"Lice" by Zlatko Pejaković (1976)

Kids are probably not aware of this, but old fox who is now a synonym for unabashedly drinking music played wherever they are weddings, celebrations and inebriated gatherings was once one of the most interesting voices in homegrown rock and his early recordings might come as a shock to first time listeners. In his first incarnation, Zlatko Pejaković was vocalist of mighty prog-rock band Korni grupa, performed at Montreux Jazz Festival where he was given award from Ella Fitzgerald and sung main role in "Jesus Christ Superstar" (in which he was so good that Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber invited him to London to be understudy for Ian Gillian). His is a cautionary tale of what happens to musicians who switch to the dark side and consciously decide to worship Mammon.

For all their virtuosity, "Korni grupa" eventually disbanded, disappointed with lacklustre results of record sales and like previous singers in that band, Pejaković for a while tried to pursue similar direction. "Lice" was his first solo album where he gets support from his old pals from the band and it follows very much the same prog rock direction - since his vocals are main focus here, its more accessible music than what band released on their highly praised 1972. album but strangely this solo effort slipped trough the cracks. Kornelije Kovač is behind all of this and he creates interesting funk-rock combination for young singer whose soaring vocals are wonder to behold - included is 1973. recording of prog-rock masterpiece "Etida" which is composer's own "Stairway to Heaven" and probably one time when Pejaković was touched by genius. Significantly, nothing else here comes close to that peak and though the rest is by no means bad, lack of hit single swiftly reduced this project to obscurity, which is very unfair considering the talents involved - initially I was reserved as besides "Etida" there is no clear outstanding number but with repeated listening, the album actually sounds darn good and young singer is genuinely excellent. 

As it happened, Pejaković will eventually decide to leave rock behind and focus his attention to commercial music with such determination that it makes me wonder what is actually his real persona - obviously he understand which side the bread is buttered and he did fine for himself, staying in business for forty years now but the transformation from this early start to later complete turnaround is mind-boggling. However, let's not forget that back in 1970. Pejaković experienced the first taste of wide success with unabashedly weepy "Čerge" so perhaps prog-rock was just youthful phase.