonika Alajbegović - Petković) that it makes it sounds so authentic and unfussy (later recordings would get more instruments but not necessary better spirit and nowadays Sevdah musicians are often too distracted with Jazzing everything up, to my biggest annoyance). When we finally hear these two guys together, its truly intoxicating and breath-taking. Just a wonderful, wonderful classic little recording made so long ago but still capable to move the listener, in fact it might stop you dead in the tracks, specially the last song.
Its really interesting how the ancient Sevdah, music genre from Bosnia that goes centuries back to Ottoman empire and is best described as soulful crossroad between Slavic melancholy and Turkish storytelling, still lives on in a new clothes. This traditional folk music have probably initially passed on from generation to generation orally until post-WW2 recording companies in Yugoslavia started to offer recordings by local singers who established what is now considered classic canon of Sevdah music - people like Safet Isović or Himzo Polovina have unearthed some incredibly old songs and not only saved them for posterity but cemented the rules how this music should sound. It became sort of cultural trademark of Bosnia and no matter what other music trends came and went, it was genuinely accepted that only artists of highest calibre are capable of performing true Sevdah the way it was supposed to sound. It is something so ingrown in national psychology, culture and past that nobody gets surprised when even people who otherwise sing pop, burst into Sevdah in their after-hours, relaxed times.
With international recording companies interest in so called world music, it was just a matter of time when someone will realize that Bosnian Sevdah can be marketed as well as Portuguese Fado or such - local Gramofon immediately seized this Bosnian band, specialised in hard-core traditional folk music and allowed them to show how it can be surprisingly interesting and re-defined in new century without losing any of its heart. Guys in Halka band are playing like true virtuosos and although music by itself is already highly delicate and brilliant to hear, the main focus is singer Božo Vrećo who was born with voice that puts him in the class with any of Sevdah titans from the past - he is probably very controversial back home because of his unusual, androgyne image but his talent is undisputed and indeed, no matter what kind of frock or hairstyles he wears, he does sound like a nightingale. Along with wonderful Amira Medunjanin he is probably the most talented new cornerstone of Sevdah the way its played and recorded these days.
When she arrived, some time in late 1960s Radojka Šverko was almost too much - stunningly beautiful woman who also happened to have been gifted with excellent voice and regal, aristocratic bearing, she was one of the kind performer seemingly destined for bigger things. The atmosphere in pop music back than suited her as there were several girl singers with deep contralto voices very popular back than - Italian Mina, Milva and Iva Zannichi enjoyed great success - Šverko was equally good as any of them, except that accident of her birthplace placed her in perhaps lesser pond but as this, her first LP album shows, its all matter of perception because neither singer nor her collaborators suffered from any inferiority complex, they carefully followed footsteps of big international stars and even without help of managements or producers behind someone like Shirley Bassey,they created magic.
Šverko also had a good luck to immediately get attention of some of the most talented and inspired Croatian composers who delighted in her charisma and proudly invited her to perform on international pop festivals where she regularly won awards - with one of this international awarded gems (“Svijet je moj”) starts this interesting debut album that finds young but self-assured singer still at the beginning of career. It is pop music but of very serious nature, everything is grandly orchestrated and theatrical, from lyrics to performance that suggest fire under the ice. Today we are used that albums always have some obvious hit but we won’t find these here - even though there are some very well-known composers involved (Hrvoje Hegedušić, Nikita Kalogjera, Zvonko Špišić and Đorđe Novaković) album is more of lesson in grand singing that rewards with each listening. Her covers of “Close To You” by Burt Bacharach and “Something” by George Harrison suggest that Šverko had different vision and saw herself as Croatian equal of any big international stars (its interesting to note that for “Close To You” she wrote Croatian lyrics herself). Although arrangements here are typical of early 1970s pop, poetic lyrics suggest almost chanson which in itself places Šverko in different league from her colleagues who pursued light entertainment - here perhaps lies the explanation why although she was blessed with both talent and looks, she never achieved mass commercial appeal or big sales. You can’t help but wonder how would her life turn had she been born elsewhere and had support of show business machinery that would properly promote, nurture and support such talent. It is really a thin line between someone like Shirley Bassey and Šverko, they are in the same league.
