As a hard-core "oldies" music enthusiast, seems that nothing makes me more happy than discovery of some ancient, long forgotten pop single or artist.
But what is a single or one artist compared to delicious presentation of the whole pop festival that offers countless names, composers, arrangers and the whole teams of people involved in than-extremely popular and important media spectacle - festivals are out of fashion now and replaced with all sorts of TV shows, but perhaps they will come back or continue under different disguise, who knows?
I was already familiar with my own Croatian pop festivals in Opatija, Zagreb and Split, names catapulted to stars, composers and lyric writers responsible for all those evergreen melodies and sounds of one era - than did some research in neighbor Slovenia ("Slovenska popevka") - seems than in period that interest me (1960s and 1970s) scene was bursting with ideas, sophistication and talent, though of course it was probably our own reflection of what we heard and saw from the west. Imagine than my excitement when I finally put my hands on the whole collection of previously unknown festival that grew just a little bit on the east, in Belgrade - it was called "Beogradsko Proleće" ("Belgarde's spring") and just like the rest of them, had its glory days during 1960s and 1970s.
The very first recording with hits from that festival is a pleasant surprise - nothing less elegant or sophisticated than Opatija or Zagreb, probably because very much the same people were involved - with slight nod towards local composers perhaps but the artists were from everyhere, not just from Belgrade. Golden voiced Marko Novosel and very young Tereza Kesovija were Croatians for example, but the real stars here were people like Đorđe Marjanović, Lola Novaković, Dušan Jakšić and Nada Knežević, at that point in the first bloom of their youth and very excited about this glamourous stage presentation. That sensational nightingale Predrag Gojković was also here, happily swinging along big orchestra, long before he turned to traditional folk music. Radoslav Graić has a jolly ditty and interestingly, he is the only singer doing his own material (the rest of the singers were singing than-famous composers, as it was trend back than) and this brought him first award - his "Anđelina" was the very first winner of this festival.
Just wonderful discovery.
The years 1962-63 were golden years not only for Italian San Remo but for neighbor countries who were inspired by this festival - Opatija and Zagreb festivals in Croatia were at their peak of creativity and "Beogradsko Proleće" in Serbian capitol was up there with the best of them - everything done with class, zest and enthusiasm, starting from glorious orchestration, arrangements and backing choruses to first-rate singing talents like Dušan Jakšić, Gabi Novak and Krsta Petrović. The novelty here were two pretty girls invited from Slovenia (Marjana Deržaj and Majda Sepe) duetting in cute, sunny calypso and they were wonderful. Fresh-voiced Miki Jevremović was here at the very start of his long career and here he was still just right a good decade before his material turned to mawkish and sentimental. Lola Novaković and Đorđe Marjanović were the biggest stars here.
Probably the best festival that ever happened in Belgrade, the one in 1963 was the happiest, the most likable and sunniest of them all - by some coincidence same year was also a golden year for festival in Zagreb - just an eruption of hits, happy songs and wonderful, feel-good melodies. Twist, cha cha cha, calypso, you name it, it was there. Among usual suspects like Đorđe Marjanović, Radoslav Graić and Nada Knežević, the stage welcomed newcomers Senka Veletanlić-Petrović, Radmila Karaklajić and even visitors Arsen Dedić and Nina Spirova from neighbor scene - excellent selection and a huge variety of voices and music styles.
The most obvious detail here is sophistication of orchestration and arrangements - every single artist is backed by dreamy orchestra capable of any soaring nuances that were popular back than in the 1960s. Young Miki Jevremović has excellent little swinging number but the rest is not far behind - Dragan Toković has a song of young Croatian composer Zdenko Runjić who will became big name in the next decade, Radoslav Graić has his own pretty little song again and Senka Veletanlić duetes with her than-husband Tihomir Petrović in a dreamy barcarole that would fill Venetian gondoliers with envy.
For some reason composer Aleksandar Korać is omnipresent here - he got three out of four songs recorded on this EP album, not that he is bad but surely there must have been other equally inspired that year? His sound is little bit different than calypso and cha cha cha from previous years, this is truly bombastic 1960s sound that puts record firmly in its time and cute as it is, I need some time to get my head around this change of direction from previous festival albums. Singer Tamara Šarić is not a match for majestic Lola Novaković and its hard to believe they were even allowed on the same stage - one is enchanting, seasoned veteran and the other just a squeaky newcomer wannabe. The obligatory guest from neighborhood is Lado Leskovar and he has enough presence to shine, he is probably my favorite here.
