Boa is a Croatian

pop rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre with an emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than rock music. Originating in the late 1950s as an alternative to normal rock and roll, earl ...

music group A musical ensemble, also known as a music group or musical group, is a group of people who perform instrumental and/or vocal music, with the ensemble typically known by a distinct name. Some music ensembles consist solely of instrumentalists, ...

, which was especially active during the 1980s around the former

SFR Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Yug ...

History

The band's early history started in

Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slop ...

, then

SR Croatia The Socialist Republic of Croatia ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Socijalistička Republika Hrvatska, Социјалистичка Република Хрватска), or SR Croatia, was a constituent republic and federated state of the Social ...

in 1974, when its founding members Mladen Puljiz and Slavko Remenarić, switched their interest from

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" also ...

to rock music, inspired by

art rock Art rock is a subgenre of rock music that generally reflects a challenging or avant-garde approach to rock, or which makes use of modernist, experimental, or unconventional elements. Art rock aspires to elevate rock from entertainment to an art ...

acts such as Yes,

King Crimson King Crimson are a progressive rock band formed in 1968 in London, England. The band draws inspiration from a wide variety of music, incorporating elements of classical, jazz, folk, heavy metal, gamelan, industrial, electronic, experime ...

Genesis Genesis may refer to: Bible * Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of mankind * Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Book of ...

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...

Roxy Music Roxy Music are an English rock music, rock band formed in 1970 by Bryan Ferry—who became the band's lead vocalist and principal songwriter—and bassist Graham Simpson (musician), Graham Simpson. The other longtime members are Phil Manzanera ...

and

Peter Gabriel Peter Brian Gabriel (born 13 February 1950) is an English musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, and activist. He rose to fame as the original lead singer of the progressive rock band Genesis. After leaving Genesis in 1975, he launched ...

. The group started its concert activity in 1979 with a line-up consisted of: Mladen Puljiz (

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

), Slavko Remenarić (

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

), Igor Šoštarić (

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

) and Damir Košpić (

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

).Bio at ''Menart Records'' record label, Croatia
The band moved towards the then actual

New Romantic The New Romantic movement was an underground subculture movement that originated in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s. The movement emerged from the nightclub scene in London and Birmingham at venues such as Billy's and The Blitz. The New ...

sound and fashion and after the release of their debut album for Suzy in 1982, they were voted by the readers of the prominent Yugoslav musical magazine ''

Džuboks ''Džuboks'' ( sr-cyr, italic=yes, Џубокс, trans. ''Jukebox'') was a Yugoslav music magazine. Launched in 1966, it was the very first magazine in SFR Yugoslavia dedicated predominantly to rock music and the first rock music magazine to be p ...

'' as the best upcoming act of the year. Their next album ''Ritam strasti'' (''Rhythm of passion'') followed by around a hundred concerts around

former Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Yu ...

brought them even higher popularity. Despite the fact that their next album ''Govor tijela'' (''Body language'') included some successful hits, the band fell into creative crisis and thus the group halted its activities until 1989 when the group got a new

rhythm section A rhythm section is a group of musicians within a music ensemble or band that provides the underlying rhythm, harmony and pulse of the accompaniment, providing a rhythmic and harmonic reference and "beat" for the rest of the band. The rhythm sec ...

consisted of the drummer Paolo Sfeci (former member of Aerodrom and

Parni valjak Parni Valjak (; "steamroller") is a Croatian and former Yugoslav rock band. They were one of the top acts of the former Yugoslav rock scene, and one of the top rock bands in Croatia. Biography Parni Valjak was founded in 1975 in Zagreb. Unlike ...

) and the bass player Zvonimir Bučević (prominent session musician). In 1990 the band released the album ''Prvi val'' (''First Wave''), and performed as a

support act A opening act, also known as a warm-up act, support act, or supporting act, is an entertainment act (musical, comedic, or otherwise), that performs at a concert before the featured act, or "headliner". Rarely, an opening act may perform again a ...

's concert at

Maksimir stadium Maksimir Stadium ( hr, Stadion Maksimir, ) is a multi-use stadium in Zagreb, Croatia. It takes its name from the surrounding neighbourhood of Maksimir. The venue is primarily the home of Dinamo Zagreb, the top club of the country with 23 league ...

in Zagreb in front of over 50,000 people. Two years after, they released the

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one or several Performing arts#Performers, performers. If by one artist, then generally the tr ...