It seems that Croatian pop band “More” (The Sea) served as apprentice school for every talented musician who later become big star: the list of people who played and sung in the band reads like who’s who of some really incredible talents. The group had huge hit single in early 1970s but suffered from usual temptations of solo careers - had this people actually stayed with the group, there might be much bigger discography but on the other hand they all achieved respectable success on their own and their replacements always brought something new and distinctive.
That first LP album from early 1970s still stands as wonderful memento of particular moment in time when everybody was young and hopeful, it sounds great because there were absolutely no compromises to commercial aspects of the business and it shows in inspired music. A good decade later, band is back on track with completely different line-up and fresh, much lighthearted sound: this time around its soft, irresistible pop-funk played and produced with perfection, new members bringing their own magic with them. Composer and leader Slobodan M.Kovačević managed to create completely new, bright sound that was modern and funky, a perfect background to colorful coffee terraces of Split buzzing with life. At he very start of the album we hear a guy yawning and the girl seductively purring her invitation to cuddle up (title of the album) which of course was a wonderful little gimmick and the carefully prepared stage set up for new girl singer Doris Dragović who shines like a diamond in this surroundings, she is young, playful, talented and charming, her energy really lifts the band in completely different sphere than previous Meri Cetinić who was excellent in her own way, but more melancholic. In fact, although comparisons are inevitable, they are two completely different personalities and this is specially pronounced than in remake of the old song “Kad bi znao ti” that unwisely puts much younger singer in shoes that don’t fit: at this point she is simply too young and happy to sound convincing in song that Cetinić already owned to perfection. After first two songs album perhaps loses initial energy and becomes nice, soft background but on positive note its all quietly mellow and summery vibe. Of added interest is presence of singer Tedi Spalato with recognizable, seductive voice who is unfortunately completely underused here and its a pity that Kovačević didn’t simply divide LP sides between these two talented singers.
In retrospective, this album shines exactly because its vision shows music that was modern and urban - although Split always had sensational amount of talented musicians, it seems to me that its probably very hard for them to preserve original music integrity because the pull of much more prominent commercial pop is stronger and they all tend to desert their beginnings for completely different path. What composer Kovačević did here is therefore specially worth compliments because he consciously focused on modern, urban sound instead of usual schlager weepies. Both Dragović and Spalato will eventually leave for solo careers - while she quickly and easily adjusted to other composers, it took far more time for Spalato to find his voice.
Honestly, I couldn't possibly give myself better quality time than quiet evening at home with glass of wine (O.K. it started with one glass), the capricious cat purring in my lap and really great documentary about my beloved Croatian singer-songwriter, late Arsen Dedić whose recent passing affected me so much while I roamed the world. Luckily, the documentary was made while Dedić was still alive and with his full cooperation, I remember there was some mild controversy because it was created by some Serbian director (Mladen Matičević) but these were small-minded preoccupations because the guy really made great movie that not only looks stunning in black & white but also approached its subject with affection and respect.
"Moj zanat" (My craft) is the name of old song by Dedić who never missed a chance to talk about himself with a touch of irony and loved to describe himself as a craftsmen. It was his own way of getting away from any pomposity but at the same time he was quick to point that he used this same craft in dazzling variety of genres, including TV, theatre and anything from children's songs to music tailored for other artists. The sheer quantity of his output is mind-boggling and even though his appeal as a solo artist might have been limited (as chanson singer he was acquired taste) his obvious talent kept him successfully in business for more than half a century. Who knows why nobody at home didn't think about making this documentary, perhaps it needed input from somebody just a little distanced and thankfully this director completely avoided any fawning, his approach was to simply select parts of monologues, live performances and old TV clips into coherent story that treats its subject lovingly. Dedić himself appears as a intelligent, well-read and educated person, knowing about life and what really matters, he also shows surprisingly wicked sense of humour and was always ready to poke fun at himself. The choice of black & white camera proved to be inspired because it gave the whole movie certain dramatic quality, specially scenes filmed in artist's quiet home full of mementos from distinguished career. The movie also peeks in private life of this great artist who seems to have been old oak tree surrounded by loving family - as a child, he received love and knew how to give love to others - we see him surrounded by children and grandchildren from two marriages (quite a nice,loving family) but there is a surprising touch in fact that his equally celebrated and famous wife Gabi Novak carefully leaves all the attention to him and lets him bask in the spotlight, this is his documentary after all. As big as he was and although their music and private lives were always intertwined, Novak lets her husband doing talk about his life, impressions, friends and doubts, at the end we realise this was actually wonderful monologue, just the way it should be. If director used different approach and interviewed all who have something to say about the way he touched our lives, it would be completely different movie and perhaps it could still be made.
