Ksenija Erker Discography

Recently I did something funny - out of curiosity, I googled my name and found out one of my old articles re-published on Internet.
Which was quite nice, truly blast from the past - you see, many years ago I was hopeful journalist, in fact I even studied journalism for a while (until my articles started to get published left & right, making the whole idea of college somehow less important + war made me conscious that all these writings about music and movies were trivial at that particular moment). Most important, it was a time when in my early 20s I actually made a living out of my own creativity and that suited me just fine. I would talk to people who mattered to me, whose records I have listened and most of them I watched on TV during my childhood so that was exciting. I still recall kick that I got from meeting all those celebrities and my impressions about them. I was not a provocative, nasty journalist but a polite one - whatever my own private feelings and opinions were, I kept it for myself.The whole collection of those articles is long lost now with all my changing of address and constant moving, besides I have actually left the country so its all stored at various places, so seeing this one single interview reminded me that I was quite good at it and there is nothing embarrassing about my writing. As someone who always read a lot, writing came naturally to me and I never understood people who suffered when faced with empty paper - it was completely spontaneous expression of my thoughts, still is.

http://yugopapir.blogspot.com/2014/06/ksenija-erker-njena-muzicka-prica.html

Seeing this article reminded me of Croatian singer Ksenija Erker so today I will re-visit her discography.

"S Ljubavlju Ksenija" (1980)
One of now forgotten, less-known LP albums by Croatian pop singer who admittedly enjoyed music business more as a backing vocalist than as solo artist.She did have one very pretty, melancholic debut album that still sounds nice after all these years, but dozen of singles from pop festivals show that afterwards she did not show particular enthusiasm for big career and perhaps kids & family were her main choice. Almost half a decade after LP debut, Erker finally came with new album and ignored singles recorded in the meantime, focusing on new material written for her by Kemal Monteno, Arsen Dedić, Zrinko Tutić and Hrvoje Hegedušić. Selection of composers is spotless and lyrics are as always tasteful, poetic & sensitive, however there is nothing exciting or outstanding here - where debut album had one classic that held the whole collection (stunning "Proljeće bez Tebe") this time around there is unfortunately no that particular one hit that would make or break the album - there is a occasional very pretty chanson moment here and there (piano in "Toplina Tvoje Ruke" by Dedić), interesting lyrics overall and Erker sounds her usual warm, sensuous self but material is perhaps too tasteful for singer's own good - consciously avoiding anything banal or embarrassing Erker also lost in radio play and the only song I ever recall heard on the radio was Monteno's "Ljubav Je Sve" which was tucked away at the very end of the album, instead being opener.

"Kada Žena Voli" (1982)
Ksenija Erker got herself nice, little radio hit "Ti Si Moja Inspiracija" (which could be understand both as love song and affection towards a child) on pop festival Zagreb '80 which put her back in the spotlight for the rest of the decade and resulted in revival of studio activity. However, for some reason that hit is not here - again Erker shows surprising lack of calculation and does her own thing. This time around she got herself another of those soft, mild and tasteful collections with sensitive lyrics and usual composers (Hrvoje Hegedušić, Zrinko Tutić) but than-current production (Mato Došen, who was ever-present during 1980s but here is surprisingly tasteful and not his usual bombastic) lifts it up a little bit and makes radio-friendly. Which means synthesisers galore, backing vocals echoing and everything else that puts this album squarely into its time. Sax intro and backing chorus on "Voli Me" sounds exactly like on "Pokora" by Zorica Kondža but right now I can't tell who was first. As usual, its all well done professionally but not very exciting or adventurous - Erker was comfortable in her skin, croons gently and sounds comforting as usual.

"Ksenija Erker" (1985)
Again search for that elusive hit that would pay off making the whole album - at this point Erker found herself in difficult position as middle-aged veteran on a music scene full of young,angry and attention-grabbing new artists and even though she sounds more committed and energetic than usual, album went nowhere as much as I remember. Zrinko Tutić is on hand, backing choruses are brilliant as usual (being backing vocalist herself, Erker knew what to do) and everything is wrapped in strong, than-current production (Hrvoje Hegedušić) but even with all this conscious effort to make signer commercially viable again, seems that it didn't bring her any hits. Which is really strange, because the album actually sounds very good and almost every song is memorable, perhaps it just needed stronger promotion? Compared to what was being played on the radio and performed on pop festivals at the time, this was actually better than most. Sure, its schlager pop music but completely underrated for what it was.

"Ciao Italia" (1991)
Talk about bad timing.
Few years earlier Tomislav Ivčić had really big success with his "Italian songbook" album (and a French one, if I remember correctly) so it was no brainer that Ksenija Erker would come up with similar collection, specially because she always loved Italian pop music and could probably sing all of these songs in her sleep.
So everything was prepared and planned, she sang her little heart out and than just as the album was released war broke out, which put everything in the background and only music played on the radio was anthems and such. This little album was quickly forgotten under these circumstances and Erker never recorded another one.

Re-visiting it again now, some two decades after the fact, its clearly audible how much Erker loved these songs. Obviously she loves Mina and all these Italian pop classics but had to make some compromises with unavoidable "Tanti Auguri" and "Volare" that stand as contrast to ballads close to her heart. There are two Hrvoje Hegedušić originals (one of them later recorded in Croatian version as "I Sutra Je Dan" for Split festival), duet with Oliver Dragojević and excellent cover of "Maledetta Primavera" but time was simply not right for this. If only she recorded this album few years earlier, it might worked out much better for her.