''81-92'' featuring live performances and studio recordings with new arrangements. The CD also included the song ''Zemlja'', which was recorded in 1991 for the Rock za Hrvatsku (''Rock for Croatia'') music project tributed to the

Croatian War of Independence The Croatian War of Independence was fought from 1991 to 1995 between Croat forces loyal to the Government of Croatia—which had declared independence from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY)—and the Serb-controlled Yugosl ...

. In 1993, a new member of the group is the keyboard player Gojko Tomljanović. In the next year they release the CD ''Kraj djetinjstva'' (''End of Childhood'') featuring guest appearances by prominent artists such as:

Josipa Lisac Josipa Lisac (; born 14 February 1950) is a Croatian pop rock singer. Biography During the 1960s, Lisac was the vocalist of the group Zlatni Akordi. Her first solo album, '' Dnevnik jedne ljubavi'' (''The Diary of a Love''), recorded in 1973, was ...

Dino Dvornik Dino Dvornik (; 20 August 1964 – 7 September 2008) was a Croatian singer-songwriter, music producer, actor and reality television star known as "the Croatian king of funk". Biography Early life A son of renowned actor Boris Dvornik and mothe ...

and

Vanna Vanna () is a given name that first appeared in recorded European history circa 1294. The Italian medieval feminine name originated in Tuscany, and is particular to Florence, Italy. Though similar in pronunciation to the Italian name Giovanna, an ...

. The feature song "Kao mir" (''Like peace''), a duet with Josipa Lisac was nominated in two categories for the prestigious Croatian music award Porin. In 2002

Croatia Records Croatia Records is the largest major record label in Croatia, based in Zagreb ( Dubrava). Summary Croatia Records d.d. is a joint-stock company currently led by the chief executive officer Želimir Babogredac, a notable sound engineer. It releases ...

released the integral versions of the two first albums on

Audio CD Compact Disc Digital Audio (CDDA or CD-DA), also known as Digital Audio Compact Disc or simply as Audio CD, is the standard format for audio compact discs. The standard is defined in the ''Red Book'', one of a series of Rainbow Books (named fo ...

, which was awarded with Porin in the ''Re-release of the year'' category. Following this success, the band also released a compilation featuring songs from their third and fourth album in 2004 under the title ''Kao nekad'' (''Like in the old days''). All of the songs were

remastered Remaster refers to changing the quality of the sound or of the image, or both, of previously created recordings, either audiophonic, cinematic, or videographic. The terms digital remastering and digitally remastered are also used. Mastering A ...

and in some of them the authors modified the arrangements. The CD also contains

bonus tracks An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records coll ...

such as "Boa Constrictor", an experimental

instrumental An instrumental is a recording normally without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through semantic widening, a broader sense of the word song may refer to instru ...

, which includes sound effect that Puljiz i Remenarić recorded back in 1974 on their old

Grundig Grundig (; ) is a German consumer electronics manufacturer owned by the Turkish Arçelik A.Ş., the white goods (major appliance) manufacturer of Turkish conglomerate Koç Holding. The company made domestic appliances and personal-care produ ...

2-track open-reel tape recorder. The group is still active.

Discography

*LP ''

Boa Kwon Bo-ah (; born November 5, 1986), known professionally as BoA, is a South Korean singer, songwriter, dancer, record producer and actress. One of the most successful and influential Korean entertainers, she has been dubbed the " Queen of K- ...

'' ( Suzy, 1982) *LP ''Ritam strasti'' (Suzy, 1982) *LP ''Govor tijela'' (Suzy, 1983) *LP ''Prvi val'' (Suzy, 1990) *CD ''81-92'' (Orfej/DEA Music, 1992) *CD ''Kraj djetinjstva'' (Orfej 1994) *CD ''Boa/Ritam strasti'' (Suzy/

, 2002) *CD ''Kao nekad'' (Suzy/

Hit Records Hit Records was a record company based in Nashville, Tennessee, which specialized in sound-alike cover versions of hit records. These types of releases are often categorized as exploito. Background It was run by entrepreneurs Bill Beasley an ...

, 2004) *CD ''Dnevnik putovanja, skice ostanka'' (

Dancing Bear A tame bear, often called a dancing bear, is a wild bear captured when young, or born and bred in captivity, and used to entertain people in streets or taverns. Dancing bears were commonplace throughout Europe and Asia from the Middle Ages to the ...

, 2006)

References

Janjatović, Petar. ''Ilustrovana Enciklopedija Yu Rocka 1960-1997'', page: 34, publisher: Geopoetika, 1997
* {{Authority control Musical groups established in 1979 Croatian pop music groups Yugoslav rock music groups Croatian post-punk music groups