I enjoyed this very much - bursted in song several times during scenes taped in live concert performance in some small, intimate club with celebrities in audience. This is something to watch again and to cherish.
Spanish director Alejandro Amenábar made that unforgettable homage to Alfred Hitchcock, "The Others" which impressed me so much that I actually bought it on DVD - just like that movie, "Regression"has dark atmosphere, strong cast and is visually stunning, pure electricity. It basically cleverly plays with human fear of unknown, in this case religion is confronted with satanism , seemingly ordinary people who actually might be dangerous, that little old lady watching you in the street and your co-worker or neighbor who perhaps are not what they pretend to be.
Ethan Hawke investigates what appears as routine police detective job and is helped by psychologist David Thewlis who suggest that under hypnosis (hence the title) people might remember something that they forgot under the shock - young Emma Watson (who is excellent and it might grew into first class actress later in life) is traumatized with abuse and only reluctantly admits that her father was not the only one involved, she might be victim of the whole cult whose members hide behind the curtains of this sleepy little town. While police detectives are overwhelmed with the whole scandal and media constantly alarms the listeners with the whole issue, Hawke and his colleagues slowly sink in paranoia and nightmares, their lives seriously endangered with possibility that this is a case that even FBI did not want to touch.
Movie seriously builds up the excitement, horror and adrenaline almost to the end which inevitably does not live up to the expectations - I can understand some of the audience being disappointed with the last part, because up to the final scene we are cleverly manipulated by Amenábar to look in the wrong direction, which again in itself is pure Hitchcock who used to sadistically play around with his actors (and audience). More important than the whole issue of secret cult and paranoia is hypnosis, still not accepted as 100% sure way to unearth secrets hidden behind our unconsciousness. I always wondered about this - and was somewhat attracted to the idea of regression but never knew anybody to hypnotize me - specially as we all love to tall about past lives, for example, at the end I decided that if we don't remember past lives there might be a good reason for it and better not to play around with something that might be potentially traumatic. So for me personally this was very interesting movie because it explores some ideas that appeal to me but I can understand the disappointment of larger audience who approached it as straight thriller, without thinking about issues of psychoanalysis and hypnosis. I actually love Amenábar, his way of thinking and the way he waves his dark dreams.
Sometimes it really feels like I'm working in a space ship and not on a cruise ship - we are mostly cut out from the world for 6 months and no wonder that when we return, we have no idea about what happened, not to mention new movies or music - both TV and Internet are something we can use very, very rarely (when you return to your cabin dead tired after midnight or occasionally in some port outside) so I accepted that the world turns around with or without me while I'm sailing and usually just catching up with things once I'm back on dry land. Imagine my surprise when I discovered this 2008. movie last night and seriously asked myself WTF how came I missed this one completely, where on earth I was?
