When Titans meet

Discovered this photo by chance and was startled to realise how these four guys - all of them looking very relaxed and almost like any group of friends that just finished quick drink in a bar - four Titans of Croatian popular music who each in their own way grew up to be very important, were actually young men caught here in the moment, on a sunny day right at the corner where streetcar turns from Jurišićeva street into the main square. It couldn't be more ordinary than walk trough the city centre, this particular spot where hardly anyone stands still - this is where you either go on the square or from it elsewhere, unless you really, really want an ice cream (on the right) - and here they are, four legends walking together, in fact two of them are just finishing their cigarettes, almost as someone said "OK guys finish these smokes and let's move".

Very reluctantly I must accept that at this point I am probably middle-aged and almost daily I am aware that movie & music stars in newspapers are without exception young kids. That some slightly shop-worn person looks at me from the mirror comes as annoyance, but obviously its inevitable. So to see these four friends together comes as a sweet surprise. My guess is that photo was taken some time in early 1960s, very probably during either festivals Zagreb '62 or Zagreb '63 when all of them were involved. First on the left (and conspicuously dressed) is singer Vice Vukov than at the very start of his career, next to him - finishing their cigarettes - are singer veteran Ivo Robić who at that time was such indisputably big star that he could give all of them lessons how to behave in business and composer/arranger Nikica Kalogjera who will rule music market next decade, last one on the right is very young and skinny Arsen Dedić who looks completely adorable as young, starving geek he was at the time. They stand here in the sun, completely oblivious to the fact that in the future they will grow up to be giants of Croatian music - all of them except Robić have their greatest success still in the future. Its such beautiful, sweetly nostalgic photo that I could easily imagine meeting them here accidentally and stopping by for a chat, how are you doing guys, what are you up to, lets grab the beer somewhere around the corner.