Mellow-voiced chanson singer Dragan Stojnić is a highlight here and he is good in his easy-listening way, though Đorđe Marjanović, Vice Vukov and Arsen Dedić had much more commercial and memorable songs that year. Specially Dedić sounds particularly appealing in his 1960s troubadour incarnation, the way he was when he was still a gentle crooner - his voice might come as a shock to people who now him only from later recordings when he turned to grumpy reciting of his music. Again the obligatory guest from Slovenia, this time full-voiced Alenka Pinterič unfortunately completely wasted in a banal ditty, she was later much better served at home with her own Slovenian composers who knew how to use her excellent talent.
Composer Aleksandar Korać is again leading the game here - two out of four songs recorded here, sorry but I can't help but to notice a certain omnipresence on this festival - just like Đorđe Novković around the same time took over of what became money game, Korać established himself on a singles market. Where older festivals showcased tons of other talents, now it all started to change focus - just like someone noticed "hey, we can actually make money out of this" sentimental tearjerkers from the pen of Novković and Korać became "what people want" - not necessarily bad, but I can hear certain calculation here. Signers (Đorđe Marjanović naturally) are somehow less important here - young Boba Stefanović is standout however.
Curious duel between new and up-coming forces (Boba Stefanović) and old guard (Dragan Stojnić) but this has already started on other festivals in Opatija and Zagreb where older, experienced generation was slowly threatened by this new kids who were raised on rock - that someone as young as Stefanović optioned not for rock but for something as safe as commercial hit by Aleksandar Korać just shows how the game was played back than. Duo Nanos had no guilt about compromise whatsoever, since they came up with completely Greek melody - at the end it falls on rock band Džentlmeni to save the day with their modern sound, perhaps clumsy but at least they tried something different.
The sound of festival at the start of 1970s was symptomatic and was showing where popular music was going - easily memorable hooks, sentimental lyrics, bombastic sound, explosions and fireworks. Đorđe Marjanović comes with his own song and its as bombastic as one can expect (cinematic, wordless choir behind him humming forebodingly) but young Boba Stefanović had a tearjerker of the year however - selling love ballad to housewives did nothing for his ex-rocker reputation unfortunately. He shared the stage with young heart-throb from Croatia Kićo Slabinac who had a song by equally young composer from Sarajevo, Kemal Monteno. As a nostalgic glance back, Lola Novaković had a beautiful, film-noir jazzy ballad by Darko Kraljić, but the time of this kind of music had long gone.
Aleksandar Korać as composer again - he managed to get two hit singles with the same song, recorded by child star Zoran Leković and pop band Pro Arte. Its kind of simple ditty with a repeating chorus that is easy to whistle and memorize, without much effort to prone deep into psychology. Calculated. Miki Jevremović got himself a new breath of fresh air with music by young composer Boris Bizetić who proved himself more than capable of writing a hit, thunderous Leo Martin is all gloom and doom as usual and the best of all was young Bisera Veletanlić with a song by Arsen Dedić that would open all the doors for her. Dedić was true phenomenon back than, a singer-songwriter with clever, honest lyrics who helped quite a lot of singers with his strong material.
Encouraged with his success as a composer, Boris Bizetić goes in the spotlight himself. Both Aleksandar Korać and Đorđe Novković compete with their ultra-commercial songs and get their singles with recordings by child star Zoran Leković and Pro Arte. Miki Jevremović and Senka Veletanlić are biggest stars, however visitors like Đorđi Peruzović and Ditka Haberl are just fine. The best of all is a curious, epic saga purposely done in the manner of traditional folk song by Miša Marković, who would later built a career as a composer.
Hit of festival in 1973 was Miki Jevremović who was by now a seasoned veteran and far removed from his early crooning style - now he is a belter of bombastic hits tailored for him. He was good, but this kind of material don't age very well. Hidden on B side was a song by Mirjana Beširević that was probably not commercial enough for those who were selecting material, but it actually aged much better, thanks to clear, honest voice of the singer and lyrics that, naive and optimistic as they might have be, sounds better than atomic bomb on A side.
Move along Aleksandar Korać and in steps Kornelije Kovač who was actually quite good - he had a interesting sound and was not banal at all. He also had a good taste to select chocolate-voiced Bisera Veletanlić for a singer and she was excellent. She was a truly great, soulful singer and there are hardly any missteps in her 1970s discography. As for the other artists competing that year, it was more or less bunch of usual suspects (Boris Bizetić) with easy, memorable ditties I don't really care so much for. Leo Martin was good - but than, he was a kind of singer who really depend on composer and was prone to depressing songs about getting old. Obligatory guest was Elda Viler from Slovenia and her voice was wasted on something half-baked - great singer but song ever truly catches the fire.
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