"Cloverfield" is one of those movies that came inspired by legendary "Blair Witch Project", which means its filmed as almost documentary with a hand-held camera from some non-proffesional, ordinary guy's point of view. In itself this is not new, because we have seen it already and his time we won't be fooled into believing its a real story - the main catch here is that this movie has far bigger budget and its filmed in the streets of New York with people screaming around, lots of special effects and perhaps sadistically it plays with our fears & traumas about terrorist attacks. Except its not terrorists but some monster Godzilla who starts destroying New York right in the middle of otherwise plain and mild May evening when everybody is going on around their usual business: we are treated with hand-camera filmed farewell party organized for certain young businessman who is leaving for Japan soon. Everybody (including the businessman) is young, trendy, nicely dressed and completely self-centered in that particular way we see around nowadays, kind of people who are too busy talking abut themselves and taking pictures on their mobile phones to actually pay any attention to the world around them. This is so cleverly done that I don't think it was accidental - director Matt Reeves and scriptwriter Drew Goddard are both way too intelligent not to use this somehow subversively as the commentary of society today and what a world we live in - there are no heroes here and absolutely everybody (except perhaps Lizzy Caplan as Marlena) is annoying collateral damage, we follow them not because we root for them but because they are necessary for the story to go on. The fact that we don't see the monster(s) until much later in the movie adds to very effective horror but honestly, the characters are so annoying that we can hardly wait for them to shut up, stop chattering nonsense and to die. Characters aside, the movie is actually very exciting and you can't stop watching it, even though nothing is really explained - the origins of this danger is the mystery and it works very well because of it, we are forced making our own conclusions.
Exactly half a year ago, during my last vacation I started doing a little music research focused on Eurovision Song Festival and since I am familiar with the winners, I decided that time has come to check out who were other contenders. I grew up loving my double LP recording with all the winners from 1956-1981 but did not really had resources to actually hear who were also-runners - today thanks to Internet its easy as pie and seems that there is whole cult of Eurovision fans with their opinions and favourites, so now it became kind of my hobby to carefully listen these old festivals and find out who actually would have been my choice for winner. Actually its really interesting, because I always loved something that apparently nobody else noticed and public favourites were in fact very rarely my own, so here is my own personal choice of what I consider the most interesting songs of the year. In most cases I didn't care at all for obvious but went for something that appealed to me, either because I found it pretty, trashy or irresistible otherwise. I truly loved when Eurovision contenders performed in their original languages because I believe it gave the whole festival truly international flavor and as I went along with my research, I discovered some truly interesting songs that I approached with completely fresh and honest ears, without benefit of TV show: I listen them as music.
1971:
Goeiemorgen morgen by Nicole Josy & Hugo Sigal
I always loved this, from the very first moment and I don't care how the song actually charted or what was the result of competition. It is cutest, sunny radio song that always makes me feel good.
1972:
I giorni dell'arcobaleno (The Days of the Rainbow) by Nicola Di Bari
This is a typical Italian melancholic ballad, kind that hugely influenced all the countries close by and even in my own Croatia we have a singer whose style and looks really close resemble Nicola Di Bari (Oliver Dragojević). It didn't do anything on Eurovision but I guess we are all so used to this sound that its impossible for us not to like this.
Als het om de liefde gaat (When it's all about love) by Sandra & Andres
I actually remember this playing on the radio during my childhood and we had our own cover of this. Its exactly kind of oompah-pah, circus ditty that used to be hugely popular back than (kind of sequel to "Puppet on a string") and I can't hear this without tapping my foot. The girl would later compete on Eurovision as solo artist in completely different disguise.
1973:
Chi sarà con te (Who Will Be With You) by Massimo Raineri
Just like Nicola Di Bari, Massimo was completely ignored on Eurovision and I honestly don't understand what was wrong with those people, this was million times better than majority of contenders that year, in fact I prefer this to the stupid song tat won and that girl with scary, intense eyes.
Baby baby by Nicole & Hugo
This is the same girl who I have just mentioned as my choice for the favorite Eurovision song of 1971. and its probably the rare example where I can't really separate music from TV show: they bursted on a stage so determined to give all they got that it exploded with such unforgettable performance and it is remembered to this day. Sure, lots of people are startled with choreography and costumes, but I don't think anything anything bad about it: they eclipsed almost all the other contestants that year and that's all that matter.
1974:
Si by Gigliola Cinquetti
Cinquetti almost won if not for that certain Swedish pop group and this is another rare example where I actually agree with the winning choice: Abba was great and nothing ever matches Waterloo although this song was deservedly in the second place. The girl is not really the best singer in the world and I can't help thinking what would somebody else with more charisma bring to this music, but I guess the melody is so pretty that it doesn't really matter and backing chorus helps a lot. Other interesting songs that year were by Greek singer Marinella and surprisingly, a rock band from Yugoslavia (Korni Grupa) were actually excellent, although completely ignored on Eurovision of course.
