Pro Arte in a full bloom of their mainstream pop glory.
I am not completely sure this was original LP material,since too many of these songs were released as hit singles,but never mind. As a retrospective of pop chart success it works as to show where band stayed at the time. And judging by the record sales,they were huge - composer Đorđe Novković understood what mainstream audience wanted and he gave them exactly what they expected: catchy pop jingles that everybody can sing along with radio,be it bubble gum like "Lola", tearjerker "Mama Juanita" or country "Elena". Add to this combination instantly recognizable our-own-Tom-Jones voice of chubby Vladimir Savčić Čobi and you get pop stars of the early 1970s. It sold tons of records,but it's kind of material that don't age very well and it does not impress me personally,since particular charm of Đorđe Novković music eludes me. Songs like "Čokolino" and "Tike-Tike-Tačke" are definition of calculated mainstream corny music that completely overshadowed band's strong start and effectively killed any possibility that Pro Arte could be taken seriously.
Personal reminiscence: Just to show that this kind of safe-playing doesn't pay off in longer time, Pro Arte eventually disbanded when other pop stars took their place. A decade later I was visiting relatives somewhere in a country side and found Vladimir Savčić Čobi performing gig in a local village pub,singing "Tike-Tike-Tačke" for a handful of truck drivers who were visibly indifferent towards him or his music.
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