"Muzika za igru" (1959)
This little 8-song recording, released on October 30, 1959. was the very first step that young recording house (PGP RTB from Belgrade) took to assert itself on national market. Yes, it was PGP RTB very first release and it saw the light of the day on singer's 26th birthday
Đorđe Marjanović was a true phenomenon back than - the very first showman, who actually moved, danced and (gasp) waved his jacket around, he embodied different kind of performer as opposite to strong-lunged belters who "behaved". This surely irked many who did not approve of this "westernized" influence and lots of discussions and ink focused on singer's alleged lack of legitimate voice - when dust settles it seems society was simply overwhelmed with this energetic and explosive youth. Luckily for him, for every stodgy critic there were legions of fans who showered him with adulation never seen in these parts of the world.
The sound of chimes introduce the lovely, now-classic evergreen "Zvižduk u osam" by composer Darko Kraljić - it is a charming, romantic chanson with lilting melody and easy to whistle (the translated title is "A whistle at eight"), completely harmless love song to a girl and such pretty little tune that for the life of me I can't understand why would anybody consider Marjanović a danger to society. Unfortunately the rest of recording session was probably done hurriedly (just a few days before singer went for national army service) so there were no more songs by Darko Kraljić and the rest was filled with mostly Italian covers (three by Domenico Modugno) - it is all perfectly sweet, 1950s pop and as the back cover politely points next to song titles, its cha cha cha, mambo, fox and slow rock, for which young singer wrote lyrics himself. As for the voice, well its far from operatic acrobatics popular back than, but he has earnestness, sincerity and joy in singing + the simple ditties demand no specific technique anyway. Since we were far removed from new trends across the Atlantic, Italian San Remo and occasional screening of some technicolored musical was all the local audience could get as a glimpse to another world and this little album was a not just a best seller (it sold 11 000 pieces in a country that officially only had 20 000 gramophone players) but a huge stepping stone for both PGP RTB recording house and a resurgence of pop music in post-WW2 Yugoslavia.
"Mustafa" (1961)
"Mustafa" (1961) found young singer at the first wave of national hysteria - in spite of all criticism, previous year Marjanović got his big festival debut (Opatija '60) and won three awards, amongst fierce competition of singers from every corner of the country.These were the times when most of people had not owned TV and such exciting transcriptions were followed by whole neighborhoods glued together. When he was ignored during awards on Belgrade's "Golden microphone", some 7 000 fans blocked Belgrade's main square and carried bewildered Marjanović on their hands in protest.
This, his second album, finds this new singing phenomenon even more energetic and self-assured than previously. Title song was of course, lifted note by note from Lola Novaković's hit single (her souvenir from a year spent performing in Middle East) and a curious fight of two recording houses competing for a hit with different versions of same song. The rest of album is actually ebullient, high spirited rock as translated from Italian originals (Adriano Celentano, among others) which naturally sounds completely harmless today but for listeners back than it was a huge experience to hear young singer singing "oh well, well, well" and inviting to a dance with music completely at odds with than-current straightjacketed pop. I hear absolutely nothing wrong with Marjanović's voice - he was not Caruso but carried tune just fine and backing singers (Vokalni Kvartet P. Ivanovića) added certain doo wop quality to final results. The hugely successful tours in Soviet Union were just around the corner and it was there that singer would live to be living legend of concert halls and harbinger of pop (Italian covers and all) - a curious exemplar of dance music Russian officials approved of - much to chagrin of his own colleagues back home who envied this success. It is all well and truly documented in than-current newspapers and in my opinion Đorđe Marjanović deserves a movie biopic instead of living his retirement in obscurity.
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