1975:
Ein Lied kann eine Brücke sein (A Song Can Be a Bridge) by Joy Fleming
This was the year where for some reason I have a lot of favourites and although I always loved the Dutch winners, this is the top for me: Joy Fleming was a very typical example of that particular kind of performer we all know, chubby girl with a powerful voice who just blew everybody away with sheer power. Its really, really good funk-soul song and she was excellent singer, that this ended on the bottom of competition that year is just mind-blowing. She was not only the best but her song is excellent to this day.
Jennie Jennie by Lars Berghagen
As a singer, Berghagen couldn't hold a candle to powerful German volcano but he still placed much better that she did and I don't hold it against him because this melancholic little song somehow crept under my skin and I grew to really like it. In fact, I like the song so much that I even found surprisingly good Greek cover. Its not really a huge winner but more of a nice radio song that you singalong around the house while washing the dishes and it has a lilting quality to it.
1976:
Emor Shalom (Say Hello) by Chocolate, Menta, Mastik
According to my I tunes playlist, this is by far one of the most played songs on my computer so apparently I really like this one. There is something about girl trio with powerful, throaty voices that I simply find irresistible and this is the first time that I noticed Israel competing. There are few other favorites from that year but nothing matches my enthusiasm for "Emor Shalom". UK has traditionally making fun of Eurovision as something trashy and uncool but when they won this year, they were overjoyed with Brotherhood of Man and single sold in truckloads, I guess its not uncool if your country wins.
Un Deux Trois by Catherine Ferry
This is such a unpretentious, sunny little ditty that I believe its impossible not to like it. Its not the stuff that winners were made of, nothing big or bombastic here and no sweeping (or weeping) grand orchestras, just a cute little jingle with lots of hand claps and innocent feel to it.
1977:
De Mallemolen (The Merry-go-round) by Heddy Lester
1977 is the year where I carefully saved total of eight songs in my collection, so I guess this was one of the best years for me. The winning French song was nice and nothing wrong with it but since I am a bit tired of hearing it again, there are other contestants: I recognise Heddy Lester as something frequently played in Amsterdam's pubs when everybody gets tipsy and sings along. True, hard-core European schlager.
Laponia by Monica Aspelund
One of my favourites from 1977 and its so heroically sung (+ I love the language) that I find it irresistible. Its of course just Eurovision song festival but in my mind its almost like call to war and I could easily imagine Monica as some kind of Finnish Boudicia, leading warriors to fight Romans. I could chop the woods with this in the background.
1978:
Da li dou by Gemini
Portuguese pop artists were always amongst my favourites on Eurovision and although in all honesty this doesn't really stand out from lots of similar vocal groups of the 1970s (Greece had something similar previous year) this happy little song happen to be my choice for 1978. amongst contenders from Italy, Spain, Germany and France. And how can we forget Baccara representing Luxembourg!
1979:
Heute in Jerusalem by Christina Simon
Now we came to something that always bothered me about Eurovision - because its designed to quickly appeal to audience of millions unused to all those strange languages and performers basically have few minutes to catch everybody's attention (be it choreography, clothes or special effects) music is hardly important at all. The main focus here is something catchy enough that people won't forget at the end of the evening when all these contestants finish their moments in the spotlight. So it happens that everybody expects something memorable, almost fast-food while something like this incredibly pretty, jazzy and meditative ballad have no chance at all. This song and Belgium (which I also like very much) ended up humiliated with bottom place but for me composers André Heller and Peter Wolf have nothing to be embarrassed about, the song is stunning, I love it very much and find it one of the prettiest Eurovision songs ever.
