It has been 40 years since cult rock album "Dnevnik jedne ljubavi" ("The Diary of One Love") was released in 1973.
This fascinating,original and inspired work of art was completely new idea at the time when our local croatian discography was still in tender age - quick look at contemporary charts shows that as nation we still preferred easy-listening, festival compilations, folk melodies from various ensembles and corners of Ex-Yugoslavia, revolutionary songs about WW2 and music with greek or mexican flavor. Solo LP albums by one artist were rarity (singers were mostly represented on singles or compilations) and even than mostly compilations of previously released material. Not that we did not have rock artists - during previous decade in the 1960s there were literary hundreds young "beat bands" trying to find their voices as opposition to mainstream,most of them inspired by western pop sound and singing covers of international music stars. From one of those "beat bands" young and self-assurred Josipa Lisac came along, urban city chick with a strange deep alto and apparently refusing to play money game - even when she performed on 1960s pop festivals her music was moody and melodramatic.
Composer Karlo Metikoš (who until than was a big rock star and in fact rock pioneer in Ex Yugoslavia) and lyrics writer Ivica Krajač have built "Dnevnik" around Josipa's unique voice, imagining a complete story of one typical love affair as told trough ten thematically connected songs - a young girl dreams about her future, feels excitement of her first love, ups and downs of relationship, break up and make up, another new start and realization that in the future relationship would have to be built on mutual trust. It is actually a kind of mono-rock musical with Josipa Lisac brilliantly expressing huge diapason of emotions, finally ending with defiant "Kao stranac" ("Like a stranger") where she demands of her lover to be honest with her, or else.
Definitely very original and unusual for its time, "Dnevnik" was collaboration of the whole team - Metikoš (music), Krajač (lyrics), Brane Živković (arrangements), Lisac (vocals) not to mention huge group of backing musicians that reads as "who's who" in than-contemporary rock elite. Its basically "Josipa Lisac and All-Stars Band" topped with unforgettable black & white cover photo by Jozo Ćetković. Even the inside cover with hand written lyrics shows that first letter of each song represents the singer's name. On the backing vocals were classical singers Anica Zubović and pop singers Ksenija Erker & Zdenka Kovačiček, though latter voice was so powerful that Kovačiček is the only one audible.
I have actually read contemporary review written by rock critic Dražen Vrdoljak at the time of album's release - its very cute to look back at it from this perspective, because here we have "rock critic" (in a communist country) reviewing very seriously local rock LP album that had no competition in national scene. If I remember correctly, Vrdoljak praises the idea, backing musicians and everybody involved but is not so sure about singer's mannered voice and hopes that this "affectations" is just a passing phase. Well, just to show that Lisac at the age of 23 was already fully formed, I can only quite another rock journalist who 40 years later calls her a "mother of vocal affectations".
"Dnevnik jedne ljubavi" had stayed in print for 40 years now. Generations of listeners grew up with it, learned all the lyrics, lived with it and introduced this music to their kids. The authors themselves continued their lives and careers with changeable luck - if backing rock musicians eventually lost their battle with time and got forgotten, three main architects continued working together and collaborated on theatre stage with rock operas "Gubec beg" and "Grička vještica". As for singer herself, Josipa Lisac used her debut album to definitely distance herself with pop festival past and built her future in pop/rock direction.From now on she was known as our own "rock lady" and future generations would never mix her up with other mainstream, easy listening performers - I remember how surprised I was to discover that in fact at the very beginning Lisac sang on the very same festival stages as Ana Štefok, Višnja Korbar, Gabi Novak or any of old-school singers, basically she was a rock outsider in a bunch.
As a teenager growing up in 1980s I don't remember Lisac looking back at her debut very much. She was too happy with her recent new work and was promoting new hits, with just occasional glance at "Dnevnik" as concert encore to satisfy the audience. But all those subsequent studio albums, hits, TV shows, magazine covers and awards were quickly forgotten once composer Karlo Metikoš died in 1991 - from than on Lisac is on a mission to keep his memory alive and had returned to "Dnevnik" almost exclusively. As much as I noticed, she had selected several songs from this album and performs them in a various "clothes" on every concert. Somewhat half-heartedly she also occasionally records new material but its clear her best work is now behind her and she is focused on "Dnevnik" as a totem. It works wonders still - music and lyrics are brilliant as ever and after all these years I have not found any croatian female singer to seriously challenge Lisac. I am not sure will she ever work with same lyrics writer again or invite all-stars backing band again as back than, however composer Karlo Metikoš got posthumous "Porin" national music award and recently his own street in Zagreb. Lisac herself had kept her head very high all those years and never succumbed to commercial temptations - distancing herself from cheap music trends she kept relatively low profile and got "eccentric" image along the way but her style and reputation as artist never suffered.She would forever stayed associated with this materpiece.
Interesting note: kids today might discover "Dnevnik jedne ljubavi" and love it, however I hear everybody claiming its the best rock album in Ex-Yugoslavia. While its definitely true that its one of music masterpieces and cornerstones of our local,national rock, I wonder how much young generation actually knows about music back than? There are several interesting rock LP albums released around the same time that deserve re-introduction, like works by rock group "Time", All-Star collaborations on LP's by Tihomir "Pop" Asanović (his "Majko zemljo" is basically continuation of "Dnevnik" sound),Drago Mlinarec or "Idexi" - they had all worked very successfully and had released inspired works where often they would collaborate with each others. Just look out for Josipa on albums by "Korni grupa" or Tihomir "Pop" Asanović - she was sensational "special guest" even back than! Yes, "Dnevnik" is masterpiece but I urge everybody to check out the competition because there is a lot of interesting music to be discovered. And while you are at it, check Hungarian rock singer from same time called Sarolta Zalatnay - she was hungarian Josipa and her early 1970s music is no less powerful.
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