28.11.17

"Neda Ukraden i Kamen na kamen" by Neda Ukraden (1975)


In her first incarnation, Neda Ukraden was wholesome, folksy May queen with a enormous family appeal - her initial charm and beauty left some serious impression - but music-wise she was actually quite interesting. Just like probably every local girl singer at the time, Ukraden depended on composers and producers who would know how to successfully present her and in this case her Pygmalion was Nikola Borota Radovan who basically wrote, arranged and produced the whole album. Radovan's idea was very inspired - finding a still untested position in local pop music, he brought something completely new in combination between folk and pop, where his songs sounded deceptively simple and almost familiar but they were in fact quite sophisticated and eloquent variation on traditional folk with just a right touch of pop.

"Jel' To Taj", "Zemlja Nek Se Kreće" and  "Srce U Srcu" were hugely popular and clearly show Radovan's vision - he backed young singer with capable band ("Kamen Na Kamen") and a backing vocals ("Strune"), carefully giving her a star spotlight and she was talented enough to welcome the challenge. Where on her 1969. single debut listener would never find anything remotely interesting, here Ukraden genuinely sound comfortable and happy. Because she was so stunningly beautiful and her music was breath of fresh air amongst mammoth orchestration from pop festivals, this was warmly welcomed by audiences and even today it sounds surprisingly good. 

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