1980:
Euro-Vision by Telex
Irish Johnny Logan might have won in 1980. but this shows what this spectacle is all about - mainstream pop with simple, little ditties that would appeal to housewives checking out handsome young singer. I grew up with LP that had Logan amongst winners so it came as nice surprise that there were other contestants who were far more interesting, including Dutch singer Maggie MacNeal and German Katja Ebstein. By far the zaniest and the most eccentric was this subversive trio from Belgium who poked fun at the whole spectacle and I think they were excellent.
1981:
Samson by Emly Starr
Not that I am specially partial to Belgium for any reason but this queen of Disco really appeal to me much more than winner and I could easily imagine this song being recorded by Donna Summer or Irene Cara - its seriously that good. It starts with cinematic, almost MGM fanfares and than it turns into irresistible Disco dance that I can't resist but wiggle a little. Don't forget I am child of true Disco era so I remember this kind of music from its original times.
Y sólo tú (And Only You) by Bacchelli
Another Disco and another extremely low placed song but for me this is million times better than the winner - its not only Disco but its sung in Spanish so it has really nice vibe about it and I usually play it on rewind several times. All my Spanish-speaking colleagues adore it and no wonder.
1982:
Hora by Avi Toledano
This was second place and if anybody asked me this would have been a winner. I understand it was a good year for Germany that finally won after competing since 1956 so finally they struck the gold with sweet, innocent Nicole who actually made quit a big splash around Europe with her little hit single (I even bought the whole LP) but now when I hear Israel, this is by far my other favourite of that year. Its kind of Disco-bar mitzvah music that immediately brings Israel in mind and I love it for that.
Halo, halo by Aska
This Serbian female trio was more or less very much ignored at home and media attention was usually focused on beauty of two sisters Izolda & Eleonora Barudžija who were very decorative indeed and backed our 1984. contestant on Eurovision (big hit and shameless copy of Shakin' Stevens) so I had pleasant surprise upon re-discovery of this little Disco ditty that ended up extremely low placed - I understand that Eurovision juries perhaps found this too bland but its mystery why it didn't chart even at home because the song is not any worse than other hits of the day we had back than. Surely girls were probably very nervous during live performance and they do appear kind of provincial amongst other contesters who were mostly far more glamorous but the song is not bad at all. Strangely enough, the one who will endure in music business was not one of the sisters but the blond Snežana Mišković who would metamorphose into full-blown rocker later.
1983:
Rücksicht (Regard) by Hoffmann & Hoffmann
Generally I find 1980s pop music boring because I lived trough these times and don't feel nostalgic about good old synthesisers at all. In fact, I breathed a sight of relief when "unplugged" phenomenon came later because these synthesisers and drum machines were killing me. The winning song of 1983. was actually a very good ballad sung by gifted singer but if I have to choose another favourite, it would be this German duo whose kind of song is not something that hits you over the head instantly but grows on you slowly.
Hi by Ofra Haza
Previous year Israel came second and guess what, this year they were second again. It is still extremely good place, nothing to be embarrassed for and we all remember wonderful Ofra Haza who was really very attractive, gifted young lady. But Israel had enough and next year they decided not to even compete. How Israel actually can even compete in something that I always understand as European TV spectacle was unclear until I found it has nothing with geography but with TV concept of European Broadcasting Area that covers such places as African countries bordering the Mediterranean as well as Jordan and Iraq. Not that I have anything against Israel but its kind of confusing.
1984:
Silêncio e Tanta gente by Maria Guinot
In 1984 I was teenager who actually watched this all very carefully and it struck me as unbelievable that such pretty song was completely ignored while inane Swedish guys in boots actually won. Spain, Netherlands and Italy also had good songs but this Portuguese lady was really my personal favourite and its just cute how I always loved something so left-field and unconventional, even though I was just a kid. Because I didn't know her name and who she was except that she represented Portugal some time in 1980s,it took me forever to actually find this song - I patiently browsed and browsed Internet until to my biggest relief I re-discovered Maria Guinot whom I still love to this day.
1985:
Didai Didai Dai (Aşık oldum) by MFÖ
Another of my discoveries, the excellent song by Turkish band that I still find irresistible and much more interesting than anything presented that year. Of course it ended up at the very bottom with almost no points at all, which just proves my theory that Eurovision obviously prefers different kind of music than me.
