Leo Martin

There are lots of us,kids who grew up in socialistic society of 1970s Ex Yu with memories of popular culture the way it was back than - according to my blog, these memories had immense effect on my character starting from common places like jokes, meanings of certain phrases, recognition of actors, singers and politicians to memories of things heard/learned in school. The older I get, the more affectionate these memories become - the world moved on, the country as such does not even exist anymore and new generation of kids mostly don't even get what am I saying when paraphrasing something funny from my childhood. But internet searching for cultural roots of my generation became hobby and here am I today, looking back at 1970s of my childhood with curiosity and wonder, sometimes recognizing certain voices from radio days (before the school, cold breakfast and tea, music in the background) - one of those voices is Leo Martin.

With his decidedly anti-star image, Leo Martin was ubiquitous TV and radio presence from the childhood of kids growing in 1970s Ex Yu - today he probably wouldn't pass TV talent shows because singers of his generation had no choreography, image advisors and any of the visual gimmicks required nowadays, those singers either knew how to sing or they didn't. Martin was so darn serious and theatrical that even vague memories of his name bring dismissive comments and laughter, ah yes, imagine that funny guy with thick glasses.

Quick visit to his first LP album immediately erases memories of WW2 movies from my head (why do I always connect these movies with him, the guy was not acting in them? Probably because I was watching "Sutjeska" and "Neretva" at the same time Martin ruled radio waves!) and reveals superbly talented baritone who had a penchant for bombastic, pathetic ballads where his mighty voice thundered above huge orchestration. Be it title song ("Odiseja") or cover of "Speak softly love" ("Godfather" theme) or swinging slovenian number ("Prva ljubav" also recorded by Neca Falk) Martin was self-assured and actually really awesome singer - he might sound like a joke today but this is someone who toured with Tom Jones and Dusty Springfield during 1960s and I dare say he roared like Jones and was soulful as hell. Beside now boring and overused title song that unfortunately will forever be associated with his name, album has some surprisingly strong blue-eyed soul moments ("Biću uvek sam") not to mention strong german language number "Sweet Susanna" that as to be heard to believed - the mix of this superb voice singing truly exciting r&b in german is surreal.

"Laku noć draga" (1976) brings this excellent blue eyed singer in schmalz territory - title song is pathetic waltz about loveless marriage (complete with laughably serious female chorus) and now we have gifted singer doing wrong steps, namely milking pathos a little too much for my liking. Yes, there was this booming baritone voice but now proclaiming heartbreak and drama from a soap box - he was not old but lyrics of his songs already approached old age,loneliness and death at girlfriends door. Technically Martin was one of the most gifted male singers around, but this constant seriousness drags album down a lot. Only "Ko je taj čovek" and r&b number "Tražim te" lift atmosphere a bit but too late - if he focused more on r&b (that suited him fine,he could sing soul anytime) album could have been much more than exercise in corny material that framed him in grandfatherly music soap operas. Nothing to be completely ashamed - even with this overtly serious tone,Martin had certain style and was obviously literate, urban guy - its just that between the lines I hear excellent singer playing safe and going mainstream instead following his soul idols.